Most northern range of oscars in Florida?

I've caught them on Okeechobee but if you really want to get into them, hit the canals along 27 south of Belle Glade or alligator alley.

My dad and I were catching them some regularity with flyrods at Johnny's Basshole back in the 80s. We used to give the bank fisherman a bunch back at the ramp. One old black lady was thrilled to death exclaiming, "OOOH! Them's African bream! I'll take all you got!"

Also, the Mayan cichlids will be even more plentiful when if you come down. At times you can get hit on every cast.

I haven't been in years but I'm willing to bet the fishing is still great for them.

Oscar is a spotted tilapia, looks like they can't be transported alive.

They are not a spotted tilapia but no invasive can legally be transpor t ed alive

You are correct to the extent that oscars are in the same overall family of fish that tilapia are in. Oscars are cichlids. Means they are mouth brooders. There’s an African branch and a South American branch of the family. Oscars are of the South American side, tilapia are from the African branch. The various other cichlids in south Florida are closer relatives of oscars than tilapia are.

Oscars have a lot of personality. They’re like aquatic puppies in a home fish tank. They’ll beg for human attention from across the room. They’ll also rearrange a fish tank to their liking and will secretly move things back where they want them when no human is looking if a human changes things in the tank.

I had an oscar in a tank and he did pretty good. Hungry lil thing.

Also had a green sunfish I caught - that thing lived 10 yrs with me and then my cousin took it and had it for a while. Musta caught & released that thing 1,000 times.

I forgot to measure my water temps this past winter. Going to try to remember to this coming winter.

As far as transporting them, I doubt its illegal to transport them. They’re legal aquarium fish. I can go buy one at any chain fish store. Its not illegal to drive them home from the pet store.

Are the bullseye snake heads in the same general area as the peacocks, oscars and clowns? The ones up north around the Potomac were said to be good eats. I always had great access to walleye before I retired and migrated south. I've never caught a peacock or any if the other invasive exotics, would be a different species added to the list

Oscars are Cichlids fro South America. But they're not mouth brooders. They're pretty typical egg laying Cichlids. I've bred them in the aquarium a few times.

Nowadays the fish keeping industry produces them in all kinds of different colours. And there are even hideous long finned versions in the hobby! They've even been hybridised with ther species. You can see a few here :-

www.alwayspets.com/s/oscar-fish-colors-f36abd9a7d474a3e


But when released into the wild these fish will always eventually revert back to their wild type in a few generations.


They die off regularly in Florida due to cold snaps.

Mayans are found in massive numbers in the canals on the western side of I41. Big Cypress is full of them. You often see the males in spawning colours with bright red chests. You'll also see pits in which the parents have spawned and are often protecting young fry. I've also caught them in the brackish Lake Placid and have read that they can adapt to full saltwater condition. They're one really tough species which is why there's so many of them.

I've also caught a few Black Acara here which are another small type of South American Cichlid.

Further East the oscar populations seem to start. You can find big shoals of them too. Lots of them in the canals next to the loop road in dry season. I've only ever seen a couple of Jaguar Cichlids here though.

Lake Placid, Everglades City, FL.

www.mapquest.com/us/florida/lake-placid-488321948

We use to catch some type of Cichlids in the ditches of the neighborhood I grew up in Tampa.

As usual - bad info on Wiki... The peacock bass was deliberately introduced here in the very early eighties or late seventies (with permission from from the predecessor to the current FWC). The idea was that south Florida, particularly in Dade county (earlier name it's currently Miami-Dade county...) in an effort to introduce a predator to control all the small invasives in every canal.. It was believed that the peacock could not survive winters outside of that area and the program was very successful and also provided an addtional game fish for anglers... What was not anticipated is that waters to the north (Broward and Palm Beach counties) in urban areas might also allow populations to exist... Like I said, the peacock bass is not an "invasive" at all - it was sanctioned from the first... and carefully monitored. An additional specie was also introduced legally some years ago - the grass carp - meant to aid in control of weed growth in local canals since
they're vegetarians and grow large it was thought that they'd greatly reduce weed growth. I have no idea whether that program was a succcess...

I've only caught one clown knifefish, and it was on a lure. Not many of them around but they are an outstanding gamefish and my customers would be well pleased with any one they encountered. Most that do fish them use live bait. If I could figure out a way to catch them on flies - I'd have a lot of bookings for them locally -particularly in Lake Ida or Lake Norman here in Broward county... Here's a pic of the only one I've encountered, well over ten pounds. Locals call them "featherbacks"
.

If you have a pic of that Midas Cichlid, I'll be able to tell you if we've ever come across one. Once it cools off a bit each year (end of this month all the way until next May) there will be a lot of days when catching (and releasing) 100 exotics using lures or flies in a five hour trip is a real possibility and many of them are ones you only see every now and then..

I wouldn't say it's bad info per se.

The definition of 'invasive species ' doesn't really change if it's a government sanctioned introduction or a moron deliberately releasing the inhabitants of their fish tank.

The end result as you've seen, can be just the same. You'll find many instances of governments making similar mistakes around the globe when things didn't turn out as planned.

What makes me laugh is how those invasives with sporting value seem to be protected rather than eradicated.

Sorry Bob, I missed this.

This is a Midas Cichlid Amphilophus citrinellus