Prime Time for Peacock Bass?

[Stan Wright]

Some of you on the mainland might find it difficult to use "Winter" and "Hawaii" in the same sentence. LOL

For the last month or so the temperature in Wahiawa has been in the 60s each evening. Tropical fish here tend to shut down when the water cools down.

Just about every chart I've been able to find shows the prime time for peacock bass in Hawaii as March to September. Spring for the spawning fish and the hot weather of summer to make them active and aggressive..

Granted, on any given day you could hit the jackpot and have a day of fishing that dreams are made of. On the other hand, if you were spending big bucks to go on a trip of a life time you would plan your adventure for a time when your odds of catching fish were at their highest.

When you get two very experienced anglers fishing all day and they only caught one red devil and one little bass... well I call that a really slow day. Still, if your Hawaii vacation is now, you can't wait for June and better conditions. A day fishing is better than a day at work....... Lately, I'm hearing lots of people also saying: "That's why they call it Fishing, and not Catching.".

[Ken]

Hence I planned my visit for May and June...May for the tail end of the mahimahi run...and well...you have already mentioned the other part of the equation! If I'm lucky, maybe I can get to see (maybe fight?) an ulua with some of the guys that I've met online...I will be tagging along to slide bait with them. Am I being a bit too greedy?

Took me 5 years of planning to research and decide on the best time to come...I hope everything will fall into place nicely

Too bad the chance of a marlin or an ahi is slimmer during the summer months

Getting out fishing is still better than spending the better portion of the day studying in the library for 2 exams

My countdown has notified me...70 days! See you soon Stan!

[OO7:BASSINASSASSIN]

For me, there are two seasons, the warm season and the cool season. During the cooler months, the weather changes more and you have to deal with cold fronts. The changes do affect the fishing. The cooler weather might affect the tucunare's metabolism but they still have to eat. January is a cold month, but the fishing was good.

I went only twice in February, one day I did poorly and the other day was good(2/23). On the good day the tucunare were active from about 6:30 am! The water was still cold but the fish were going nuts. The fish were ice cold to the touch. Once the sun came out you had to have the right techinque. I would think the tucs slow down with the cold temperature, but maybe they do not. If they are in a feeding cycle, they will bite good as long as the water doesn't get extremely cold or there is not a sudden change in weather or rise in the water.

For prime time now, I am guessing it is the early bird that gets the worm.