By Lindsay Withers
I’ve been fishing recreationally since I was old enough to hold a pole. My father used to spend every weekend fishing local backwoods farm ponds with me and my brother as we were growing up. We always caught the usual species, like largemouth bass, pickerel, and sunfish. As I got older, I branched out and taught myself how to fish for trout and smallmouth bass, and eventually was able to learn how to fish for big game fish, like shark and tuna. During the Summer of 2013, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. At 27 years old, it felt like my world crashed down. I am a full-time paramedic. I go to the gym, and eat right, so I felt completely overwhelmed. That is when I figured it out: fishing was my drug. It was the only time during my treatment that I felt at peace. It was as if nothing could get me down. It was almost magical, I felt as though I was one with the water, and I loved every minute of it. After my treatments were completed, and I got the green light from my doctors, I decided that I didn’t want that feeling of peace or my love of the water to ever go away. I was going to fish, and I was going travel to catch new fish. Life is short, enjoy it.
In August of 2014, I was invited to go fishing in Florida for butterfly peacock bass. I had seen many photos of them, but had never really done much research. I went for it. I bought my flight tickets, and booked my trip one month out. As a paramedic, I have a pretty awesome schedule that just so happens to give me four days off in a row. I was beyond excited. What did I have to lose, right?
I met up with my friend Allen on a sunny, warm, Thursday morning in September. We loaded up the pickup, and headed out to catch bait. Now, being from Massachusetts, the only bait I had ever caught was in the ocean on a Sabiki rig, or night crawlers on the golf course, so this was very new to me. We pulled up to a tiny retention pond that was literally right on the side of the road. Allen unloaded the cooler and a huge weighted casting net. He scoped out the pond, finding what must have seemed like the perfect spot. Then, he held the net in one hand, held a chunk of it in his teeth, held one edge with his other hand, and spun around like it was a choreographed dance. He threw that net flawlessly over the water. When we took the net back out, it was full of baby Mayan cichlids! I was in awe. After a couple more casts, we had plenty of bait and were on our way for peacocks.
We arrived at the first spot, unloaded the rods, and hooked some baits. Allen pointed out the spot where I should cast. I casted it out, and let my bait swim in free spool. After about three minutes, it happened. A two pound peacock bass came barreling out from underneath a floating mat of palm fronds, and slammed my bait like Lewis knocking out Tyson. As I began to reel, this little fish fought like he was a miniature Mako. He took line, breached and flipped out of the water. This little fish packs a huge punch. Once I got him in, I realized this was a bass like no other. I lipped him with my thumb, and he continued to thrash around. After a quick photo, I released him back into the water, and sent him on his way.
After a few more spots, and about twenty two fish in total, we called it quits. My largest peacock bass weighed in at six and a half pounds, but reeling him in, you would have thought he weighed fifteen pounds. I had such a great time fishing in Florida. Over the course of two days, we fished for a total of about 13 hours. I even managed to catch an eight and a half pound largemouth bass on my last cast. I had caught so many fish, that my thumb bled. Seriously, my bass thumb had bass thumb, and apparently that is a badge of honor in Southern Florida. If you have ever dreamed of taking fishing trips, do it. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Southern Florida is a great destination for a fishing trip, and I highly recommend it. If you are looking to go fishing for butterfly peacock bass, please be sure to look up Allen Beecher on Facebook. He is a great fisherman, and a phenomenal guide. My second trip is scheduled for this month, and I hope we are able to add snakeheads and gar to my list of caught species.
ARTICLE BY: Lindsay has been fishing since as far back as she can remember. She is the first mate on the F/V Miss Megan II in Saco, ME, as well as a full time paramedic in Worcester, MA. Some of her favorite species to catch are bass, sharks, bluefin, and exotics in Florida.