UTER
Photo: Jón Helgi Jónsson (Amything), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Astronotus ocellatus
How to catch Oscar
Oscar feed in 65–95°F water and bite best at 76–88°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 1 water.
5 pts · trophy at 12"Feeds 65–95°FBest 76–88°FIn season nowCanalPond / pitLake
About
The aquarium fish gone wild: a thick, dark cichlid with an eyespot on the tail in the Everglades canals, that hits a beetle spin like a bass and is surprisingly good to eat.
How to fish it
The canals along Tamiami Trail and Alligator Alley; a beetle spin or a worm along the edge in the warm months.
What it eats
wormssmall spinnerscrickets
Live bait for it
Grass shrimpTwo or three on a #6 hook under a small cork — the bream, crappie, sheepshead and mangrove snapper bait nobody sells.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader10–20 lb fluorocarbon
Hook#2–3/0
Jig head1/8–1/2 oz
Braid10–30 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereA nonnative species — no bag limit; confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
Fresh water by state