Description
Peacock Bass is one of my favorite fish. They have bright coloring and a fierce attitude. As soon as I saw a photo of one, I knew I had to catch one (preferably more than one). I caught my first at a small lake in Kauai, Hawaii. It was small but it jumped a lot and lived up to my expectations and made me hungry for more. I have had the opportunity to follow them in Panama, Florida, Brazil and Venezuela. One of the best things about them is that they each look slightly different in terms of coloring. A fully lit peacock is one of the most (if not the most) beautiful freshwater fish. They are very aggressive and crush topwater lures, which is their main draw for most anglers.
There are several species of Peacock Bass, but the main ones are the Three-Bar and the smaller Butterfly. The former are only found in the Amazon; the latter have been transplanted to other warm areas.
Peacock Bass taste great, but most break free. They grow to around 30 pounds, but fish that size are only found in the Amazon. In Florida, Panama and Hawaii where they have smaller butterfly species and 5lbs is a big fish in any of those places.
Approach
If you are fishing the smaller butterfly species, you can use fairly light baitcasting or spinning tackle. For the big ones in the Amazon, 30lb braided line should suffice, but if you are casting big lures you may want a thicker braid to be sure. You have to worry more about abrasion resistance than strength with the thinnest braid. They don’t tend to be particularly shy about lines. I like to fish with a 25lb fluorocarbon leader, but I’m not sure it’s necessary. However, I like the peace of mind of increased abrasion resistance. Great reels for these are the Daiwa Pluto and the Shimano Curado.
Techniques
Bass are caught both with lures and with bait, although in the Amazon they are mainly caught with lures.
lures
Large topwater prop lures are well known for attracting large peacocks in the Amazon. While these work, they are not a high percentage lure most of the time. However, the massive explosion that peacocks make when attacked is worth giving up a few hits. They should be fished in a rip-pause-rip rhythm most of the time. The rips should be 2-3 feet so you can throw out a lot of spray. This is not a subtle lure and the average size of fish you get is bigger than other lures. It’s good to always have a heavier rod rigged with one of these to make a few casts on a promising spot before trying smaller lures.
Probably the best lure for peacock bass is the oxtail jig of the type shown below. Those catch both the big and small, and my 19.5-pound peacock pictured above chewed on a jig. They also have the added benefit of catching a number of other interesting Amazon species that usually don’t hit prop lures. If you want action, this is your lure.
A jerkbait like a Rapala X-Rap or a Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow should catch some fish most of the time if you fish erratically with fast jerking. I once had a 15 lb peacock and a 6 lb peacock hooked to the same X-Rap. After a tough back and forth battle, the knot gave way right on the boat. I cursed a few times and thought that would be the end. However, a few minutes later, the lure floated with the fish still attached. I guess they got tired of fighting each other. We floated closer and I cast a cast with another lure to try and hook the lure. Unfortunately, the splash startled the larger fish and it went down, taking the smaller fish with it. I can still see them sinking into the depths and the pain has only subsided slightly over time. A big alligator came towards them and I guess it ate them.
For smaller butterfly peacocks in Hawaii, Panama, and Florida, small jerkbaits that are fished erratically work well. I once fished in Florida during spawning and the peacocks were visible near the protective shoal nest sites. They weren’t eating, but if you could get a jig right on top of their tails they would strike reflexively. Casting had to be extremely accurate (even a two-inch cast wouldn’t get a hit), but we caught our fair share of fish that way.
baits
I haven’t done much peacock bait fishing. In the Amazon, the piranhas often make it impossible. I tried slow trolling a big bait fish behind the boat in Brazil and the water literally boiled and was consumed by piranhas in seconds. In Panama, you can successfully fish for smaller peacocks using small sardine-like bait fish that are abundant in Gatun Lake, where they are found. There are a lot of little peacocks in that lake. I’m sure bait fish work well in areas without piranhas.
where to get the big ones
The tributaries of the Amazon River are where the largest ones are obtained. The main river does not have good fishing and neither do many of the tributaries. The best fisheries are generally slow-moving “blackwater” tributaries. You have a very short window in most areas to fish; usually only a few weeks a year. Most of the year the water level is too high and the water spills out into the jungle. The fish head there and become very scattered and very difficult to catch. A good operator will cancel a trip at this point rather than let anglers suffer from a bad catch. The dry season concentrates the fish in a smaller area and makes them much easier to catch. However, the dry season can (and almost always does) vary from year to year in a particular area, and rains during the dry season can raise water levels and make fishing more difficult. This fishery is hard to time, but when you time it right it’s amazing.
The Amazon fisheries are generally accessed in one of three ways: fixed accommodation, mother ship, or floating tents/campsites. Fixed lodges can offer good fishing, but if the water levels are low, which is often the case, you may be stuck catching few or no fish. Motherships offer more mobility to go where water levels are optimal, although in very dry conditions they may not be able to access all areas. Floating tents offer the most mobility and therefore the best chance of hitting things at the right time. There is really no way to fish these remote areas cheaply as many are on restricted Indian reservations and you could be in serious trouble if you tried to get there on your own. If you want to go after big Peacock Bass, you have to resign yourself to the cost.
Some of the other non-Amazon fisheries are much less sensitive to water levels. Lakes in Venezuela such as Guri or Camatagua offer fishing throughout the year although, like anywhere else, they can be hot and cold. There are also significant security concerns in many parts of Venezuela. I lived there for 6 years and I still have concerns, especially about Caracas. Florida has good year-round fishing for the smaller butterflies, which are fun to catch and brightly colored. You can fish all you want in Gatun Lake, Panama, but they are very small.