THE PEACOCK BASS
 

P opular NAME: Tucunaré
(tucunaré-açú; tucunaré-paca, tucunaré-pinima; tucunaré-pitanga; tucunaré-vermelho)
 

Physical traits

The speckled peacock bass (Açú e Paca) is the largest of the species and can grow up to 1 meter (three feet, four inches) in length. The royal peacock bass is the smallest and grows to a maximum length of 55 centimeters (one foot, 10 inches). Also, most display three vertical stripes on their bodies and a spot on their tail fins that resembles the eyes on a peacock's tail feathers -- a feature which resulted in their English and Spanish common names. In addition, all adult males have a pronounced hump on their foreheads. Other physical traits can vary greatly depending on the species, individual and stage of development. These include but are not limited to: dark rosettes instead of stripes, light speckles, impressive shades of bright green, orange, blue and gold. The stripes, however, tend to fade in late adulthood.
 

Valued as gamefish

Sport fishermen have made these cichlids prized game fish for their fighting qualities. Renowned American peacock bass fisherman and fishing author, Larry Larsen, refers to them as "freshwater bullies" due to their ferocious nature when hunting and their tendency to damage and sometimes destroy fishing gear when striking.

Among the Amazon fish species, the peacock bass is the only predator that always finalize the attack. It pursues its prey and don't give up until it catch it. So, if a Peacock hits your bait and misses it, continue working the bait. It will probably return and strike again. Be prepared: the Peacock Bass attacks are indescribable explosions on the water.
 

Equipments

Bait Casting: Medium Heavy action rods 5'6" to 6' for 20~25 lbs line, reels or spinning reels that comport 100 yards of the selected line, witch should be 0,40~0,45mm monofilament Line (20lbs) or braided line (multifilament) PE4 ~ PE6 (0,30~0,35mm), Fluor Shock leader 40~60lbs, reinforced snaps 30~50lbs (tested).

We suggest the use of hardbaits such as topwater zaras (walking the dog), poppers, sticks, plugs with propellers and sub surface minnows. All from 10 to 16cm (and even bigger).  The hardbaits should have 4x reinforced triple hooks (Eagle Clow or VMC Rapala).

In addition, for fly fishing, use fishing gear #8 or #9, with floating and sinking lines, including lures such as poppers and large streamers.