Peacock Bass Of Malaysia.

A nice one from Batu Gajah area.
This took a fly.

Kota Bahru of Perak too
has many large ones.

This beautiful fish took a crankbait.

It went for a fly.

Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort
 at Batu Gajah, has a
 good population of them.

These are only a small sample
of the lures and flies effective
for catching peocock bass.

Another one from CWS.

A good and cooperative fish
for ladies to take up fishing.

Air Kuning of Perak is a place
 for whoppers. This is small
by comparision.

This snaggy pond is one of the most populated pond at CWS.

Minnow lures are
very effective producers.

Peacock bass is a misnomer. Actually this fish is a cichlid originating from South America's Amazon, Orinoco and the Rio Negro basins. With its bass like look and behaviour, it attracted a lot of attention from anglers the world over. There are many species of peacock bass in South America, of which the cichla monoculus is one of them.

It is this specie that was transplanted by the acquarium trade into Malaysia. Many years ago, an acquarium fish farmer spread the news that he had a few ponds full of the peacock bass and they possesed great fighting qualities when hooked. A fishing magazine took up the story and some pond and resort owners quickly stocked their ponds and lakes with these fighters.

Some of these fish escaped into the Kinta River system of Perak. As a fish that tend to occupy lentic (slow) moving water and dense underwater structures, they slowly found their ways into most of the ponds and lakes. And the rest is history.

Named as one of the greatest freshwater fighters around, they readily strike subsurface lures including jigs, flies and crankbaits. Poppers and gurglers are also known to be effective early in the morning.

Now many anglers specifically target these acrobatic fighters, which in my opinion is a great sport fish. As a word of caution though, I do hope they will not be release into places where there is no such fish as they are rather carnivorous and predatory.