01/21/2024
Peacock Bass in Brazil
originally posted 5/17/13
With boredom setting in due to being on bed rest with my ankle elevated I've decided to post reports about past trips. The 1st will be about my 1 and only trip to The Rio Negro in Amazonas, Brazil for Peacock Bass in 2008.
I was 1st told that I had a "free" trip there by my dad when he and mom were visiting from FL. I was pretty excited to hear the news. For many years I had heard Dad's stories and seen the pictures of monster peacock bass. Dad even held a world record at 1 point. All I had to do was get my passport, shots and get to Miami International, everything else was taken care of.
Over the following months I took care of the passport, shots and made the plans to drive down to FL and spend the night with mom. Dad was already in Brazil for 2 weeks before me. Mom drove me down to the airport the morning of departure. I got checked in, ate some breakfast and waited at the gate. Just before boarding the owner of the Rio Negro Lodge, Phil who was on the same flight down, started to introduce himself to everyone and talk about the fishing. Fly fishing got brought up and when introductions got to me he asked if I would be fly fishing. I jokingly replied," if I don't my dad will kill me." He replied," I'll have to put you with Bill Elliott then." My immediate retort was," if you do I'll kill you. That's my dad. I don't know if we could handle being on the same boat for almost a week. That's when the bomb dropped. Phil looked at me and said," so you're my other fly fishing instructor for the week. We have a ton of novice fly fisherman this week who would like instruction. Your dad said there would be too many for him to work with, and that he'd need help. I asked him who he thought was as good as him, and he immediately said you." I bite my lip since I got a compliment, but thought of how my fishing trip turned into work.
After landing in Manaus and clearing customs we got on a couple of puddle jumpers to fly up to a small town on the Rio Negro. We then hopped on to a jet boat for the 3 hour ride up river to the lodge. Dad was there when we arrived at about 8-9 pm. I jokingly laid into him for not telling me the true reason for my "free" trip.
The accommodations were luxurious. The scenery and wildlife were amazing. The people were nice and very interesting. The fishing for the week would be rough by the region's standards though. If you look closely at the picture you can see that the water still goes back into the jungle. That year the rainy season ran later than usual making water levels higher than normal, and a lot of jungle still flooded. Giving the fish a lot of areas to hide that they wouldn't normally have at the time.
Because of this some of the guys that were going to fly fish changed to spin fishing or trolling. We worked with a group of 6 guys from Memphis, who actually knew the owner of the Wendy's franchise I worked, over the next 5 days. We would each work with 1 until lunch, and then they would round robin and switch up.
We also gave casting lessons to anyone who wanted them out on the lawn in front of the lodge after coming off the water. Dad would usually get started while I ran into the lodge for a drink and a bite to eat. It was kind of an ego booster each night hearing a couple of the guys say, "Bill's good, but wait for Jeff to get back. He's the better caster." Aha, the student finally surpassed the teacher!
During the 1st 5 days of instructing and casting I only managed 7 fish to hand, and my arm was sore from a lot of very long tight casts. So the last day dad and I told everyone that we would like a full day together. We ended up with my guide and trolled flies all day with a baitcaster. (Yes my arm was that tired that I gave up flinging them.) I managed 7 to hand that day. The biggest of the trip being the 7 pictured. I had one that hit the fly, started screaming line off the reel and broke through doubled over braided 30 # test line.
That last night the lodge put on a show by the pool with the locals doing native dances. The next day it was the trip down river and back on the puddle jumper to Manaus. We then spent the rest of the day buying souvenirs and having an authentic Brazilian steakhouse buffet dinner. The next morning was the flight back to Miami and drive to mom and dad's. Followed by another early morning for the drive back to North Carolina.
While not my most productive fishing trip, even the regular clients who go multiple times a year said the fishing was well below standards, it was probably the most interesting trip I've ever been on. I highly recommend it to anyone.
