It took 4 trips to the river before I could land one but it was so worth it. It is now in my pond. Post Exerpt from my blog.
I left the house at 2:00 in the afternoon right on schedule. I was just enjoying the freedom and being out doors when I looked at the horizon and saw that dark clouds were moving in. I almost turned back. But no I was going to try to fish anyway no matter the weather.
The bus I had to catch was number 209 and it came by after waiting for about 10 minutes. Pretty good so far. 209 dropped me off a few minutes away from our old house where I would have to catch 450 that would go to the Ponta Negra. 15 minutes of watching the storm clouds close in, and my bus showed up. I got on the bus and sat at a window, watching the black clouds getting closer. I figured I would have 15 minutes fishing before it started raining cats and Hudsons.
I arrived at the river close to 3:30, pretty good. I tied on my Skitter-pop and began casting as close to the submerged trees as I could. A half an hour later I had nothing to show for my efforts. So I kept on moving down popping my lure just as fast as I could. A nice man was following me around and unconsciously putting pressure on me. It started to rain but fortunately it was very weak and soon subsided, my fears were unfounded!
An hour passed. Still no fish, and still that man kept following me and offering unneeded (and largely unheeded) advice. I had moved quite a ways down and was now fishing in a section with a lot of submerged trees and very few people. I cast twice and the third cast I started daydreaming about what I would do if I couldnt catch any fish. I came wide awake when I heard a splash and saw a huge swirl envelope my scared little skitter-pop. You should have seen the little wooden Rapalas panic-stricken eyes! Anyway I reacted to late and the lure flew back at me. I reeled it in and breathed deeply trying to calm down. Fishing with topwater lures is an incredible experience.
The peacok bass haven
I cast again but I couldnt draw the fish out again. Five minutes later I decided to move on and made a good cast close to some rocks. I popped it once, twice, thrice BANG. I set the hook and the fish sped right at me. I reeled in the slack and my rod bent deeply. Then it rose to the surface and jumped, never to hit the water again. I lifted the gorgeous fish out of the water and quickly unhooked it. I ran as fast as I could to my back pack where my camera and fish bag were stored.
It was a peacock bass and I am pretty sure it is Cichla temensis.
It was 11-12 inches long.
I put it in a bag full of water and continued fishing. In the next half hour I got two more hits in the same area. the last one hit really hard and put a nice bend in the rod before it got off. I am guessing it was close to 20 inches but I never saw it.
Then the bites stopped and it started to get dark.
The peacock bas was doing well and an hour later I was back home. where the fish was put in the 200 gallon pond.
I left the house at 2:00 in the afternoon right on schedule. I was just enjoying the freedom and being out doors when I looked at the horizon and saw that dark clouds were moving in. I almost turned back. But no I was going to try to fish anyway no matter the weather.
The bus I had to catch was number 209 and it came by after waiting for about 10 minutes. Pretty good so far. 209 dropped me off a few minutes away from our old house where I would have to catch 450 that would go to the Ponta Negra. 15 minutes of watching the storm clouds close in, and my bus showed up. I got on the bus and sat at a window, watching the black clouds getting closer. I figured I would have 15 minutes fishing before it started raining cats and Hudsons.
I arrived at the river close to 3:30, pretty good. I tied on my Skitter-pop and began casting as close to the submerged trees as I could. A half an hour later I had nothing to show for my efforts. So I kept on moving down popping my lure just as fast as I could. A nice man was following me around and unconsciously putting pressure on me. It started to rain but fortunately it was very weak and soon subsided, my fears were unfounded!
An hour passed. Still no fish, and still that man kept following me and offering unneeded (and largely unheeded) advice. I had moved quite a ways down and was now fishing in a section with a lot of submerged trees and very few people. I cast twice and the third cast I started daydreaming about what I would do if I couldnt catch any fish. I came wide awake when I heard a splash and saw a huge swirl envelope my scared little skitter-pop. You should have seen the little wooden Rapalas panic-stricken eyes! Anyway I reacted to late and the lure flew back at me. I reeled it in and breathed deeply trying to calm down. Fishing with topwater lures is an incredible experience.
The peacok bass havenI cast again but I couldnt draw the fish out again. Five minutes later I decided to move on and made a good cast close to some rocks. I popped it once, twice, thrice BANG. I set the hook and the fish sped right at me. I reeled in the slack and my rod bent deeply. Then it rose to the surface and jumped, never to hit the water again. I lifted the gorgeous fish out of the water and quickly unhooked it. I ran as fast as I could to my back pack where my camera and fish bag were stored.
It was a peacock bass and I am pretty sure it is Cichla temensis.
It was 11-12 inches long.
I put it in a bag full of water and continued fishing. In the next half hour I got two more hits in the same area. the last one hit really hard and put a nice bend in the rod before it got off. I am guessing it was close to 20 inches but I never saw it.
Then the bites stopped and it started to get dark.
The peacock bas was doing well and an hour later I was back home. where the fish was put in the 200 gallon pond.
