Peacock Bass Fishing

The peacock bass is the English common name for a group of fish closely related to the species of freshwater fish belonging to the genus Cichla which is native to the Amazon River basin of South America. They can also be found in the waters of the Dominican Republic, Singapore, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela as well as some parts of the United States of America like Hawaii, Florida, Guam and Puerto Rico. Although they are known as the peacock bass they are not actually basses, more like cichlids.

The family of the peacock bass is rather large containing no more than 15 species plus two more that have not received a name from the ichthyologists. Their names greatly depend upon the region where they can be found, their stage of development as well as local anglers. In the following, you have the full list of taxonomic, binominal names plus four English common names:

  1. Cichla intermedia (royal peacock bass)
  2. Cichla jariina
  3. Cichla kelberi
  4. Cichla monoculus
  5. Cichla melaniae
  6. Cichla mirianae
  7. Cichla nigromaculata
  8. Cichla ocellaris (butterfly peacock bass)
  9. Cichla orinocensis
  10. Cichla pinima
  11. Cichla piquiti
  12. Cichla pleiozona
  13. Cichla temensis (speckled peacock bass but three-barred peacock bass while spawning)
  14. Cichla thyrorus
  15. Cichla vazzoleri

The two species of the peacock bass that do not have a taxonomic name are the Rio Paru and the Rio Travessao. The largest fish from this family is the speckled peacock bass which can reach 3 feet and 4 inches (100 centimeters). On the opposite side, the smallest member of the peacock bass family is the royal peacock bass, a fish that can grow to a maximum of one foot and 10 inches. The vast majority of the members of the peacock bass display three wide vertical stripes on their bodies as well as a spot on their tail fins which looks similar to the eyes on a peacock’s tail feathers – this is where the fish got its name from. All of the adult male peacock basses have a very pronounced hump on their foreheads.

Both amateur and professional fishermen consider the peacock bass a prized game fish thanks to their fighting qualities. Even more than that, many travel agencies offer specialized fishing trips to Florida or Brazil, all for the peacock bass and they seem to be quite popular nowadays.

The peacock pavon also known as the tucunare is dusky green on the dorsal surface, blending to a greenish yellow or golden on its sides. This type is characterized by the three black vertical bars along each side of the fish and black irregular patches that are located behind the eye on the cheek. The largest peacock pavon ever caught weighted a respectable 27 pounds.

The speckled pavon also known as the paca is the darkest specie belonging to the peacock bass. This type has three dark vertical bars plus a series of white/pale yellowish spots or even broken lines that run in horizontal rows along the entire length of their bodies. The largest speckled peacock bass caught weighted no more than 27 pounds.

The royal pavon also known as the black-striped peacock is similar in size to the butterfly. This type has a rather irregular dark line which runs laterally along the entire length of the fish’s body which has an olive green and golden color pattern. This fish has 7 to 10 faint black vertical bars along both sides.

The butterfly pavon is the most colorful as well as plentiful member of the peacock bass large family. It is easy distinguishable thanks to its three black circular blotches along both sides of its body. Their average weight is between 2 and 4 pounds.

For the human delight, their meat is very good in terms of taste as their flesh is sweet and white when it is properly cooked plus it has very little oil which makes it similar in taste with the grouper or the snapper. Another advantage is that they do not have many bones, making them easier to eat.

The largest and most important populations of peacock bass can be found in Brazil and Venezuela as this type of tropical fish requires warm waters in order to flourish. For fishing enthusiasts that are planning on going to Venezuela or Brazil in order to catch peacock bass they need to know that the peacock bass fishing is seasonal as the Amazon/Orinoco systems of Venezuela as well as Brazil posses relatively rainy and dry seasons. For the South American continent, the dry season is the only time of the year when fishermen can fish the peacock bass and during the season the number of enthusiasts is overwhelming.