(Text Florian Kaiser; Pics Florian Kaiser und Breno Ballesteros Rezende)
Florian Kaiser and Breno Ballesteros spend a unique week jungle angling Rio Marié in the Amazon Basin of Brazil with Untamed Angling during the 2016/ 2017 season. We will be featuring Florian’s travelogue of his angling ventures in a seven-part travel journal. This is the last part seven – make sure you have a look on the six parts before!
We had one more day to fish the next day. To reach fresh water and new grounds to explore, Untamed Amazon did move upriver again during dinner. That is an awesome experience – you enjoy dinner, sip a decent well-tempered Argentinian Malbec and in the background of the big panoramic windows of the dining room the virgin jungle passes by! That is just surreal. If you experience that you have to be happy.
Thus the next day we would have fresh water to explore. The vessel anchored close to the entrance of a smaller creek. A creek that was only fished before during the exploration season in 2014. Next morning we would fish kind of truly virgin water again!
Next morning was we went that tributary upriver the thought of being one of very few humans that fished and visited that place was overwhelming. I got goose bumps at every bend of that small creek! Loved it!
Fishing was mixed to good. We found a couple of pots and spots of several Butterflies. Breno checked in again for the larger sized 4-7lbs fish and I for the smaller ones. At the end of the day we would have caught more than 40 Butterflies. Had a nice fish barbecue with some bees flying around and went back to the main river and upstream after the lunch to spend our last hours fishing at Rio Marié. As if the fishing god was close to us we both landed a good sized GPB to end that trip. Breno got a good fish of 76cm and around 16lbs and I caught a smaller one to finish the trip of something of around 70cm and 13-14lbs. It might sound snobbish, but a fish below 15lbs is just nothing to special at Rio Marié so you might to easily forget the precise figures.
Last cast, very last cast, final cast. That was Rio Marié!
Summary: I got the unofficial world record with the biggest GPB ever caught on fly up to date (28,5lbs), got another fish of 23lbs and had an awesome time with my friend Breno, the Russian team and the lovely crew. The experience was just marvelous and will last very long. Thank you for all that! Thank you to ALL on site, back home and elsewhere that made this trip such a blast!
If you are in pursuit of GPB with the barbless fly, Rio Marié is the ultimate place to go. You will have the very best chance to catch a fish beyond the magic 20lbs mark. The whole setting is marvelous! The fishing is kind of work and does not provide the visual appeal of NZ trout fishing in gin clear water or the crazy stuff you might experience fishing for Golden Dorado. You must bring determination and perseverance and fitness. But if you are interested in the best fishing GPB-destination possible combined with perfect logistics and lodging: book your slot now! You might experience one of your best fishing days and will fish one of the very last virgin spots on this globe.
Questions of any kind (tackle, background, booking, advice, …)? Contact me.
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If you are interested in a trip to Rio Marié for Giant Peacock Bass contact me or Untamed Angling
Florian, fly fishing since twenty five years in the northern and southern hemisphere in fresh- and saltwater for many species. Enjoying outdoor sports, mountain biking, photography and good wine. Fly fishing is only one of his hobbies, but the one he kind of loves most. Florian is European Ambassador of Thomas & Thomas, Pro Staff of World Fly Angler (leading distributor of fly tackle and top line brands in Europe) and of Marlo Reels from Hamburg/ Germany.
