Peacock Bass in the Amazon

[MontanaPat]

Just got back from a fishing trip to the Amazon for peacock bass and other fishes, had a great time and caught some good fish so thought I would share a brief report with those who like to fish as well as hunt. We flew commercially into Manaus Brazil and then via float plane into the headwaters of the Rio Negro in the Amazon jungle, we were fishing on the Rio Caures. Float plane flight from Manus was interesting, 90 minute flight and you never saw another village, road or anything but solid jungle and water for almost 300 km. We caught some good fish although not the numbers of peacocks I expected going into the trip. I averaged about 12-14 fish per day but thought it would be 40+ fish days from all I had heard. Still lots of fun and many fish between 3-5 pounds daily. I did manage to catch three big fish during the week with one being the largest our group of eight anglers caught during the trip. My big fish weighed in at 15 pounds and was 77 cm / 30.5" long, a beautiful fish that fought very hard, felt I was lucky to land him as we lost several big fish during the week. I also caught two other nice fish, one weighing 9 pounds and another at 8 pounds, both were 64 cm / 25" long. During the week we also caught numerous piranha, arowana, payara, dogfish, jacunda, oscars etc. Camp was a floating camp of individual cabins anchored along a sand bar that they moved a couple times during the week. Cabins were air conditioned which was a life saver and had showers to wash away the sweat from the heat and humidity that I'm not used to anymore living in Montana.

Here are some pics

 

[Mekaniks]

Excellent!! Thank you for sharing

Who was the outfitter???

 

[MontanaPat]

few more pics

Well for some reason any pic of scenery or camp won't upload, only fish pics )

 

[MontanaPat]

Excellent!! Thank you for sharing

Who was the outfitter???

My brother and some guys booked the trip through MidCurrent Travel and the outfitter was TC Fishing. I was invited to go along when one of the other guys had to cancel due to an illness. I would go back sometime but not sure I would use them for a few reasons.

 

[Mekaniks]

My brother and some guys booked the trip through MidCurrent Travel and the outfitter was TC Fishing. I was invited to go along when one of the other guys had to cancel due to an illness. I would go back sometime but not sure I would use them for a few reasons.

Thanks

 

[HookMeUpII]

That's a dream trip. You were in the thick of peacock country. Noted on the outfitter. Would love to plan a trip with my son when he gets older.

 

[MontanaPat]

Got some other photos to load

 

[dchum]

Congrats! Super pictures and a nice adventure.

Thank you for sharing with us!

How much harder do they fight than a large mouth?

 

[mdwest]

Very nice fish!

We (wife, and handful of employees, and a few friends) did peacocks on the Chagris river in Panama last year.. the fish there were much smaller (I’d say on average 1.5-2lbs.. we had a few get a little north of 3-4lbs).. but we had a great time… they put up a good fight.. and weren’t bad eating… there’s a little place in Panama City, right next to where the front gates of the old Ft Clayton is that will prepare your catch for you for a crazy cheap price.. I think we paid about $150 for them to process probably 25 - 30 fish and feed a crew of about 12 including several local side dishes to go with the fish…

Your post makes me want to go back!

 

[MontanaPat]

Congrats! Super pictures and a nice adventure.

Thank you for sharing with us!

How much harder do they fight than a large mouth?

Well I’ve never caught a largemouth bigger than 6 pounds and that was years ago but from what I remember I think peacocks fight significantly harder than smallmouth or largemouth of equivalent size. The spinning reels we were using had 50lb braided line I was told. The big fish had the rod doubled over and was taking line every run and we had the drag cranked down to the point I couldn’t easily pull it out. The big fish ran down under some structure and hung up and our native fishing guide jumped in the river and dove under to free the line to keep from losing the fish. I think he was more excited about the fish than I was!

 

[Sarg]

Those are great photos, thank you for posting.

I’m not really a fisherman but Peacock Bass, Goliath Tiger Fish & Sailfish are species i would like to catch !

Was it catch & kill or release !

 

[Rumrunner]

Great pics. Looks like a memorable time. Love to do something like that but not sure I could handle the heat and humidity.

 

[deewayne2003]

Very nice, I fished the Rio Negro in February 2022 off the Otter and we had a blast, first day we caught nothing so the moved the boat and things changed drastically.

I forget how many total we caught, but the 3 biggest were 23,22&21 lbs.

 

[PARA45]

Beautiful fish, congrats!!! The only Peacock bass I've caught were in South Florida, they are all over the canals. However, unfortunately they do not get that big. They are better fighters than the large mouth, the Peacocks will fight till the end.

 

[Betterinthebush]

Been waiting for this report! Congratulations Pat. Beautiful fish. I can’t hardly wait to get back down to Panama now.

 

[MontanaPat]

Those are great photos, thank you for posting.

I’m not really a fisherman but Peacock Bass, Goliath Tiger Fish & Sailfish are species i would like to catch !

Was it catch & kill or release !

Everything was released with the exception of a few piranha that the guides kept to eat. They like piranha!

 

[mdwest]

Forgot to mention in my earlier post... while small, the peacocks in Panama have a very cool feature.. they have 4 distinct stripes on them as opposed to all other peacocks around the world having three...

I suppose it doesnt make a bit of difference in how they fight, how they taste, etc...

but was kinda neat to see..

 

[HookMeUpII]

Well I’ve never caught a largemouth bigger than 6 pounds and that was years ago but from what I remember I think peacocks fight significantly harder than smallmouth or largemouth of equivalent size. The spinning reels we were using had 50lb braided line I was told. The big fish had the rod doubled over and was taking line every run and we had the drag cranked down to the point I couldn’t easily pull it out. The big fish ran down under some structure and hung up and our native fishing guide jumped in the river and dove under to free the line to keep from losing the fish. I think he was more excited about the fish than I was!

Peacocks are lb for lb way tougher, harder fighting, and way more aggressive. I've gone after them in Colombia with my wife's relatives. Unfortunately, it was the rainy season so everything was flooded out and the real monsters were deep in the flooded vegetation. That presents the same problem you experienced. Also, the real monsters live way deep in the Amazon basin where you were. Manaus, and to the west/southwest. Where you were though, is like Jurassic park for them. There are some very big, very old, very tough fish up those tributaries. I know one top-notch outfit is Amazon Xplor expeditions.

I know during the dry season in Colombia, they will get some 10-12 lb. fish. Way different type of fishing though. They will troll them with plugs in deep lagoons. They don't do much of the topwater thing. You probably could topwater them there as well but they are fishing to eat. Whatever is cheap and works for them. They'd rather troll a $1-$2 spoon or crankbait that works, vs. chop wood with a $15 whopper-plopper.

One experience I will never forget involved casting diving baits near the shore. I threw the diving stickbait bait near a cut in the vegetation. I kid you not, I don't even think the bait even hit the water before a peacock savagely hit it. It was the only topwater blowup we had. Even my wife's uncle was shocked. Wasn't a big fish though, maybe 2 lbs.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Forgot to mention in my earlier post... while small, the peacocks in Panama have a very cool feature.. they have 4 distinct stripes on them as opposed to all other peacocks around the world having three...

I suppose it doesnt make a bit of difference in how they fight, how they taste, etc...

but was kinda neat to see..

One of the cool things about them is the "collect them all approach." It's almost like a turkey slam. Folks will try to get all the subspecies. It's probably impossible as they keep discovering new species. Temensis is the biggest and what everyone wants for a trophy. Ocellaris is the most common one caught in the USA in states like Florida.

 

[MontanaPat]

Beautiful fish, congrats!!! The only Peacock bass I've caught were in South Florida, they are all over the canals. However, unfortunately they do not get that big. They are better fighters than the large mouth, the Peacocks will fight till the end.

My first experience with them several years ago was around Miami in the canals. That experience gave me the itch to go after the big ones in the Amazon