Our group of 8 anglers flew to Manaus Brazil late August for a combination trip targeting Peacock Bass and Arapaima. The first seven days were spent on the Rio Marie fishing for Peacocks. The next four days/five nights would be spent in the Mamiraua Reserve at Pirarucu Lodge seeking 100+ pound Arapaima.
The Rio Marie River is home to some of the largest Peacock Bass in the world, and once again, it did not disappoint. Using 9wt rods with jungle clear tip lines we fished the dropping river’s lagoons and creek mouths with 3-8″ long streamers. The daily program is pretty simple, guides were given daily beats to insure you were fishing unmolested water. Anglers make accurate casts from stable aluminum skiffs all day long. The more times your fly is in stripped through cover and ambush zones the Peacock Bass inhabited, the more success you had.
Some exceptional fish were taken on our week. Fish over 20lbs are considered trophies and our group was lucky enough to find several.
Fly styles varied but 2/0 to 4/0 black and orange, and white and red flies that pushed water were consistent performers. Poppers in red and white were also effective. This trip is not just about big fish. Butterfly Peacock Bass are super plentiful and can be caught in numbers. Willing “Butterflies” are around 2-6lbs and are super hard fighting. No need to change flies for the smaller fish, they readily gobble up big and small flies.
On the last night of our stay we had a fantastic beach BBQ hosted by chef Leandro who has been with Untamed Angling for more than 10 years and his food was fantastic all week.
After a float plane ride from our floating accommodation on Rio Marie to Tefe, Brazil we took a fast boat approximately one hour to the Mamiraua Reserve and Pirarucu Lodge. Pirarucu means Arapaima in Portuguese. The Mamirauá Reserve is more than 1 million hectares, and was created to preserve Arapaima and their habitat. The area is renowned for its fantastic wildlife, with 427 species of mammals, 1,300 bird species, 378 species of reptiles, and more than 400 species of amphibians. Our cabins sat on floating logs in a wide spot in the river. Caymans and Arapaima rolled, swam and splashed 24 hours a day. Monkeys could be heard in the distance most of the time and innumerable bird species flew and called all day and most of the night. The place buzzed with life!
The water was extremely high for September, our guides were in week three of about a 14 week season. They had never seen the water this high! Pirarucu’s season starts in late August and finishes in November. This timeframe is chosen for low water! Which was not the case for our stay. Huge masses of grass floated down the river, trees were submerged 5-6ft underwater and there was no visible river bank. Fishing was tough but rewarding. With the high water fish were not concentrated and were able to feed literally inside the jungle. You could see and hear these monsters rolling 50 yards back in the jungle. Other species that are normally available to anglers such as Arawana and Tambaqui were also deep in the cover and we had no shot at those until the last day when the water had finally dropped enough in a few spots that the fish decided to come out to some degree.
Arapaima fishing is done with 10-12wt rods and sinking lines, on our week really fast sinking lines. Tippets range from 60-120lbs, the best lines were Sci Anglers Custom Cut Jungle sinking line and Sci Anglers clear Full Intermediate sinking line. Flies were massive 8/0 streamers in variety of colors, I don’t think pattern was vital, but hook quality definitely was. The fishing reminded me of tarpon fishing in many respects. Hooks sets, hook set success… strength of fish and how hard you need to pull to land the fish. On our week, we had extra challenges associated with the high water. Once hooked, nearly all the fish would race for the trees, controlling them early was key. Since there was no river bank available, we had to hoist fish into the boat to unhook, photograph and release them. No one was injured but I can definitely see how a tail slap could be a problem with these super strong fish.
Fly fishing in the Amazon Basin is absolutely incredible. Not only are the fish super exciting to catch but the place itself is really something to behold. If you are interested in booking this trip or need advice on what to bring and what to expect please feel free to contact travel@caddisflyshop.com.
