Spawning peacock Bass

[Stan Wright]

Spawning Peacock Bass

No, spawning hasn't started yet... but recent weather conditions are the same as the last 3 years. Conditions that make fishing for spawning peacock bass very difficult.

Spawning peacock bass are easy to find. Just follow the shoreline. Two big, yellow and orange fish sitting in one to two feet of clear water are not hard to see. They are also not spooky. They will stand their ground and defend the nest.

Hooking a spawning peacock bass is whole different story. A peacock bass will "blow" a light lure or fly right out of the nest. They just take a big deep breath and blow a stream of water right at the encroaching lure. If you do get a lure into the nest, the fish will pick it up and then spit it out a few feet away from the nest. This all happens in the blink of an eye. Way too fast for most people to react and set the hook.

Now, about accurate casting..... imagine casting a plastic worm into a dinner plate. If your an inch or two off target the fish will ignore you. One lady described fishing for spawning peacock bass as like the "Fish Pond at the County Fair." You have a cut-out of a metal fish and a magnet tied to the string on your pole. "You have to put the magnet right on the fish to catch anything." That's a pretty good description.

Just about the time the spawning gets into full swing, the rain comes and the water level rises a few feet, or comes all muddy. It's imposable to make those accurate casts into a nest when you can't even find it. So it's been for the last 3 years.

On the other hand, when the water is clear and the sun is bright, fishing for spawning peacock bass can be very exciting.

[Ca_Bass]

Spawning Peacock Bass

Hooking a spawning peacock bass is whole different story. A peacock bass will "blow" a light lure or fly right out of the nest. They just take a big deep breath and blow a stream of water right at the encroaching lure.

I was having the same problem so I tried this:
A pegged texas rigged crawfish type lure with all sorts of silly legs on it with about a half oz weight, when they the try to blow it off the nest they cant but all the legs wiggle while they try. I also started almost fully exposing the hook since they hit it so quick it was hard to get a hook set. I think they're eggs are whitish colored and if you hit that spot they go nuts.

That was my best way off getting the spawner's until I found the little pin minnows, they really hate those around their nests. At first they just seemed to get really agitated and would just blow it away, so I tried putting some scent on them and instantly they tucs started to hit. I do have to say it takes some dedication to get the tucs hooked. Much harder than getting a spawning LM hooked.