How to Catch Peacock Bass

Peacock Bass Primer Introduction A Fisherman's Disease  Peacock Bass Primer - Part I Where - When to Catch Peacock Bass    Primer - Part II The Fish The Fishery The Strategy Tackle Surface Lures Subsurface Lures Tactics Playing Peacocks Go Fishing    Peacock Bass Lures Fishing with the Peacock Bass Jig Buy Specialized Tackle   Amazon Sportfish Exotic Species Encyclopedia A compendium of Amazon fish species

Peacock Bass Primer Part II Selecting and booking the right peacock bass trip is the first step toward catching a trophy fish.  But, even though an outfitter may bring you to the perfect spot at the perfect time, you still have to go out and catch the elusive critters yourself.  Therefore, we offer you a compendium of tackle, tactics and techniques designed to get them to bite and to help you win the fight.  Hopefully, armed with a wisely booked trip and a fine tuned arsenal of tackle, this peacock primer is all you'll need to bring that 15 or 20 or even 25 pounder to the boat.

The Fish

    No other sport fish in the world approaches the peacock bass' reputation for ferocious, awe inspiring strikes and sheer tackle busting power.  The peacock behaves like an overly aggressive largemouth bass on steroids with a really bad attitude.  When a peacock decides to strike a surface lure, it hits with such power, noise and impact that you have a hard time believing it's real.  It can literally startle an unsuspecting angler into reflexively flinching and trying to drag the bait away.  Subsurface strikes can be no less impressive, feeling as though your bait somehow got hooked onto an underwater freight train.  The peacock's violent behavior and amazing displays of sheer strength seem impossible for a fish twice its size.  It seems to expend more energy than it can possibly contain for the first minute or two of its encounter with an angler.  You'd think that a fish that fights this hard would tire very fast, but fishermen quickly learn that even as it comes to the boat, there's usually another hook-straightening burst of power or line-peeling run remaining.
    Peacock bass are Cichlids, members of the most highly evolved group of fishes in the world.  Hundreds of species exist in both the old and the new world and represent some of the most diverse fish in the underwater domain.  Many, such as oscars from South America and the mbuna from Africa, are among the most popular home aquarium fishes, while other species such as tilapia, are farmed to provide food for our tables.  Feeding almost entirely on other fish, peacock bass have evolved into one of the most efficient predators in the genus.  Their speed, strength, size and ferocity enable them to make a meal of almost every other species of fish in the Amazon.  Like the largemouth bass, their huge, bucket-mouth can engulf surprisingly large prey, making almost anything smaller than them a good candidate for dinner. Sixteen recognized species are found in the Amazon
   Cichla temensis, called "tucunare azul or paca" in Brazil and "pavon azul or pinta lapa" in Spanish speaking countries, are very sensitive to water temperature and are therefore essentially restricted to the equatorial tropics of Amazonia.  Specimens of this species of peacock bass, reaching as large as 27 pounds, have been caught by anglers.  Reports of commercially caught fish of over 35 pounds have come from the market in Manaus.  There are surely plenty of new records still swimming in the vast, relatively unexplored waters of the Amazon.  Tucunare coloring and appearance is widely varied through its range and specimens from the same waters can often appear to be members of different species.  All specimens have the trademark tail spot for which they are named, as well as black markings on the gill plates.  Body color can vary from a dark brownish green through deep yellow to almost silver.  Three black, vertical bars of varying size and intensity mark their sides and blood red runs along their bellies and colors their lower fins. A common color variant, called "paca" displays dotted, horizontal white lines overlaying the pattern on their sides.  This form is associated with specimens in non-reproductive mode (It is said that specimens with this color variation are even stronger and more tenacious than their brethren.)   In some clear water fisheries, peacock's fins are streaked with an unearthly electric blue.  It's hard to believe that a predatory fish as fierce as a peacock can also be so beautiful.
Cichla Orinocensis,  the Amazon butterfly peacock, is found in much of the same waters as it's larger cousin.  These peacocks (called borboleto in Brazil) are differentiated by three black rosettes marking their sides instead of the black bars of temensis.  Although rarely exceeding 7 or 8 pounds, they are terrific fighters, readily strike many of the same baits and at times can be every bit as aggressive as as their larger cousins.   A third species, Cichla Monoculus, (or papoca) is found in the southern extent of C. temensis range and rarely exceeds 4 or 5 pounds.

The Fishery

The Amazon basin, located mostly in Northern Brazil, but extending into parts of Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Surinam, is essentially a gigantic, shallow bowl ranging no more than 500 feet above sea level.  This low-lying region is almost completely surrounded; by higher ground to the south (the Brazilian Shield), the mighty Andes to the west and bluffs, plains and mountainous regions to the north (the Guyana Shield).  Water flows into the basin from all three directions, and then east, to the Atlantic ocean.  The huge, uninterrupted jungle canopy returns tremendous amounts of water to the air through transpiration (release of water vapor through plant pores), creating its own internal weather systems.  The mountain barriers serve to trap additional moisture from trade winds and high altitude clouds, adding even more water to the vast rainforest ecosystem.  The result is rain.  Lots and lots of rain.  Daily downpours occur during rainy seasons extending for more than half a year throughout Amazonia.  Rivers can rise and fall as much as forty feet during the course of a normal year as a result of the Amazon basin's prodigious production of rain

Note the high banks and the log suspended in the branches 30 feet above the water.

Amazon Seasons - The Amazon river system is bisected by the equator.  The  earth's axial tilt and coriolis forces are reversed on opposite sides of the equator.  In temperate zones, while one hemisphere is enjoying it's summer season, the other is in the midst of winter.  In the equatorial tropics, temperatures don't vary greatly and seasons are more clearly differentiated by rainfall amounts.  North of the equator, the dry season corresponds most closely with the north temperate zone's winter and the reverse holds true in the south.  The result is that parts of the Amazon are in the midst of their rainy season, while other areas are in the dry, low-water part of their cycle.  The timing of seasonal cycles varies additionally with the river system's distance from the equator.  The entire Amazon basin goes through a complex series of seasonal and regional water level changes, allowing anglers to pursue peacock bass in the Amazon for almost six months of the year.

    Every aspect of the trophy peacock bass fishery is governed by this cycle of moisture.  At the start of the rainy season, the rivers rise and begin to overflow their banks and the waters spread into low-lying regions of jungle.  These cyclically flooded areas, called varzea and igapo in Brazil, gradually form a vast floodplain surrounding the river channel.  As the waters rise, the baitfish head off into the jungle to feed on the rich forage available there.  The peacocks follow right behind them, the entire population of the rivers leaving for greener pastures.   The water level can rise as much as forty feet above dry season levels.  Even if anglers could tolerate the torrential rains and the discomforts associated with them, finding the fish in the middle of the flooded jungle is next to impossible.  Furthermore, if you managed to hook-up, picture the difficulty of threading a fishing line (with a big, extremely uncooperative fish on the end) through a thicket of trunks and leaves and branches.  The rainy season is not the time to go peacock bass fishing.

When to Fish - As the rains come to an end in the areas feeding a river, water levels begin to drop, typically first in the headwaters and then further downstream.  The waters recede from the flooded jungles and once again become confined in the lagoons and river channels.  The baitfish, and of course their consumers, the peacock bass, return as well.  During the early part of the dry season, the peacocks feed voraciously on the fattened and concentrated baitfish.  This is prime time for peacock anglers.  After a month of heavy feeding, they begin to spawn.  Unlike largemouth bass, who become aggressive and pugnacious when on the spawning beds, peacocks simply gather their young and retreat from fishermen presenting lures.  Fishing gets slow for a while after the spawn, then sometimes picks up again when the peacocks send their babies off and begin to fatten up again in preparation for the onset of the rainy season. The optimal time to fish for peacocks is the pre-spawn period, those four weeks or so after the rivers drop and before the fish get on the spawning beds.
    Luckily for fishermen, different rivers reach low water levels at different times.  Even within a single river, the spawn may work its way downstream over several weeks.  Anglers can fish in the Amazon from July through November in the south and December through March in the north and, with adequate mobility, be able to access good fishing throughout.
    The rivers of Amazonia are typically described in three different categories. The soil and geological characteristics of the river's drainage basin typically are the primary determining factors of the water type of the river.  Although rivers in the same region of Amazonia are quite often of the same water type, it is not uncommon for neighboring rivers draining into the same system to be of entirely different categories.

    Black Water - The rivers of northwestern Amazonia are unique in many respects.  Most of them are extremely acidic and very low in biomass.  Fed by tributaries draining the austere soils of regions bordering Columbia and Venezuela, the Rio Negro is the center of the Amazon's blackwater fishery.  The water literally appears black because of staining by dissolved tannins.  Tannin is the same pigmented chemical that gives tea its color.  In fact, if you look at a cupful of Rio Negro water, it would look very much like a cup of weak tea.  When viewed in the gigantic quantities present in this massive river, it simply appears black.  Surprisingly, however, visibility is good in these waters.  That means that fish are strongly visually stimulated.  The look and color of lures becomes important in these conditions.
    The tributaries of the Rio Negro provide access to the world's biggest peacock bass.  Black water fisheries are found mostly north of the Amazon river and typically experience their dry season during the Northern hemisphere's fall and winter, November through March.  These rivers are strikingly beautiful with their austere surroundings and white sand beaches, set off by richly colored, tannin stained water.  The low biomass in these rivers means lower numbers of microscopic animals, lower numbers of baitfish, and consequently lower numbers of peacock bass.  But they're big!  The world's record 27-pound peacock bass came from blackwater as does the great preponderance of 20-pound plus fish.  Anglers fishing in these rivers can typically expect to catch fewer than 20 fish per day but they have a very good chance for a huge trophy fish.
    Blackwater peacocks are readily caught on topwater lures.  Subsurface lures such as Redfins and Rapalas and of course, the highly effective peacock bass jigs are also very productive.  Fish can be found and caught in the lagoons and cuts adjoining these rivers.  The lagoons are often quite large with a variety of structure, depths and configurations, offering a wide range of productive possibilities for fishermen.

    Blue Water - Blue water is really better described as simply clear and colorless.  These rivers often empty into muddy or stained waters and can often be isolated tributaries in an otherwise different system.  Blue water rivers occur both above and below the equator and so can be fished from July to November in the south and December through March in the north.  Various tributaries of both the Rio Branco and the Rio Madeira provide great fishing in some of the lushest and most beautiful surroundings in Amazonia.
    During the dry season, when these rivers are at their lowest, the water can become absolutely crystal clear.  Visibility becomes extremely good in these waters.  The strong impact of visual stimulation on the fish makes these rivers very productive with a wide variety of lures.  The big surface lures provide exciting fishing with a high preponderance of lunkers.  The entire range of subsurface lures is also productive in this fishery.  But these rivers are truly fantastic for the rapidly fished peacock bass jig.  Fish are readily caught here in lagoons as well as in the river itself and it's tributaries.  A day's worth of probing the structure filled lagoons or fast water near rocky structure can produce 40 or 50, up to 100 fish per day for a busy angler.  The right combination of colors on these jigs becomes very important in these conditions.  A little bit of experimentation for the first day or two will allow anglers who bring or tie a variety of patterns, to find the optimal combination and to have an absolute blast in this type of fishery.

    White (Muddy) Water - The term white water conjures up visions of fast, wild rivers with treacherous rapids.  Nothing could be farther from the truth in Amazonia.  A better description for these slow moving, languid rivers might be muddy or cloudy water.  True white water systems, such as the Rio Solimoes are fed by sources from the mountainous Andes west of the Amazon basin.  As the waters cascade from the heights they churn through eroding fissures and loess fields, picking up suspended particles throughout their descent.  Upon reaching the low lying Amazon basin, these particle laden waters form the white water rivers of Amazonia.
    The Rio Solimoes flows into Manaus, Brazil, where it meets the Rio Negro to form the main body of the Amazon River.  The black water of the Rio Negro flows next to the white water of the Solimoes for several miles before mixing.  (This amazing sight, strikingly visible from the air, is called the meeting of the waters.)  Although peacocks can be present in true white water, such as the Rio Branco, it doesn't generally lend itself to high concentrations of readily accessed fish and is rarely exploited.
    Cloudy, silty or muddy conditions can occur in rivers in other systems, such as the Matupiri and the Caures, typically caused by daily turnover of relatively shallow lagoons.  These rivers, however, are often very productive and readily yield good numbers and plenty of large fish.  The low visibility conditions in these rivers can make topwaters the most productive lures.  Subsurface lures will still produce, but not nearly as effectively as in clear conditions and the usually super-productive jig, hardly raises a strike unless equipped with an internal rattle.  Color is not a major issue in cloudy water, but sound certainly is.  Lures with rattles or noise-making commotion are the angler's best tools in these rivers.  Fishing is most productive in lagoons and sometimes at the mouths of streams, inlets and tributaries.

The Strategy

We've all heard the expression that "5% of the fishermen catch 95% of the fish", and for the most part, it's valid.  Why?  The first part of the answer lies in knowledge.  Fishermen have experimented and evolved specialized fishing techniques for as long as humans have known how to use a bent bone and a length of sinew.  Each species has its own characteristics, ways of feeding and places it frequents.  Trout techniques usually don't work for largemouth bass and bass techniques will probably never catch carp.  It's important that anglers learn as much as they can about the specific fish they are pursuing and the ways other fishermen have developed to catch them.  Don't hesitate to improve on tried and true methods and don't hesitate to try new things, but save yourself the unproductive chore of trying to start from scratch.  Use what people have already learned.
    The second part of the answer is based on numbers.  Fishing success depends on the interaction of a variety of different probabilities and numerical factors.  The more time your lure is in the water and in front of fish, the more likely you are to catch them.  The more productive a lure used for a specific circumstance, the greater the probability of a hookup.  The greater the number of effective techniques you use, the more likely you are to entice a strike.  All of these factors interact with each other multiplying (or dividing) your chances for success.  Optimizing the numerical factors lets you win at the "numbers game"
    The information and guidelines offered here are designed to give you the resources to be part of the 5% catching the fish.  They are the result of two decades of peacock bass fishing experience and endless experimentation and tweaking.  They are by no means the only ways to succeed nor are they meant to negate methods others have used to find success.  But they do work and they will give you the knowledge base to begin succeeding with peacock bass in Amazonia.

Conventional Tackle for Peacock Bass

Baitcaster or Spinner? - Yeah, I know that baitcasting rigs and spinning tackle were both invented to catch species of fish other than peacocks.  As little as fifteen years ago, almost no one had even heard of the peacock bass.  Even so, it seems to me that the peacock bass was invented to tax the limits of conventional tackle.  One of the first questions I am asked by beginner peacock anglers is, "Which is better for peacocks, spinners or baitcasters?"  The answer is both.  Each type can perform satisfactorily alone, but a mix is even better.  The key is each angler's personal comfort and skill level with a specific type of tackle.  Casting accuracy becomes quite important for successfully catching peacocks in the tight cover they often frequent.
    Of course, if you are only comfortable with a spinner, you don't need to worry about suddenly learning to use a baitcaster, stick with what you know best.  If you've been a caster all your life, there probably isn't anything you can't do well with your favorite tackle.  But if you're comfortable and, most importantly, skillful with both, you can truly tailor your tackle to your pattern and presentation.
    Peacock bass fishing is tough on tackle.  In spite of all the unbelievably extreme sounding superlatives and adjectives used to describe their vaunted strength and power, no one is exaggerating.  They are truly, uncannily strong and they commonly break rods and ruin reels and straighten hooks.  No angler should travel thousands of miles without bringing at least a backup rig or two.  I like to take along a mix of tackle types, allowing me to take advantage of the best aspects of each.
    So, if you're comfortable with both types of gear, bring both.  If you are able to bring four rigs, take a light and a heavy spinner and a light and a heavy baitcaster.  If you bring only two, take a heavy rig of one type and a lighter rig of the other.  Mix them up.  This will let you select the right rig for the specific lure you're using and the circumstances you're fishing in.  It's hard to argue with the fact that a baitcaster will enable you to cast accurately, with a lower trajectory than that of a spinner.  It's just as hard to argue that a spinner won't make easier work of a pattern requiring repeated casts with rapid retrieves.  Don't argue.  Use them both to optimize your fishing comfort and effectiveness.
    All of the tackle, techniques and tactics described here are focused on catching Cichla temensis, the largest of the peacock species.  These fish average 5 or 6 pounds and commonly exceed 20 pounds in weight.  They are recognized "tackle busters" and even a medium sized fish can make short work of conventional hooks, lines, rods and reels.

Rods and Reels - My selections for a well rounded arsenal, with the flexibility to effectively fish any type of peacock water are as follows;   (All of this tackle is available in pack rod configurations from both G. Loomis and St. Croix, so that you can transport your rods in your bags and not have to worry about traveling by air with long rod tubes.)

Medium Baitcasting Rig - I like a stiff, seven foot rod with a very supple, fast action tip.  A line rating of 8-17 pounds and a lure capacity of 1/4-5/8 ounce is fine.  Mount a lightweight (under 10 oz.), reasonably fast retrieve (5.0:1 or better) casting reel with a line capacity rating of 120 yards of 12-14 pound test.  String it all with 20 or 30 pound test   braided line (I know, we're exceeding the rod and reel rating, but you're setting your drag carefully).  This gives you a light but tough rig, perfect for fishing smaller surface lures and slower moving subsurface lures, but with enough power to lead big fish away from cover.

medium - Light Spinning Outfit - Choose a six to seven foot fast action rod with a line rating of 6-12 pound test and a lure capacity of 1/8-1/2 ounce.  Select a lightweight (under 10 oz.), fast retrieve (6.0:1 or better) spinning reel with a line capacity of 120 yards of 8 pound test.  Load this outfit with 20 or 30 pound test braided line (mono just won't work  well on this rig - leave it home) and you can cast 1/2 oz. jigs and spoons a mile and reel them in all day long.
 

Medium - Heavy Baitcasting Rig - This outfit is designed to let you sling huge surface baits with ease and accuracy.  Use a 7 foot (or shorter) moderate/fast action rod with a line rating of 10 to 30 pounds and a lure capacity of 1/2-2 1/2 ounce.  A quality casting reel (10 to 13 oz.) with the fastest possible retrieve (6.3:1 or better) and decent line capacity  will match up nicely.  Load this rig with 30 to 50 pound test braided line and you're ready to probe tight cover, sticks and logs with big woodchoppers or rapalas.

Heavy Spinning Outfit - This combination will also handle the heavy baits and is very useful for long distance casting to feeding fish.  A 7 foot moderate/fast action rod with a line rating of 10 to 30 pounds and a lure capacity of 3/8-2 1/4 ounce, coupled with a beefy spinning reel (11 to 13 oz.) with a line capacity of 165 yards of 12 pound test, makes a balanced package.  30 to 50 pound test braided line (sometimes used with a stiff mono or wire leader to prevent line from wrapping the lure when casting) gives a fast, long distance delivery system for woodchoppers and other big baits.  The fast retrieves necessary for peacocks are not quite as tiring with this rig.

Practice and Test your Gear - If this tackle is new for you and you haven't had experience casting some of the huge baits used for peacock bass, then it's very important that you take some time to make sure that your gear is well balanced and feels right for you.  Take the hooks off a few lures and get used to handling big, 2-1/2 oz. baits.  (A word of caution here for spin fishermen; Spinning tackle can tumble lures and tangle line in the hooks of big baits.  If you haven't the experience or skill with this gear necessary to overcome this characteristic, stick with the baitcaster for big lures.)  Practice in your back yard or a local pond with the rods, reels, line and lures you plan to use for peacocks.  Developing accuracy and a sense of range with your gear while you're still at home, improves your ability to quickly become effective in the rivers and lagoons of Amazonia.  Make sure everything is working properly before you leave.  There are no tackle shops in the jungle.

Braided or Mono? - Fishermen love a spirited tussle with each other almost as much as they enjoy fighting fish.  The latest bone of contention seems to be over the relative benefits of braided line versus monofilament.  Once again, each side has its advantages.  Mono has enough stretch to make it very forgiving and able to absorb sudden shocks.  It can be easily tied into an entire repertoire of knots.  It doesn't tangle or backlash as easily and it costs a fraction as much as braided.  It won't part as readily when touched against rocks or structure.
    Braided lines are much thinner, limber and more flexible for their relative strength.  They don't get stale or take spool sets.  The lack of stretch gives you a "no doubt about it" hookset.  If you can tie a "palomar", you can get almost 100% knot strength.  The thinner line lets you get a lot more onto a spool and it lets you cast significantly further without more effort.
    Although it took me a while to get used to it, I've come to prefer braided lines (and the various hybrids of braided and mono, such as Fireline) for peacock bass fishing.  It holds up well to the rigors of jungle river fishing and gives me improved casting ease and greater overall sensitivity.  Although both mono or braided will catch fish equally well, mono is just not suited to the conditions and characteristics of these fish. Leave it home for other styles of fishing.   For most purposes, the line type argument is a just another case of an unresolvable fisherman's debate over an unresolvable issue.  Have fun arguing with your fishing buddies but use braid in the Amazon.

Lures

An effective selection of peacock bass lures includes a wide variety of top-water and subsurface lures.  Although many have a long history of successful use for black bass, striper and musky, they are often used in a very different manner for peacock bass.  Most also require an upgrade to the hooks and split rings to ensure their survival during a peacock bass' onslaught.
Topwater Lures- The violent, explosive topwater strikes of peacock bass have made them the subject of books, magazine articles and television shows.  Their well deserved reputation as exciting, powerful fighters is based largely on their awesome topwater prowess.  Although peacocks are readily caught in good numbers on subsurface lures, almost every angler selects the topwater option when the fish are inclined to cooperate.  A good selection of topwater lures is a must for anglers seeking to experience the peacock's legendary strike.  Effective topwater lures can be divided into two categories based on their type and the way they're used.
    Propeller Types - Probably the most famous peacock bass lure is the Luhr Jensen "Woodchopper".  It bears a well deserved reputation.  Guides love them, fisherman depend on them and peacocks absolutely smash them.  Propeller lures create a roostertail behind them as the angler rips them rhythmically through the water.  Typically, the lures perform best when ripped rapidly ahead for two feet or so by a downward sweep of the rod tip and then promptly ripped again when the angler cranks up the resultant slack.  The surface disturbance created is reminiscent of fleeing baitfish and feeding peacocks.  For one of the most competitive creatures in the water, this must sound like a dinner bell.  It certainly attracts peacocks and stimulates violent strikes.  The "Woodchopper" works beautifully with the medium-heavy baitcaster or the heavy spinner
    Several other propeller lures are just as effective and have their own special advantages.  The Amazon Ripper is a similar bait with subtle differences.  It has two rear props and only two sets of treble hooks, omitting the front set found on the Woodchopper.  The Ripper's weight is canted more to the rear making it easier to use when a lot of line is weighing it down in front, as in the case of trolling or long casts.  The lack of a front treble hook makes it less likely to grab the line when used with spinning tackle, reducing the frequency of tangles.  The ripper works great when trolling and when used with the heavy spinner.
    Both lures described above are the 6-3/4 inch, 2 oz. sizes.  If you're fishing for big peacocks in Brazil, Columbia or Venezuela, these are the sizes you need.  Cichla temensis (or Tucunare), found in the Amazon basin, are commonly caught well into the twenty pound class.  These huge fish are most effectively caught on the large size lures.  Smaller versions of these lures are also available and can be effective for the smaller species (Cichla orinocencis or butterfly peacocks and Cichla monoculus or papoca).  Although either size can catch any size fish, be careful not to stock up on smaller versions if your target is really trophy size Cichla temensis.  You'll wind up spending a lot of time with smaller fish instead of "trophy peacocks".  Although small lures can often catch big fish, statistically, the old adage "big lures catch big fish" holds true much more often for this type of surface lure.
    When you need to downside (fatigue, change of pace, fishing conditions), two good options are available.  The "Peacock Special" although only 3/4 oz., creates almost as much of a ruckus as the bigger lures, but will work well with the medium baitcaster or even the light spinner.  It's great for sore arms and tired hands after you've been slinging the big baits for awhile.  This lure gets a lot of strikes and fishes much bigger than it really is.  This is the lure that caught the 27 pound world record.  A word of caution is, however, in order when using this lure.  It comes with smaller hooks in proportion to its smaller size and doesn't lend itself readily to a hook upgrade.  It is perfectly balanced from the factory and larger hooks tend to cause it to ride lower in the water and diminish its performance.  Although the factory hooks are reasonably strong, their smaller gap makes a solid hookset more difficult in the peacock's bony mouth and the finer wire enables the hooks to rip out more readily when caught in the fleshier parts of the mouth.  Use a lighter drag setting to offset this difficulty but be prepared to lose some of the big fish that this lure attracts.
    The "Jerkin' Sam" is similarly sized to the "Peacock Special" and works very well with lighter tackle, however it doesn't generate as large a roostertail and is a generally quieter lure.  It is often very productive early in the day and in very clear waters, situations in which the other prop baits are not always at their best.  Be aware that, like the "Amazon Ripper", it lacks a set of nose hooks.  Because peacocks often strike at the "head" of a bait, some strikes may be missed.  Nonetheless, it should be part of your tackle mix to provide extra versatility.
    The larger prop baits come with strong hooks from the factory and don't need to be changed.  "Woodchoppers" sometimes come with a prop on the nose which should be removed to provide better performance.  Because they rely on sound and physical disturbance of the water to attract strikes, these baits are all very sensitive to proper "tuning".  Anglers should make sure that each lure moves properly and creates the proper surface disturbance.  Adjusting the props and the alignment of hooks will help to make your lures work as effectively as possible. Take a few moments with each lure before putting it to work, after each strike, and after hanging it up on structure, to make sure it's working properly.
    Walking Sticks - I have tremendous fun with the Heddon "Zara Spook".  It's an absolutely great topwater lure for peacock bass.  I especially enjoy using it in the early mornings and late afternoons.  Not necessarily because the fish like it better at that time, but because it seems to fit the mood of the angler and the feel of the surroundings.  Just after sunup, when the water is perfectly still and the birds haven't started screaming yet, the quiet snick, snick, snick of a "Zara Spook" walking its way across the surface seems to belong in the languid lagoons.  It makes the sight of a huge "vee" accelerating towards your bait doubly exciting.  You can palpably anticipate the instant of the strike.  Even if the lure had no hooks on it, you couldn't help but relish this kind of moment.
    Walking stick type lures add another dimension to topwater fishing for peacocks.  Unlike most other lures used for these speed triggered assassins, these baits are most effective when fished slow, in the "walk the dog" motion.  They will often get reactions from peacocks when all other surface presentations are being ignored.  The medium/light baitcaster is the perfect rig for this lure although the light spinner also works very well in the hands of an experienced spincaster.  Using this lighter, more sensitive tackle, the walking motion is easily imparted by a combination of rhythmic crankings of the reel and oscillations of the rod tip.  Because of their small size and casting ease, these lures lend themselves to use in tight structure.
    Strikes often occur immediately when the lure lands close to fallen wood, logs, sticks, bushes or trees.  After landing, draw the line tight and begin walking the lure back to the boat.  Watch for swirls and disturbances behind the lure.  When peacocks are turned on they'll violently strike lures, including these topwaters, with reckless abandon.  But when they're less aggressive and reluctant to strike, a walking stick lure will often get their interest without triggering a strike.  They will swirl behind the lure, slap at it with their body or even mouth it tentatively.  This is the anglers cue to make the presentation more interesting to the fish.  Speed it up a bit without losing the walking motion.  Make it appear frightened and fleeing, increasing the peacock's interest.  You'll usually get another, stronger reaction, perhaps even a tentative strike.  If you don't hook up, raise the lure's action up another notch, creating an even faster, more erratic motion.  Sometimes this cat and mouse game will go on for three or four rounds before a peacock decides to just totally crush the lure, or, loses interest and swims away.  This level of anticipation is guaranteed to raise the angler's blood pressure, pulse rate and the hackles on the back of  his or her neck.
    Topwater Lure Colors - Peacock bass are funny about colors, especially in regard to topwaters.  Often, peacocks seem to react more to the noise and motion of a surface lure than any other factor.  A properly presented and tuned lure is generally the most important factor in consistently eliciting strikes.  Sometimes, however, selecting the right color can make important differences.  If it's bright out, use a light-colored lure.  Dark shades are generally more productive in low light conditions.  I have no qualms about using wildly colored topwaters.  Peacocks seem to be perfectly happy to attack the silliest and most outrageously patterned lures you can imagine.  When using the big propeller lures on tannin-stained (black water) rivers, a Black and Orange combination is very productive.  In clear waters, try a perch pattern and on muddy rivers, a bright green or clown pattern.  If I can point to a single favorite color, it would be red or orange below and green above.  It looks a little bit like a peacock bass to me, maybe to them also.
    For walking stick lures, a bullfrog pattern is very effective early in the day, while an Orange/Green Natural works well the rest of the time.  The Florida bass pattern works very well with the "Super Spook".  Rattling versions add usefulness on muddy rivers.  Take a range of colors and types with you to optimize your chances under any conditions.

Subsurface Lures- As much as I love the topwater action provided by peacock bass, I am quick to change to subsurface lures as soon as conditions warrant.   The tremendous physical power with which peacocks strike subsurface lures makes up for the topwater angler's loss of visual and auditory excitement.  Underwater strikes can be intense enough to make you feel like your arm is being ripped off and initial runs can be startling in their intensity.
    Minnow and Jerk Baits - Redfins, Bombers, Rapalas and their ilk are the utility lures of peacock bass fishing.  They can be productive just about anywhere and under any conditions.  The Cotton Cordell "Redfin", in silver or gold is a productive floating minnow imitation.  Fished fairly slowly around structure so that it remains near the surface, it is an effective attractor for fish relating to cover.  Once it reaches open water, it can be fished more rapidly and jerked deeper with the retrieve.  "Bombers" and "Rapalas" provide variations in size and depth for flexibility and variety.  Probably the most popular of these baits is the Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow.  It can be extremely productive.
    Crank Baits and Deep Divers - Magnum and regular size "Rattletraps, deep running Rapalas and crankbaits are effective when fishing the scalloped crevices of sandy beaches in the crooks of river bends and the base of rocky river structures.  Deep, bluff banks and ridged points in lagoons lend themselves to effective probing with these deeper running subsurface lures.  Keep several in your tackle bag to utilize in the right circumstances.
    Jigs -  Probably the single most effective subsurface lure (and my favorite) for clear water is a darter style, half ounce jig tied with contrasting colored bucktail streamers. This jig, however, is simply not jigged.  Because it is fished so rapidly, it not only never hits the bottom, it rarely drops more than 3 feet below the surface.  The conventional tackle angler uses this jig as though it were a streamer fly, ripping it rapidly through the water two to three feet at a time.  The relatively light, half ounce weight, allows the fisherman to keep the jig moving and off the bottom while the ripping motion causes the bucktail to pulsate with each rip.  This lure works best with a light spinner and braided line.  The light rig will allow you to cast it very accurately in cover and very far in open water.  Use it to probe among fallen timber in lagoons, casting parallel to trunks and branches and retrieving it quickly, right through where the fish find cover.  Cast it over sand banks and saddles at lagoon mouths and inlets, ripping it rapidly from deep water to shallow and back again.  Probe fast water, rocks and eddies in the river itself.  In all of these applications, peacocks will readily pound these baits.  The faster you retrieve them, the harder they hit them.  They are among the most effective of clear water lures.  To maximize the jigs effectiveness in cloudy or muddy water, use a rattle jig.  If the fish don't know they're there, they just won't hit them.
    I prefer a Kalin's "Ultimate Darter" half ounce jig head.  It's equipped with a big, extra strong, wide gap 4/0 hook for solid hooksets in the peacock's bony mouth.  The long, tabbed shank allows anglers to easily tie their own bucktail patterns on behind the head.  A very effective configuration (the peacock bass rattle jig), includes a red underbelly, a red, extended tail and a yellow or white upper portion.  Similar patterns using black below and red, yellow or chartreuse above or yellow below and white, pink or chartreuse above are also very effective.    Click here for complete tying instructions.
    Spoons - provide an effective tool for a variety of fishing situations.  Unlike the jig, the Johnson's "Silver Minnow" can be very effective when fished slowly in thick structure.  Its weedless configuration helps to minimize hang-ups on logs and branches, while its natural action and flash attracts strikes even when falling or bouncing from stick to stick.  Spoons are useful for probing deep crevices between sand rills on beaches in the rivers and for attracting cruising fish on shallow flats in the rear and in the mouths of lagoons.  Sizes from 1/4 to 1-1/8 ounce can be used with any tackle combination.  Other effective types include "Daredevles", "Krocodile's", large "Tony Aceta" spoons and "Pixies" in various colors and patterns (although silver always works well).
    Fun but Ineffective - The moment I suggest that a lure might be ineffective in a certain situation, I assure myself of hearing about dozen's of exceptions.  Every lure will have its army of proponents who will swear by its efficacy in any or all circumstances and who would readily gamble their survival on its ability to catch fish.  I realize that an angler who is confident and comfortable with a lure and uses it effectively and often, will generally be successful.  I grew up with the Arbogast "Hula Popper" filling just that role for me in a lifetime of bass fishing.  I just plain love that lure.   I fished the heck out of it for most of my life.  In spite of that, I have yet to catch a single peacock on it.  And believe me, I've tried!
    I've tried big spinnerbaits, bottom bouncing jigs, creepy crawlers, jitterbugs and flatfish with no luck.  Soft plastic baits don't survive the piranhas long enough for me to find out if they work.  Needlefish, J-Plugs, Pop-R's and Mepp's all fail to produce with any regularity.  Peacock bass fishing, like most types of fishing, is ultimately a function of numbers and these fish react mostly to noise, speed and certain types of motion..  The more time a productive lure spends in productive water, the greater the probability of generating a strike.  Everybody has a favorite lure and should definitely give it a try.  But don't get carried away.  Each angler can quickly determine how much time he or she wants to commit to a particular lure by the response it gets from its audience, the fish.

Tactics

Lagoons - The rivers of Amazonia are lined with lagoons of all shapes, sizes, depths and configurations.  In most rivers and under most conditions, the great majority of peacocks are caught in lagoons.  The interiors of lagoons provide sheltered grazing and breeding areas for forage fish that make up the majority of the peacock's diet while offering a wide range of structure and cover for hunting, spawning and fry guarding peacocks.  The mouths of lagoons are often particularly attractive to fish because of their transitional nature, interfacing the flowing water of the river with the still waters of the lagoon.

Note the heavy cover in the background that yielded this big peacock

    Heavy Structure - As a result of the constant cycle of rising and falling waters, large stretches of lagoon banks are lined with fallen, dead trees, forming dense heavy structure along the shorelines.  Except for extreme low water conditions, much of this may be under water or just visible.  Because of its ubiquitousness, most of an angler's time in lagoons will be spent fishing this type of structure.  Peacocks populate these areas heavily, and will readily attack a lure landing close to their hiding place.  Both propeller type surface lures and walking sticks are very effective when cast tightly in toward shore between extending deadfall.  When placed close enough against logs and branches they often elicit immediate strikes.  Fish will also follow these lures out from cover and strike them in open water.  In clear waters, jigs and spoons are very effective when cast into the base of fallen trees and retrieved parallel to trunks and branches.  Peacocks will often trail these lures right up to the boat, sometimes striking as the angler begins to lift the lure out of the water.
    Dense cover means that hooked fish have quick access to fairly impenetrable hiding places.  Peacocks are so strong that if they can hang a lure on a branch, they can exert enough power to straighten the hooks right out.  The angler's best strategy is to try to lead a hooked fish perpendicular to structure, then arc it into open water by holding the rod parallel to the water and moving the wrists in the direction you want the fish to go.  The pressure on the fish caused by the bend in the rod is then most easily relieved by the fish when it moves toward your wrists, hopefully away from the cover.  Sometimes you just can't stop them.  If you're still hooked up, the best course of action is to let the line go slack and then to move the boat directly over the cover.  You will often spook the fish out from underneath and into open water.  If  none of this works and its a real monster, look imploringly at your guide and maybe he'll go in and get it for you.  Heavy structure holds large numbers of fish but can often be reluctant to give them up.
    Shallow Water - Fish don't always hold in the shallows and when there, they can be somewhat skittish.  But when they're cruising for a meal individually or in groups of two or three, it can be very exciting.  Its almost like fishing for bonefish on the salt flats.  A spoon or jig cast beyond the fish and perpendicular to their line of travel can be retrieved in front of them, quickly enough to keep it off the bottom.  When it's spotted, the hair raising sight of several big, hungry peacocks racing for your lure will thrill even the most jaded angler.  Hang on and wait for the winner to get there.  Often the take will be violent enough to set the hook.  If it's not, wait until you feel the line go tight and then lean back and set it yourself.  Usually, shallows are not laden with structure, so a properly adjusted drag and a patient fisherman will most often harvest a scrappy peacock.
    Points - I love points.  Every time I find myself approaching a point of land that extends into the water, I can sense my own level of anticipation rising, because peacocks seem to love points also.  Usually a point will create an underwater ridge visible to the angler, with deeper water on either side.  Have a rod with a surface lure and another loaded with a subsurface bait ready as you approach the point.  Wait until you are close enough to cast ten feet or so past and perpendicular to the ridge, into the deeper water, and then work the surface lure over the top of the ridge.  Be ready.  Most points of this type will hold fish.  If the surface lure doesn't produce, use a subsurface bait and probe the deeper water on both sides, casting toward shore and parallel to the ridge.
    Feeding peacocks - During the course of a fishing day, anglers will often see signs of feeding peacocks.  These are great opportunities, especially for big fish.  Baitfish fleeing, skipping across the surface, or large disturbances in open water are good indicators.  It isn't always due to feeding peacocks, but don't pass up the opportunity to cast a big surface lure into the fray.  Drop it right in behind the baitfish, in the peacock's path.  If you place it well, it will usually be taken immediately.  Set the hook and hang on.
    Lagoon banks and beaches are often used by peacocks to drive baitfish onto the shore and then pick them off as they flop back into the water.  If you see this kind of activity, throw anything onto the bank, and drag it into the water.  Peacock's will usually grab the closest object in the melee.
    Spawning peacocks - Peacocks become very difficult to catch during the spawn.  Luckily they don't all begin at the same time, so a river that is still fishing very well, may also begin to simultaneously have fish on spawning beds.  Anglers can often see large fish on beds in shallow, open sections of lagoons.  It's work taking a cast at them.  Sometimes a reaction can be elicited from fish in the early stages of spawning by slowly swimming a Johnson's spoon or a jig tied with fluorescent yellow rabbit skin (instead of the bucktail), through the bed.  Later in the spawn, even this technique stops working and outfitters will then move downriver ahead of the spawn, upriver to an area where the spawn is finished, or on to the next river system.
    Open Water - Typically, casting and probing for peacocks in lagoons consists of working one's way along the banks and any other visible structure in a lagoon.  In very large lagoons, this leaves a huge amount of untested open water in the middle.  Granted, peacocks are usually in much greater concentrations near structure and banks, but oftentimes feeding peacocks are working the deep open water in the middle of large lagoons.  In a large lagoon, there may 10 times to 100 times as much open water as there is structure and shoreline, so the task of effectively fishing such a huge but thinly populated area can seem daunting and potentially unproductive.  Anglers, however, have an effective tool at their disposal; use the boat and go trolling.
    Peacock bass are usually not shy fish.  They are not concerned about leaders and lines.  They strike ridiculously large lures and they'll attack within inches of a boat.  The wake of a relatively quickly cruising boat doesn't seem to faze them either.  Using the boat's primary motor, anglers can troll large surface or subsurface lures behind their boat, using their rods to impart the same action to the lure as if they were casting.  Trolling at 4 to 5 mph is a bit faster than most anglers may be used to but it works for peacocks.  Because of the substantial wake produced, lures should be at least 100 to 150 feet behind the boat.  Among the most effective trolled lures are "Woodchoppers" and "Amazon Rippers" on the surface and "Bombers", shallow running "Rapalas" and Johnson's Spoons.  Groups of two or three big, hunting peacocks may get on the trail of a pair of trolled surface lures and literally hurl themselves through the air to come crashing down on top of the baits.
    Trolling is not for everyone and definitely not for every situation.  Some folks would rather just cast for the pure and simple enjoyment of it and most of the time that's the way I feel.  Sometimes, however, after a long day that hasn't been very productive, my tired arms and an ungratified addiction for big fish make trolling a very attractive alternative.  Very large lagoons that are known to hold large fish make logical targets for trolling and should be tested in this manner after anglers have thoroughly fished their way through the structure.  Trolling can produce inordinate proportions of large fish, when used sparingly, at the right time, in the right way.  Don't troll your way into a lagoon.  Cast your way in and then, if appropriate, troll your way out.  If a lagoon is too small or too narrow, don't troll.  The wake will cause excessive disturbance, may damage shoreline structure and will probably put the fish down for hours.  If a lagoon is too small to troll, but you still can't reach both banks by casting from the middle, then work the shoreline and, every ten or twenty casts, toss a bait out into the open water.  This technique has produced surprising results for me from time to time.

Rivers - In most rivers and under most conditions, the great majority of peacocks are caught in lagoons, with river fishing being relatively unproductive.  Sometimes, however, in certain fisheries, anglers will have opportunities to successfully pursue peacock bass in the rivers themselves. River fishing becomes most productive when water levels are extremely low and lagoons become too shallow and too hot.  Fishing the river for peacocks can add another dimension to the angling experience
    Rocks and Structure - Rocks are peacock bass magnets.  They are not common in Amazon rivers.  When rock structure is available, peacocks will consistently select it and congregate tight to the structure.  Starting upstream, anglers can drift their boats along the periphery of the rocks and cast tight up against the structure.  Surface lures can be retrieved parallel to the structure or maneuvered through openings and between rocks.  Diving Rapalas and Rattletraps can be run deep around the base of rocks and will work well here.  But for me, jigs are the bait of choice.  Bounce them right off a rock and let drop them in, then start ripping the jig back.  Work them along an edge and probe crevices and overhangs.  The speed of the retrieve is definitely a factor in this lure's effectiveness.  In the clear water where jigs are most effective, peacocks can be seen flashing out of crevices, stopping dead behind a jig slowing down between rips, and then slamming it as the angler rips it again.  If the jig doesn't move away quickly enough, anglers can watch the same peacock flash back into the depths, rejecting the lure.
    Other riverine structure, logs, deadfall, and cuts will often hold peacocks also, especially if they are adjacent to rocks.  Fish this structure just as though it were in a lagoon, making compensation for the effects of any discernible current.  Concentrate your efforts in transition areas between rocks and other types of structure.
 

A yellow and red jig lured this fast water peacock out of the rapids.

    Fast Water - The first time I encountered peacocks in open, fast water, I was truly surprised.  It didn't seem like the sort of place where I would find a fish that I strongly associated with still water lagoons and structure.  I was fishing a narrow tributary of the Rio Marmelos, south of Manicore.  The boat was tied onto a fallen tree extending into the water just below a stretch of fast water, that for Amazonia could almost be called rapids.  The river narrowed here and formed a deep, fast chute just upstream of my location.  After some experimenting and positioning, I settled into a groove that allowed me to cast upstream into the chute and rapidly retrieve my lure downstream through the fast water.  The bucktail jig proved to be the most effective tool here, although a spoon produced well also.  To my amazement, I caught a fish on almost every single cast.  Over twenty-five fish came out of this one little chute, before the action even began to slow down.  Most of the fish ranged between 2 and 4 pounds, with several just under ten pounds.  This was a blast!
    Since that experience, I make it a point to probe any fast water I encounter.  Peacocks seem to behave differently in fast water.  Although they may strike less intensely and make less violent runs, they seem to last longer and run farther in the moving water.  The effect of the current adds changes to the character of the fight.  Fast water peacocks also seem to be smaller than their slow-water brethren.  Although I have enjoyed many more fast water fishing experiences since that first time, I have yet to encounter a fast water peacock larger than ten pounds.
    Beaches - Sandy beaches occur on the inside shore of curves and along the edges of shallow stretches of river.  The force of the rainy season's high waters cuts scalloped forms into the expanses of white sand.  Fisherman can exploit the deep water and the steep edges between the ribs of sand.  Redfins, Rapalas, Bomber and spoons will produce in these water-sculpted locations. You can cast a "Woodchopper" perpendicular to the ribs and sometimes get a pleasant surprise.
    Streams and inlets - It's worthwhile to keep an eye open for water sources entering the river, no matter how insignificant.  Casting  well up into the mouths of entering streams will often produce strikes from fish holding right at the point where inflowing water blends with the river.  In muddy rivers, this can be marked by a sharply delineated color change, if the inflowing stream is relatively clear.  Smaller brooks and streamlets may often hold fish right at the river shoreline.

Playing Peacocks

We've prepared well, we've got the right tackle and lures, we're fishing in the right spots and using the proper tactics and techniques.  We've done everything to allow us to be winners at the "numbers game" of fishing.  What do we do when the ferocious little monsters actually show up to fight?
  

Peacocks don't hesitate to leave the water for a display of aerial acrobatics.

Go Fishing
 

To Book a Trip - Click Here Guided peacock bass trips are available throughout most of September, October, November, December, January and February. For more information on booking a Peacock Bass fishing adventure, contact:       Paul Reiss at (908) 832-2987 E-Mail Paul Reiss, or:  Garry Reiss at (908 431-1668 E-Mail Garry Reiss

Well, all that remains now is to go out and do it.  Go fishing and catch fish.  But while you're thinking about lure selection and structure and water clarity and all the bits and pieces of the numbers game we call fishing, take a look around you.  The Amazon is one of the most beautiful places in the world with its labrynthine river systems, endless forest and amazing biodiversity.  Relax and enjoy it.  The sheer numbers of birds and exotic plants can keep you occupied and cataloging for a lifetime.  Over 2500 species of fish are found in these rivers.  Monkeys and jaguars, parrots and toucans and macaws, tapirs and capybaras, cayman and dolphin, all live here.  Probably uncountable numbers of insect species.  And people whose lifestyles are so different from ours that it might take a lifetime of study to fully understand it.  Fishing for peacock bass is a fantastic experience.  Just look around you.

Acute Angling Specialists in the fierce fishes of South America Join us to fish for trophy class peacock bass, payara and more in the incredible Amazon.  Find out about our featured trips