Wipe Those Tears and Put the Fly Rod Down

March 13, 2010
From the Tropical Hotel Manaus – Amazonas Brazil

Unfortunately this last report comes from the hustling city of Manaus, Brazil. Our last cast was officially about 10:30 am. Granny and I and rest of the group got out early this morning to enjoy one a final poke at the fish. For Granny and I it was a little slow with a handful of butterfly peacocks and an impressive leaping strike from an aruana. Oh, and Granny nailed another very unusually colored jacunda also. Fred Truax however, one of the few without at least one peacock bass landed over 10lbs, landed a whopping 16.5lb with 15 minutes to go! If you remember my first report after day one, Fred was the guy who said he’d be happy with just one fish this week. Well, he landed well over 100 and his last was 16.5lb! Fantastic!
The sea plane picked us up promptly at noon. Everyone got on the plane wet and covered with the lovely aroma of peacock bass. After the hour and a half flight we touched down in Manaus. The first news we got was that my camera was safe and sound. I did officially leave it on the float plane on the way in. What a dummy! But, at least it was safe and I’ll have it for the next adventure. Everyone is showered up and we are about to chow down some burgers and drink some beers at the swimming pool. This is a really nice hotel.

To conclude this great adventure is simple. This was the best peacock trip ever. The peacock bass fishing here in Brazil is truly unbelievable and I feel every serious angler needs to put this on the bucket list. If you want to do just that, contact me at jeffcurrier65@gmail.com because I will be hosting another group here for 2011. Expect me to solidify dates by July. For now it’s a long trip home, catch up on things when I get home and get prepared to for the next adventure in April. On April 17th I head to  Egypt to meet up with friends Mikey Wier and Brent Dawson. There we will be fishing and filming on Lake Nasser for Nile Perch and tigerfish. Be ready for another blitz of exciting fishing reports  to come!
To conclude this great adventure is simple. This was the best peacock trip ever. The peacock bass fishing here in Brazil is truly unbelievable and I feel every serious angler needs to put this on the bucket list. If you want to do just that, contact me at jeffcurrier65@gmail.com because I will be hosting another group here for 2011. Expect me to solidify
dates by July. For now it’s a long trip home, catch up on things when I get home and get prepared to for the next adventure in April. On April 17th I head to  Egypt to meet up with friends Mikey Wier and Brent Dawson. There we will be fishing and filming on Lake Nasser for Nile Perch and tigerfish. Be ready for another blitz of exciting fishing reports  to come!
To conclude this great adventure is simple. This was the best peacock trip ever. The peacock bass fishing here in Brazil is truly unbelievable and I feel every serious angler needs to put this on the bucket list. If you want to do just that, contact me at jeffcurrier65@gmail.com!
Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Beer and Crocs - Match Made In Heaven

March 12, 2010

Xeriuni, River
Technically this would be the final day of fishing on our Amazon trip; however, we got word that the sea plane will not come for us until noon tomorrow. What this means is we will get to fish form 7 am to 11 am tomorrow morning. Everyone is plenty satisfied if it were to end today but heck, one more morning on this beautiful Xeriuni River, I think we can handle it!

Granny and I got an early start to the day with Mo. Camp will be making a big move downstream today in order to be closer to where the plane will pick us up tomorrow. Therefore, Mo is taking us way downstream to try for some fish. We haven’t fished this area yet. The river is much different here. It’s much wider, the water is darker and there are lagoons and channels going all directions. Mo zigzagged up and down these channels and through lagoons so much this morning that Granny and I could never have found our way out.

We had excellent fishing from start to finish. The morning provided numbers of fish including a new specie of peacock for us – the gray bar or fire belly officially known as the (Cichla monoculus). He has blood red colors in his gills, a black stripe along the lower flank going from front to back and half strips coming down from the top. He’s absolutely gorgeous. We caught several of these lower river dwellers. We also caught some very unusually colored jacunda type fish. I don’t know if they are variations of the same species we’ve been catching or what. All I know is they are neat as all get out! We also managed some extra big fish today. In the afternoon I landed a 13lber and an 11lber. The 13lber was my first peacock to strip me into my backing. As usual, Mo put his boat where the giants live.

It was little rowdy around camp this evening. It’s our last night after a phenomenal week of fishing. The beers and mixed drinks were flowing both before and during dinner. This was perfect because we decided to go out and catch some caimans in the dark after dinner. A few drinks are exactly what you need when catching crocodiles. Mix in how tired you are and it’s a perfect match. Nonetheless, all the guys were excited to get after it, me included and shortly after dinner we had two boats with the two local guides, Daka and Hi pointing spot lights along the river banks. There were caiman eyes glowing everywhere, the problem was most of them were six to ten footers. We were no match for these big boys.

During the adventure we managed to net a few exotic little catfish and a stingray before finally we ran into the caiman nursery where we found some three footers. Anything shorter than four feet is fair game. Of course, you could still lose a hand no problem, trust me. As you can imagine, Paul and I were eager to tackle the first ones we came too, but I guess it was the crazed look in our eyes that caused Daka to keep us just out of reach. Instead, Daka did all the dirty work of leaping from the boat and pinning the first small croc to the bottom. Then we got to move in to hold him and take some pictures before letting him go. It was great fun but we made one mistake tonight. We let Granny come along and after we caught two crocs she talked the guides into calling it a night. I think the rest of us had just got our second wind and were ready to stay out all night. So were the guides, but such is life. The “Granny” dropped the hammer and we were done. Just as well, we are fishing early in the morning.

flyfishing, fly fishing, fly fishing, fly fishing During the adventure we managed to net a few exotic little catfish and a stingray before finally we ran into the caiman nursery where we found some three footers. Anything shorter than four feet is fair game. Of course, you could still lose a hand no problem, trust me. As you can imagine, Paul and I were eager to tackle the first ones we came too, but I guess it was the crazed look in our eyes that caused Daka to keep us just out of reach. Instead, Daka did all the dirty work of leaping from the boat and pinning the first  small croc to the bottom. Then we got to move in to hold him and take some

pictures before letting him go. It was great fun but we made one mistake tonight. We let Granny come along and after we caught two crocs she talked the guides into calling it a night. I think the rest of us had just got our second wind and were ready to stay out all night. So were the guides, but such is life. The “Granny” dropped

the hammer and we were done. Just as well, we are fishing early in the morning.  During the adventure we managed to net a few exotic little catfish and a stingray before finally we ran into the caiman nursery where we found some threedfdfdfdffddfddfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdfdddfdf

footers. Anything shorter than four feet is fair game. Of course, you could still lose a hand no problem, trust me. As you can imagine, Paul and I were eager to tackle the first ones we came too, but I guess it was the crazed look in our eyes that caused Daka to keep us just out of reach. Instead, Daka did all the dirty work of leaping from the boat and pinning the first  small croc to the bottom. Then we got to move in to hold him and take some pictures before letting him go. It was great fun but we made one mistake tonight. We let Granny come along and after we caught two crocs she talked the guides into calling it a night. I think the rest of us had just got our second wind and were ready to stay out all night. So were the guides, but footers. Anything shorter than four feet is fair game. Of course, y ou

could still lose a hand no problem, trust me. As you can imagine, Paul and I were eager to tackle the first ones we came too, but I guess it was the crazed look in our eyes that caused Daka to keep us just out of reach. Instead, Daka did all the dirty work of leaping from the boat and pinning the first  small croc to the bottom. Then we got to move in to hold him and take some pictures before letting him go. It was great fun but we made one mistake tonight. We let Granny come along and after we caught two crocs she talked the guides into calling it a night. I think the rest footers. Anything shorter than four feet is fair game. Of f reach. Instead, Daka did all the dirty work of leaping from the boat and pinning the first  small croc to the bottom. Then we got to move in to hold him and take some pictures before letting him go. It was great fun but we made one mistake tonight. We let Granny come along and after we caught two crocs she talked the guides into calling it a night. I think the rest footers. Anything shorter than four feet is fair game. Of course, you could still lose a hand no problem, trust me. As you can imagine, Paul and I were eager to tackle the first ones we came too, but we made one mistake tonight. We let Granny come along and after we caught two crocs she talked the guides into calling it a night. I think the rest

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Beer and Crocs - Match Made In Heaven

March 12, 2010

Xeriuni, River

Technically this would be the final day of fishing on our Amazon trip; however, we got word that the sea plane will not come for us until noon tomorrow. What this means is we will get to fish form 7 am to 11 am tomorrow morning. Everyone is plenty satisfied if it were to end today but heck, one more morning on this beautiful Xeriuni River, I think we can handle it!

Granny and I got an early start to the day with Mo. Camp will be making a big move downstream today in order to be closer to where the plane will pick us up tomorrow. Therefore, Mo is taking us way downstream to try for some fish. We haven’t fished this area yet. The river is much different here. It’s much wider, the water is darker and there are lagoons and channels going all directions. Mo zigzagged up and down these channels and through lagoons so much this morning that Granny and I could never have found our way out.

We had excellent fishing from start to finish. The morning provided numbers of fish including a new specie of peacock for us – the gray bar or fire belly officially known as the (Cichla monoculus). He has blood red colors in his gills, a black stripe along the lower flank going from front to back and half strips coming down from the top. He’s absolutely gorgeous. We caught several of these lower river dwellers. We also caught some very unusually colored jacunda type fish. I don’t know if there variations of the same species we’ve been catching or what. All I know is they are neat as all get out! We also managed some extra big fish today. In the afternoon I landed a 13lber and an 11lber. The 13lber was my first peacock to strip me into my backing. As usual, Mo put his boat where the giants live.

It was little rowdy around camp this evening. It’s our last night after a phenomenal week of fishing. The beers and mixed drinks were flowing both before and during dinner. This was perfect because we decided to go out and catch some caimans in the dark after dinner. A few drinks are exactly what you need when catching crocodiles. Mix in how tired you are and it’s a perfect match. Nonetheless, all the guys were excited to get after it, me included and shortly after dinner we had two boats with the two local guides, Daka and Hi pointing spot lights along the river banks. There were caiman eyes glowing everywhere, the problem was most of them were six to ten footers. We were no match for these big boys.

During the adventure we managed to net a few exotic little catfish and a stingray before finally we ran into the caiman nursery where we found some three footers. Anything shorter than four feet is fair game. Of course, you could still lose a hand no problem, trust me. As you can imagine, Paul and I were eager to tackle the first ones we came too, but I guess it was the crazed look in our eyes that caused Daka to keep us just out of reach. Instead, Daka did all the dirty work of leaping from the boat and pinning the first small croc to the bottom. Then we got to move in to hold him and take some pictures before letting him go. It was great fun but we made one mistake tonight. We let Granny come along and after we caught two crocs she talked the guides into calling it a night. I think the rest of us had just got our second wind and were ready to stay out all night. So were the guides, but such is life. The “Granny” dropped the hammer and we were done. Just as well, we are fishing early in the morning.

The Boys From Wisconsin Meet the Amazon

March 11, 2010

It was Paul and I today. Paul and I have been close friends for over twenty-five years. We went to college together in northern Wisconsin. We fished frequently during those years but since we both graduated we have lived far apart. Usually about once every two years he will make it out to the Jackson Hole area and I get him into some nice fishing. In recent years we’ve made a point to do some big trips together. Our most recent big trip was an epic eighteen day exploratory float trip in Mongolia. I think we would both agree, Mongolia was and always will be one of the most incredible journeys of our lives. Of course now, every time we fish we want to try and top it. Today would be nothing different.

The way things lined up we got Daka. Daka is the small muscular local guide that Granny and I had a few days ago. Daka is young and all about the fish numbers so Paul and I quickly made it clear, we wanted to get into something a little different. We decided the first move would be to go with Granny and Amanda who were also sharing a boat today and dunk bait in the already proven catfish pool.

We rolled into the catfish pool at about 7 am. The first task of the day was to nail some piranhas for bait. Paul rigged up a small silver Rapala and we took turns dragging in silver piranhas. The heads of these piranhas seem to be the best bait to use because they sink to bottom fast from the weight of the skull, but also, they are the most difficult for the living piranhas to eat off the hook.

The girls pulled their boat close to ours and soon  each boat had one catfish rod out. As usual, it didn’t take but a minute for the living piranhas to clean the hook and in some instances bite the hook right off the steel leader. It is so frustrating! Then an hour into it nearly frustrated enough to give up, Granny set her hook into something much larger than a piranha. Out went Granny’s line and the game was on.

In this low water the catfish don’t run great distances because they prefer to stay deep. Granny’s burly fish simply bulldogged his way around the hole for about five minutes Then she gradually worked him to the shallows. Once in view, it was another gorgeous redtail catfish! In minutes a 24lb redtail catfish drooped over Granny.

We gave the catfish pool another hour or so then we were out of piranhas for bait. Paul and I said asta to the girls and headed out on our adventure with Daka. One thing we explained to Daka was that with the strength of the three of us, no secret lagoon was too far to try to get to. Daka took us serious on that and after a long run up the Xeriuni; we were dragging the boat for a mile up a small creek. It was a grunt to say the least, but eventually we arrived at an extremely remote and beautiful lagoon.

I stood from the bow of the boat and threw some long casts with my 10-weight Ross and one of RIO’s intermediate sinking lines. Even though I was making some seriously long casts, Paul would load that jumbo spin rod with his gigantic woodchopper lure and throw about twice as far. It was very apparent why he and Amanda were catching more big fish than anyone. They simply cover three times as much water in a day with a bait that is massive compared to my largest fly. It was awesome to watch Paul work. Naturally though, he doesn’t catch many small peacocks with his huge lure so in about an hour I had about ten peacocks up to 5lbs and he had one, however it was 9lb.

It was great just catching up with Paul. Our fishing was surprisingly slow, but neither of us noticed. That was until about 2pm when some bait started busting 150ft from the boat. Obviously I couldn’t reach it with the fly so I ducked down and Paul launched the woodchopper. What I then witnessed was something I won’t soon forget. Paul’s mighty lure hit the water like someone tossing a 2 x 4 into a pond yet in an instant an enormous peacock bass exploded on it and game was on! It was one of the most incredible fish eats I’d ever seen! That wasn’t all either. This beast tested Paul’s heavy gear to the max by making his drag sing and his 80lb braid buzz through the guides. Then the monster jumped and left me with a vision that will be with me to the grave. It was unbelievable!
I could go on and on about this fish but this is a blog not a novel. Paul landed a 16lb peacock that was impressive to say the least.

It was time for a couple beers and perhaps do  something unusual. I knew just the thing. Daka had leaped from the boat several times during the morning. At first we didn’t know what the heck he was doing. He speaks little or no English. Finally he got across to us that he was trying to catch turtles. With that in mind, I suggested to Daka that we take break from peacock fishing and catch some turtles. Paul laughed at the thought of us catching one, especially as I took off my shirt and hat and put my turtle game face on in the front of the boat. Surely if Daka had made several unsuccessful attempts it would be hopeless for us.

But the “Currier” can surprise now and then. Even at 44, my turtle catching skills from way back are still with me, and after sizing up a couple opportunities at cruising bottom-hugging turtles, I made a plan of attack. When the third turtle I saw was zipping along the bottom I ditched my Polaroid’s and dove off the bow of the boat. Once submerged with momentum from the dive carrying me through the water column as graceful as a speeding caiman, I opened my eyes only to see the scurrying turtle three feet ahead. I kicked vigorously and reached as far as I could. At this second the turtle was likely to escape his clumsy predator, however he opted to stop and hide in the mud and at that second I caught up and with both hands corralled him. Up I came, turtle in hand, only to see both Daka and Paul staring at me in great disbelief. I’d caught my turtle!

One would expect that to top off an exciting day with the “Boys from Wisconsin”, but it didn’t. We had the good fortune of seeing some giant Amazon River otters on the ride home. We thought Daka was holding the boat so we could try to snap some pictures, but no, Daka decided to park the boat and try to catch one. The otters made a crucial mistake. Instead of diving and swimming away, they ran into the woods. Daka took off after them and of course so did Paul and me (much slower I might add). To both of our disbelief, Daka caught the smallest otter by the tail! I was petrified that the otter was headed to Daka's dinner table, but luckily we took a picture that hardly came out because is was near dark and then let him run back off to his family. Wow!

That’s how a days fishing with Paul and I often go. We fished. It was an adventure. A lifelong memory of a great fish transpired, then something funny as heck that probably no visiting angler has ever done occurred and then the otter - just another day of fishing with Paul.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

I Wonder If It's Snowing In Jackson?

March 10, 2010

Xeriuni River

We got word first thing this morning that camp will no longer be able to move upstream. Normally River Plates floating camp set up that we are using continues to travel throughout the week, but because the water level is so low we are locked to this location until we move back down where we started. It seems like a bummer because we may have to fish the same water twice or more times. However, everyone is catching so may fish and having such a great time that it appears it really doesn’t matter. Amazingly, the guides assure us that there is so much untouched water and hidden lagoons nearby that we won’t fish the same water twice anyway.

Today they were certainly right. Granny and I fished with Ben. David and I had a stellar morning with Ben yesterday. To start off today, Ben hiked us in about ten minutes to a remote lagoon. The camp staff had already carried in a small boat for us so all we had to do was show up. According to Ben, this lagoon is such a hassle to get to no one had fished it in years. We were pretty darn excited at that thought.

Once we got to it, we had to kick back a minute as a nice size caiman was chilling out by the stashed boat. Finally we chucked some wood his way to get him moving. The lagoon was long and narrow and quite beautiful to cast in as the sun rose and lit up the gorgeous jungle vegetation. Sadly, an hour into the adventure we caught only one small peacock and a few dogfish and picudas. I could see the disappointment in Ben’s face as like us he thought this was going to produce us a few huge peacocks. The lagoon ended up being only about a half mile long and within two hours we covered the entire location and caught almost nothing. Soon Ben made the call “we’re out of here”, and off we went.

You kind of feel sorry for a guide when he goes out of his way to try and do something special and it doesn’t work out. I’ve certainly been down that road before with my clients when I guided and there’s just nothing that can be done. Granny and I made it obvious that we appreciated the efforts and we simply hiked out and got in the regular boat and motored to another piece of water that looked excellent as well. And it was. This was a larger lagoon that involved no hiking or boat dragging; we just paddled in and started casting. Fifteen minutes in we had already landed several peacocks including a 6lber, some dogfish and a few huge piranhas. This was one of those don’t fall overboard locations.

One particular flat in this lagoon offered exceptional site casting. I noticed a nice brightly striped peacock aggressively foraging the shallows and dropped a fly about two feet in front of him. He charged the fly so fast that when I made my first strip he was already hooked. It turned out to be only about 4lbs but one of the most beautifully colored peacocks ever. Within the next hour Granny site cast to a giant. I mean this was a fast cruising 15 pounder. Granny did a great job launching a 70 foot cast but the large wise peacock appeared to see the flash of the line in the air. Even though she landed the fly with pin point accuracy the fish was out of there before it touched down.

At lunch time we were drinking beers in the shade. While Granny and Ben started napping, I couldn’t resist trying to catch one of the many beautiful tropical fish in the shallows hiding in the tree roots. I took a stick and tied five feet of 3X tippet to it and attached a small nymph. I always bring some trout stuff just for this type of situation. Like a blue heron waiting for a meal, I eased my rig out over the water and gently lowered my nymph. I laid it on bottom and waited. Soon, a crazy looking fish with long dangling pectoral fins wandered my way. I lifted my nymph and twitched it once and wham! The bluegill size exotic was on and quickly to my hands. I admired the gorgeous fish and took a photo and let him go. Ben opened one eye from his nap to see what the hell the loco gringo was doing. He was not impressed.

It ended up being a huge fish number day with numerous solid 5-6 lb fish. Granny landed a colorful 7 lb fish near days end but overall that was our biggest. She also caught her first traira. When we got to camp we found that Paul and Amanda had great success again. Amanda who was chucking a woodchopper (not fly fishing) caught three 13lbers in three casts. Then in the next lagoon she landed an 18 pounder! She is completely covered behind this amazing fish in the photo. What a day for Amanda. Paul and Amanda are the only non fly fishers in our group. They are excellent anglers and have caught a lot of incredible fish not only here, but they have traveled with me to Egypt and Mongolia as well. Tomorrow should prove to be a very exciting day as Paul and I will be fishing together. Of course first we need to nibble on these interesting appetizers!

 

 

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site