The alarm went off at 5:45 a.m., and just for a moment, I considered getting just a little more sleep. But then I remembered where I was. And what was about to happen. It gets light about 6:00 a.m., and just as the sun begins to come up, the pacus, and several other species will begin to rise by the thousands in front of the lodge. And I will be there with my three weight to greet them.
It's not the only thing happening. There's a hearty breakfast served at 6:00 a.m. every morning, and all the other guests typically rise to that. But I've found out I can enjoy some pretty good fishing, roll in to breakfast late and gulp it down, and still be on the dock ready to leave by 7:15 a.m. Today was worth it! Landed several pacus, including this gorgeous fish. And got cut off a couple times after spirited battled. And no, the marking isn't blood, but looks so much like it that I tried to wipe it off when I caught my first one. I haven't been able to determine the species, but the locals call this fish a Marie Antoinette pacu, which always makes me smile.
Marie Antoinette pacu
I was pleased to find out that our guide today would be Caboclo. Caboclo has been guiding here for approximately 14 years. He's a very accomplished fly caster and tyer. And there is a reason those of us that have fished here multiple times call him, Big Fish Caboclo. I knew that there was a very good chance I would catch my biggest fish of the week today, for two reasons. One, Caboclo is extremely big fish focused. It's the way he is wired and he's good at finding them. To such an extent that I've hooked many very respectable fish that Caboclo barely glances at, in fact he doesn't acknowledge them in any way. Also, the way Agua Boa is set up, each guide has a beat, and Cabaclo has one particular lagoon, that year in and year out, just stacks big fish. It's almost uncanny. So, the fact that Caboclo loves to search for big fish, and guides on the beat that typically has the largest fish is a very happy circumstance.
We spent the morning fishing a couple of lagoons (not THE lagoon), and honestly, fishing by Agua Boa standards was quite slow. We hit a couple dozen butterfly peacocks, and few spotted peacocks in the five to seven pound range, and then took a lunch break. The guides here typically pull the boat up in the shade, and take a 30 minute break for lunch, some even catch a power nap. Today, we pulled up on the edge of a deep, slow pool, and it looked a good place to catch some piranha, so I tied on a Clouser minnow and waded out. I waded slowly, and slid my feet, so if I came into contact with a freshwater stingray, I would kick it, but not actually pin it against the bottom. Good things, because I did blow up two stingrays as I waded. A couple casts in my fly got hammered, and it was very apparent this was no piranha. Mystery was solved when the biggest peacock of the morning flung itself into the air, and as it streaked by, and even larger one was keeping pace with it. When I landed it, turned out to be around eight pounds. I ended up catching a few more peacocks, and lost two flies to piranhas. Was honestly a bit sad when Caboclos siesta was over and it was time to move, I was having a ball wading and fishing.
We then headed to THE lagoon. The water was still rising and off color from the rains. The normal procedure here is to pole slowly, and the person on the bow casts to targets that Caboclo spots from his polling platform, but today he asked us both to blindcast into the middle of the lagoon. I selected a fairly large fly, an eight inch long, chartreuse over white EP pattern that I felt might stand out in the stained water. Had a great take near the boat, unseen, and the fish, though powerful, mostly fought straight up and down, leading to some speculation about it's identity. It turned out to a large, three barred peacock of 16.5 pounds, my best of the trip, and only slightly smaller than my best ever, a 17lb fish taken with Joseph two years ago. Released the fish, and not ten minutes later was treated to maybe the best strike of the trip. We were poling slowly, and I made a long cast to the middle of the lagoon. On the retrieve, the fly swung up and behind the poling platform, and I was watching the fly intently so I could see how it was swimming. With the fly shimmering about a foot beneath the water, a large peacock flashed past the fly, turned on it's tail and came back and absolutely garbaged it. I couldn't give you exact dimensions, but it was obviously a special fish. This was confirmed when it actually ran into the backing, which doesn't happen often with peacocks. Eventually, had the fish at the boat, and it weighed in at 17 pounds. We continued to fish the lagoon, and I landed three more fish between 10 and 13 pounds, and my fishing partner Scott, also landed several double figure fish.
16.5 lbs!
17 lbs!
Once again, Big Fish Caboclo and his special lagoon did not disappoint. From the lagoon, it was short run back to the dock and the tray of caipirinhas that awaited. Another wonderful day on the Agua Boa.
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