Dawn
on the Amazon
Captains Blog

I would like to share some tips on tackle and techniques for Peacock Bass fishing that I have learned the hard way over the course of the last decade. Reading this article may greatly improve your chances of catching the fiercest fighting fresh water fish the next time you go Peacock Bass fishing.

One of my small claims to fame is catching fish on 6 continents and the “Seven Seas”. The only fish I have caught that fought harder, pound for pound, than a Peacock Bass was a Tuna. Although the Tuna was a thrill, Peacock Bass fishing in the wild lush tropical Amazon Rainforest is infinitely more interesting than fishing out of sight of land.

First I want to thank the marketing genius that called this member of the Ciclid family a Peacock Bass. Peacock Bass fishing has a nice ring to it, but the only similarities between a Peacock Bass and a Largemouth Bass is they both have big mouths, and the record size catch is over 27 pounds. A Largemouth Bass puts up a good fight for a few minutes; a Peacock Bass is still fighting long after you land it in the boat.

The best months for Peacock Bass fishing

The best months for Peacock Bass fishing are during the beginning of the low water season when the water level drops down out of the flooded jungle, the banks are visible, and before the fish begin to spawn. In the upper Amazon of Peru that is usually from the middle of July to the end of August, give or take a week on either end.

The best time of day for peacock bass fishing

The best time of day for Peacock Bass fishing is early in the morning. Peacock Bass are inactive at night and wake up hungry.

Start out quiet, sneak up on them

Start out quiet. Sneak up on them with your favorite quiet lure. Tie on a floating minnow, a jointed rapala, or walk the dog with a Zara Spook. If they are not biting on quiet top water lures, switch to quiet underwater lures. Try a jerk bait, a jig worked fast, like a jerk bait, or an inline spinner bait tied to a swivel. If they are not biting on quiet lures, then switch to the more aggressive propellers, rattles, poppers, and chuggers. You must experiment to find what works. What caught fish yesterday may not catch fish today? Don’t get skunked only fishing your favorite lure. At least if you get skunked, come back here and tell me you used every tip in this article.

Soft plastic baits don’t work

Soft plastic baits don’t work for me in the Amazon. Piranhas nip them off right behind the hook before there is time to catch anything, and skirts on spinner baits get shorter every cast.

Peacock Bass fishing is tough on tackle

Peacock Bass fishing is tough on tackle. Just accept it. Replacing the treble hooks with larger salt water trebles, and 100 pound test split rings ruins the balance and action of the lure. Some hooks will be straightened, some split rings bent. That is good, you have action. If they are biting, go with larger lures for bigger fish. If they are not biting, downsize your presentation.

Find them using sight and sound

Finding peacock bass is the hardest part. When you find them you have a chance. Watch your lure all the way to the boat to see if a peacock is following it. Listen for the distinctive splashing sound of peacock bass feeding on bait fish at the surface. Fish those areas thoroughly. Change your presentation if they are not biting. You can not force your style of fishing on them. Pay attention, let them show you what excites them.

Think structure and cover

Cast to structure and cover, heavy structure is usually best. Work the length of all logs with several casts with a top water lure and then follow up with a jig, jerk bait, or spinner bait. Spinner baits are good to probe the heaviest cover because they hang up the least. They can be made more effective with a piece of cut bait. Consider the bank to be structure and cast right up against it and drag back out, particularly if there are logs or brush near by.

Points and sand bars

One of the most overlooked fish holding locations are the openings into lagoons from the river. Fish it on the way in. Treat it like the most important point, which it is.

Fan cast all over a point or sand bar with a top water lure and then follow up with a jig, jerk bait or inline spinner bait, (tied to a swivel to prevent line twist). Points and sand bars are more effective if there are logs or brush and a slope to deeper water. Fish them hard.

The best place to catch another peacock bass is right where you caught the last one. Remember, finding them is the hardest part. If you catch one, assume there is a school, and fish that area thoroughly.

The best fishing system

The best fishing system is the team work with two anglers per boat. When one angler catches a fish, the partner should cast right into the same area, as soon as possible without interfering with the first catch. Try not to boat the first fish until a second one is hooked by your partner. Double catches are common with this system.

I have saved the most important advice for last

The biggest mistake most of us make peacock bass fishing is to set the hook too soon, particularly on a top water lure. Often a peacock bass will head butt a lure, or roll over it, or slap it with its tail, and splash all around. It can be so exciting you will want to set the hook on air, and end up jerking the lure clear back to the boat, missing the fish completely.

Keep working the lure at approximately the same pace you were before the commotion started, (maybe just a little faster, like a wounded fish trying to escape). Wait until you feel the peacock bass on the line, then set the hook. Now you have a fighting fish on the other end. If the fish is headed for cover and stripping line off your reel, don’t try to horse it right back to the boat. Instead try to steer it away from cover by sweeping your rod tip sideways. If it is jumping, or charging the boat, do your best to reel all of the slack out the line as fast as possible. Keep the line tight at all times.

Now you have an amazingly powerful fish still fighting, but up close, in the boat, with a mouth full of treble hooks. Unlike a black bass, you can not lip lock and immobilize a peacock bass. Trust me, don’t even try. Please be very careful. That may be your most dangerous moment in the Amazon Rainforest. Use long nosed pliers, or a long handled alligator clip to remove the hook. Better yet, let your guide handle it until it is time for the photo.

As all fishermen know, Peacock Bass fishing is not the same as catching Peacock Bass. The goal of this article is to increase the odds of you catching one of the most exciting and beautiful fresh water sport fish in the world. No matter what, it won’t be just another day on the Amazon River. It was not practical to include everything that I have learned about Peacock Bass in one article, which is why I plan a series of articles in the next few weeks including more details about specific lines, lures, and lore, combined with stories of my personal experiences to help illustrate my suggestions. If you are interested in Peacock Bass fishing, please subscribe to my RSS feed to make sure you do not miss out on the next installments.

Many of you have great experience and knowledge of Peacock Bass fishing. We would appreciate if you would share some of your expert advice in the comment section below. Even if you have only fished for Peacock Bass a few times, I am sure you have a story to tell that the rest of us would enjoy reading. Share your experience with us. Leave a comment.

If you found value in this article share it with your fishing friends. Please, help other fishermen find this information by bookmarking this article using the social bookmarking icons below.

If you have a web site or a blog about fishing, link to me, I will link back to you. Every link helps.

Thank you and best regards,

Bill Grimes, President and one of the fishing guides for Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises.

Read an informative article about the characteristics of Peacock Bass, pre-spawn and spawn behavior, post spawn behavior, growth, and Peacock Bass research.

This is the first installment of a seven part series about Peacock Bass Fishing. If you enjoyed reading this, please subscribe to my RSS feed so you do not miss the rest of the stories.

Click these links to the other 6 articles in the Peacock Bass fishing series.

Peacock Bass Fishing Trip

Choosing Peacock Bass Lures That Catch More Fish

Six Simple Steps For You to Catch More Peacock Bass

If You Have Been Peacock Bass Fishing in Brazil, Choose Iquitos Peru

Another Day Peacock Bass Fishing the Amazon River

Catching Peacock Bass the Hard Way

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Pink Dolphins, Legends and Sex

Pink Dolphins really do exist in the Amazon River and tributaries. They are marvelous mammals with a brain capacity 40% larger than ours, grow 8 feet long, weigh up to 400 pounds, and yes they are pink.

Protected by legend

Pink Dolphins are not endangered in the upper Amazon of Peru. Thousands of them live within a 2 day boat ride around Iquitos. They have been protected by legend and superstition for hundreds of years. Today the local fishermen still believe that Pink Dolphins have supernatural powers, and it is the worse kind of bad luck to harm them.

One of the most interesting legends is the flip side of the mermaid. The Pink Dolphin changes into a handsome, charming man and seduces the native maidens along the river bank. If a pretty young woman turns up pregnant when she should not be, the Pink Dolphin frequently gets the blame. John Waymire tells The Legend of the Pink Dolphin very well at his excellent web site, biobio.com.

Pink Dolphins seduce women

I witnessed an example of the legend one day. We took a break to cool off swimming. One by one the men came back onboard until it was just the women left in the water. Some were on the back platform dangling their feet in the water, some doing laundry, all laughing and having fun. All of a sudden a very pink male dolphin breached close to them. The women were startled and let out a shriek. More dolphins came close, and the women shrieked and laughed. The more they squealed and laughed the more dolphins came close. There were more than a dozen dolphins.

I was on the observation deck watching and could hardly believe what I saw. Pink Dolphins were raising half out of the water and turning their heads toward the women. They were as interested in watching the women as the women were to watch them. We tried to use the women as lures a few other times but it never worked that good again.

I came across this headline and article in none other than the Royal Society Journal Biology Letters published the 26th of March 2008.

Pink Dolphins Use Sticks and Stones to Impress the Ladies

“This behavior is unique in aquatic mammals, and among land-based mammals is seen only in chimpanzees and humans. Adult male Amazon river dolphins, or botos, carry natural objects such as sticks and rocks, sometimes throwing them or thrashing them against the surface. They do this predominantly in large groups, in the presence of adult females and other males, with whom they often fight.

Researchers…showed that dolphins appear to use these objects to impress the ladies…The objective…is sex.”

We witnessed something I thought was so unique surely no one in the world had ever seen it before. That impression only lasted until the first person we saw; a park ranger told us he had seen Pink Dolphins with wood in their beaks, and now the Royal Society Journal…

Pink Dolphins crescendo, climax, and post-coital bliss

It was the month of February, and something was going on in the Pink Dolphin community. There were lots of loud bufeo soundings, splashing, and what seemed to be fighting. The crescendo happened when two huge very pink males jumped two thirds out of the water and chest butted each other. The climax was when the winner won her flipper and floated with the female front to front, near the top of the water breeding.

When they separated it was peaceful in the water. Only one dolphin was visible, with a stick of wood in its beak which it held quietly above the water for several minutes, apparently in romantic post-coital bliss.

This is one of the male pink dolphins that fought for the females attention, and more. Look at his battle scarred fluke.

Have you ever observed a pink dolphin playing, fighting, breeding, or holding a piece of wood in its beak? Please leave a comment telling us about your unique experience watching Pink Dolphins.

Pink Dolphins, Legends and Sex

Bill Grimes, jungle guide for Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises

This is an informative article with scientific research on the characteristics of the Pink Dolphin.

Other articles that might be of interest are;

Pink Dolphins in Pacaya Samiria National Reserve

Observations About Our Study of Pink Dolphin Communication in Pacaya Samiria National Reserve

An Interview With David Bonnett, Acoustical Engineer Studying Pink Dolphin Communication

I am Just Another Travel Man

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Why Does the Sloth Swim Across the River?

We looked over the rail of our Amazon river boat, the Dawn on the Amazon, and were surprised to see a sloth swimming for all she was worth. Sloths are strong swimmers, but this sloth was going nowhere, her three toe claws were tangled in the brush.

“Can we rescue her?” was the cry from Taylor, my favorite college freshman in Austin Texas.

Alberto, one of my crew, was already running to the jon boat and five minutes later he scooped the sloth out of the water, safe and sound, and held her up so we could see better. Taylor’s teenage brother, Walker got face to face and tried to communicate with what looked like a half drowned model for Speilburg’s ET. “Why do you swim across the river ET.”

It was a break through moment in communication when ET telepathically answered, “To get to the other side.”

Walker understood and looked up at me with his big eyes and asked, “Can we take her to the other side?”

I gestured to the far side. Alberto smiled happily and crossing, using a paddle, placed the sloth in a safe place on the other side of the river.

Pam emphasized to me this was not to be a fishing trip. John loves to fish, too much. John’s family explained he has a history of over obsessing on fishing. I promised him he could wet a line. He confessed that fishing all day was not long enough.

We spotted a black water lake early in the morning and let John off in the canoe with one of my crew and we cruised on with radio contact. Within a few hours he caught three good eating sized peacock bass, and we cruised back to pick him up in time for lunch. Not bad because the water level was too high for good fishing. Personally I did not see anything wrong with John’s obsession for fishing. Some have said the same about me, in the distant past, before I reformed, got well, and became a recovering fisherman.

Sally and Sue are teachers studying the Amazon River and rainforest on an Eli Lilly Grant to revive teacher creativity, to “get their gray on in the Amazon”. They seemed revived to me. Their students are going to be so lucky to have the most enthusiastic teachers in the Turkey Run school system, and the most knowledgeable. Sally and Sue studied everything, asked a million questions, filled two notebooks, and took a thousand photos.

We visited two remote jungle villages and their schools, met the teachers and children, delivered school supplies, and made contacts for future correspondence between the students of Turkey Run, and students in the rainforest, two thousand miles apart.

Marmelita guided everyone on three jungle hikes, Edson took them on a night excursion looking for caiman, night birds, and frogs. We swam, canoed, spotted pink dolphins, and had fun.

Judy cooked fantastic food, like every meal was a special occasion. Not everything was equally appreciated. The giant Amazon snails diced into escargot was politely sampled, but the huge shells made interesting souvenirs. John thought the caiman tenderloin with ricotta sauce was the best meal. The most popular dish over all was the patarashca. Judy divided John’s peacock bass, and pieces of Dorado, a delicious cat fish, with a few tomatoes, sweet peppers, cilantro, a dash of soy sauce, all wrapped in bijao leaves, and steamed the fish in their own juices. The fresh squeezed tropical fruit juices were always a favorite.

We spotted a large troop of Squirrel Monkeys, and maneuvered our boat closer to watch them make their acrobatic leaps from tree to tree. We saw a smaller group of Saddle-backed Tamarins, and heard Dusky Titi Monkeys several times.

The most interesting birds to me were half a dozen Ivory-billed Aracaris, an Orange-breasted Falcon, Two Laughing Falcons, Swallow-tailed Kites, and dozens of Plumbeous Kites swooping up insects so gracefully right in front of our boat. I hesitate to mention the giant eagle we saw in a tree far away. It was huge. I tried to call it a Harpy, but never saw it clearly enough to get a good identification. I am notorious for calling every large raptor a Harpy until proven different. This one was never proven different so…

All of this and more in four days on Dawn on the Amazon III, up the Nanay River into Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve. There were no mosquitoes, but lots of Long-nosed bats, and a few Fish-eating bats.

One of the best elements of our cruise into the rainforest was how well everyone got along. We bonded into a friendly group, and shared an experience that we will not forget.

On the last day we met our other Amazon boat, Dawn on the Amazon I, coming upstream with a family on a fishing mission. We off loaded some of our extra supplies, and sent Judy with them to cook. They continued on into Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve, while we reluctantly started back to Iquitos. The good news is the water level dropped a foot in the next five days. They caught fish, including a large peacock bass, and were very happy, but that is another story.

Why Does the Sloth Swim Across the River? To Get to the Other Side Silly.

Hi, I am Bill Grimes. Click this link if you would like to learn more about my tours and cruises.

If you enjoyed this story please share it with your friends and the world by bookmarking this article using the social bookmark icons below. I have plans for several informative, valuable articles in the next few weeks. Don’t miss them. Subscribe to my RSS feed.

If you have a web site or blog of your own, link to me, and I will link back to you. Every link helps. Thanks.

Click these links to learn more about Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve.

The Bats of Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve and How They Could Benefit You

Expedition Through Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve

Bird Watching, Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve

The Real Live Dawn on the Amazon Cruises in Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve

Allphahuayo Mishana:It Ain’t Disneyland

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Bird Watching for a Life Time

Bird watching has been one of my favorite hobbies since 1954 when my brother and I rode the school bus through the rural countryside for two hours five days a week. We put a mark on paper for every Red-winged blackbird, robin, or cardinal we saw. A covey of quail was a bonus, but they flew so fast we couldn’t get a good count.

When my children were young we fed the birds sunflower seeds, thistle seeds for the finches, and suet for the woodpeckers at our home in rural west central Indiana. I planted hundreds of white and red pines, autumn olives, crab apples, walnuts, oaks, and poplars to encourage wildlife to come near our house.

I can’t estimate how many hours we spent bird watching, enjoying the different characteristics of the species of birds right outside our windows.

After my fledglings left the nest, I started migrating south during the winter to Florida, Texas, and Mexico; west to California and Hawaii. Each winter provided new bird watching experiences. I remember how happy I was to be close to a covey of California quail.

I migrated farther and farther, to Australia, the South Pacific islands, central Africa, eventually 6 continents and the “Seven Seas,” always pursuing my bird watching hobby. I wish I had kept a world life list, but I didn’t.

Now I live in Iquitos Peru, in the midst of the best bird watching I have had the pleasure to enjoy. Two species of tanagers come to my balcony to eat the ripe bananas I leave for them.

Would you like to go bird watching with me? Lets get together and see what we can arrange. One of my favorite bird watching web sites is Fatbirder. It is a huge, interesting web site about birds, birding, and birdwatching for birders. Follow this link to learn how great Fatbirder thinks Peru is.

Bird Watching for a Life Time

Bill Grimes, President, Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises

I hope you will enjoy following these links about my bird watching;

The Advantages of Bird Watching from Iquitos Peru with Dawn on the Amazon

Bird Watching Iquitos Peru

Birds and Bees of the Amazon Rainforest

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