Peacock Bass on Fliptail Clouser On water test in CWS
Clevin Kham FFI CCI
With the launch of the FTN Silicone and Latex Fish Tail, many variations of baitfish patterns emerged and we took the opportunity to tie a few to test it out on the Malaysian favourite sportfish, the Peacock Bass. Brought into the country in the 80s as an ornamental fish, this fish found its way into the many ponds in the country. With its predatory nature and hard fight, this fish is sought after by fly fishers. Various fly patterns are specifically designed to target this fish.
The long weekend, in conjunction with the National Day holiday, was an opportunity to test out this fly. The target species, Peacock Bass. The location, Perak. The fly, Flip Tail Clouser. The equipment, #6 rod with floating line. Darrell and I drove down from Kuala Lumpur and met Asrul Affendi (Asrul), Khairulniza Arifin (Ija) and Aimar Aizat (Aizat) who were so gracious to be our guide on this trip.
Arriving at the location just after 8 am, we choose a spot where there was a small stream feeding into a large pond. This is the ideal sport as the PB will be waiting in ambush for the baitfish. Occasionally, the baitfish would be scattered by some large predatory fish. This was a sure sign our target fish was there. I casted my #6 floating line connected to a 7 foot leader. A chartreuse Flip Tail Clouser tied on Ahrex NS150 Curved Shrimp #6 was connected to a 20lb tipper.
Many would think that clouser is a sinking fly and thus be fished with a sinking line. I decided to do the opposite. Using a floating line will allow the fly to be stripped upwards and as the fly descended, it will create an aggerated movement of the flap tail. It will have more action than an ordinary clouser, making it more attractive to the fish. Well, this was all my hypothesis. Only the fish can prove this.
I cast to a spot near the outflow of the stream and allowed the fly to sink before giving it short but crisp strips. Pausing, to keep the fly in the strike zone longer. As I resumed stripping after the pause, my line was stopped and instinctively, I stripped strike. The fish didn’t like it at all and proceeded to speed off in the opposite direction. It fought doggedly, zig zagging in the water. It was a tough but short fight. Soon, a dark green fish with an unmistakable black eye fringed by a yellow circle near the tail was gently guided onto the bank. It was a good fish, almost 33cm in length. The fish was safely released after a quick customary photo shoot. The scene was repeated several times.
About lunch time, we grab a quick lunch and checked in into CWS and started fishing in the fishing club house spot where the wind started to pick up. Darrell and I moved to another spot just right outside our room, successfully landed a 35 cm fish. The Flipper tail seemed to be working like a charm. It is simple to tie and easy to swim either on a sinking or a floating line. The action seems to drive fish crazy. Try it the next time you target the PB. The beauty of this fly is that can be used as a spin fly on UL spinning gear.