Guess I was tired after yesterday’s big day down in the Amazon on the Marié River. Usually I’m up at 5 AM on fishing trips working on my blog and editing pics before breakfast. Today I wasn’t up till 6:20. It didn’t help that my elbow kept me awake throbbing most of the night either. I popped a few Advil with my coffee and watched the sun rise up over the jungle.
The orange glow was intensifying over a new horizon. Our mothership, the Untamed Amazon, moved about 9 miles last night. After breakfast Rodrigo and I, along with our local boat driver Hamilton, headed further down the Marié to start fishing. So did the rest of the group because our mothership will move further down river while we fish.
It was a struggle to get my casting arm working. I grit my teeth and took two more pills. Then it wasn’t ten minutes before I sunk the hook into a 12lber. I couldn’t believe it. I went to bed last night certain that I’d seen the best peacock bass fishing day of my life. But here I was, a 12lber under my belt on literally my 10th hurl of the day.
Something I didn’t mention yesterday was that we are weighing and measuring the length and girth of all the Cichla temensis peacock bass we catch. Guides will also record where the fish was caught. Because peacocks live in such a remote part of the world, little is known about them. Untamed Angling wants to learn about their habits, growth rates, age, movements and etc. so they can manage the waters.
Once the measurement is done we apply a tag (see the photo) and release the temensis. These tags don’t have transmitters but are numbered and will last for approximately five years. The hope is that some of these tagged fish will be caught again and the new measurements will be taken and recorded. It will be extremely interesting to monitor the changes in size then see the fish’s movement.
Despite our quick start catching a 12lb peacock, the rest of the morning was slow. Rodrigo and I pounded the banks of a couple of great looking oxbows and also some sandy areas where the big peacocks often hang out. By lunch we hadn’t caught anymore temensis and surprisingly only a few butterfly peacock bass. The butterflies are normally aggressive all the time.
At 1 PM Untamed guides had a surprise for us. Instead of sandwiches for lunch we had a barbeque. Turns out all four boats and our entire group met on a beach and ate and sipped beers under the shady trees.
This was a serious barbeque. We had a classic Amazon wet sticks built pit and it was covered in scrumptious chunks of meat. Below, right against the fire, were a few freshly caught butterfly peacocks to add to the feast. Peacock bass is very delicious tasting fish.
Lunch was phenomenal and after we finished we all cooled off with a refreshing swim. We drifted along neck deep discussing the morning fishing. It turns out none of the guys caught much today. It appeared that yesterday’s big fish bite was over.
We proved the big fish bite was over by not seeing a single one the rest of the afternoon. Not only that, the butterflies completely disappeared for the day as well. The only afternoon fish I caught was this toothy, fly-wrecking Amazon dogfish (Acestrorhynchus falcatus). These fish are also known as “Cachorro” and are actually pretty fun!
The mornings 12lber was a lucky catch I guess. We certainly didn’t come anywhere near the day we had yesterday. But this is often the case with fishing in general – if you have an epic day you can expect a mediocre one to follow. Sure was an amazing barbeque however and tonight’s dinner and snacks were once again to die for. Best of all, my casting arm is reacting well to beer and Advil. I suspect I’ll limp through this week without missing more than a few casts.
If this is a trip you want to do (and you are crazy if you don’t!) you can Contact me, Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures or Untamed Angling.
And for more exciting pics from trips be sure to visit my Instagram – @jeffcurrier65
0 Comments