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Mayan Cichlids

I went to bed around 3 this morning, with the alarm set for 6:00. Around 7:45, I woke up. I vaguely recalled shutting off the alarm. So much for being on the lake at the crack of dawn.

Around noon I got my stuff together and headed over to Lake Ida, where I've previously fished alone and with José. On both occasions (and one other to which I don't feel like linking) I caught a "mystery fish" of some kind. See the previous articles for an image or two.

Turns out that the mystery fish is in fact a Mayan Cichlid. I caught one of them, then hooked into a bass that fought for five seconds before leaping into the air, throwing my crankbait ten feet further upwards in a lovely arc. I then hooked and landed another Mayan Cichlid, then landed a foot-long bass. Then another Mayan Cichlid, then another bass. All of these fish were about a foot long and a pound or a pound and a half or so in weight.

I cast another 50 times, and presuming the fish to be tired of my small bass-like crankbait, headed up into the canal system at the north end of Lake Ida. I drifted, throwing a buzz bait/jig thingy (a jig with a spoon on top) and the crankbait. Nada. On my way back I returned to "the spot" as I will call it - the only place I've caught a fish in Lake Ida - and caught another Mayan Cichlid. Perhaps I simply keep catching the same one over and over.

At least I caught white bass today too - a first for me on that lake (and in Florida). I was back home by five. Total paddling in my two "weekend" days this week: a relatively light three miles.

P.S. One last note: the wristwatch fishfinder worked quite nicely today, towed behind my boat. It helped me to identify possible structure that I'll have to explore at a later date with appropriate tackle (as soon as I figure out what that appropriate tackle may be, because it ain't an unweighted worm, that's for sure).