Hawaiibassfishing Forum

I'm heading to Oahu for a wedding this week & while I'm there, I'm hoping to bag my first Peacock Bass...

I tournament bass fish in the Midwest, so I know my way around the water, but all I know about Peacocks is what I've seen on the shows, usually filmed on the Amazon. I'm bringing 2 baitcasting rigs (a big ol' 7'6" Carrot Stik Frog Rod & a 7'2" All Purpose rig probably one w/ Flourocarbon & 1 with Braid - unless you suggest otherwise) & a Fly-Rod.

Was hoping to get some input on this lake

1) How accessible is it to shore line fishing (or are there boats for rent on the lake)?
2) Tackle wise, I'm planning on loading up w/ big top-water lures (Spooks, Paychex popper, Frogs, etc...), but if I need to switch that up, I'm open for any advice I can get...I'm hoping to bring what I need in a pretty small Plano box & if needed, a few bags of plastics.

Any help is appreciated & if anybody is planning on boating sometime between Thursday & Next Tuesday (Not Saturday, that's the wedding), I'd LOVE a boat ride...I'll buy the beer & lunch! - Jason

maybe its just me but ive never had any luck with a popper at lake wilson. a good lure for the peacock would be a weightless zoom fluke in white.

actually sounds like you may be a bit over gunned,rod wise a mh 6'6-7'0 is good all around i personally spool 12-15lb mono or flouro with 8 on my spinning and alot of guys here would say thats heavy. our tucs arent amazon sized average would be 2+ lbs with a trophy at around 5+ so smaller baits in the 2-4in range work better. prop baits cant be beat,small fluke or jerkbait/swimbaits work great too.all worked fast as you can! no pauses peacock bass lose intrest if it stops! alot of guys depend on live bait around logs if your into it read some of he posts on how they rig em. generally around laydowns is where they hide and best place to work either live or lures. some lmb will bonus it as well.if your lucky to get em schooling out in the middle they will be smaller but as agressive as a smallie on crack! any small lure you can toss far and mimmic a small shad. if i had to limit my baits it would be afew torpedo prop baits in shad or clear. a few cranks in shad colors or gold that run various depths a few spinnerbaits 1/4oz size in shad or firetiger and several packs of fluke or senko style soft plastics in the 2-4 inch range. some live bait rigs if your into it. fly rodding isnt my thing but it does get its share of tucs too and may be a safer bet! id say any streamer worked fast but again not my area of expertise. luck too you!

Nothing to add. Basstracker covered it quite well. Go to the "Lures & Flys" page and take a look at what works well on this lake. Good luck.

sorry neglected the access. shoreline is pretty accessable right now with fairly low water, shouldnt be a problem to find spot. id recommend kunia point area. check the map for location.lots of ground with laydowns to cover. no boat rentals unless your military and can get it on post. your supposed to have a freshwater licence and entry permit, the licence you can do online at dlnr hawaii website, not sure the non res price i wanna say 15$ may be incorrect. your also supposed to have a pfd on hand. not to much enforement of either but you never know, they do pop up from time to time.