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Information Central (c) Larry Larsen The World's Greatest Gamefish
T
 he peacock bass
by nature is aggressive and its personality is downright belligerent. It is a fish so powerful that it can destroy tackle, straighten hooks and tear the hardware right out of hardwood and plastic baits.
The fiercest fighting fish in the world will smash and mangle lures, even break them apart, and then give you the battle of your life.
It is impossible to exaggerate the strike and fight of this
colorful gamefish. The larger it gets, in contradistinction to its North American cousins, the better it fights. The fish almost always jumps the second they are hooked, and after
ahead-shaking leap or two, they make an incredible run. Even a four- or five-pounder can wear a person out, and they probably grow to over 30 pounds!
In a long, straight run, the aerial acrobat weighing over 15 pounds can rip 40-pound test line from a heavy-duty 3:1 ratio casting reel with the drag clamped down tight. The trophy-size
peacock bass can easily break 20- to 30-pound test monofilament or straighten out a 3X heavy-strength hook in one of its initial charges or when it sees the boat and senses doom.
What makes an angler whose favorite fish is the musky, smallmouth bass, striper, or giant largemouth dream of another species? What would make a snook
or tarpon guide give up on them to chase after a freshwater species? It's the fish that is head and shoulders above all the others in this world: the peacock bass. Imagine a 12-Megaton hydrogen
bomb going off below your topwater plug or giant popper.
There is no such thing as a pot-bellied peacock bass. Its splashy colors make it virtually
impossible to sneak up on its forage, so if it can't catch the food, a peacock goes hungry. As a result, a giant peacock is just as quick as a smaller fish ...and a lot more powerful.
 The fighting ability of the peacock bass
puts them at the head of the class. Pound for pound, it is the toughest-fighting freshwater gamefish in the world. With the exception of the tuna family, the peacock bass, I believe, is the top
battler in global waters of any salinity. When you consider the jumping ability, the power, the attitude and the excitement generated by large peacock bass, no other fish even comes close.
I call it the "World's Greatest Gamefish" because it is attracted to cover, strikes topwater lures regularly, jumps when hooked, never gives up a battle, is powerful enough to tax angler skills and
tackle, breaks line and lures easily, has a physical appearance that looks exciting, and obtains an average size of 15 to 26 pounds (a very respectful weight).
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