Yes its nearly summer chaps and I am back in the UK, although I have a few days work to complete in Aberdeen then its time to get the yak & all the new kit ready for some fishing. Was not sure were to post this thread but I thought some of you might be interested in my trip up the Amazon & unsuccessful attempts to catch a Peacock Bass.
Following my job in Brazil I decided to fly the missus out and take a holiday on the Amazon, during my research I came upon the Tucanare or Peacock Bass as it is called in English. Not really a Bass at all but really a large and very aggressive cichlid the is apparently the mother of all fighting fish, unfortunately it is the rainy season in the Amazon at the moment and the water levels raise by as much as 14m flooding the forest and dispersing the fish over a vast area making them very difficult to locate.
Anyway undeterred I booked a week sailing a riverboat up the Amazon with a local company in Manaus(capital of Amazonia) and headed off.
Got to Manaus & checked out the fish market, these are the target
First view of our new home
just below Manaus the river splits into two, the upper reaches of each are completely different with the rio Solomonus being a muddy chocolate colour and the Negra as the name suggests being black water coloured by tannins from the vegetation, as a result the waters of the negra are acidic and support much less fish varieties than the solomonus which can claim approx 350 species.
First night we moor on the solomonus & try for some catfish, from the exact position that a German chap caught a 60kg specimen the week before I manage this
After some sightseeing & bird watching etc, we head off up the Rio Negra, were the peaty nature of the water reflects all the light producing some superb views
Tried a spot of Piranha fishing, glad cod don’t have teeth like that
Not doing so well with the fishing so off into the jungle for a quiet night, listening to tree frogs
Hope the spiders cant jump.
Can’t say I don’t know how to show a lady a good time
, but she could have to make manioc for the whole village like this
Anyway this was the village that I was assured was the place to catch the Tucanare & we found a guide who said he may be able to find some, tried poppers in the flooded forest and I did get a big swirl when a fish had two looks but failed to strike but they were elusive after that and we trolled an X rap all over the river for some time, no Bass but I got one hit when the rod bent & release immediately & a large silver fish of about 2ft jumped 8ft clear of the water somersaulted & swam off. After that no more action so I bunged the hunter a few quid & he headed of back to the village
during a bit of paddling in the forest the next day we heard a noise of falling tree branch & found this chap slightly shaken by a fall of about 40ft, 3 toed sloth I am told.
So no Bass but after a brilliant trip, we headed back to Manaus & a decent shower and clean up before taking in the local market which included a Columbian
Band & a talent contest for the best dancer, shaking that arse
Then back to Rio for a couple of days on Ipenema beach to buy a couple of rip off Brazil shirts & prepare for the flight home
so not particularly successful in terms of fishing but I learned a lot & would love to go back in the dry season on a pure fishing trip, I listened to some yanks at the airport who had been on an organized fishing trip much further up river & had obviously caught a lot of fish, but that comes at a price & my missus was on holday aswell so pretty pleased with the trip.
but now its time to get back to Gods own acre and be ready for some real fishing.
