All Epic Trips Have Eventually Come to an End … Farewell Rio Marié, Farewell Temensis Rex!

We had one more day of fishing. Untamed Amazon did again move upriver during dinner. Awesome – one enjoys dinner, sips a decent Argentinian Malbec and in the background of the big panoramic dining room windows the jungle passes by! 

Thus the next day we would have fresh water again. The vessel anchored close to the entrance of a creek. A creek that was only fished in the exploration season of 2014. Next morning we would fish kind of virgin water again!

 

 

  

As we drove upriver in that tributary the thought of being one of very few humans that fished and visited that place was overwhelming. I got goose bumps at every bend of that small creek! Loved it!

Fishing was mixed to good. We found a couple of pots and spots of several Butterflies. Breno checked in again for the 4-7lbs fish and I for the smaller ones and far less. At the end of the day we would have caught more than 40 Butterflies. Had a nice fish barbecue with some bees flying around and went back to the main river and upstream after the lunch to spend our last hours fishing at Rio Marié. As if the fishing god was close to us we both landed a good sized GPB to end that trip. Breno got a good fish of 76cm and around 16lbs and I caught a smaller one to finish the trip of something of around 70cm and 13-14lbs.

Last cast, very last cast, final cast. That was Rio Marié! 

I got the unofficial world record with the biggest GPB ever caught on fly up to date, got another fish of 23lbs and had an awesome time with my friend Breno, the Russian team and the lovely crew. Thank you for all that! Thank you to ALL on site, back home and elsewhere that made this trip such a blast!

If you are in pursuit of GPB with the fly, Rio Marié is the ultimate place to go. You will have the best chances to catch a fish beyond the magic 20lbs mark. The whole setting is marvelous! The fishing is kind of work and does not provide the visual appeal of NZ trout fishing in gin clear water or the crazy stuff you might experience fishing for Golden Dorado. But if you are interested in the best fishing destinations possible: book your slot now! You might experience one of your best fishing days and will fish one of the very last virgin spots on this globe.

Questions of any kind (tackle, background, booking, advice, …)? Contact me.

If you like what you read: share it via social media and tell your fishing buddies!

Rio Marié - The largest Giant Peacock Bass ever caught on fly!

Our fourth day of our great adventure was guided by Agustin. Agustin spend the first part of the season at Kendjam, guiding there the first regular season with the new lodge (see my Kendjam Blog about Breno and my visit during exploration Season 2015 to this highly regarded Untamed destination). This morning in the bot, more ironically joking than serious I said: “I am going to catch a 28lbs fish today!”

  
Fishing was again cast by cast to the shore and towards structure. Some fish to the boat. But not so many. We fished a lake with some freshwater Dolphin action. This made me put on my 70-200 2,8 Canon lens and taking some hundred shots of breathing Dolphins. To take a proper shot of them is kind of a challenge, as they are very quick. So only a low percentage of the shots would be sharp and relevant.

I was kind of distracted and took it very easy, several times switching between the fishing rod and the camera to take shots of the freshwater dolphins. As usual we changed the location several times to fish the various types of structure from lakes to lagoons to creek mouths. Eventually we fished a big lagoon with sunken trees providing the perfect habitat for the really big GPB. To that point it was a rather slow day, not many fish to the boat. I had changed my fly some time ago to a rather small white Deceiver with some grey/ blue sprinkled in that I must have tied several years ago for a saltwater trip. With this kind of fishing it is crucial that you are always focused on your fishing as you don’t want to spoil your low number of chances on a really good fish. Thus, either fish concentrated or make a break. I tried to keep my concentration as high as I could…

Fishing the mentioned self-tied fly on a 300 something grain sink-tip line on my 9 weight rod, letting it sink for several seconds to get it close to the ground, I started a slow retrieve with some shorter quicker pulls mixed in to trigger a possible following fish…


Not at the bank but kind of close I got a solid hook up and an obviously decent fish was hooked. That was not one of those Butterfly Bass that explodes but a solid powerful mass of fish. With those bigger GPBs the immediate judgment of its weight is hard as their behavior can be highly different. Some burst and dart away over 15 meters, as a good fish on Breno’s fly did (+16,5lbs) or show limited strength and can be dominated quickly as my 23lbs GPB from the day before. The fish on my line was possibly stronger as it showed a lot of energy right in the tight space between sunken trees, the close shore and the boat moving boat in the upcoming wind gusts. To add thrill I got a knot in my line (it might have been a freshwater line, but the tendency of lines to tangle was not much less with specific warm water lines, this specific line was a Vision as it was the only available at a German mail-order shop a year ago), Agustin was able to solve that while I was holding and fighting the fish with the remaining line. The fish knew its territory and managed to wrap the line at least half around one of those trunks of a sunken tree which are the home of these fish. This obstacle was solved by me and the fish showed its full beauty for the first time on the surface.

 
























WOW! That was huge! The local guide tried to net it but as usual the fish got angry facing the net and darted away. It was kind of nerve wrecking – this was not one of those 7lbs NZ SI trout that you would prefer to land, but if you would miss it, you might catch another one in the next pool – this was a decent or even a very large GPB! A fish that thousands of fly fisher (and bait fisher) pursue to catch for years. So all of us – especially Breno, to make me quit moaning about casting the whole day - really wanted to land it! The next attempt to net it did again not succeed, I was afraid that the barbless fly would come loose and just pop out. If that would happen the whole jungle would hear some very angry Bavarian swearing (normally I do not swear because of a lost fish, mostly I laugh heartedly about myself, but in that case I would make an exception). Again the netting attempt did not work but the fourth attempt succeeded! Fish on board and just there we saw its size and weight. The IGFA scale and measure showed the measurements: just shy of 13kg, thus around 28,5lbs and +90cm (on some pictures of the measurement it looks more like +92cm)!

Holy shit – just about now we realized that this fish was not an “ordinary +20lbs GPB” but the most likely biggest Giant Peacock Bass ever caught on fly up to date!

No more words needed.

The crew was excited, Breno was excited and lucky that I could not further complain about this “boring casting casting…” and I felled a total new feeling I never had with fishing: kind of sports like satisfaction. Thankful, speechless, …

One annotation to documenting and landing that fish: Everybody aware of the IGFA rules knows by my report that this was not an IGFA-conform World Record but most likely just the largest ever caught GPB on fly. With IGFA I would have needed to use a 20lbs class tippet (which is kind of crazy with these fish, as it might lengthen the fight unnecessarily and or might end in a breakoff) and nobody would have been allowed to touch any of my tackle during fight and the fish would have been measured out of the net on the measures. We did not do any extreme posing pictures, so the fish size is not over exaggerated, the pictures rather understate its size especially compared to my tall size.

I am not a fisherman that needs or seeks attention as long as I am satisfied myself and had a good time out on the water. Thus I asked the team to not tell anything about it to the other guests. Celebrating the joy silently was the way. Only the locals spread the word and I got several thumbs up (real ones, not the virtual ones)... Stay tuned for the next days of this awesome trip!

If you are interested in a trip to Rio Marié for Giant Peacock Bass contact me or Untamed Angling

All good things have to come to an end… but there are other galaxies with unexplored rivers!

The last day of the fishing week started. We fished our way back up to the main camp. Catching fish as usual. But usual was not usually as we had two half days with very slow action. It turned out - thanks to Steff's watch with barometric pressure graph - that in both cases the air pressure dropped massively. There was no weather change involved, just pressure change made the fish behave differently. I never believed in such influence but that coincidence was striking as both boats observed it.

We all packed our belongings for an early next morning start back to Kendjam. That night the Kayapó Djokrô approached Breno to teach him some more English phrases. Djokrô is the son of the village chief Pykatire. A family that might indeed have the mindset to foster development and make wise decisions. Djokrô was the most interested, approachable and open minded Kayapó of the mates that guided us. Thus this evening we explained him the basic principles of steering a boat while fly fishing such as the constant distance to the bank, holding the boat at good spots and the clock scheme to give the crazy tourists hints where to cast. Breno recoded the phrases in English and Portuguese on Djokrô’s smart phone (!), he was highly motivated to increase his knowledge. At the same time he sold us a couple of more Kayapó bead-bracelets. 

Are we supposed to influence their strong culture in such a strong way as we already started? Should we deny it and leave them and wait till their land is destroyed by exploration? Wouldn't be a sustainable form of tourism the best way to those people, this unique nature and thus to protect it? Wouldn't their culture change anyway during the next years with smart phones already in the village?

I sat long into the next day under this marvelous sky full of myriads of distant stars, the Milky Way and millions of other galaxies, some of these galaxies with planets such as our blue ball… Do these worlds have such a fun think called fly fishing as well? Could you imagine tour planet without the gift of fly fishing? 

I sat outside on the big sand bank our camp was located on, thinking about such crazy questions, gazing at the stars and the Milky Way and thinking of that magnificent experience we all had here sharing the Iriri River, the garden and source of food of the Kayapó. We shared their land and home for a week of many impressions that were burned deep in our memories ready to be remembered in such moments of grey dull mood that make us want to escape to pristine flowing water…  

Writing these lines I was just slightly missing a glass of red or a cigar...

... to be continued with the last part.

Another day in Paradise and relocation to Paradise II.

Third day fishing... Can not remember well anymore. It’s the same with counting fish caught, after the first hand (five) I usually louse count. Think we went upriver towards more structure and had a good day, as all of the days at Iriri River were good. Above the main camp (as of 2015 exploration season) the river shows more structure. In the lower part that is fished, long slow runs dominate and interesting rapids are much further apart.

Some thoughts about tossing poppers all day: Personally, that is kind of boring after a while especially if action is low. To maximize your hook up rate make your fly fish the most time by casting it quickly and efficiently as close to the structure as possible. One meter away is not close, 10cm are good. Avoid false casting, one or two hauls/false casts and then let the line shoot. No need to strip all the way back to the boat, watch if a fish follows and if not recast quickly when there is still enough line on the water to load your rod quickly. Casting nicely is good for the person watching you, but you want to catch fish. Over gun your rod by one number heavier line, which will transport even sailfish popper kind of efficient.

 

 

 

To cover more water and to give the fished water a rest, the fourth day meant to move downstream in an out-camp. Normally moving is related to work and effort, in that case it is related to fishing as we fished the way downstream to the out-camp. As mentioned, further downriver the river shows less structure, but that offers for a change and still provides good fishing. Depending on the water level it might be related to more drift fishing and less wading. It is pretty obvious that the wading stile is comparable to saltwater flats: wet wading in very warm water but combined with big Granit rocks, thus decent wading boots and neoprene socks are the way to go. Actually wading is a good change after a hot drift in the sun. The sting rays can usually be spotted easily, still care should be taken to avoid them.

 

Iriri River is the garden of the Kayapó, it is even more, it is their main road and supply of food. So we shared their resource of food. We ate their fish and we shared their turtle eggs. Right. As it was turtle egg season, they went to sandy beaches to test the hardness of the sand with their feet and started to dig at some kind of soft patches, digging more than a dozen turtle eggs per nest. The eggs pretty much consisted only of egg yellow. They liked to beat them up with (lots of) sugar, add some rather hard manioc and eat it. The taste was good, only the very junky manioc was irritating. Another day we asked for turtle scrambled eggs. Their texture and taste was bewildering as it was more similar to polenta than to scrambled eggs. Not bad but just unfamiliar.  

On our late last kilometers downriver towards the out-camp, the sun already very low, we discovered a Tapir crossing the river. We followed it and came very close providing us up close contact and shots of that characteristic South American animal. Our boat, so Breno and my boat (we were changing guides and boats every day back and force) was very lucky as we saw around four Tapir during that week. Later on the last Tapir would cross our way as we went back to Kendjam, thus the "other boat" had their first Tapir sighting at the very last call as well. 

The out-camp is beautifully situated on an island tucked in the trees, smaller single sleeping tents but no compromise on comfort such as camp shower, outhouse and eating tent.

 

That night Guiermo with some support from the Kayapó tried to hand-line some catfish. The whole camp was sitting on the beach and watching with big loughs. Piranha after piranha came to the beach some were feed right to the Cayman that patrolled around attracted by the action. Some of these Caymans came very close to the beach waiting for their share. After close to a dozen fish finally a small redtail catfish came to the beach. Making funny noises that small catfish went back to the water after a big hello from the spectators.

A new morning in paradise dawned. Beautiful early morning light over the steaming river. The night before I removed the fly of my tent and was using only the inner layer of the tent allowing for a well-tempered sleep under the trees and the southern sky with its thousand stars.

Based on the island of the out-camp we fished the fifth day from there downriver. Long glides with low structure are typical for the lower section below the out-camp. Still there could be some action found from Peacocks or Matrinxas with fruit flies or popper flies fished from the drifting boat close to the banks, structure and trees.

After lunch, that as usual consisted of a couple of freshly caught Bass, Pacu and Matrinxa, with rice and some vegetables (carrots aka “yellow wood”) and water (you might probably imagine that I was sick of fish after that week and was looking forward to some decent beef!), one of the Kayapó guides, his name was Kokoti showed us a special natural source of good taste. A walk of around 10 minutes following a path through the jungle lead us to a giant tree that produced a very special fruit: Brazilian nuts or more commonly known sometimes as Para nuts. A large solitary tree under which we found big hard balls around 12cm in diameter that could only be opened by a machete or other powerful means. The big fruits/nuts contained around 15-20 seeds/nuts that again where within a hard shell hiding a big peace of junky nut protein. To keep the natural process of seeding going, there is one mammal that opens these super hard big balls and allows the single seeds to do their job. Absolutely fascinating. These nuts are one of the few trading goods of the Kayapó.

During the lunch break, Kokoti was carving a club out of a piece of very heavy wood (Brazilwood) that would turn read within days. These clubs in various forms are used to hunt pigs. A very strenuous hunt as the Kayapó pretty much search for the pigs and then hunt them down and club them. 

These clubs later on get a handle cover made of woven strings adding some kind of "decorative touch" to them.

Brazilwood gave Brazil it’s name. When Portuguese ships discovered these trees on the coast of South America they called the trees “pau brasil” as they produced red dye, ‘pau’ means wood and ‘brazil’ red/ember-like. These trees are on dangerously low levels as their wood was highly regarded due to their dye wood in the past and today because no other wood is better suited for violin bows.

Back at the camp on "our island" the huge spinner fall under the camp lamp repeated again, the ground beneath the lamp was covered with thousands of dead mayflies, so much that even the Cayman took a mouthful of them. And the catfish session was continued. This evening with higher success as Ramiro caught a decent sized redtail catfish of around 30-40lbs with its hand-line and bait.