peacock bass spawn

 the peacock bass spawn usually starts around late march or early april, it can begin later or earlier depending on the water temp and weather. the bass spawn here  is very different than the peacock bass sawn. the largemouth actually need the water temp to drop in to the 60s for the spawn to start, the tucanare won't start till the water temp climbs into the mid to upper 70s.  the tucanare  also spawn in a much longer pattern, the bass might spread out the spawn over a months time but the peacocks will go several months and may very well go from march into june! after the peacock bass have picked a site, usually under a lay down or next to a rock. they luv wood cover nearby! the pair will lay and fertilize the eggs. nests like the largemouth nests tend to be in 1-3 ft of water and appear  as bowl shaped cleared out spots with the white eggs visible from the surface. the mated pair will viciously guard this nest and their eggs, even more so than largemouth do. there has been a very popular trend of nest fishing aka site fishing here in the past few years. many anglers have no problem  throwing  live bait or a lure into a nest and its almost a guaranteed hookup every time. and often a 3-5lb fish too boot. the fights aren't long and  as dramatic as usual seeing as sight fishing  is usually almost a pitching technique. many videos on you tube of peacock bass fishing in hawaii are of nest fisherman. i refuse to nest fish here, maybe on a 78.000 acre impoundment where millions of tons of fish are spawning, or if it was an elite tournament with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. but our little lake has so many problems and putting more stress on the fish seems irresponsible. people say that as long as you release them right away they go right back on the nest and its ok, what they fail to mention is often you can catch the same fish several times as it protects its young and nest. and often catch both fish off the nest in very short order. even if they return  right to the nest and the other predators haven't raided it yet, you have stressed a fish during the fight and cost it valuable energy which it cannot replace as it won't feed again till the fry are several weeks older. in typical human fashion we seem to too more damage than good during this spawn. even a boat on full plane can damage a nest and eggs irreparably. there is a period after the water temp reaches about 75 degrees or so in march that  they will go on a serious feed in order to store for energy for the spawn. thats the time you wanna get them, the big ones and small ones roam in wolf packs looking for anything they can overtake. top waters rule the day during this time period, but often any lure tossed against a bank with peacocks sitting just offshore can illicit a tremendous explosion! any type of jerkbait , soft plastic stick baits, prop baits, will all get some good action. and often at the end of a longer cast, allowing for many jumps and surges. the kind of action you wanna see from such a gamefish! as a bonus the fish is full of food and energy, no nest to guard or fry to worry about. and when released it will go right back out and eat some more. this is the time i recommend whole heartedly as a angler who would like to see the fishery grow.