Bass Mekanik

Color doesn't seem to matter with the x-raps, it more in the action of the lure. But if I had to chose a color for peacocks it would be gold/black. I have caught more on that color than any other.

I did a little bit of peacock fishing this afternoon. Ended up catching 10 up to 3lbs all on this x-rap. FYI for all those who have never fished for peacocks...upgrade your hooks to at least 3x saltwater hooks. I borrowed a new x-rap from a buddy since I left my fishing bag at home and it ended up looking like this after today.

Lures thats produce for me are husky jerks, x-raps, rat-l-traps, rooster tails, and my all time favorite bucktail jigs. Vary retrieve depending on the fishes mood. Good colors are gold and black, firetiger, and white and chartuese.

I go snook fishing just about everyday now. They fight wayyyyyy better than lmb. If anyone around broward wants to fish for them I am always down. Heres a couple I caught this last week.

I read that article the other day too. Congrats to him and his fish. I would love to see the pictures of that 10lber. ps bocabasser lets do some fishing in that local lake of yours I would love to set a record on like 4lb test.

I'm going to head to a couple spillways this week and try get me a fat momma. I haven't targeted snook on this coast in a while and mine as well try. Were you on boat or land?

Hey T-rig if you are ever in Florida and want to do some Barramundi fishing check this out. http://www.osceolaoutback.com/

I'm going to have to make the trek to Miami one of these days and try my luck at the peacocks down there. Believe it or not I have been fishing for peacocks for years and have yet to leave Broward to do so. I've seen pictures of recent catches on the Florida Sportsman Forum of peacocks in the 8-10lbs caught down in Miami. A few of them could have been new records but noone wants to kill a fish just for s stupid record. The biggest I have seen around here were in Weston in some private lakes but I am not allowed to fish in that city anymore. >

I'm pretty sure its legal to use mayan cichlids and bluegill as bait as long as it was caught by hook and line out of the same water you are using it to fish in. There is no limit on Mayan cichlids or Talapia because they are non-native fish in Florida. Peacock bass were introduced to keep the numbers of exotic fish down without hurting the largemouth population and they just can't get enough of those Mayan cichlids. I need to setup my fish tank again and put some baby peacock in there. I saw a pair of peacocks today that were guarding their fry that were good size to start raising(about 300 3" babys).

To catch bait fish I use a very small gold hook tipped with little bread balls. I think its illegal to use a cast net in freshwater but I could be wrong. The bait fish can range from 1.5"-6" (Bluegill, Spotted Tilapia, or Mayan Cichlids) To catch them the hook needs to be positioned right in their mouth for a hookup. I can fill my bucket with a dozen in a couple minutes. I find that bluegill's are heartier than mayans and they are my "secret" bait for brackish water spillway Snook(use ones the size of your palm). The mayans will float after one hit from any fish but bluegills still gimp around and swim a little. I would say that the 3-4" bluegills are the best all around bait for peacocks/bass. Bigger bait doesn't always mean bigger fish. More lively bait equals bigger fish. I rig the bait on Mustad live bait hooks in size 1 I think. Hook them around the anal fin for them to swim on the bottom or near the drosal to stay near the top or under a float. I find that I get better hookups with the anal fin rigging but both rigs get hit about the same. I haven't used a bobber/popping cork in a while and usually freeline them, but a big popping cork would probaly be good for when the Tarpon are crusing around.

I hate not having somebody pass by and take a picture of the fish and me. > The shoe is there just for size reference and its a size 12. The rod is nice but I shouldn't be using it for peacock fishing. I need something with more backbone when using live bait, the M power just doesnt cut it. So I will have to get myself a St. Croix Tidemaster or a Simano Teramar in MH and also have that as a new Inshore rod.

I love the rain we have been having the past few weeks. Florida Water Management has those spillways open almost all the time now and the water is flowing through the canals. Well today I hit up a local spot I haven't fished since I was a young boy. I started to catch bait 2-4" Bluegill and Mayan Chiclids because I wanted to catch a freshie Tarpon or Snook. I filled my bucket with about 12 bait and toss one out. Once it hits the water a decent 3lb bass takes it and runs. I land him and while im reviving him I see two Snook just crusing by. One was around 27" and the other was 38-40" The bigger one has to be the second biggest snook I have ever encountered. Well I put on a nice 3" mayan and let him drift with the current under the bridge I was fishing. When it was somewhere under the middle of the bridge I hear that tell tale snook POP!!! I wait 3 seconds and come tight. The snook was on for all of 2 seconds when I get cutoff and see the two snook dart out from under the bridge and fly down the canal. My 20lb flouro leader was shreded and frayed. Many people say you need atleast 30lb flouro leader for snook but when the water is as clear as it was today I needed to go lighter. Depressed and ticked I tie on another leader and continue to fish. The little bass and peacocks would destroy my baits each time the hit the water and then they would just float around for a while and die. To remedy this problem I caught a 5-6" bluegill that was bigger than my palm and tossed him out. Once he hit the water a BIG peacock comes out of nowhere like a freight train and just inhales him. I give it a couple seconds and get tight. This fish pulled like no other peacock I have caught before. Well after 5 minutes I finnally get it close enough to lip and land him. I put him on the scale, took a picture, and released him to go get fatter and eliminate all the non-native fish. He went 4lbs 8oz on my scale not my biggest but definatly the best fighter. I will be back there again to catch those elusive snook one day. Please excuse me for making this one big paragraph but im tired and need a shower. Heres the pics.

I've caught bluegill with gold hooks tipped with pieces of white notebook paper. They wouldnt hit it without the paper. Also caught the biggest bluegill of my life on a frozen meatball. I also used a jumbo cocktail shirmp from my friends freezer when we ran out of worms and caught a 4lb bass. I don't think thats too weird considering people on the St. Johns river use shrimp to catch bass.

Nice P's I went out yesterday after a doctors appointment to one of my spots and caught 4 peacocks the biggest was around 3lbs. Only got to fish for an hour before the thunderstoms rolled in. When I woke up today I went back to the same spot and got another 5 before 2pm when the thunderstorms haulted my fishing yet again. My new favorite technique for catching these guys is swimming bucktail jigs. It takes some practice to hookup with the fish since theres no treble hooks but I am able to release them faster and don't have to worry about getting a hook in my hand. They are still spawning in the shallows and are easy to spot. These are awesome! They are 3/8oz from Hookup Lures and work great on snook and redfish too. Here's a link to their site. http://www.hookuplures.com/index.htm

Nice p's. Thumbs up to ya.

Sweet catch. I hate not having someone to take pics of a great catch like that. I don't know how many times I release a fish and have a passerby come out of the woodwork.

I got a couple more today and another cool pic. The first fish weighed 4lb5oz and put up a heck of a fight wrapping me around some lily's and almost snapping me off trying to go through a concrete tunnel. Anyways I snapped a pic of the swarm of peacocks at my secret spot. There is probably around 20 or so in the pic. If anybody is good with photoshop can you adjust the lighting or something so you can see the fish better. 4lb5oz Bedding Pair Big school

I love the month of April. Fish are spawning the cold fronts have stopped and school is out. Now that I finally have an associates degree I can get back to work and back to fishing. Went out today to my peacock honey hole and it was a blast. When I got there 20 peacocks were schooling together killing all minnows in their path. There were also 5 pairs of spawning fish and I snapped a cool pic of one. It was midday and the bite was on. I landed 7 schoolie p's on my new "custom" x-raps(they just have 4x strong saltwater hooks 8-)) Then I switched it up and tied on a blue roostertail. The fish just hated that thing being jigged in their face and i landed another two. I ended the day when I lost my favorite Pro Trap due to a monster peacock swimming under a underwater pvc pipe with a stupid duck on it. It was a great day to say the least. Here are the few pics I took. Does anyone know if they make cameras with polarized lenses? I tryed to take a pic through my glasses and it didnt come out to good.

Sorry to burst your bubble but those are Mayan Chiclids. We use the palm sized ones for big bass and ones a little bigger for tarpon. I've had a 10lb+ bass eat one but didn't get a good hookset on it, but i have caught a 40lb tarpon on one. They are fun to catch when youngsters have never fished before. I once had one eat a large shinner and it weighed in just under 2lbs.

Went out after the storms today and caught some more peacocks but none were over 2lbs. Heres a cool little knot head i snapped a pic of with my phone. What are some strong treble hooks I can use to replace the ones on my size 8 x-raps? The ones they come with are eaisly bent and I fear losing bit fish on them.

One of my friends co-workers was selling a bunch of rods and reels he never used since he upgraded to stella reels and loomis rods. I picked up a nice spinning combo a brand new stradic 2000 on a 6ft All Star Titanium rod for 125 bucks. I hit up a golf course lake and caught a couple of small p's and missed a bruiser that was easily 4 pounds.

Nice bass. Those chatterbaits always seem to produce bass over 2lbs for me, I guess dinks are detered from them because of all the noise they make.

Well a couple of friends and myself didnt have work today so we decided to do some local bank hopping. We hit up a few spots and my firends end up catching a few bass in the 1-2lb range and I get skunked. I have been fishing for peacocks lately and have not targeted bass specifically. After a couple hours I convinced them to hit up a canal I was scouting the other day. I saw 8-10 peacock bass schooling tearing minnows up. I got a couple to bite but none that were picture worthy. Then one of my buddies yells "fish on" and is fighting a quality bass on one of the gimpiest outfits I have ever seen. The rod had no backbone at all and resembled an ugly stick and the reel didnt have anything but a locked down drag and the line must have been 5 years old. Needless to say the fish is landed and ends up weighing 5lbs even. It was caught on a 4.5in Alewife Twitch Assassin. We procede to a lake close to the canal and I break my slump and catch a 3lb 5oz laregmouth on my second cast. Many more dinks were caught but these were the two quality fish of the day. 5lb (He needs to learn to hold bass for pics b/c it looked alot bigger in person) 3lb 5oz

Rat-L-Trap with a spinner I think they call them Pro Traps also.