Oscar fishing in S. Florida

[HAV2FISH]

We just got home from a trip to Florida and while we were there we were introduces to Oscar fishing. We were taken to alligator alley along I-75. This is in south Florida just north of Fort Lauderdale.
If you have never fished for Oscars let me tell you it?s a blast. Oscars are a tropical fish that get up to about 4lbs for a big one. These fish are one of the best fighting fish pound for pound I have ever come across. We were all set up for bass fishing so our equipment was a little on the heave side but even with that these Oscars put up by far a better fight than any bass we caught. The down side on this fish is that they are a slimy fish when caught. The good side is there is no limit on how many you can catch, and they are great eating. In one full day of fishing we caught over 200 fish between 6 people on crappie jigs.
So if your interested in taking a trip south to get to warmer weather and do some fishing I would strongly recommend heading to alligator alley in Florida and do some Oscar fishing.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Oscar fishing in S. Florida

something new to me. but i bet they are fun.

 

[John_S]

Re: Oscar fishing in S. Florida

Like the ones in the pet stores? Are they an avasive species or native? For some reason I thought they were from central and south america. The ones I use to have were aggressive and could outgrow the tank. They loved goldfish.

 

[HAV2FISH]

Re: Oscar fishing in S. Florida

From what I was told by the people we were fishing with, these fish were transplanted to Florida. Im not sure from where. We were told that they are water tempiture sensitive and can only tolerate water down to about 65 degrees of so. Its my understanding that they are the same ones you can get from the pet store. We were all thinking about how we could get them back up north alive. We had dollar signs in our eyes all day long.

 

[JB]

Re: Oscar fishing in S. Florida

When I last fished the canals around Ft. Lauderdale in the late 80s oscars were just beginning to show up. I did catch one about 2lb while bass fishing.

Oscars were an aquarium fish imported from S. America, but they continue to grow and often outgrow their tanks. Then many people just took them out the back door and dumped them in the nearest canal. That is how they got started in S. Florida. It seemed an ideal environment for them.

When we found out how much fun they were to catch they may have been deliberately stocked.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Oscar fishing in S. Florida

What I heard is that there was a fish farm that stocked them for sale and a hurricane came through flooded the area.......thats all it took to establish a breeding population......I have had many oscars in my tanks ( Aquariums for you Texas folks) biggest were about 14 inches........big thick juicy filets I bet. My wife says fishing for Oscar is as bad as hunting for Dogs......I guess its the whole pet thing

 

[Bard1]

Re: Oscar fishing in S. Florida

When I last fished the canals around Ft. Lauderdale in the late 80s oscars were just beginning to show up. I did catch one about 2lb while bass fishing.

Oscars were an aquarium fish imported from S. America, but they continue to grow and often outgrow their tanks. Then many people just took them out the back door and dumped them in the nearest canal. That is how they got started in S. Florida. It seemed an ideal environment for them.

When we found out how much fun they were to catch they may have been deliberately stocked.

Yup, just like the pythons down in the Everglades.

 

[gonfishn]

Re: Oscar fishing in S. Florida

I have a 150 gallon tank that i have 2 tiger Oscars and one common. Raised them from fry. Over 5 years old now. One weighs in at 5 lbs and the other two are just under 4lbs. More like pets. They come to surface and take food out of hand. For exercise i feed them feeder gold fish. Farms now are raising them for the markets. Eatn one would be like eatn a Musky of which is taboo.

A friend of mine ate a musky once and has never caught one since.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Oscar fishing in S. Florida

Many aquarium fish started as a food fish......Tilapia for one......Or like I saw people selling peacocks yrs before i ever heard of them being a sportfish........I always felt like my Oscars were like a mix of a bass and a Panfish........Alot of my S.A. cichlids ( Dempsys and acarias) reminded me of panfish( Bluegills amd rock bass)

 

[Wee Hooker]

Re: Oscar fishing in S. Florida

Exotic panfish/Oscar fishing has been on my to do list for a while. One of these trips south, I will get to it. Having had an oscar in a 50 gal tank,, I can't imagion what a fight a 4# unit would give. WOW!