Rumble in the Jungle, Amazon Day 1 Where #30 is too light!

We made it! We're off the plane, we've grabbed our flutes of champagne and our crew of ten is gathered in the dining area of the lodge.  The excitement is palpable.  We are really at Agua Boa Lodge, on the Agua Boa River.  One of us is too hyped up to even sit down and eat breakfast.  That would be me.  I'm too hyped up to sit down and eat breakfast.  Our group consists of first timers, Randy and Kelli from Florida.  My boat and cabin partner for the week, Greyson, from Oklahoma City, and two West Coast Military/spey rod steelhead guys Steve and Eric.    Veterans of several trips with me include Ron and Jim, from the east coast of Florida, and Bruce and Stephen, from Oklahoma.  

Our first day will be what the lodge calls a "half day".  The normal fishing day consists of leaving the dock at 7:00 a.m., and returning at 5:00 p.m.  The river consists of about 100 miles of water that the lodge uses, split into seven beats.  Each angling team fishes with a different guide, on a different beat each day.  On Saturday, things are a little different.  We don't get on the water until 10:00, and all the guides fish relatively close to the lodge,  since there really isn't time to make some of the long runs that comprise the normal beats.  

Today, Greyson and I are fishing with Lucas, a new guide, in his very first year at Agua Boa.  His normal beat is Beat #2, which is the middle downriver beat.  As we get in the boat, the first thing I notice is the river is extremely high.  Perhaps four to six feet higher than would be typical in January, which is late dry season.  Abnormally high water, presents some difficulties.  It limits sight fishing opportunities.  It takes away some truly wonderful fishing in the main river channel, where typically fish meander over white sand flats.  It means that you are going to be doing much more blind casting than would be normal.  It does allow you to access some lagoons you would not normally be able to access.  And it seems to bring out the large fish.  Last year was also a high water year, and my boat partner and I landed close to 500 fish, and plenty of larger ones.  So, let's go.

We turned the corner, and headed into the first lagoon barely five minutes from the dock.  The blind casting drill is this.  The boats are set up so both fishers can, if they chose, fish together.  Pick out a larger profile fly, look for likely looking spots on the shoreline, drop your fly there, let it sink a few seconds, and then rip it back.  After ten minutes, the spoiled Amazon angler in me began to wonder what was wrong.  And then it happened.  A good pull, a prompt strip set, and that wonderful surge that every single peacock, whether they weigh two pounds, or twenty makes.  And then....off.  And so it went with the next four fish I hooked.  Now, I truly did believe that eventually this trip that I would land a fish.  And so I finally did, a two pound spotted peacock, what the locals call a paca.  This particular iteration is the undisputed "pound for pound" champion among the various peacock species.  And with the dam burst, we started to pick away at the spotted and butterfly peacocks.  Here I am with an  average size butterfly peacock, and here is Greyson and his hot pink hat, with a hard pulling spotted peacock, his first fish of the trip.

Yours truly, with a hard pulling butterfly.

The  fishing was generally uneventful, with the two of us landing 30 to 40 fish, nothing bigger than five pounds, before we headed back.  But it wasn't totally uneventful.  I managed to break off two larger fish, the first I broke off when I just set up a little too hard on it, (it broke the #40 at the loop knot), and the second when it instantly found some submerged sticks.  A little bit of rough start, since I typically make it through the week without breaking off ANY fish.  But good to make contact, even brief contact with one of the better ones.

                                            Greyson and his first "paca"

Greyson was the one who ended the day with a story to tell.  The second lagoon we fished had numerous arapaima rolling.  Arapaima are the largest scaled fish in the world.  At Agua Boa, they used to be an uncommon catch, but it seems that there are more and more every year.  Arapaima are air breathers, they come up, roll, displace lots of water, stop hearts.  Try to drop your fly quickly on the fish, let it sink, and strip back impossibly slowly.  If you feel anything, strip set harder than you have ever set in your life  Arapaima have the hardest mouth I've ever experienced with a fish, and yes, I've done some tarpon fishing.  When we finally reached the shoreline where we were seeing the majority of the fish rolling, I suggested Greyson tie on a black fly, and told him as the honored Amazon rookie, that he would get the first arapaima shot.  And not five minutes in, a big fish rolled fifty feet from the boat.  Greyson made a nice cast, and on about his second strip, unbelievably, his line went tight, He set hard twice, and huge bow wave moved from left to right, and all of the sudden the fish was off.  Consternation and questions ensued, it turned out the line was broken.  It didn't seem like undue pressure had been applied.  But, further questioning revealed that Greyson had started out with #30, not #40, since "it's much harder to tie knots with #40".  Amazon lesson number one.  Arapaima demand at least #40.

Decent first day, and when we got back to the dock, we found out that literally everyone in our group had gotten off to good start.  Plenty of fish were caught, some large fish were caught, including a 16lb fish, and everyone was happy.  Love this place, and can't wait for tomorrow.