Amazon Fishing News - Exploratory Trips

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Rio Travessão Exploratory Trip

The term "Exploratory Trip" has been used to describe just about any kind of Amazonian travel - from Teddy Roosevelt’s famous jungle journey to a luxury sightseeing cruise. But we’re fishermen and what we care about is finding fish. So, we thought we’d use this issue to highlight our unique exploratory trips and clearly define how they work and what they entail. I’m an impatient fisherman and it's the impatient fisherman's dream to go where the fish don't make you wait. That's why the most unexplored and unknown regions are always my first choice. Every time I hit a stretch of new water, my eyes open wide and my fishing antennae go up? Who knows? This just might be the place where I end up surrounded by schools of aggressive, swirling, feeding fish, all of them, just as impatient as I. Find out more and perhaps you’ll join us on our next exploratory journey. Warning - Exploratory trips are not for everyone. They can include basic accommodations and simple meals, untrained staff, and unpredictable itineraries. You’ve got to be in it for the adventure or you’re better off with our tried and true scheduled trips.

Special Issue - Exploratory Trips
"Adversity builds character" or so the overused "old saw" says. This year, we modified that cliché to mean "adversity opens new waters". Due to the "Great Recession" our normal eight week Rio Travessão schedule was shortened to just three groups this season. This was true adversity, since there simply wouldn’t be enough revenue to cover the costs of setting up and operating the trip. But in the fishing business, if you want to have a reputation you can be proud of, you deliver what you promise. So, since we had people who booked and planned long ago, it was a no-brainer for us to commit to going forward regardless of the adversity. Instead of returning to our previously explored region, where resupply is easily managed, we elected instead to take advantage of the adversity facing us and fish a region that we normally couldn’t exploit. Far from any resupply access, it meant all supplies would have to come in with the camp’s arrival. With only three groups to support, it now became possible, augmented by the weekly floatplane for resupply of perishables. So the bad news of a shortened schedule, became the opportunity to explore a previously untouched region. Adversity had truly opened new waters.

And what great waters they turned out to be! It seemed like our first group accidently opened a door into a fishing cornucopia that got even better as our stay progressed. Over three weeks, 18 anglers caught an amazing array of fishes. Those anglers who focused on the Travessão’s fierce predatory species landed more than 80 big trairao, up to 20 pounds, as well as over 600 big peacocks up to 14 pounds. The river yielded Bicuda up to 12 pounds and payara topping 20 pounds. The catfish hunters scored big as well with an unbelievable total of more than 50 giant Piraiba, some as big as 250 pounds. They landed over 50 hefty jundira up to 20 pounds and almost 30 big redtailed cats reaching 80 pounds. Add to this a mixed bag of apapa, pescada, giant piranha and more and its easy to see that this exploratory journey delivered the goods. Right now we’re figuring out the logistics of how to integrate this new region into our upcoming schedule along with the enormous stretch of unexplored water separating it from our original site. Perhaps supply dumps, perhaps access from downriver. We’ll work it out though, since we’re addicted to exploration and an opportunity like this is too good to pass up.

Rio Pacu Exploratory Trip Report
As an angler, I live and breathe for new fish, new waters, and new experiences. So, for as long as Acute Angling has been operating, I’ve been pushing to experiment with new fishing opportunities. Some have been just fantastic and have become part of our regular schedule. Some have just been fantastically difficult and didn’t work for practical reasons. There have even been a few that simply weren’t productive enough for our clientele and were swept into the dustbin of forgotten opportunities. We study the results of all of these in great depth in order to learn what we can and to make an intelligent decision about the future feasibility of the destination. Here’s one that gave a mixed bag of results but ultimately left us with a straightforward decision. Acute Angling already has one of the Amazon’s most productive variety destinations on the spectacular Rio Travessão. We and our
clients have explored a pristine wilderness, broken IGFA records, experienced stunning sights and caught fish that will be remembered for a lifetime in this exclusive fishery. But the Travessão’s dry season makes it only available from January to March. So, we’ve been searching for a fishery that could complement the Travessão by providing an alternative location during November and December. 
In October of 2008, Wellington Melo, Paul Reiss and two of our intrepid clients made their way to the Rio Pacu for a pre-exploratory visit, to see if it justified further exploration. Due to our fixed schedules, we knowingly came a month earlier than we would have liked and we encountered fairly high water;

October of 2008, Wellington Melo, Paul Reiss and two of our intrepid clients made their way to the Rio Pacu for a pre-exploratory visit, to see if it justified further exploration. Due to our fixed schedules, we knowingly came a month earlier than we would have liked and we encountered fairly high water; nonetheless we found surprisingly productive fishing, big trophy fish and a useful set of resources already on site. The decision to return for a full scale exploratory was fairly easy. With the almost certain improvement in water levels on a November schedule, we expected to find an even more productive situation.

With a year to plan, we set to work, only to discover ourselves buried in a logistical nightmare. Commercial flight schedules to our proposed base of operations changed beyond functionality. Our planned supply route (using a small landing strip) became unusable. Suddenly, we couldn’t get there from here. Ultimately, we managed to resolve the issues via floatplane directly from Manaus, but not before the entire enterprise fell into total economic disarray. We pressed on regardless and spent three weeks putting the Pacu through its paces. For the most part, it was tough fishing with lower than optimal daily catch averages (although a few wonderful trophies were caught). And, although we found some very good fishing with excellent daily catch averages far upriver, it only served to exacerbate the
logistical (and hence economic) difficulties of this destination. So we’ll file the Rio Pacu under; beautiful place, tough fishing and navigating and just plain economically unfeasible. We’ll move on.

Our exploratory anglers all had a very special Amazon experience. They enjoyed a visit to a unique fast-water river, caught a species mix they might never have otherwise encountered, and took away lifelong memories. Even when they don’t lead to new destinations, our exploratory trips always provide first class fishing adventure.

São Gabriel - Fall 2010 Exploratory
In Search of Giant Peacock Bass in an Indian Reservation

The Rio Negro basin holds the largest peacock bass in the world. It also attracts the most fishing operations and the largest numbers of anglers found anywhere in the Amazon. Okay, let’s keep that in context; a crowd in the Amazon looks like a lake in the U.S. during a thunderstorm— there’s just about nobody there. Nonetheless, what we always seek is the best fishery, but all to ourselves. This has made the Rio Negro basin something of a conundrum for us. We want the best of both worlds, but we can’t always easily find it there. For five long years we have been working to solve this dilemma by obtaining the fishing rights to a long closed Indian reservation in the far northwest of the Rio Negro basin. In keeping with our exploratory goals, not only will this destination allow us exclusive access to world-record size peacock bass, but these monsters have never even seen a lure. In December of 2009, we finally got the approval, made the arrangements and together with four intrepid clients, we headed into the reservation. To say that the anticipation was palpable would be an understatement. But not every plan comes to fruition. Sadly, Mother Nature was not on our side and we were greeted by a deluge—a solid week of rain that raised the rivers to unfishable levels—in the middle of an otherwise basin-wide drought! We soldiered on regardless but the conditions were hopeless and the results showed it. We promptly cancelled the rest of our exploratory plans and headed back to the drawing board, disappointed and with our tails between our legs. Now we’re going back. We’ve had time to regroup, recalibrate and renegotiate our access. We’ve expanded the region to which we’ll have access to include two new, untouched rivers and we’ve widened our window of time. 

Most importantly, we’re going to be fully equipped with a comfortable air-conditioned houseboat that will accommodate 6 exploration minded anglers. There will be no camping and no roughing it on this exploratory. The houseboat will transport us into the heart of the reservation, so that each day we can head off in our fishing boats to explore these pristine waters and hopefully find new honey holes, new hotspots, big, aggressive fish, and perhaps even a few new world records. Take advantage of this opportunity to enjoy pristine fishing waters and join us on our Giant Peacock Bass Exploratory this coming October, 2010 (see our schedule on page 7). We’ll take a maximum of six anglers per week. The trips will be hosted by Paul Reiss and /or Wellington Melo.

Rio Travessão - 2011 Exploratory Schedule
As a result of our successful exploration of a newly opened section of the Rio Travessão this past February (see page 1), we now have almost doubled the amount of fishing water available to us on this incredible river. And we haven’t even touched half of it yet! For 2011, we plan to take advantage of this newfound access by exploring the rest of this unfished water, finding attractive new campsites and locating our base of operations in the best area for each segment of the season. Our safari-style camp has been upgraded as well. Big, roomy new tents with luggage storage shelves and high, stand-up ceilings, together with new, improved cots and mattresses will make the camping experience more comfortable. Our brand new, higher power generator will keep all the lights lit, the fans running and the beer ice-cold wherever we settle in.

The Wai-Wai Indian tribe, our hosts and guides and staff, have now worked with us for four wonderfully productive seasons and they have become experts at tending to the fishing desires and daily comfort needs of our exploratory anglers. They are no longer just boat pilots, they have become skilled and experienced fishing guides. It looks like we’ll have to pull the "warning label" off of even this most inaccessible of our exploratory destinations. Not only is the itinerary solid and dependable, the safaristyle camp pleasant and comfortable, and the food surprisingly good, but we can now boast a well-trained and responsive staff. Join us next January and February in this pristine and spectacular environment. With five species of fierce scaled predators and a host of giant catfish species, the Rio Travessão is surely the destination of a lifetime.

How to Survive an Amazon Exploratory Trip While Filming a TV Fishing Show
Where do you start? Well, first you gotta have an outfitter worth his weight in gold. Then you have him find you a pristine, virgin bit of liquid in Brazil (that means a far-away river full of fish, not an unopened bottle of Brazilian Cachaça). Once this is set, you call up the big boys, the guys with budget sheets and storylines who then send in a man with cameras, lenses and tripods and all sorts of gizmos to start a real-live shoot in the Amazon. Hah, they won’t know what hit them when I finish with them!!

So with all this in mind, fellow adventurers Paul Reiss and Wellington Melo sorted us out a trip where we could find all of the above and perhaps even more. Off we went, out into the wilderness of the Northeastern frontier of the Amazon Basin, no holds barred. Now as a Brit, and as I want things to run smoothly on the production side, I wanted, no, I demanded another Brit as a cameraman. You know the sort, an understanding, calm, willing to go that extra yard type; won't mind the blood and snot and bugs sort of guy. Once James was on board, he set off to meet me. To say his trek was long is an understatement; leaving on a Saturday morning from London, to São Paulo via Madrid, Sunday on to Belem and then overnight in the Amazon town of Monte Dourado. I crossed my fingers in hopes of finding him in one piece on Monday, with all his cases and cameras waiting for me after over 50 hours of travelling.

So it goes like this . Steve leaves Manaus with gang in a floatplane. Fly 2 1/2 hrs, re-fuel in Santarem, then a 1 1/2 hr leg to the Pacu, drop off the remainder of the gang and supplies and then onwards, upwards to Monte Dourado to pick up James the cameraman and get back to camp. On arrival at the empty airport, my man was not there, his UK cell number unobtainable and the woman I had arranged to pick him up the day before was not taking my calls. "Great" thought I, "Now what do I do?" After an eternity, Jimbo finally arrives in an old rust bucket of a car with two very classy looking chicks in high heels and a big smile on his face. "Explanations later please, c´mon let’s get started filming! First a quick PTC (that's ‘Piece To Camera’ to you not 'au fait' with TV jargon). then off we went skywards with piles of beer, soft drinks, food and supplies onto base camp one! Now, anyone in the film industry knows, proper storylines must be strictly adhered to, right? UHuuuuuh, NOT HERE IN THE AMAZON!

Things just don’t work out as one might plan. Day one and two brought fret and worry from James as the fish were just not playing ball. We thought surely to make a fishing show, we needed a few fish, right? Around every bend, in every eddy, behind every rock, fish were there for the taking … or were they??? Something just wasn't right. To the frustration from my cameraman, all I could do was joke, "Maybe we should have been here last week"!! "Not funny Steve" was the reply!! "You promised me fish and loads of ‘em and that's what I want"! Well, it took till day three, to understand the right catching methods and the wily ways of this distant river’s fish. We could finally see it in our grasp.

Not to be flummoxed, we and our motley crew set off miles upriver the morning of day four, where a temporary camp was set up to take us weary anglers in and feed and water us after a long day of travelling and fishing. This was home for the next two nights. Mile after mile was covered getting to this promised land. And we did it. We arrived. Hot, burnt, tired and with some fish under our belts. Great, the storyline was actually coming together, tales of far-flung, never- fished before waters, animals and all manner of beasts were all around us. The crazy thing was I caught most of my best fish within 200 yards of this camp!

Day five and even further upwards we went. We fished in some of the most beautiful surroundings and amazing mountainous backdrops I have ever seen. When some of the group started to catch Payaras immediately in one deep pool, I though surely I would too. I thrashed the water to a froth for what seemed like ages until finally I had one single hit. But this wasn’t an ordinary fish, oh no. This guy must have had two bowls of Cheerios for breakfast because he immediately stripped out over 150 fishing. This was home for the next two nights. Mile after mile was covered getting to this promised land. And we did it. We arrived. Hot, burnt, tired and with some fish under our belts. Great, the storyline was actually coming together, tales of far-flung, never- fished before waters, animals and all manner of beasts were all around us. The crazy thing was I caught most of my best fish within 200 yards of this camp!

Day five and even further upwards we went. We fished in some of the most beautiful surroundings and amazing mountainous backdrops I have ever seen. When some of the group started to catch Payaras immediately in one deep pool, I though surely I would too. I thrashed the water to a froth for what seemed like ages until finally I had one single hit. But this wasn’t an ordinary fish, oh no. This guy must have had two bowls of Cheerios for breakfast because he immediately stripped out over 150 yards of 65lbs line. Now, our ‘guide’ Raimundo (actually a "Brazil Nut" courier) decided the best thing was to follow the fish backwards in the boat! If you have never done this before in a rock-strewn river, then don’t! Although this might sound fun to most of you, well, you’ll end up in the drink, just like moi! The engine hit a rock (Really, how did that happen??) and in I went, radio mike and all. The end result was a cracking 20lb Payara and a very wet fishing show presenter. After all, we wanted good footage, right? Any Brit show-man would do the same surely for Queen and country?

Day six and off we set downriver and back to base camp. We fished all the way down and had plenty of action; Sorubim Catfish on lures and cut-baits, Peacock Bass on Spooks and jigs, Payara and Bicuda that stretched our arms and lines and Redtail Cats and other denizens of the deep on cut-baits. We even caught Pacu using Brazil nuts as bait. And how about that great shore lunch? Peacock and Piranha, yum. That evening, back at camp, our ‘guide’, with me having promised him ‘a little extra’ if he could wing it, seals the deal to have the mutually shared camp harpoon that night. The storyline would show us living off what we caught etc., showing that we don’t really need a rod and line to survive in the deep, dark, mysterious Amazon jungle. Well would you believe it, said harpoon suddenly got broken. "Don't worry, we'll do it "amanha, it'll be fixed by then"! Okkkkk, we'll see. Last night ... remember ….

So our producer rewrites this into the storyline and all is set. Day seven and our last full day, we fish the lower reaches below base camp with some smaller Payaras and Bicudas being caught. While filming my attempts at fly fishing, I missed a huge Payara at my feet but was rewarded by a large Peacock Bass from the rapids below a beautiful waterfall setting. Another string to our bow, as it were. Oh, and I got a chunk taken out of the knuckle of my left index finger by being too smart with a Piranha. Loads of blood for the camera. Great stuff!! Right then, we got film, we got fish, we got ……. did I mention Raimundo, our Brazil nut courier as a 'guide'?

Anyway, we finally had a storyline, what we now needed was more of the above to complete at least two episodes. How about that spearfishing we were promised, ? Hmmm.. . Unfortunately it never made film. Now a typical producer likes his t’s crossed and his i’s dotted so this just wouldn't do. "But James, this is South America" said I. "Too bad" says big Jim, "we have to do it, it’s in the storyline".
So, in the morning, while we had three hours to wait for the plane to arrive, I said , "maybe we can fix the storyline with that one unusual fish that no one has probably ever seen on TV before? Let's give it a go, we’ve still got a few hours to go yet. Maybe a big ugly thing with fangs and whiskers and teeth and spikes and stuff, that farts and burps for the camera?" So we wended up river with a bag of 20 inch
worms dug up from the deep South and cast out our lines. Literally with only 15 minutes to go before the bell went, my reel started singing. Not the usual slow taking of line but a furious zzzzrrr rrrrrr rrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr that made me jump and grab the rod in a panic. Was this the one we needed? After 10 minutes I brought a magnificent Sawside Catfish or Cuiú to the boat. Weighing in at just over 25lbs I
thought it was a good enough size to show off about. And I had never seen another on TV with its crazy side moon-shaped scales and sharp spikes, so I truly believed we had done it. Back to camp we went with a smile on our faces. I have since learnt that the World record for a Sawside Cat is 24.5lbs!! If only I knew that info before, I could have acted my shirt off, you know, played up to the camera a bit more, but then that wouldn't be real TV, would it?

SO folks, that’s a wrap, that's how you do it. Really easy, eh? Just grab a cameraman by the shorts and shoot realms of film and deal with it when you get back home. Yeah right!!!!!!!!!!!!! The hard work has only just begun. Now back to real life and the editing room in the UK. And we’ve still got the VOs to do, (that's Voice Overs to you)! spikes, so I truly believed we had done it. Back to camp we went with a smile on our faces. I have since learnt that the World record for a Sawside Cat is 24.5lbs!! If only I knew that info before, I could have acted my shirt off, you know, played up to the camera a bit more, but then that wouldn't be real TV, would it? SO folks, that’s a wrap, that's how you do it. Really easy, eh? Just grab a cameraman by the shorts and shoot realms of film and deal with it when you get back home. Yeah right!!!!!!!!!!!!! The hard work has only just begun. Now back to real life and the editing room in the UK. And we’ve still got the VOs to do, (that's Voice Overs to you)!

Amazon Tidbits - News from the RIVER
Even more amazing than the amazing fishes of the Amazon, is the amount of rumor and gossip generated about it. This column will appear from time to time in an effort to report actual news before it evolves into wildly inexplicable fiction. More new pre-exploratories for 2010/2011 - Acute Angling will once again welcome a few selected anglers to join Paul Reiss and Wellington Melo on preliminary explorations of several new Amazon fisheries. As is becoming our practice, we’ll take a few anglers along with us to help investigate the potential of these new fisheries. As our individual plans become more concrete, we’ll announce these trips on our routine email distributions. If you haven’t already signed up for our email newsletter, contact us to get on the list and stay apprised of exploratory trip opportunities as they become available.

New, "small-group" fishing trips - We routinely receive inquiries from anglers who want a trip specifically tailored for, and limited to, their group of fishing friends. Unfortunately, it’s very rare for such a group to be large enough to justify closing our regularly scheduled facilities to others. So, in an effort to allow anglers to have their cake and eat it too (who doesn’t want that?) we plan to experiment with a new type of trip configuration for the upcoming season. Geared to smaller groups (say 4 to 6 anglers), this new format will enable anglers to experience a more intimate trip ambience with a more flexible itinerary. We’re considering two functional options; The first is a simple flat price for any of our facilities (such as the Blackwater Explorer peacock yacht or our Rio Travessão variety camp). This will enable us to set them aside for your group exclusively. Prices will be commensurate with the trip type and, depending on the number of anglers, may work out to be approximately equal to, or somewhat higher than our basic, standard pricing.

The second option will entail using a smaller facility with smaller operating demands, less staffing needs and lower materials consumption. The goal will be to operate efficiently and appropriately for the group size. Pricing will be dependent on the group’s desired trip configuration and can range from economical to ostentatious, depending on the itinerary and level of complexity programmed. Contact us to let us know your thoughts and for more information on these potential new trip options. Peacock Bass Website Updates - Finally, our website’s new front page and navigation bar is in place. We hope you’ll like the new look. We know you’ll appreciate the new ease of navigating the site’s detailed content. Over the next few weeks, we hope to launch our unique "Tripfinder" database to help you easily select the trip that’s just right for you. Shortly thereafter, we’ll integrate the new look throughout the entire website.

Over the last 15 years since its launch in 1995, Acuteangling.com has accumulated a body of peacock bass fishing knowledge and information that is more accurate and more detailed than any other available source, bar none. Together with our peacock bass blog, our tackle-box.net website and an array of posted and soon to be posted YouTube videos, Acute Angling’s web presence represents a true encyclopedia of Amazon fish and fishing knowledge. Fish confidently with the most knowledgeable operation in the Amazon.

In Search of the "Giant Golden Rock"
By Wellington Melo ...
Wellington Melo is our Brazilian partner in Amazon Fringe Expeditions, Ltda., a company dedicated to exploring the Amazon and accessing pristine new waters. Together, we’ve opened the wild waters of the upper and lower Rio Urariquera, the pristine Travessão, the mysterious Breijão, the hidden Lagos Romeros and many more. Amazon Fringe has more exciting new targets in its sights for 2010/11. Join us. T r anslated from the original Portuguese. The Amazon Basin is one of the few true wildernesses remaining in a shrinking world that elsewhere keeps getting more developed and more civilized. It is one of the few places where there still exist unexploited regions and unfished waters.

After fifteen years of fishing in the rivers, lakes and streams of Amazonas, the drive to search for and explore these unknown fisheries somehow keeps growing stronger within me. Even knowing that these places are constantly becoming rarer because of commercial and subsistence fishing, the "Sonho de um Garimpeiro" is strong and real in me. (literally the "Dream of a Goldminer"; in this context meaning "the hope for a rich strike") The challenge is great, but with enough dedication, carefulness and skill, we have been able to demonstrate the ecological and socioeconomic benefits of sportfishing to various political and indigenous leaderships, groups who are normally very much against the concept of "outsiders". This helps us to gain access to pristine areas that are totally preserved and untouched.

Their fishing potential glitters in my eyes the same way that a giant nugget of gold glitters in the eyes of a goldminer in search of his precious metal. This might not suffice as a dream for everyone, but, without doubt, it drives me onward. My excitement is palpable during every step of the process of exploration, from studying a map while brainstorming a destination to negotiating access with a tribe of Amazon indigenes; from my arrival in a fishery through the work of setting up a camp; from my first casts into virgin water to the satisfaction of a strike from a wild, aggressive fish; and right through to the moment of packing up and moving on.
In the end we might have a fantastic fishing result or a less productive outing, sometimes the result of unexpected rains or changes in water level or sometimes simply due to the nature of an unknown fishery. This is not the most important part of our explorations. To me, what’s most important is just going to these great places and having the experiences that, with certainty, we’ll take away with us.
People who know us well know that these are gratifying feelings that clean the dirt out of our "civilized" souls. What feels even better is to share these experiences with my friends and sportfishermen from every corner of the world.

www.acuteangling.com

Edited by Acute Angling - 02/Mar/2010 at 8:41pm