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<p>I have located a small pond that is loaded with a yet unidentified species of pleco. Desptie several hours of fishing, I have been unable to catch a single one of them.</p>
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<p>I see quite a few of them swimming up near the shoreline. They seem to be attracted to the ring of green algea that is growing around the pond. </p>
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<p>I tried crawling worms right in front of their faces, and they simply ingore the offering. I also tried chucking bread into the water, and they ignored that as well. </p>
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<p>Has anybody successfully caught a pleco? What did you use as bait? I'm at a loss as to what to offer these guys! Thanks for the help in advance guys =)</p>
My first try would probably be with spirulina dough. Spirulina powder is dried algae powder and is available in health food stores. Mix it with a little flour and water, use a tiny piece the size of a pea with a micro hook. I've made some for attempts at carpsuckers, didn't work, but for plecos it might work really well.
Plecos in the aquarium really go after the algae pellets they sell in pet stores. They smell them right away and hunt them down. If you can't find spirulina powder you could buy a bag of pleco food (algae wafers), soak it in a little water till they dissolve, and then mix it with flour to make a dough paste.
Thank-you Corey that's sound advice. I will be on the lookout for spirulina and also any pet stores I come across to buy some of those algea wafers.
Any more advice guys?
I have seen them caught in the ponds of Thailand on occasion. They get caught with ground bait on coil feeders with small hooks and foam balls. The groundbait consists of rice husk flour and bread mix. Try small pea-sized foam balls on a hook. I think they like to suck on the foam balls. Anyway, this method has caught a few over there but I was unsuccessful when I tried it.
Let there be fire!
I have 2 Plecos in my fish tank and they love algea wafers or pellets, the wafers would be your best bet but I think they might be hard to get on a hook.
I suggest keeping whatever it is, plant based and as flat as possible on the bottom because they will do anything to stay on the floor.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.
But you might also try hair-rigging or rubber band-rigging one of those little pellets..?
Fishn sure is neat
Haven't had the chance to try again yet... I'll have a narrow window next week to hit that pond again.
As for the pellets, I will try hair rigging them and also using some spider thread to try and secure them onto the hook =)
Thanks for the helps so far!
I had a few hit peas and had another grab a crawler and mash it and pull it away from its nest.
I will say one thing, DONT USE BRAID! It sticks to the bristles on their body and its impossible to get a hookset if the line touches its body. I lost at least 3 fish because of this.
I would try algea wafers. Drill a hole in the middle of one and rig it that way. Use a smaller hook then you would think. Most of that mouth is lip. For a 15"-19" pleco I would use a size 12 hook.
One thing we talked about trying but never did was foam beads prerigged and set in a clear aquarium outside that is seeded with algea from the pond you are fishing. In about 3 days in the sun the beads will be little algea balls with a hook embeded.
I bet this trick would work on many species.
I signed up a while ago, but have been in lurker/observer/learner mode, but now I have something to contribute!
I've had a number of plecos in my aquariums over the years and would occasionally feed them sliced up cucumbers. They would go nuts over the cukes. Cucumber floats, so I'd rubberband a piece to a sinker to keep it on the bottom when feeding them. Hengelaar's hair rig idea might work with a cucumber chunk, rigging it like a pop-up boilie.
Where in Toronto did you find a pond with Plecos?
Good luck buddy. Can't wait to hear about all the species you guys get down there.
Eli
Thanks guys! Now I have yet another trick to try... cucumbers!
The algea balls sound like a great idea JKnuth, but I won't have time here to grow any algea.
I saw a bunch more today... there're really prolific here in south florida!
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees" -Emiliano Zapata
Hey Michael, sorry I didn't get a chance to fish for those plecs in Taiwan. The water temp was just too low and the winter storms weren't helping water conditions at all. They were extremely inactive, so I was focusing on the other species around... namely the snakeheads!
Good luck! I really hope you get one! Let us know how your quest goes!
CPR: Catch, Picture, Release. Ensuring our sport lives on forever.
Any luck ?
Wanted to update you guys. Basically, when I got back to the spot I only had an hour in the cold morning to try at 'em again. I tried some peas, but I really didn't spot many around... probrably due to the cold and cloudy weather and it beign early morning.