New State Record Peacock Bass

[Stan Wright]

By Star-Advertiser staff
POSTED: 08:15 a.m. HST, April 1, 2012

New State Record Peacock Bass


After almost 22 years as Hawaii's largest Peacock Bass… a new champion has emerged to move top honors from Kauai to Lake Wilson on Oahu. The new record Peacock Bass tipped the scales at a whopping 11 pounds 12.13 ounces.

The lucky angler is Mr. Jo Cose from Irony, Texas. "I've caught bigger largemouth bass, but this the first time I've fished for peacock bass. They are so beautiful, and fight like crazy… you should have seen that sucker jump. This one makes those other fish we caught (the 5 and 6 pounders) look small. LOL"

"Being from Texas", said Jo Cose, "I wanted to catch a big fish… so we were using 5 - 6 inch live tilapia for bait. 'Big Bait - Big Fish'! We were in the boat moving slowly along the shore, flipping the live bait next to the grass. The tilapia struggling to get into the cover attracts the big peacock bass. You can tell when there is a big bass around because the tilapia goes crazy struggling to get away. The water visibility was about 4 or 5 feet so we could see the big peacock charge up and grab the bait. It was wild. I've never seen anything like this kind of fishing."

The new state record fish was caught on the North Fork of Lake Wilson in a cove called "Tuke Bay".

Local freshwater angler Stan Wright said: "I've heard stories from several people catching 11 and 12 pounders in Lake Wilson, but this is the first where there was an official weigh in and pictures taken." According to Wright, records kept of his catches and those records from the HFFA (Hawaii Freshwater Fishing Assoc.) bass tournaments indicate the average peacock bass in the lake is slightly larger than 2 pounds with a 3 to 5 pounder not that uncommon. "The largest peacock bass I have personally weighted was 8 pounds… This new fish is an amazing catch."

The former state record Peacock Bass (Tucunare) was caught on November 5, 1990 by Berry Brun, Lihu'i, Kaua'i… It weighed 9 pounds 4.2 ounces according the the Hawaii Fishing News, official keeper of all state record fish.

[Pegasus]

Awesome ! Tell us the whole story. Dark Side Rules !

[Filthyfisherman]

Mustad Hook?

[Baires722]

It has to be one of the 10 fish specified in the rules. It's great that Lake Wilson hold's the record now though. It was only a matter of time. I caught a nice 3.8 Tuc yesterday and they were really active in the am, so it makes sense that the record was broken on a day like yesterday.

[Ahnkochee]

WOW

[shanai]

Wow nice fish ! - maybe it's "Pedro"

http://www.hawaiibassfishing.com/forum/ ... php?t=1890

[shanai]

A P R I L 1

[Ahnkochee]

A P R I L 1

ARGH, caught hook, line and sinker.

Posted by Stan on Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:11 a.m.

By Star-Advertiser staff
POSTED: 08:15 a.m. HST, April 1, 2012

Unless Stan has a time machine.
Aren't you supposed to wait until at the earliest midnight of April 1st to post these?

[Stan Wright]

I am so sorry... I forgot to wish everyone a...

Happy April Fools Day

[kahuna bass]

Dang you Stan!!

You are a ball buster!! I'm thinking yeah, finally a nice size Tuc (however, I didn't think the picture looked 11lbs).

I'm here in Singapore and I hope to get a Tuc over 10lbs in the coming weeks.

However, it was a great April Fool Tuc story.

Mel - Kahuna bass
Darkside fooled by "April Fool Day"

[Ca_Bass]

There are tucs in Singapore?!?!?!!!! I've been there 3 times and had no clue!

[Ahnkochee]

In Singapore you can fish for just about any species from around the world in stocked fishing ponds including giant South American Arapaima, Redtail Catfish, and Pacu as well as the native Giant Catfish. Tucanare just another option there. I believe these pond fish are all C&R though Ken would have more first hand experience fishing there.