Lone Peacock Bass At Canal

When: 13 April 2015 around 3pm

Where: Bird Place, Canal Fishing
Weather: Cloudy.
Water Condition: The water is clear and this canal is about 8ft deep. Because of the rain a few days ago, the water level in the canal is very high. In fact the water level is up to the brim of the canal.
Rod: Surecatch AllRound 5.5ft 6-14lb  fast action rod
Reel: TICA CETUS SB500
Line: Monofilament 10lb line 0.22mm
Leader: SureCatch Ultimate Leader 20lbs
Lure: Weighted fly rig using Lemon Raffia Fly
Method: Slow Jerk-Retrieve- Slow Jerk-Retrieve
Strike Zone: Near to the side of the canal wall.
Victim aka The Fish: Peacock Bass

Comment/Observation:
This was a short session. Since the sun is high up in the sky, surface lures will not be effective.  So I started out the session with the Rapala Countdown 5cm Black Gold (to cover the top half of the water column) and followed by the Nils Master 5cm Deep Runner Red with gold glitter (to cover the lower half of the water column). Both the lures did not attract any strike. But the Nils Master did attract the attention of a Peacock Bass that follows the lure for a short distance.

After the Nils Master, I decided to deploy the Lemon Raffia Fly. Since the Nils Master attracted a Peacock Bass, then the PBs should be hunting near to the bottom. So a slow retrieve was used. This would ensure that the fly would be running near to the bottom. While running the fly near to a clump of water weeds, there was a tug but no hook up. After a few more retrieves of the fly in the proximity of the tug, the effort yielded a hook up. The Peacock Bass fought strongly and was landed eventually. Maybe this was the fish that follows the Nils Master in.

The fish was released to fight another day.

This is the tactic that I used often. I have noticed that most of the time the fish will be attracted by action of surface and diving lures, then follows the lure in but does not strike. Sometimes changing to another hard lure will induce the fish to strike. But this does not work all the time. Changing to a fly will normally get the fish.  In this case, I changed to the Lemon Raffia Fly and the result is clear.

Please practice Catch and Release. This is the best way to sustain fish stock for the future. 

Picture:

The Victim