bass fishing tips

I don't know about you but when 17 years of experience offers up some Peacock Bass techniques, I'm all ears, soaking up as much knowledge as I can. You just don't come across that much experience and expertise often so we were jumping at the chance to ask Paul Reiss of Acute Angling to give us some tips and techniques we could share with all our visitors.

Check it out in this continuation of our interview with Paul.

B-F-S: Any particular time of day or night that is most productive?

Paul: Peacocks are strictly diurnal feeders. That means they hunt and feed during daylight hours. Consequently, our guides head off fishing at sunup and return before sundown. Since our peacock bass fishery is essentially astride the equator, the sun rises at 6:30 AM and sets at 6:30 PM. Although peacocks are active and can be caught all day long, anglers tend to bog down around noon, when the powerful equatorial sun is at its strongest. So, lunchtime and a siesta are usually in order in the middle of the day. Considering all of this, the best bite is often between 8 and 10 AM and again between 2 and 4 PM. It?s nice to not have to get up ridiculously early when you?re on vacation.

B-F-S: Any tips or peacock bass techniques you can give our visitors that will help them when fishing for Peacock?

Paul: Here are three that will help prevent the disappointment of a lost trophy; Tie directly to the lure. Avoid snaps and leaders and other mumbo-jumbo. Every link in the chain connecting you to your quarry is simply one more thing that can go wrong. Keep it simple (and use a Palomar knot).When you hook a big peacock, try to convince him that nothing is wrong. This might sound silly, but it has a very useful effect. The gear I recommended is stout enough for fishermen to simply crank in small fish. But this won?t work with giant peacocks. A big specimen is strong enough to easily snap 65 pound braid. Anglers often try to use heavier line with a tightened drag to overcome this, but that simply leads to broken rods, straightened hooks or torn out lures. These fish are just too powerful for that kind of treatment.

So, after you hook up, if he hasn?t panicked yet, don?t make him do so. Don?t start hauling and cranking and getting furious, he?ll sense this and head for the hills. Instead, try to lead him gently by lowering your rod tip to one side of the boat and slowly recovering line, trying to convince him to swim along but always maintaining tension and a bend in the rod. When he gets close enough to see the boat, he will panic, but now he?s in your playing field, far from the safety of shoreline snags or flooded forest. Let him run (they usually don?t go too far) and repeat the process until he?s tired, when you can land him safely.

When fighting a big fish who is heading for cover, always sweep your rod to one side or the other, never pull straight back. When your rod is overhead, any direction presents the same difficulty for the fish, so he?ll go the way he wants to (think of the geometry). When a rod is swept to one side (pick the side away from the cover the fish is seeking), it becomes easier for him to swim in that direction and he?ll generally do so. This will help you avoid losing a trophy fish to the perils of snags and underwater structure.

Once again, thanks Paul. Some excellent and priceless Peacock Bass techniques.

More with Paul Reiss on Amazon Peacock Bass:

Paul talks with Bass-Fishing-Source.com about the awesome Amazon Peacock Bass.

Paul discusses the best lures for Amazon Peacock Bass.

Paul describes the fishing gear needed to catch monster Peacock.

Read more on the Peacock Bass, including how to identify and some more tips and techniques.

Go from Peacock Bass Techniques to Bass Fishing.

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