Rumble in Jungle Day 3 - Fear and Loathing in Amazonia

 I've been fascinated with arapaimas for a long time.  They are the largest, scaled, freshwater fish in the world, reaching 9 feet long and over 300 pounds.  They breath air.  They have giant scales so hard that the locals use them as nail files.  And they eat flies!  What they are not, is a reasonable target at Agua Boa.  Usually catching one is akin to winning the lottery.  But not this year.  This year, they have appeared in unprecedented numbers.  Only a couple are being caught a week, but that's a chance.  So you're saying there's a chance!

Caimen looking into your soul

On Tuesday, we were headed out with Josef, the head guide at Agua Boa.  The way it works, is each guide has a section, or beat in the river, they
specialize in.  In one of the lagoons Josef fishes,

Muscovy ducks

Giant river otter

numerous arapaima had been spotted.  We decided to give up on the peacock fishing, and see if we could make a dream come true.  You fish for arapaima in two ways, you cast to mud, the fish are so large that when they travel through shallower water they stir up mud clouds, or you cast to fish that roll up on the top when they breath air.  Soon we were in a lagoon, Josef would spot mud, and direct my cast.  I would let the fly sink, and then slowlllly draw it across the bottom.  The first time I did this, I caught a nine pound peacock bass!  The second time, an eight pounder.  Then a bunch of fives  and sixes.  Peacock bass were eating flies they weren't supposed to eat, retrieved in ways that weren't supposed to appeal to them.  They were quickly becoming pests.  Then it happened.  A 60 pound arapaima rolled twenty feet from the boat.  I dropped the fly in the middle of the boil, let it sink, and had a powerful grab.  I held the fly line tightly in my left hand, and yanked it as hard as I could while pointing the rod directly at the fish.  Then I did it again, like I was trying to hammer home a nail.  Arapaima have mouths like cement.  Then, the hook simply fell out.  The guide looked at me and said, "Set harder!"

That was our only arapaima opportunity.  We gave up around lunch time.  We stopped in the shade of nice tree, and I took the bread from my sandwich, threw it in the water, where it was instantly swarmed by fish.  I tied on a fly that looked like a piece of bread, held it above the water, and they were actually leaping out of the water to get it.

Spoonbill and egrets

In the afternoon, we fished the main channel of the river.  It was a little rough.  It was extremely windy, making casting challenging, and when you did get the fly where you wanted, they were a little moody, not typical of peacock bass.  I did manage another 20 fish or so, including some nice fish in the five to six pound class, I realized I hadn't taken any fish photos, so we took a quick one!  I also posted a pic of a fish Ron Smith of Florida caught yesterday, a monster 17.5 lb pound fish, his fishing buddy, Jim Chell landed a 15 lb fish, so the Sunshine State held up well.

Saw tons of wildlife has always, the birds were amazing, the caimens were everywhere, and in one of the lagoons we spotted giant Amazon river otters.
Even the slower days on the Amazon are still wonderful days.

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17.5 lb giant