Florida State Record Mayan Cichlid

Appears the vacant Florida state record for the (invasive) Mayan Cichlid was filled at the end of November by an angler named Jonathan Johnson.

Mr. Johnson's 2.37-pound catch is an impressive feat. I've caught a few Mayan Cichlids while visiting my in-laws in Boca Raton and I'm not sure if any of them even approached a pound.

One of my palm-sized Mayan Cichlids from a few years back

More about the Mayan Cichlid from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission:

The FWC made the Mayan cichlid, a nonnative species from Central America, eligible for state record status in 2012. But, the record has remained vacant until now. The Mayan cichlid was first reported in Florida in the early 1980s. During the mid-1990s, the fish began expanding its range and has become common throughout south Florida’s freshwater lakes and canals. Both local and out-of-state anglers target the now-popular fish using methods similar to those used for sunfish. The bright red coloration and scrappy disposition of the Mayan cichlid when caught caused FWC biologists to nickname it the “atomic sunfish.”

Coincidentally, I'm back in Boca Raton for the holidays, so maybe I'll give that cichlid record (or some of the other state freshwater marks) a challenge.  On tenkara of course (ha!)  - that'd be pretty cool.

Probably not gonna happen, but doesn't mean I can't break a few rods trying...

Sharing Some Vacation Pictures

While everyone is still chatting up "Sacred Cows"...I'm in Florida enjoying a week of vacation.  (Thanks to everyone who has commented on that post to date).  Clearly, with that post in the rear-view mirror, Troutrageous! has peaked and there's no way to stop the decline.  So rather than try, I figured I'd just put up some vacation pictures...

The first batch are from the in-laws' in Boca Raton.  Backyard canal fishing and goofing around with Lilly were pretty much what was in the cards.

One of a few Mayan Cichlids...little buggers fight really hard.

Detail of tail

Gill

Test driving the Tenkara USA Ito...yeah it was overkill

Lilly intently reading the latest Windknots & Tangled Lines post

Tiny frogs in a beer glass

The last batch are from our arrival in Islamorada.  No tarpon fishing (like fishingpoet), just hanging out at a resort for a few days, and the eating and drinking that goes with it.

Lilly saying goodbye...as she's staying at "Camp Mom-Mom"

Fishing pier behind the hotel

Dinner spot...was good.

Pie.  Enough said.

Lots & Lots of Little Fish

Perhaps if you have kids...or have spent any amount of time over a friend or family member's house that has kids, you may have seen the "Lots & Lots of Jets and Planes" commercial.

Perhaps annoying at first, it actually becomes quite intoxicating.  I wish I had the delivery of that announcer.

Anyway, first night of the Florida family vacation visiting the in-laws, I snuck out back for about an hour to do some fishing in the backyard canal.  Nothing serious...just looking to wet a line.  There's usually panfish a plenty, and they didn't disappoint.

What struck me was their size, all on the smallish end of the spectrum.  Usually get into a few largish specimens, but no dinner plate fish here.  No big deal, because the action was relatively constant (when not picking out algae from my fly - damn you Florida summers).

I can just hear that commercial announcer now..."Lots & Lots of Little Fish"...heck, I'd buy that video.

A Christmas Recap

We had a good Christmas this year.  Not that I'm bragging or anything....  Okay, maybe just a little.

It started with presents...of course.

Lilly made out like a bandit.  Nintendo DS was atop her list, and Santa was a good listener...

And Wuggle Pets?  If you have a kid that watches cartoons on cable, surely you've seen the commercial...

After lounging around the house for a bit, assembling and playing with toys, I went fishing out back in the canal that runs behind the house.  Had to try to catch a Christmas fish, right?

Look...there's one...

While I was fishing, K.C. was using her "new" DSLR camera to shoot great pictures, like this...

...until I became the subject...

Where was Lilly while all this was going on?

C'mon, did you expect her to be anywhere else but glued to her new DS?

Oh, caught a fish or two too.

Rounded out the night with a nice dinner, goofed around on the computer a bit (including writing this post), then off to bed.  See you again in '12 Santa Claus...we'll be good, we promise.

ROAD TRIP!

The Troutrageous! Clan is embarking on a journey...one that we may not emerge from in one piece. Yup, we're driving to Florida (from Pennsylvania) for Christmas. Yes, I'm fleeing the horror that has been work for the last month, and on Thursday, will embark on the horror that is an extended family road trip.

No, no WallyWorld this year, but we're visiting the inlaws down in south Florida... which should make for a pretty interesting time... 19 or so hours worth of interesting to be exact.

We've tried to split the trip down into four 4 hour segments, with an overnight in Savannah, GA, so in my infinite wisdom, have attempted to plan ahead and expect the trip down to look something like this...

6:00 AM - Leave house

6:45 AM - First "Are We There Yet?"

7:30 AM - Pee Break for Lilly

8:45 AM - Pee Break for K.C.

10:00 AM - Planned Stop #1 - Fredericksburg, VA - "America's Most Historic City"...and home to Salsa dancing according to Google.

It's electric...

11:00 AM - Crap, Lilly's DVD player is out of batteries

11:37 AM - Enough Kidz Bop!!!!!  The Best of the Doobie Brothers is put in CD player.

12:05 PM - Pee Break for K.C.

12:16 PM - Pee Break for Lilly

1:15 PM - Break into the snacks.  Cheetos orange encrusted steering wheel ensues.

2:00 PM - Lose feeling in feet.

3:00 PM - Planned Stop #2 - Fayetteville, NC - Why?  Because it's there...and much like this champ, Lilly likes horses.

Lookin' good Rusty...

3:30 PM - Back on the road

4:20 PM - You mean we can't stop for 4:20?

5:00 PM - Damn, it's 5 o'clock already?

5:03 PM - No, were not there yet.

5:16 PM - Pee Break for Lilly & K.C

5:23 PM - I wet myself from not taking a pee break

6:03 PM - Almost time to stop for the night...

7:30 PM - Planned Stop #3 - Savannah, GA.  Food.  Hotel.  Bed.  This is where Paula Deen's from, right?

Got Butter?

6:00 AM - Wake up and realize we still have 7 more hours of driving...

6:30 AM - Find a Shoney's and indulge in the breakfast buffet.  Put grits on the plate, but leave confused.

7:25 AM - Mountain Dew #31 goes down the gullet

8:03 AM - Slip into the zone...dreaming of fishing...unconsciously driving the rest of the way to...

11:00 AM - DAYTONA BEACH!  Which reminds me of watching MTV Spring Break while I was in high school, so envious of all of the drunken debauchery going on.  Oh and boobies.

11:30 AM - Drive, drive, drive...oops, sorry Officer, I didn't realize I was speeding.  Want a T! sticker?

12:00 PM - No, Lilly, those signs don't say Disneyworld Exit Right.

12:10 PM - NO LILLY, THOSE SIGNS DON'T SAY DISNEYWORLD EXIT RIGHT!!!

12:15 PM - NO LILLY,< @(*#^&%Y(*@#Y&$(*#&)(!!!!!!

1:30 PM - Immunity to 5 Hour Energy developed, slip back into mindless driving.

3:00 PM - Finally end up in Boca Raton, Florida.  Immediately pass out.

Or something like that.

And that's only the drive down. I'm sure the drive back North will be even more enjoyable.

Have any of you ever done a similar trip? With kid(s)? Any advice to maintain sanity?

Also, if you've done the Florida trip before, any suggested stops along the way?  

The last time I did the PA to FL road trip I was in college, and clearly had different priorities (i.e. yell out the window at girls driving by - as if that would make them stop an immediately succumb to my charms - and of course, acquiring alcohol and fireworks).

Would love to read your comments below.

Pretty Peacocks Redux

I plan on trying to go fishing this morning.  We're supposed to get more rain today, which on top of the already swollen state of the local creeks and streams (thanks to Irene) should make for an interesting morning of fishing.  Again...if Mother Nature cooperates.

So today, primarily due to lack of inspiration, here's a re-post from almost 4 years ago.  At this point in 2007 the blog was a few posts old, I had never touched a fly rod, had no idea what tenkara was, and I wrote a pretty simple, straight-laced blog post.  I should probably take some notes...

Guess it took playing with beads & feathers on a consistent basis before I got comfortable flying the freak flag on the blog.

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Pretty Peacocks
September 16, 2007

So, just got back from Florida again. Did a little canal fishing, this time with some 4" Yamamoto Senkos & a Heddon Zara Puppy I picked up at Bass Pro. (By the way, had a Scottie Pippen sighting at the Ft. Lauderdale store).

Anyway...I usually only have luck catching Bream in the canals behind Gary & Lorraine's, which I caught plenty of again, but this time scored 2 Largemouth Bass, and 2 Peacock Bass. Now let's get something straight, these aren't Amazon Peacocks, but they put up a nice fight regardless.

The Peacocks were really blowing up Zara Puppy - topwater fishing is so enjoyable. Unfortunately, as with most fishing outings, I'm most dismayed by the "one that got away." Towards the end of my second afternoon, something really took my bait hard, and snapped my line outright. Took the entire rig. Was only using 8-lb mono, so probably had a small fray in it and it just gave way.
Oh well...next time.

Wednesday Nibbles - Cleaning Out The Cameras Edition

So not a real edition of Wednesday Nibbles this week.  Since I just got home from a weeklong vacation, I chose to clean out the family's collection of cameras instead.  That said, there's a few photos/videos that haven't been posted yet...but also probably aren't worthy of their own post...so maybe it is Wednesday Nibbles after all...anyway, here they are...(make sure at minimum you scroll to the end).

I caught a lot of bluegill in the canal behind the in-laws' house.  I did get my bass before I left...even though it was panfish sized...

Sanibel Island is littered with shells.  I think there's more shells on the beach than sand.  Here's K.C. with her score.

Sanibel is also very pet friendly.  Was glad Bil, the Spanish Water Dog could tag along.  Also glad the in-laws don't have a cat.

Another picture of Lilly & I in the surf at sunset.

We ate a lot of food.  Not a single calorie do I regret.

Hot Pastrami

Jaxson's sundaes - yes, I got my ice cream

Calamari remnants.  They didn't go uneaten.

Strawberry french toast

Lilly.  I love this kid.

West Siiiiiiide!

And then there was this dude at the airport...

He was dressed...well...sort of like Alex P. Keaton's dad from Family Ties, except he rocked this hat with a tiny feather pointing out the top up front.  He was a sight to behold.  

And, I hate to say it, but he ate like a monkey...perhaps a gorilla.  I was waiting for him to poke a stick down a hole in the floor, pull out ants, and start munching.  I've got video (edited for time - this went on for 10 minutes) to prove it - BTW, he's squatting like a baseball catcher in the aisle, not sitting on a chair.

Very entertaining while waiting to get on a flight.  Things start getting nutty at about 0:26.

Yes...I'm an awful person.  Karma will surely catch up to me. (It actually already did cutting my URL short in the movie credits.)

Sooooooooooo...to make up for it, time for the blog love...which are a simple congrats to two fellow bloggers (actually 5 this week).  

The first are the fab four that won the TU/OBN Montana Fishapalooza contest -  Pretty awesome (& after reading each of their winning posts, well deserved).  They're seemingly in for what should be the trip of a lifetime.  As a regular reader of all 4 blogs, I'm really looking forward to following along as they document their journey.

Second shout goes to Ben @ Arizona Wanderings.  He got a nice post from TC of Trout Underground fame yesterday.  His Mini Hoppers (which I am proud to have a few in my arsenal) have been deemed by the Czar of Mt. Shasta as quite possibly the ultimate small stream fly.  Lucky for you, Ben gives a full tying tutorial on his website, or for those that are bobbin & vise-challenged, sells them too.

Who's The Idiot That Brought the Knife to the Gun Fight?

...that (of course) would be yours truly.

Before I get into this story, let me set the stage.  It's Father's Day 2011... about 9ish in the morning.  I'm on vacation with the fam in Boca Raton visiting the in-laws.  The plan had been to shoot down to Dania Beach and get some Dad's Day lunch & ice cream at Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor.  Seriously... if you haven't been, go there... and if you're in Florida... make that immediately!

I'm sitting outside, watching Lilly swim in the swimming pool, and K.C. busts out of the sliding door and says, "we're going to spend the night in Sanibel, grab your rod."  Sanibel... huh... I wanted ice cream... what...???

Lilly don't mess around

Anyway, about an hour and a half of drying Lilly off and packing, we're in the car headed west to Sanibel Island.  It's like two hours through "Alligator Alley" listening to my mother-in-law identify every stick, twig, and branch in the water as a gator.  Okay... that might be a bit of an exaggeration... because as she'll tell you the gators are obviously only on found the north side, never the south side, duh.

Coast to Coast...just like pre-HIV Magic Johnson

So we got to Sanibel Island and first off it's gorgeous, but second, it's kinda remote.  Like not remote where you have to "hike in" or anything, but remote enough that there's no Target (to K.C.'s dismay), and a trip to the one grocery store is like a 20 minute drive on the only road that runs through the place.

Net of it was...we got there, but not on the planned timetable... see we went to the wrong motel first... drove around some more trying to get our bearings... had to use Google Maps on the smartphone to find the right motel (because nobody seems to knows how decipher the incredibly hard to work in-dash GPS of the 'rent's Subaru Outback)... made it to the motel & dropped the bags off at the room... drove another 20 minutes to get lunch (yum, BTW)... and then finally back to the motel to sleep for a bit before tossing some swimsuits on.  Sound like your last vacation?  Probably does.

Our room was right next to Thurston & Lovey Howell's

Lilly wasn't having any of that heat, but unicorn socks and but popcorn worked fine

We would have went to the beach sooner, but we settled in around 2:30/3:00 and I think it was 137 degrees on the beach.  Some of the locals might have said there was a cool sea breeze comfortably knocking off 3 or 4 degrees, but there wasn't.  Just eyeball-liquefying heat that no shelter beneath a poorly anchored beach umbrella could diminish.

Sanibel's version of a vulture seeking roadkill

I will say that waiting until about 6:00 PM to go to the beach was an awesome call.  First off, there was nobody there.  Like nobody.  Really.  Which was good... because there were no witnesses to watch me make a jackass of myself in the surf for about an hour and a half, hopelessly flailing a trout rod back in forth in search of snook, marlin, illegal immigrants, or whatever the heck swims in the Gulf of Mexico waters.  Yeah, I'm no saltwater fisherman.

Two minutes of casting, fifteen of tangles...rinse...repeat...

Had we of been there longer, I probably would have sought out the the bait shop, hardware store, or wherever the locals buy stuff for some fishing advice, but we were looking at 2 and a half hours until sunset.  So I had to make do for a bit with the aforementioned 4-weight rod, 5-weight line, and saltwater flies I won in a Twitter contest more appropriate for a 7-9 weight rod.  (Sorry Rob @ A Bad Backcast...they look really nice in the fly box, but I done you wrong!)  Trying to muscle that damn fly out a mere 20-30 feet while dodging the sharpened steel erratically whizzing by my head was downright exhausting.

Well...at least I look the part

After playing with Lilly for a bit, I switched to a similarly under-powered spin rod that my mother-in-law brought while she & K.C. went out to collect shells.  As with the fly rod, I had nothing to put on it... yeah, there were some rubber bass worms in her tackle box, but I needed to be more Blair Wiggins, less Bill Dance.  So I tied on a different one of the flies I mentioned earlier - it had dumbbell eyes for weight - and had at it for another 30 minutes.  And no, I didn't need to use a bobber... I had one right beside me the whole time.

Parent of the Year Nominee

In the end, what did I catch?  Not a single fish...l ikely a torn rotator cuff... and still no ice cream... but on the other hand memories with the fam I wouldn't trade for anything... including a showstopping view of the sun setting over the horizon.