movement

[miguel]

Dear larry or anyone.Which movement do i have to make with live bait (dead) to have the most succes with peacock bass.PS there are piranhas in the water.Will lures work to?

[dahlberg]

Don't use dead bait for pcocks. In water with those fishy meat grinders use topwater lures, minnow baits, and jigs with a 6" wire leader.
good luck
L

[mig rod]

Hey Miguel
You say there are Pirahnas, try using a small Pirahna
as live bait, I bet a big Peacock will hit it.

Peacocks can't be caught with dead bait.
Not even lures that have a pause in their retrieve.

Peacock Bass is a visual predator. It's instincts are
to attack fast moving prey. They are not scavengers
in any way, but predators with a highly acute prey drive.
To catch them, you must present them either with an active
live prey that they are used to eating in their particular area,
or give them a Fast Retrieving Lure such as Larry recommended.

Important (What ever you use for Peacocks, it must seem
alive and with fast movements to entice their
highly predatory instincts.)

[dahlberg]

HI Mig,
YOu're partly right according the pcocks I've caught. The largest I ever caught was a 43" fish that hit a modified minnow lure I made that swims forward and upward slowly on the retrieve. After the fish revealed itself by boiling at a ripped topwater prop bait and wouldn't come back, I purposely threw the lure into a low hanging bush (the best thick cover near where the fish was) and snapped it repeatedly so it whacked the surface for at least a minute before pulling it free. It then hit on a snap, twitch pause retrieve.
A not very fast wide zig zag retrieve with a large walking bait is also very effective. Often more effective than a ripper.
Generally you're right, but the speed deal IMO is more a function of water temp. than any special or unique qualities of pcock. Tigerfish, dorados, and nile perch exhibit similar behavior in high 80 low 90 degree water.
I've seen many pcocks caught on dead bait slow trolled, admittedly it's about 1/20th as effective as live bait, but never say never.
I've tried paranhas and they are not very effective, except for more paranhas and catfish.
One of my favorites are mudfish, which are usually the easiest to find and catch.
The moral of the story is never say never, and never put yourself in a box as far as what might work and what might not. Let the fish decide.
An old friend of mine, Doug Hannon wrote a book called big bass magic in which he discusses attracting and triggering characteristics of lures. IMO it's some of the most important and dead-on "fish theory" stuff that's ever been written. I'd recommend every fisherman who uses lures to catch fish read it.
best,
L

[dahlberg]

HI Mig,
YOu're partly right according the pcocks I've caught. The largest I ever caught was a 43" fish that hit a modified minnow lure I made that swims forward and upward slowly on the retrieve. After the fish revealed itself by boiling at a ripped topwater prop bait and wouldn't come back, I purposely threw the lure into a low hanging bush (the best thick cover near where the fish was) and snapped it repeatedly so it whacked the surface for at least a minute before pulling it free. It then hit on a snap, twitch pause retrieve.
A not very fast wide zig zag retrieve with a large walking bait is also very effective. Often more effective than a ripper.
Generally you're right, but the speed deal IMO is more a function of water temp. than any special or unique qualities of pcock. Tigerfish, dorados, and nile perch exhibit similar behavior in high 80 low 90 degree water.
I've seen many pcocks caught on dead bait slow trolled, admittedly it's about 1/20th as effective as live bait, but never say never.
I've tried paranhas and they are not very effective, except for more paranhas and catfish.
One of my favorites are mudfish, which are usually the easiest to find and catch.
The moral of the story is never say never, and never put yourself in a box as far as what might work and what might not. Let the fish decide.
An old friend of mine, Doug Hannon wrote a book called big bass magic in which he discusses attracting and triggering characteristics of lures. IMO it's some of the most important and dead-on "fish theory" stuff that's ever been written. I'd recommend every fisherman who uses lures to catch fish read it.
best,
L

[mig rod]

Hey Larry
I agree with you, never say never. I learned something new,
I never heard of a Peacock caught on dead bait, interesting.
Also my knowledge of Peacocks only ranges to the Butterfly
species, the others might behave differently. But you are right,
it's best to try as many different techniques depending on other
factors such as water clarity and water temp etc...The water temp
here really makes or breaks my Peacock fishing, they won't even look
at my lures until the sun is heating up the water a good 2 hours.
I guess like all types of species, there are baits and lures that
work most of the time, but not all of the time. The most important
factor is presenting the correct bait or lure in the correct time
and place. Not an easy proposition at all. Oh well, thats fishing.

Thanks for the recommendation of the book Big Bass Magic by
Doug Hannon. I'll try to find that , sounds like a good read.

Take care

[miguel]

Dear mig rod,i caught 11 peacock bass each weighing about 10 pounds on a small dead fish.I was fishing with a rod made out of bamboe making a side to side motion.Icaught them in about two hours.

[mig rod]

Hey Miguel

That is AWESOME!! My friend, glad to see your efforts paid well.
10 pounds is a trophy for us here in Florida. Very well done, and
on dead bait no less. I've never caught a Peacock on dead bait.
See, you came on this forum to get info and instead you taught
me something
You could probably out fish me with your bamboo and me with
my spinning gear.
Keep it up!!!!

I just got back from my Peacock trip as well, landed over
twenty but got three real nice ones. I used live shiners.
What seemed to work the best were the smaller shiners.
The bigger shiners were enticing the smaller Peacocks,
and the smaller 3 inch shiners were enticing the bigger
lunkers. The best bites were when reeling in the shiners
real fast and then letting them drop, as they wiggled down
the big ones would hammer it hard!Go figure, in fishing, one never knows.

[miguel]

Dear mig rod,peacocks attack almost anything that moves(not all the time)right?it doesnt look dead when you make it move.The next time i wont use a bamboe rod,the last time one grabbed it so hard that the line was making this wierd noise as it went through the water.It broke the rod.I estimate it at around 40 pounds.

[Bionic]

[quote="miguel"]Dear mig rod,peacocks attack almost anything that moves(not all the time)right?it doesnt look dead when you make it move.The next time i wont use a bamboe rod,the last time one grabbed it so hard that the line was making this wierd noise as it went through the water.It broke the rod.I estimate it at around 40 pounds.[/quote]

More than likely it was an Aimara (Wolf fish) They love cut or dead bait
and are strong as bulls. Suriname is home to some of the best fishing
for them. As far as the peacocks go the species you have will go maybe
15lbs. The world record is 12+ lbs. I personally like the wolf fish better.

Scott

[miguel]

Dear bionic.It couldnt have been an Anjoemara (your so called Aimara.).They dont live in the Blommestein meer(dutch for Professor van Blommestein lake).They live deeper in the jungle.P.S the only species of fish are peacock bass and piranha and fish of about 4 inches.