Thursday, May 21, 2009

Light Kona winds, clouds drifting in and out, water clarity 2 to 3 feet....

and the peacock bass were spawning.

Near Mikimiki Flats, the small shad were leaping from the water to escape the schooling peacock bass. Red Devils lined the shallows. Decisions, decisions.

A schooling size peacock bass.

It wasn't the wild and sustained bust like we'll see later in the year, but enough action from 1 to 2 pounders to keep us interested.

They love anything gold.

When the schooling action slowed, we drifted closer to shore picking up a few big red devils. Every so often a peacock bass would dart in from the depths to grab the small red devil flys. We were seeing lots of fish.

Big Male Red Devil. They average from 3/4 to 1 pound in weight.

Larger spawning fish were our target so we moved along, scanning the shallow water. (A good pair of polarized sunglasses is a must if you want to see the fish.... if you can't see e'm, you can't catch e'm.) It didn't take long. Those big boys don't like anything swimming near their nest. A minnow looking artificial fly anywhere near a spawning pair of peacock bass draws some vicious strikes. The big bump on it's head identifies this 4 pounder as a male. Unlike largemouth, the male fish is always larger than the female.

Aloha,

Stan

Those are some great fish Stan.  I am glad you had a good day fishing.  I dream of the day that I can get far enough down south to catch a good sized peacock bass.  That Red Devil looks cool.  I have never seen one before.  Thanks for the pics.