Extreme Angling in the Amazon

Not many people realize what it's all about. Mention the Amazon to anyone and most folks think of Mosquito-ridden, snake-infested bogs and swamps. It couldn't be any more different. We fish in pristine, tannin-blackwater rivers, crystal-clear, roaring whitewater rivers, big lagoons with huge trees surrounding them and with such a hugely diverse watershed, we can offer any type of fishing to anyone. 

With over 2,500 documented freshwater fish species to date, quite simply, the Amazon offers the richest and most diverse, spectacular freshwater fishing anywhere in the world!

Here's a bit about some of the fish we catch:

The three-bar Cichla temensis Peacock Bass is the most well-known sportfish here and is a true adversary in every aspect. Similar to the American Largemouth Bass in shape but by no means in size, this wonderful fish will stretch your string to the limit. Even when using 80lb braided main line, they can break line just with the topwater strike! Better known for their tremendous topwater action, they are also caught on sub-surface lures and jigs and by flyfishermen also. These fish reach an impressive 30lbs with an average size of 10-15lbs. There are at least 15 Cichla Peacock species and the list grows each year. The colouration of these fish is spectacular, yet another bonus in catching them.

The all-silver Payara, being a slash and grab specialist is probably one of the fastest and acrobatic freshwater fish in the world and a big fish can easily strip off 100m of line in seconds. This silver missile is also known as the Vampire or Dracula Fish and has an impressive set of gnashers worthy of its name. Two massive sabre teeth in the bottom jaw disappear into conical nasal cavities in the top jaw. They nearly always strike fast and furiously from underneath and grab any unfortunate fish in its path. Lures, flies, livebait and even fish strips will entice this amazing predator. Average sizes for these 'Salmon-with-teeth' is 12-18lbs.

Traiarão or Wolf fish are big, dark, sinister predators that lurk in slackwater or behind rocks and in eddies in faster current waiting for any baitfish to enter its territory. They will literally blast a topwater lure like a Spook or Popper with abandon and are true dirty fighters. They live in the same waters as Peacock Bass and Payara and are caught with many similar methods. Even a 20lb fish is just huge in size with its tubular shape and large, wide fins. It is the real bully of the Amazon watersheds and grows to an impressive 40lbs.

The strange-looking, Pike-like Bicuda is a pointed-beaked, elongated fish that can reach 15lb fish and get to over 1.25m long, with a beautiful red/orange tail and a gold/silver body. They take smaller lures and flies in their serrated teeth-filled mouths with abandon and will leap and twist until finally landed.

Not to be left out of the impressive list of fish on offer, the most infamous of them all, the Piranha has to be included on our hit list. With many different species here, the largest is the Black Piranha. With big bulldog jaws filled with an impressive array of triangular razor-sharp teeth, these fish are what nightmares are made of! Although we swim all over, there are some deeper haunts we simply just stay clear of. We catch these brutes to over 9lbs! Yes, 9lbs slabs of big, muscular Black Piranha. We use these fish for cutbait strips and chunks for Catfish and other species and also cook them up for a shore lunch on a home-made wood BBQ. They are just so big and easily destroy lures. Many times we hook them using huge circle hooks and cutbaits meant for Cats of over 200lbs!  Click on the Piranha video on our video section: http://www.amazon-angler.com/ to see an average-sized one! 

And for those dedicated to catching Catfish or who just want to relax during the day under a tree in the shade after casting lures all day, the following Cats make up an impressive list of species too:

Pirarára or Redtails are like giant Tadpoles with bright red tails, hence the name! They are some of the strongest fish in the Amazon and can spool you in seconds. They grow to over 250lbs.

Jandia are the chicken of the water and stewed, grilled or fried, they are quite simply the best tasting fish you will ever encounter in freshwater. For a Cat, it's a pretty fish with honey-combed orange/brown body and fin markings and a perfect-sized table fish is around 20-25lbs.

Jau Cats are like the Amazonian Rottweillers on steroids. Big and ugly and marbled-coloured like the European Wels Cat and with a real mean attitude, they can also strip your reel bare in seconds. They love fast deep water and are often caught below waterfalls and cascades in water over 30ft deep. They reach over 100lbs in some rivers.

Surubim or Striped Tiger Cats are mostly pack hunters and are some of the Amazon's fastest predators and will often be caught on minnowbaits and jigs/flies. With silver/white bodies flanked with beautifully hiroglyphic markings, they are the camouflage experts of the waterworld. They are more often caught on small cutbait chunks in sandy, shallow areas and can reach over 100lbs.

The King of Kings, the massive Piraiba Catfish is the one that everyone wants to catch. Known to reach over 600lb, an average Piraiba is over 100lbs. This fish is like a shark with long whiskers! They can often be seen breaking the surface like dolphins while hounding large baitfish but are found mainly in deeper holes and sluggish water.

 

Another strange but impressive fish is the Pirarucu or Arapaima. This enormous-growing fish is threatened throughout the Amazon Basin. Their downfall is that they are air-breathers and give themselves away all too easily each time they break the surface to take a gulp of air and are therefore harpooned easily. Although rarely fished for as sportfish, they are spectacular fish to catch. They can reach 1.75m and 100lbs in 5 years and grow to well-over 500lbs. Targetted using cutbait, lures and flies, once hooked they will jump like a Tarpon and never give up. They are incredibly strong and muscular and even when landed they can easily give you a broken jaw or leg with a good headbutt or a slap with their huge bodies unless held properly. Although we do fish for them in Brazil, we are presently negotating to sportsfish for these beautiful creatures in a remote river system in Bolivia and only accessible by floatplane.

There is also an enormous list of 'coarse' fish to be caught here ranging from a few ounces to over 50lbs! Any angler used to 'bagging' 100lbs of fish in the UK could easily exceed this amount in a day. There is no other place that has such a variety of colourful scaled fish readily taking small baits, nuts, fruits, grain, worms, fish strips etc.

Nowhere else on this planet is there such a diversity of wildlife. It is literally all around you, everywhere you go. You can see freshwater Boto and Tucuxi Dolphins breaking the surface, Giant Amazonian Otters barking from afar as you invade their territory, Turtles laying eggs on white sandy beaches, multi-coloured birds fighting for the right to make more noise than the Amazon's army of insect at dawn and dusk. Green Parrots will shriek non-stop whenever they see you and Red and Blue Macaws are often seen and always flying in pairs, never solo. Toucans call to eachother from the tops of trees and sound like puppydogs yapping. And if you're lucky, you could even see the occasional Tapir, Capybara, Agouti or wild pigs at the water's edge and even Jaguar crossing the river. Although most Amazonian mammals are nocturnal, many can be seen during the day.
Of course there are snakes and lizards of every size, including the impressive Anaconda. All these beasts are more frightened of you than you are of them and will quietly disappear from view unless threatened. http://www.amazon-angler.com/#/wildlife/4548288164

  

All of our rivers and destinations are chosen with safety and care in mind. Most are either with tannin-stained blackwater or clean whitewater. There are very few biting insects if any in most places and we will NEVER fish in a Malaria zone, although it is always advisable to take Malaria prophylactic pills.

We want to open the UK and other European anglers' eyes to the spectacular and relatively unknown fishing available here. Many think it would be too expensive to attempt but we have some destinations that can suit at very reasonable prices and often last-minute deals and discounts are possible. These are all great places for both anglers and photographers alike. But I have to warn you, once tried, you'll be hooked for ever!!

 

Our company www.Amazon-Angler.com provides adventure-seeking anglers with exotic and adrenaline fishing for some of the fiercest adversaries in freshwater. We have specialised in the Amazon for the last 15 years and we take our small elite groups to some of the most fantastic jungle locations in Latin America. This is what fishing dreams are made of, with the most hardest-fighting, most aggressive fish on this planet.

We have a dedicated species page on our website http://www.amazon-angler.com/ which covers just a few of our target fish but the list just goes on and on. There are so many different species in the Amazon to catch and we have made it our mission to take our clients out there for the best fishing of their lives.

Steve Townson - The Fish Finder
www.Amazon-Angler.com
steve@Amazon-Angler.com
For best prices, please quote ‘tacklebargains’ when contacting Steve

 

Maurice Broome - New Zealand Fishing

4lb brownie caught from a float tube about one metre from lake edge in about one foot of water..Lake Otamangakau (called the big O as the name is hard to pronounce), about 35 km south west of Lake Taupo, which is in the middle of the North Island, New Zealand. Most of this man-made lake is about 2-5 metres deep and is known for trophy brownies...but hard to catch!. Nearby accommodation about NZ$30 per night - like back packers.




5lb rainbow at the Mohaka River and this river can be found from the road Napier on the north east cost to Taupo (called Napier to Taupo Highway) around the middle of the North Island, New Zealand. (nearby accommodation in shearer's quarters about NZ$25 per night)....in summer able to drive down to river's edge.4WD track over farmland.

Download Maurice's Brochure

In New Zealand we do not normally have to pay any access fee to fish water so as long as the farmer is happy we can fish most places for free except for the required license and gear costs.

If anyone is interested in further information I can be emailed at maurice.fishing@yahoo.co.nz ("fishing" is not my surname).
On an earlier trip this year float tubing to the big O, I came back with venison..but that is another story!! I am willing to assist anyone coming over at a negotiable rate, other than the one day trip.



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Opening Day on the Rivers… French style!

The fishing season starts with a bang here in our village, I provided the whimper later in the day for reasons that will become clear to the reader after the following few paragraphs.
In Champagnac-La-Riviere there is a local angling club who have what has to be the best idea for the opening of the 1st category rivers and lakes. Essentially this involves starting fishing at sunrise on the 12th March, which incidentally this year gave a high of –2 degrees at that hour, one hours fishing then off to the bar.
Now I enjoy the odd few glasses of the local grapejuice, but not normally at this hour. However with fingers like Captain Scotts and a nose akin to Rudolph, I was grateful for the glass of white wine with cassis waiting at the bar for me. Warm handshakes all round and a quick check on catches (mostly blanks, myself included) and a second glass is “obligatoire”, quickly followed by a third. The warming effect of this beverage, it has to be said, is excellent. It also has the added advantage of allowing the part of the brain which is responsible for talking in a foreign language to function more easily, although not necessarily correctly.
A table for twelve had been laid in the bar, the last supper sprang immediately to mind.
All of the food in our local bar is cooked on site, no radiation roasts here. Our first course was the most delicious French onion soup with garlic bread and although the red wine was served in glasses, it is also applied liberally to the soup too. I do not usually eat a lot for breakfast, or drink alcohol, so kept telling myself it was lunchtime as a huge steak and equally large bowl of chips arrived on the table. Custom dictates that you must drink red wine with the main course. Quelle surprise!! It is now a little after ten o’clock in the morning and my liver is expecting overtime pay. Cheese and salad followed the main course, and yes………a glass of red wine or two, just to accompany the cheese really. Trying to eat, drink and speak french with my lips partially numb and an inane smile on my face was a challenge.
Normally, I was told, we would fish again for an hour or so before returning to the bar for aperitifs, however as the outside temperature was still a balmy zero degrees the breakfast ran into lunchtime. Un Pastis ou un café? I took the sensible option. “Un grand café noir, s’il vous plait, merci.’ I said with a whimper before strolling home for a good long lie down.
- Tony Scott, Fly Fishing in France



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A Fishy Story!

Together with two good friends, Paul and Jess, I decided to go and fish La Mordorée, an old quarry now totally transformed into a magnificent stillwater trout fishery in the heart of the Charente, just 30 mins drive from us.
I had fished this reservoir in the summer to no avail. It can be just too hot for the fish to bother playing. Talking to the owner he told me that it fishes best in autumn and spring.
So……we headed off bright and early one November morning. The colours of the surrounding trees are majestic at this time of year and it was a rather comfortable 18 degrees, hazy sun and little wind upon our arrival.
There was a good deal of surface activity visible. Just what we needed – a bout of dry fly fishing. Tackling up was undertaken with gusto as rise after rise was seen upon the water. Funny how a rise looks like a little target isn’t it?
I had been asked to give a quick refresher on casting techniques to Paul and Jess, so we headed to the waters edge. Edge is the word, the quarry is over 15 metres deep and our bank shelved steeply for about 2 metres and then dropped off into the blue.
I was teaching a change of direction technique to Paul and Jess when a beautiful 6lb+ rainbow rose to my right hand side. As I had cast to my left, this gave a marvellous opportunity to demonstrate a change of direction cast. With a deft waft of the rod and an increasing amount of adrenalin starting to run through my system, I cast to the fish.
Normally shaking hands do not produce good casts, however this time the fly, a grey wulff, landed just in the trout’s window of vision. Slurp!! And it was gone. The fly line started to disappear steadily into the depths as I let out more and more with minimal resistance for the fish. (Now, here’s a lesson to us all……….it pays to remember that 1.5lb tippet tapered leaders are superb for river fishing, but perhaps a slightly stronger breaking strain would have been preferable for a fish such as this fellow.) You’ve guessed it………”ping” and everything went slack, jaws and all.
As the group excitement died down we discussed the why’s, wherefore’s and if only’s as anglers do. Words not worthy of print were spoken in profusion, as anglers do.
This one definitely “Got away”
We fished for an hour or so up until lunchtime, enjoying many rises, takes, and subsequent losses and saw some truly tremendous fish cruising below the surface.
La Mordorée has a good head of rainbows, browns, blues and golden trout and there are black bass too. Mental note: Must catch a black bass!
The French lunch has to be observed. So we settled down at the picnic table for a traditional lunch of pate, bread, cheese and of course a small beer. Not forgetting a “pain au chocolat” for afters.
Recharged we fished on into the afternoon. The wind had gotten up a little so the surface disguised our lines and leaders admirably, whilst allowing our flies to bob around happily in the wavelets.
Paul hooked into a prowling rainbow only for the fish to decide that perhaps taking this fly was a mistake, so he spat it back at Paul, who proceeded to entertain us with a temper tantrum usually not seen after the age of around two years old. Or maybe it was more of a tribal war dance, its difficult to say when you are doubled up laughing. Onwards and upwards…………
Jess hooked into a rather nice golden trout just as he was in the process of paying the owner for our fishing. It looks impressive, but Jess was relieved of the trout and his euros, both got away.
Me…I missed a good few takes, “lack of practice” was the excuse chosen from my book of “Explanations for an empty creel”, however I finally banked a plump dinner plate sized rainbow, so my wife Sue would be delighted, if not a little surprised.
We finished the day by watching the sun begin to set over the reservoir and sipping a beer. A great day indeed.
With my thanks to Paul and Jess.
- Tony Scott, Fly Fishing in France


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