Day 3 – Warming Up in Bolivia

by | Jul 29, 2013 | Uncategorized | 2 comments

July 28, 2013

blog-July-28-2013-1-Tsimane-LodgeThe temperature was noticeably warmer this morning, a good sign for sure.  Skip and I slammed some breakfast with the guys then we all headed to our boats and then our Beats.  Today Skip and I had Beat 3 which is where Eric and Dale had far more action then Skip and I experienced yesterday in Beat 2.

 

blog-July-28-2013-2-Golden-Dorado-fisihngAlong with the change in Beats is a change of guide and boat controllers.  Today we had Guido who I’ll say right now, like Fernando he was excellent.  It was about an hour boat ride to the start of Beat 3 so we kicked back and took in the scenery during the ride.  The boat ride highlight was watching Tsimane kids shooting sabalo with bow and arrows.

 

blog-July-28-2013-3-Jeff-Currier-Golden-DoradoOnce we got to our fishing water, Guido had us out and casting immediately.  I was chucking my 9-weight Ross RX with a floating SA Chardy line.  On my second cast I hooked up.  You knew the strange drought had to end.  The dorado wasn’t a big dorado but one thing about these guys is that they know how to fight.  Within a second they are high in the air and expect at least three more jumps in the next five seconds.  This particular fish took me in a tree infested area and I had to put the screws to him or he’d win in the snags.  We use straight 40lb mono with 40lb Rio Wire Shock Tippet for a reason.

 

After battle I slid my first fish of the trip up on the bank and very carefully removed my fly.  Golden dorado have voracious teeth and I know from experience they can take your finger off.  Once I safely had him under control I posed for Guido with my first fish of Bolivia.  More importantly the skunk was off.

 

blog-July-28-2013-4-Skip-Brittenham-Dorado-FishingThings rolled from there.  I landed several smaller dorado.  If a spot looked good Skip and I would land our flies and get at least a look.  I got a look and possibly and eat from a dorado that looked to be over 15lbs.  The huge predator exploded and chased my fly out of shallow water from behind a rock.  I thought he ate it but never felt him as I stripped like a maniac.  It was an awesome fish that left me begging for another chance for an hour.

 

blog-July-28-2013-5-Golden-DoradoJust before lunch came the big fish of the day.  I was up stream with Guido when we heard Skip yell for help.  Sure enough we looked down just in time to see his big dorado jump.  Skip was in a precarious position far out in the river and getting pulled to deeper water.  Equally bad was that his fish was heading into an area of fallen trees.  Guido and his boatmen rushed to the scene while I watched from a far.  By the time they got to Skip he was soaked to the neck hanging on to the very tree his dorado was stuck in.

 

blog-July-28-2013-6-SKip-BritenhamThat’s when the games began for Guido and his boys.   Skips fish was still on so Guido started to carefully untangle the dorado from the tree without causing the fish to go ballistic and break off.  Branch by branch he finagled while Skip, dripping wet, watched.  At last, to the surprise of all the line was free and the now tired dorado was boated.  He was about 16lbs (Being that I was on shore I do not yet have a picture).

 

blog-July-28-2013-7-Yatorana-fishing-in-BoliviaWe caught a heap of nice golden dorado today.  The 16lber was the only one over 10lbs but we landed at least eight over 5lbs.  Skip put on an epic performance landing most of the nice dorado.  All in all we boated more than 25 dorado and I added in this peculiar fruit eating yatorana.

 

Today was a great day for most of us.  Skip and I put at hurt on the dorado.  Dale and Eric were in Beat 1 and caught a lot of small dorado but more importantly Dale caught a pacu.  For the record, I would really like to get a pacu on this trip.  Beat 2 where Tom and Tom fished, where Skip and I fished yesterday, was horrible.  It may be a fact that this part of the river is fishless.

 

That’s it for tonight. I’m absolutely exhausted.  Tomorrow its search for pacu!

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing

2 Comments

  1. Mark Del Frate

    You’ll get them today! Fish slow and deep. Mark

  2. Erik Moncada

    Great blog Jeff. I love the shot of the fish jumping, it brings to life the story.

Welcome to the Blog of Jeff Currier!

Contact Jeff

I started fly fishing at age 7 in the lakes and ponds of New England cutting my teeth on various sunfish, bass, crappie and stocked trout. I went to Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where I graduated with a Naturalist Degree while I discovered new fishing opportunities for pike, muskellunge, walleyes and various salmonids found in Lake Superior and its tributaries.

From there I headed west to work a few years in the Yellowstone region to simply work as much as most people fish and fish as much as most people work. I did just that, only it lasted over 20 years working at the Jack Dennis Fly Shop in Jackson, WY where I departed in 2009. Now it’s time to work for "The Man", working for myself that is.

I pursue my love to paint fish, lecture on every aspect of fly fishing you can imagine and host a few trips to some of the most exotic places you can think of. My ultimate goal is to catch as many species of fish on fly possible from freshwater to saltwater, throughout the world. I presently have taken over 440 species from over 60 countries!

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