[Freshwater] Peacock Bass

[Peace]

Peacock Bass (Cichla Ocellaris)

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[patrick2405]

here are my pics to help

[Peace]

Thanks for the contribution, there are quite a few species of peacock bass in our waters as well, some with hump heads too. Let's see if we can nab them all.

[patrick2405]

here are more pics as promised

[Peace]

Those are some very help pictures for comparison, it looks like they're of different stages of maturity. I wonder if the humphead is an integral part of its maturity too.

[limfish]

those with humps are males.
Those without humps are babies/sub adults or female.

[patrick2405]

Those are some very help pictures for comparison, it looks like they're of different stages of maturity. I wonder if the humphead is an integral part of its maturity too.

the humphead is kinda soft actually.... like jelly under the skin.... btw the meat is kinda chewy.... its even cheaper than chewing gum or water chestnuts!

[Peace]

the humphead is kinda soft actually.... like jelly under the skin.... btw the meat is kinda chewy.... its even cheaper than chewing gum or water chestnuts!

That's interesting, it tempts me to eat one peacock bass to see what it's really like. But overall, does Peacock bass taste as bad as most people say? How's the taste and texture apart from the hump?

[patrick2405]

the humphead is kinda soft actually.... like jelly under the skin.... btw the meat is kinda chewy.... its even cheaper than chewing gum or water chestnuts!

That's interesting, it tempts me to eat one peacock bass to see what it's really like. But overall, does Peacock bass taste as bad as most people say? How's the taste and texture apart from the hump?

i didnt eat the hump lol.... the meat is kinda chewy, but my dad says it has a little bit of "muddy" taste but to me i don feel so?
actually it kinda tastes special as among all the fishes i've tried with diff cooking methods, this is a fish i will never forget

[Peace]

Thanks for the info, I will try the fish when I'm ready.

[patrick2405]

hey peace here are some more pics from today's trip


this fish nearly caused me to lose my rod! it only attack my cousin lure, maybe cos last time he never catch anything :P my cousin hook liaos then shout "ahhhhh!" then i run and see he kena fish, i say aiya small one. but when i stand beside him and say it was so big, i snatch the rod from him cos i scared my line break

[gohyuheng]

I recently read that, peacock bass all do not have a bump on the head when young, but as they grow up, males grow bumps. So the ones with the bump on the head are the male.It is also a top feeder, so when catching it use float =D ( or in case of resevoirs , use the the lures that do not sink)

[Peace]

That's a good point, but you'll find that even shallow or even diving lures will also work. This is because they often hang out in shallow waters (as with our reservoirs) so they can pretty much sense everything throughout the depth. But I also believe that surface disturbance captures their attention the most.

[Peace]

This particular species typically don't grow up to a metre but the Speckled Pavon can.

[Peace]

I've not fish that many peacock basses and the pavon to draw a conclusion but they seem to fight pretty much the same to me so far. But since you can typically find larger Pavon than a Peacock Bass, I guess that does make them perceived to be better fighters.