Prime Patterns for Peacock Bass

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Rocks are one of the prime structures for concentrating peacock bass. There are several factors why rocks are important fish-holding structures. One reason is that they offer numerous nooks and crannies (basically hiding places) to harbor baitfish. Secondly, algae and other forms of aquatic microscopic vegetation grows on the rocks, which also attract baitfish. And finally, rocks serve as ambush points and current breaks which tends to concentrate peacocks in well defined areas.

From experience, it seems like boulder sized rocks tend to attract more fish than enormous rock croppings or cliffs of rock. The two most common species that are typically found swimming within rock formations are the butterfly and royal peacocks. When approaching large rock structures, especially those with associated up and down-current eddy formations, first try casting a topwater plug to the slack water eddy areas, attempting to attract a large territorial peacock. If you've had no takers in a dozen casts with the surface plug, switch to a jerkbait and fan cast the area.

One of the most reliable patterns for catching butterfly and royal peacock bass is to pitch a 1/2-ounce bucktail jig the eddy areas immediately adjacent to fast moving water behind rocks. Eddies make perfect ambush sites for peacock bass of all species, but especially butterfly and royal varieties. Spinning gear usually works best when fishing with jigs, as it allows for a more rapid vertical presentation than with casting gear and heavier line. Use your wrists to sharply hop the jigs in the eddy for fast and furious action on butterfly and royal peacock bass. This technique will not work well with heavy baitcasting gear.

"These ever-changing, dynamic structures are formed by flowing rivers and are revealed during low water conditions," offers veteran peacock bass angler Spence Petros. (www.spencpetros.com)

"Trophy-size peacock bass often use sandbars to herd bait. In most cases, sandbars are not neatly formed beaches with consistent depths. Closer inspection reveals irregular features such as drop-offs, finger points and deeper holes, where giant peacock bass lurk. Some of the largest fish I have taken in the Amazon region have come on large prop baits on the sandbars. When approaching sandbars, start off with a large topwater bait and then switch to a subsurface approach. This is a perfect area to observe aggressively feeding fish."

Points

Again, let the fish tell you where they are holding and what they are eating. Sometimes peacock bass prefer long, sloping points that gently taper off shore into deep water. In other instances, they may prefer short, deeper points.

I would recommend that one initially fan cast the point with a topwater bait and then switch to a subsurface approach if topwater baits are not producing. The most productive forms also harbor some sort of cover, such as rocks, fallen trees, stumps or brush. Prime points in a river situation occur at the mouth of lagoons, pockets off the main river channel, sandbars and rocky shoals.

Lagoons

Some of the very best lagoons require that you slowly and carefully snake the boat through narrow, windy creeks to enter them, your guide often using his machete to his way through foliage and fallen trees that may lay toppled across the creek. Yet other lagoons are very obvious and located just off the main river channel. Still others may only be reached by hiking into the jungle and fishing from shore or from a boat that has been planted in the lagoon.

Once in the lagoon, one should not only fish both visible shoreline cover or mid-lagoon sandbars and rockpiles, but also apparent, coverless water in the middle of the lagoons. There is often submerged cover holding large fish in the middle of a vast lagoon, so don't only target the obvious pieces of cover along the shoreline. If you've thoroughly fished a lagoon for 45 minutes and have not had a strike or have not observed baitfish schools or any surface or feeding activity, it's time to search for another productive one or eliminate the lagoon as a pattern.

Flooded bushes, tall timber plots, and/or fallen trees and bushes provide a prime haven for baitfish and peacock bass. Although peacock bass are not as sun-shy as largemouth bass, they do often seek the protection or comfort of shade provided by trees and bushes.

"Cast within the narrow open or barely open lanes within plots of standing timber," says Karl Malik of America Online's Fishing Broadcast Network. "This requires very accurate casting. The deeper you get your lure within the gaps between trees, the more success you will typically experience. A really prime pattern is to locate trees in a lagoon that are situated from three to 10 feet off the bank and in two to six feet of water. Cast to the bank and then work the lures past the trees, making an attempt to retrieve them as close as possible to the trees. I would recommend starting with a topwater lure, then switching to a jerk style bait if you've had no takers within the trees on the surface plugs."

As discussed earlier, peacock bass are mouth brooders, meaning that parents typically guard the fry immediately upon their birth and stay with them for a period of time until they can fend for themselves. Your guide may suddenly beam with excitement as he points out rippling, or what he may refer to as "bubbles" or "bambinos" on the surface of a quiet lagoon. This rippling seen on the surface is actually a school of fry, typically with the protective parents below ready to pounce on anything that threatens them.

Generally speaking, the size of the fry school is a good indicator of the size of the parents below. Cast a topwater lure approximately five feet beyond the fry dimples and then work the bait right through them. A violent strike will typically be elicited. In many cases, one angler can catch the male, while the second catches the female. Please release the fish so they can go back to guarding the school of fry.