sight fishing

[OO7:BASSINASSASSIN]

For those of you who fish for peacockbass, how can you tell what mood the fish is in?

[Stan Wright]

My guess is that the peacock bass are in a really good mood at the moment.

Because several days ago their nest was in 2 to 3 feet of water, and today it's about 5 or 6 feet underwater where we fishermen can't find it.

[Stan Wright]

The more you cast a lure into the area of the nest, the more agitated they become... zipping around and attacking anything that gets close to the eggs.

[OO7:BASSINASSASSIN]

Opps! Should have put this one under general discussion, oh well. Hey Stan, I haven't been to the lake for awhile. Good to hear the fish are doing what they are suppose to be doing. Especially since the weather is abnormal.

The first thing I think of when I see a tuc, is it a spawner or a eater (clay yee's term). Next, would be if it's a eater, are they on, neutral, or off. On being, actively hunting and would take relatively few cast to catch. Neutral meaning they are more passive, more like ambush mode and would take more effort to catch if they bite at all. Lastly, off meaning they would be highly unlikely to bite. After that it is a matter of figuring out what technique will work. Again I have to read how the fish is reacting.

If it is a spawner I normally don't fish for them. However if I were, I would be thinking territorial, nesting, or guarding a fry ball. Again, I would decide how I would want to fish them.

When you see a tuc, I read the fish by color and behavior. For example, a black tuc is highly unlikely to bite. I think they are sick and I have never caught one. I would not waste time trying to catch it.

[Stan Wright]

Last time I was at the lake, I saw spawning and cruising peacock bass. The spawners were in shallow water and sticking close together on one spot. When you cast to them they stay guarding that one spot.

The cruising fish were just slowly swimming along the shoreline. When I cast to them ( I was fly fishing) they would turn and investigate the fly... sometime they would follow, sometimes just turn away. I think a fast retrieve to get a reaction strike might have worked. Live bait might have worked too.

When they are active they will chase any fly or lure and fight over it all the way to the boat.

I hear there are lots of little 1/2 to one pounders all over the place and they are chasing a lure retrieved a little on the fast side.

[Ca_Bass]

This is what I found for tucs...and goes about the same for largemouth too...

If they dont take off as soon as they notice you and stick around you can probably catch them. I even had a few attack my trolling motor! I dont know if I would call their behavior moods though, I think maybe personality is more applicable. But that is just my opinion and I have no clue whats actually going on in their head

tucs seem more reluctant to actually pick the lure up though, they seem to make every attempt they can to blow the bait away before they actually bite. But if they are puffing water at the lure, they will eventually bite it as long as you dont run over them with the boat. If though they would take longer to to actually eat your lure, they were less likely to spook. You know it wont be long once they start swimming around erratically and begin to charge your bait. A suspending jerkbait worked well when i did it, i would also add some lead to my hooks to get it sink just a tad and hover right over ther nest. They really would get crazy the closer your bait was to their eggs.

honestly I didnt make a habit of catching spawner. If you put them right back in where you caught them they will go back to their nest.

[OO7:BASSINASSASSIN]

Hey Stan, yes that is typical nesting behavior. They can also be seen chasing other fish away including other tucs. High probability of hooking up, just a matter of time. Depends how aggressive they are. As far as chasing the lure, usually that means they are "on". High probability of hooking up. If you are on the shoreline, they will often chase all the way to the edge of the water and stop. They will either stay there for a short while or hang around in deeper water. You should be able to hook up with in a few casts.

Howzit Ca_Bass, yup I have seen both eaters and spawners do the blowing thing. I have only seen tucs do this. I think when they do this, they are getting pissed off. The fish seem to strike out of anger instead of hunger. From the fisherman's point of view, it usually means making a lot of cast to hookup. I think of them as being neutral, eaters would have a low probability of hookup. You just have to keep casting, sometimes they lose interest. Spawners on the other hand, will stay on the nest and usually can be coaxed to bite after awhile.

When you see those "klingon" tucs (lump heads), that means they are going to spawn or spawning. It doesn't tell what mood they are in however.

[OO7:BASSINASSASSIN]

I have given this topic some more thought and there are 4 categories I look at to determine what mood they are in. Color, body language, behavior and how they interact with other fish. I gave an example of color already but here is another. If the fish is grayish purple they are turned off. These fish are sick and appear to be covered in a film of mucus or slime. An example of body language would be if a fish yawns, like humans, are bored or tired. These guys are neutral. An example of behavior would be if you see one on the flats in a pot hole, there is a high probability he will bite, this fish is hunting. He is a single fish in shallow water so he will not be easy. An example of how they interact would be if you see a school near the shoreline all in a row, all facing the bank, these fish will be hot. If you can not get one on the first cast you should give up fishing, give me your stuff and take up golf. If the fish in a school is suspended and are facing in random directions these fish are neutral. I noticed though that there might be one that is "on" in the school or sometimes one that you do not see will bite you.