I mentioned that the Xingu River has over 700 species of fish. No doubt, you all are expecting me to rack up thirty plus species and celebrate my 500th on fly this week. But, that’s unlikely to happen. First of all, most of the 700 species are aquarium size fish. In fact, if you have a fish tank, some of your neatest looking and most colorful are likely from here. For sure there are plenty of sizeable fly rod fish too, but this is at least my 10th trip to the Amazon, so I’ve racked up a bunch of these species already. This doesn’t mean I don’t have my eye on a few new ones. However realistically I’m hoping for five and if I caught ten would be phenomenal.
What the Xingu River is quickly becoming famous for is its payara. Payara are the sharp looking fanged monsters of the Amazon. Since the very first time I saw one I’ve been fascinated. So much so that in 1996 I spent four weeks winging it through Venezuelan jungle chasing them. You may think I’m crazy now, I was fearlessly out of my mind when I was in my 20’s and 30’s. (Photo from Rio Cuara Venezuela, November, 1996)
Those days there was very little known about payara let alone fly fishing for them and I had a difficult time in Venezuela. That being said, I caught a few. What I learned that trip was that for me the rod of choice is a 9-weight. Payara make good runs so a reel with a smooth drag is mandatory and they prefer deep holes and fast water making sinking lines essential. This trip we’ll be using the Scientific Anglers Tropical/Jungle Custom Tip. The best leaders are simple – about 4ft of 40lb fluoro and 12” of 40lb wire bite tippet. Last but not least, large blackish flies with very strong sharp hooks. And even so, payara are jumpers and have a knack for spitting the hooks.
Our host this week here at Xingu Lodge, Rodrigo Salles of Untamed Angling, has made payara fishing popular the last few years. Before opening the lodge however, Rodrigo and friends such as the Ichthyologist, Alec Kruse Zeinad, put in huge amounts of time and research to learn the habits of payara and improve the techniques for catching them on fly. It wasn’t easy but now when guests come to Xingu during the season they will almost always catch one.
For the first morning I fished with Joe Wolthuis and guide Christian. Rodrigo and Ross Purnell went with guide Marcos and we all headed upstream. Each boat has us, the guide and two Kayapo natives to run the boat. Its sounds crowded but the boats are long and the layout works out nicely. Before we knew it Joe and I were launching long casts with our hefty flies.
It didn’t take long to go tight. I struck first and forgot how hard payara pull. I strip set then when the fish came tight he smoked off about 15 feet of line. Strong and fast enough to start my usual line burn on my index finger. Fortunately my running line cleared from the boat and soon I was able to do battle from the reel. I had the fish to net within a couple minutes and Joe clicked off a few photos before I released the impressive fish.
A short time later I went tight again. The fish came off. At about the same time it happened to Joe also. No matter how good you are with a strip set, payara are hard to hook. Their mouths are hard and the teeth are in the way. We had a school in our run and they were hungry enough we got more chances. Soon we were hooked up with a double!
You see double-up photos of trout all the time. You see double GT’s and double peacock bass at times. But its quite rare to see a photo of two payaras at the same time. Our guide Christian made sure to catch the memory.
Joe and I had a superb morning. We hammered away at the payara until around 10 AM. We each landed one more after the double. Then we wandered into a lagoon and landed a handful of peacock bass. These are not the oversized monster species you see often in photos. These peacocks are the species, (Chichla melaniae). They are a smaller species yet pull like a freight train just like their larger cousins. I enjoyed these fish in Kendjam in 2016.
By 11 AM its roasting hot on the Xingu. By noon you’re ready for a break from the sun. On a normal day at Xingu Lodge you fish from 7 AM till 11:30 then head back out at 2:30 till dark and we’ll follow this pattern all week. Just as we were dropping the motor to head back to the lodge for lunch and a siesta we ran into a friend that prefers the high noon sun of the jungle. This beautiful little snake looks like a coral snake but actually he’s an impersonator. Word is that the colorful snake is harmless but there were no chances taken!
After a very nice break with a delicious lunch and a siesta, I hit the afternoon session with Rodrigo with targeting a new species in mind, the silver pacu ((Myloplus torquatus). I’m not sure I haven’t caught one, but I don’t have him on my list. Rodrigo and our Ichthyologist Alec say there are plenty around so today was the day.
I’ve taken a few species of pacu on past trips and I like my 6-weight Winston with a floating line, a strong 9ft leader with 20lb tippet and an oversized Chernobyl Ant type fly. You fish them like you’re in a drift boat in Montana casting your fly close to the bank. The only difference is that rather than seeking the gentle fly landing and soft presentation, when pacu fishing we purposely slam the fly on the water to attract the pacu to think fruit has fallen.
It didn’t take long to get some pacu to eat the fly but they are hard to hook. They have a mouth full of human like teeth for crunching nuts and fruit, so again, not a lot of places to parch a hook. But after an hour I finally connected and landed my first “official” silver pacu.
As we drifted along the bank we passed the mouth of a creek and ventured up into it. Our guide Christian suggested grabbing the peacock rods and giving it a try. A good plan. We spent an hour there and Rodrigo and I landed about ten peacocks. Some like this one were pretty big for the species. This guy even has the bump on his forehead.
We went back to pacu fishing because its such a blast. As we did this we picked up the occasional matrinxa. Matrinxa is a common fish here and I’ll show them a few times this week. But I caught strange and unique small species of matrinxa by accident. This is the small matrinxa (Brycon aff. Pesu). I can thank Alec for knowing this fish so I can add it to the list.
I was on a roll. While were weren’t by any means slamming the pacu, they were around. Again they are very hard to hook. I had just finished my drift and as I always do for trout, I gave the Chernobyl a mend and a jiggle. Then after two seconds I slowly lifted my rod tip to skitter it then cast. Just as I did that this pink colored crazy unknown pacu rose for the fly and chased it down. Luckily I hooked him and we got him. Neither Christian or Rodrigo has seen this pacu. But of course, when we showed the photo to Alec he knew exactly the genus and species. This is the unusual (but Alec says not rare), red pacu borracha – (Myloplus cf. asterias).
The mighty Xingu River is full of treacherous rocks and small rapids. When fishing this remote in the Amazon there are no chances taken. Just before dark we made the 20 minute boat ride downstream and back to the lodge. All I can say is what a first day. Three new species. Excellent payara and peacock fishing. Unreal! We just enjoyed a fancy dinner and now its time for bed. I am exhausted. We’ll be back after it early tomorrow.
If this is a trip you want to do (and you are crazy if you don’t!) you can Contact me, Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures or Untamed Angling.
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Congrats on the species list! Not a bad first day.