Brazil January 2026

[Ham]

So there are 8 guides and seven boats needing a guide. Every team of anglers misses fishing with one guide.

I have been having a Tough time with the portugués nicknames that the guides go by. I can’t even hear the names correctly. 
On Saturday, we fished with Bou Jo.

on Sunday, Prey tou.

Monday, Renandu

and today was the most senior guide Joseph. Joseph gave the most instruction we have had so far, but he was the most demanding as well. 
we had an almost 2 hour run upriver in a Merc Jet to get started. I put on sunscreen and watched the river go by. Lots of interesting stuff to see along the way. Giant River otters, capybara, caiman, and so many birds. Storks, a few species of kingfishers, skimmers, terns, egrets, herons, spoonbill, osprey, Macaw, Harpy Eagles, Cara Cara, and more.

Finally, we idle down and start fishing along a main river bank. Hard to see the difference as you go along, but occasionally we stumbled across a Peacock Bass biker bar and there would be 10-20 fish with bad attitudes smashing you flys. Fun.

I had shots at a school of Oscars, but they said nah. Vivida would run your fly. Dog Fish. Matrinxas would flash it. And occasionally piranha would get you fly a trim to up behind the bend of the hook. Toast. Time for a fly change.

i had my peacock flys on an 8 weight with an intermediate line, a cicada pattern on the 6 weight floating, and a #10 white wooly on the 3 weight. 
I git a shot at an arrowana I put the fly close enough and it camE for a look. Little pops and the fish got closer and closer. It hovered under it and then swam off. Bummer. My partner had a take on his peacock fly from and arrowana, but the hook didn’t find a home: we are catching the usual bruising. Peacocks, but I want some different. Lunch was a shady spot that had the poorest of the lunch fishing yet. Some little minutes really nipped my legs and feet a bunch. It was uncomfortable.

The day was running out. We started the run home and he stopped and said we would try for arrowana for a few minutes. I was on the bow. The guide took my 6 weight and cut my #4 cicada off and tied on a 3/0 snakehead fly that I would normally fish on a 9 or 10 weight. I was not at all confident that I could make the casts required but set the hook if I got a take. I try to listen to my guide and trust my guide so here we go. Right away we see some. I somehow get the fly close enough. Gentle pops and the fish come close. then the star down with fish inches under my fly. Boom! And the hook doesn’t stick. We find another group, a pod of 4-6 fish 11 o’clock. “ make a long cast!” I fight it and force the fly there. My line wrapped on the reel. I am trying to clear that and the fish eats without me ever moving the fly. I can’t get the hookset. I am not in a good spot mentally . I think this is my only shot at an arrowana and I’m blowing it with a set up I don’t want to be using.

I get one final chance at a group of 6-8 nice sized fish. Their side scales camo up well so you only see about have of their dorsum. I somehow muscled the fly there. Pop, pop, pop and a fish breaks from the group to look. Pop, pop and it comes closer and closer. Pop …and it is right under it. Like 2 inches under my fly. I am thinking of nothing else in the world but that fish under my fly. BIG Eat! Guide and my partner “Set, Set, Set!!!” Like there was anything else I wanted to do.

amazingky, I stuck it. I set several times to make sure the hook was buried and tried my very best to hold tension. The fish jumped clear of the water in a loud and flashy way. Bulldoged. Did subsurface cartwheels. Tried to run off, but I held firm. I wore it down and lead it my partner who had been coached to grab the leader and yeet that fish in the boat. When it got close, he grabbed the leader and yanked it into the boat!

The weight of the world was off my shoulders. Ode to Joy. I was and am so Happy. One of my absolute favorite moments from the trip. I took one hasty pic, but others were taken. I will post some more later. 

[BilletHead]

More please.

[Foghorn]

I'm enjoying your adventure-thanks!

[Hawg]

Keep it coming!

[Ham]

Another amazing day. Every guide is different, but they are all Good.

yesterday we had Joseph who is very knowledgeable, but kinda intense. Today we went out with Bacaba. My partner and I were in agreement that we didn’t want to focus on Peacock Bass. We talked to Pacaba about it and he was Happy to Oblige.

It was such a relaxed day. I was much much more relaxed that normal when fishing. We both caught a bunch of peacocks anyway. And we both had a Big one, but we didn’t bother to weigh them. 
Pacaba had a Black Piranha spots and arrowana spots. We would end up catching both. 
I had bought 30 lb wire that you can tie knots with. It is absolutely necessary for the piranhas. The Black Piranhas get to 4-5 lbs on this river. They get even larger downstream in a larger tributary. Their teeth are No joke. 
I was on the bow with a streamer when an arrowana presented itself. I made the shot and a 10 lb Peacock ate it instead. Long fight. When I finally got it in, piranhas had eaten a lot of its tail. That sucked. 
I kept at it and finally hooked up with a decent black piranha. I fought him down and leadered him. I was trying to get my plastic fish grabber in his mouth when he bit through the clip holding the fly. Again, I had a desired fish caught that I had no pic of. It was my fault. I was hesitant to bring that demon in the boat. 
it took a while for me to catch another and I promptly yeeted it into the boat. I got my pics and got it back in the water. My partner got one as well. I had another one on for a while, but that’s all of them I got.

I had shots at arrowana, but I was unable to cash in. My partner caught two on streamers, but I was trying force feed them on top. 
we stopped in the shade for lunch. I noticed a great little fish swim by. I had to try. Bingo! I still needed a second species of jucunda. I was able to catch it too! We finished up the lunch break and as we idled away the guide asked me if I wanted a Wolf Fish. Yes Sir!

The peacock bass have those isopod parasites that latch on in their mouth. Disgusting. 

Super Fun Day! Two more to go. 
37 fish caught. Ten more 

flys died for the cause today. 

[Johnsfolly]

Another great day Ham. Congrats on your cool catches! Glad that you got a photo of that wolf fish today.

[Ham]

@Johnsfolly you would love it here just for the birding. It’s amazing. Macaws are a noisy bunch. 

[Johnsfolly]

3 hours ago, Ham said:

@Johnsfolly you would love it here just for the birding. It’s amazing. Macaws are a noisy bunch. 

I would love the whole experience😉😁. Just living vicariously thru your reports.

[Johnsfolly]

13 hours ago, Ham said:

Bingo! I still ne

This looks like it is one of the flag cichlids possibly the Festive cichlid - Mesonauta festivus

[Ham]

Another Fun day, but the fish were in a bit of a funk. Spooky spooky spooky. My good eight weight line died on me yesterday and I struggled to cast the distances required. 
I never saw the arapaima I was hoping for. I never got a look from an arrowana.

i did get a new piranha species. We caught some peacock bass. None over 6 pounds. I had one about 3 lbs on my 6 weight. It was a chore getting it in. 
I had a nice lunch session getting a bunch of big matrinxa and another pink tail chalceusit freaking poured on us. Fishing was worse afterwards for some reason. 
we finished with a frat party of little peacock bass. I got another lobe tooth piranha at the dock 

I finished with 40 fish caught and 7 flys lost or destroyed.