The Untamed Angling team always looks forward to the opening week at Kendjam, and one of the most exciting aspects is having an untouched Iriri River to explore and scout for ourselves. Talk about a great opportunity to fly fish these world class waters!

The week started with a nice meeting with all Kayapo of Kendjam. We introduced our staff and new guides and had a great integration meeting at the warriors house. All of the members of the Kendjam village and the UA staff were – excited to launch the new season, and the energy of the young Kayapo guides and the new guides were the highlight of the event!

We are pleased to have an impressive guide team this season:

• Guilherme Manzione, our head guide, is a Brazilian guide trained and formed by Untamed Angling. He’s been part of the team since our very first exploratory season at Kendjam.
• Augusto Tosso is an Argentinean guide who has guided at Tsimane Lodge.
• Lucas de Zan is an Argentinean guide who guides for dorado and wolfish on the Entre Rios and is also passionate about the jungle and photography.
• Andre Vergara, our trainee guide, is a Brazilian who is the president of Brazilian Fly Fishing Association.
• We also have the Kayapo guide teams set in a rotation to involve more people from the village.

With everything in order, we finally got our feet wet on the water and started scouting things out.

As always during this part of the season, the Iriri River was very clear and had excellent water levels, flowing at a good pace day by day. The condition of the water was perfect for floating wider river runs and wading in small river branches where fish hunt and hide.

This is one of our favorite times of the year for topwater action for bicuda, matrincha, and peacock bass. Jungle fish are always really hungry at the beginning of the season. Just imagine: They spent the wet season with a lot of water inside the jungle, thereby allowing shelter and protection for their prey. This makes feeding much more difficult. So when the water finally comes down, it’s hunting time for all predator species, and they really become aggressive.

We started training our new pro guides in all sections of the river (1 to 4) and showed them the wide range of fishing possibilities on the all river sections. This included the variety of jungle species possible on the fly and techniques for each specie and each water type.

The key in the training for the guides is to crack the code of fish behavior and discover their feeding, resting, and protection zones. Of course, this is all different depending on fish species, type of water (runs, pools, riffles, flats), and water level. Mastering these complexities is the key for determining and executing a successful fishing strategy each day.

While scouting, we were blessed with some amazing feeding frenzies of peacock bass in rock structures. Then we saw fish feeding on the surface, and these were the big matrincha. Always fun!

The highlight of opening week was the large schools of nice-sized fish in perfect water conditions. This allowed us to catch them with dry flies and poppers — a delight on a 5-6 weight rod. These fish were hungry and strong, and they averaged between 4 to 6 pounds.

Later we found where the wolfish were sheltering themselves. At the beginning of the season, these fish are generally not as discoverable as abundantly as they are later in the season. However, we found some fish in perfect shallow and crystal clear, small jungle tributaries. And finding schools of wolfish is like finding hungry wolves — you can expect them to attack your fly. No question.

Fishing with dry flies for pacu gave us one of the best gifts of the week. We also got some crazy topwater action with the torpedoes of the jungle — the bicuda. These fish hit all kinds of topwater flies, but the best was getting them to come to the surface to check out Chernobyl flies and seeing them hit in shallow water right in front of us. We normally catch these fish at the top of a run before the whitewater, but in this case, we had a different experience. They attacked the flies, and once hooked, they headed downstream at light speeds to the whitewater, jumping repeatedly the whole time. We ran after these fish as they headed downstream, jumping over  rocks – and a few times, we hit our shins and knees on them. Eventually we ended up with the trophy in our hands. We consider these fish torpedoes for good reason!

We are pleased to announce that the Kendjam film is now available to watch in its entirety online.

Kendjam follows anglers on a unique fly fishing adventure deep in the Amazon. Exploring crystal clear rivers running through a wild land protected by Kayapo Warriors, the crew take on a wide range of species. Check out this first-ever film about fly fishing on these previously forbidden Kayapo waters.

The Mission has just released issue six of their fly fishing magazine, and we are pleased to see a full-page feature on wolfish at Kendjam. Many thanks to The Mission for the feature as well as Matt Jones for the photo.

Click HERE to check out the new issue of The Mission.

Meredith McCord and photographer, Matt Jones, of Tailwaters recently returned from jungle angling in Kendjam in the Amazon Basin of Brazil with Untamed Angling. We will be featuring Meredith’s daily record of her angling ventures in a nine-part travel journal. This is part six.

Day 6 – Fishing Day Four – Bouldering

I woke up this morning to howler monkeys barking from deep in the jungle. Breakfast, as usual, was eggs made to order bacon, toast and fruit. Always interesting to see what food Untamed Angling comes up with. Last night we had clam, squid, and shrimp seafood spaghetti, and this morning we had strawberries, apples and kiwis.

Roberto, Rafael, and I headed upstream to try our hand at some big peacocks. The trip took a little over two hours, but the place is beautiful and very picturesque. It reminded me of a dry river bed that left behind crystal clear pools.

Roberto, Rafael, and I headed upstream to try our hand at some big peacocks. The trip took a little over two hours, but the place is beautiful and very picturesque. It reminded me of a dry river bed that left behind crystal clear pools.

We started with two float line rigs: one with a large popper, and the other black and purple streamer for my 8wt Sage ONE with RIO Redfish and an 8′ leader (30-20-4lb wire). This is the fishing I love. Pure sight casting. We slowly crept to the edge of the first deep pool, trying to peer from a distance into its depth. Sure enough, a large tucanare peacock was swimming lazily behind a large crescent moon shaped rock. So we got on our hands and knees and crawled close enough for the cast.

From this angle the fish can’t see us, and we can’t see the fish. I tried a few casts with my streamer and nothing. So we crawled a little closer … in the shadow of this moon rock, and we spotted several nice wolf fish laying on the bottom.

With the popper rod, Roberto and I threw longs casts. It’s exactly what was needed, but these lazy fish only nosed our poppers and weren’t aggressive enough to eat. So we switched to our streamers and literally dropped the fly on the trahira’s (wolf fish) head, and they lethargically opened their mouths and just casually sucked in our flies.

Honestly, I don’t think fly selection had anything to do with our success. I think I could take an old piece of a sock and drop it in front of them, and they’d eat. They’re just mean ugly predators looking to chew up anything in their path.

The fight was very disappointing, as this one didn’t even have the courtesy of jumping for us. It almost acted bored with the whole thing. After fooling with the trahira for a while, we redirected our efforts to pursue a few bigger tucanare. Within seconds an opportunity presented itself: a large male and a smaller female (often the case) appeared in the middle of our pool. I tried the steamer, and over and over again they only nosed it. So lazy. All happening 20-30′ from my rod tip. Eventually I went back to my black and purple streamer and finally I elicited an irritated bite. Unfortunately, it’s the small one, but at least my efforts paid off.

From there we wandered from pool to pool looking for more fish, but much to our disappointment the water was low, still, and warm … therefore vacant on life. Finally we make it to the top. The pool is much deeper, and I am sorry I only had my floating lines and not my intermediate line. So I changed my lighter streamer for a lead-eyed white and chartreuse (with some flash) Clouser and made a few casts. I see a small peacock on the edge and cast past it with short 3″ fast strips. But A piranha beats the peacock to the fly. I cast again, and a repeat of what just happened before happens again. Ugh. At least it’s the type of piranhas that the Kayapos love, so they are set for a BBQ fish lunch. Roberto hooked into two peacocks – one really nice one that came up and with a huge headshake sent the fly flying. One more small peacock for me, and we headed back down to the boats for a sandwiches, salad, and a super delicious dolce de leche and chocolate cake. Decadent.

After lunch we took the boats upstream in pursuit of pacu and maybe a peacock or two. Armed with my Thomas and Thomas 6wt solar, RIO Redfish 6wt and Abel Super 5n with a 10′ leader of (30-20lb), I started with a large black chubby Chernobyl but had no risers, and I couldn’t see any fish in the fast moving rapids. So I switched twice more with no takes.

Matt spied a few peacocks on the far bank and encouraged me to re-rig to a streamer. So I cut my leader back to about 8′ and added 12″ of 30lb wire and a large-eyed green-backed white baitfish pattern with a 4/0 hook. I casted my fly towards Matt across the fast moving water into the eddy, mended it up and immediately had a peacock swing and miss my fly. This happened three more times, always hitting on the mend like brown trout on a streamer, loving the change of direction and speed. Unfortunately all the fish were short striking my fly, so I used my nippers to roughly trim the back 1/2″ off my fly.

Sure enough, my next cast resulted in my line going tight and a landed 2lb lit up peacock. Twice more the fish tried to eat on my mend but missed, and now it was time to start the trip back to the lodge.

I was hopeful it would be quicker going down than the two hours that it had taken coming up. On our way down, Rafi decided we had about 20 minutes to try one more time for a fish at the rapids with the pacu. The only one with any luck was Matt when he slapped a small Clouser onto my Thomas and Thomas 5wt and jumped a peacock out of the bottom pool. Otherwise it was pretty slim pickings, but was one of the prettiest spots we had seen thus far: dramatic boulders and three small consecutive waterfalls with deep aqua pools. I might have to do a little cliff jumping here tomorrow on our way up camping … as long as the piranhas don’t get the wrong idea when I jump in.

The trip home was shorter, and we had some fun shooting the rapids. On our way back to camp we passed our friends and lodge mates Romi and Gilbert, who were being guided by lodge hostess and guide Manuela. All three looked to be having a successful session on the high rocks below a rapid.

Dinner was pirarucu (arapaima), with herb and lemon risotto and a parmesan crisp. The fish was very tender, white and flaky. Not at all what I was expecting for such a huge gar/tarpon-like fish. All so yummy.

– Meredith McCord

Meredith McCord and photographer, Matt Jones, of Tailwaters recently returned from jungle angling in Kendjam in the Amazon Basin of Brazil with Untamed Angling. We will be featuring Meredith’s daily record of her angling ventures in a nine-part travel journal. This is part five.

Day 5 – Fishing Day Three

Last night was alive with the sound of crickets, frogs, howler monkeys, and Roberto snoring in the tent next to mine. But I woke up to the smell of egg and ham scramble being prepped by Rafael, and the hot water was boiling on the fire for the Nestle instant coffee.

The morning was incredibly beautiful and slightly cooler than the past few, causing steam to rise off the river.

We began to pack up camp because immediately after our three-hour morning fishing session, we had a long ride back upriver.

Roberto, Matt and I piled in a boat with two Indians and Rafael. We had high anticipation for these lower waters, hoping and praying that our long trek down would pay off, as yesterday felt like a bit of a bust.

Rafi tells us to rig up our wire and biggest poppers, as we were going wolf fish hunting. I rigged my Sage ONE 8wt with RIO Redfish 8wt line and RIO 40lb wire. A short leader is all that is necessary for these aggressive creatures. Rafi positioned us right next to a little inlet and instructed us to rip the first long cast up in the creek and strip hard and rapidly back to get the attention of the fish.

The following casts were done slowly and deliberately to cause a huge disturbance with a four-to-five second pause after each pop. On my second cast and the second pop, a huge (almost 12 pound) wolf demolished my large chartreuse foam popper. This isn’t the typical eat of a wolf on a poppers, and my next cast delivered a more typical experience: a slow follow from the fish who then then nosed it before a slow sip, like a trout on a dry fly. The wolf fish performs as expected with several series of head thrashing jumps out of the two-foot river flat.

Now it is Roberto’s turn. His smaller crease fly didn’t get their attention, so he put on the same chartreuse foam head I used, and sure enough the next cast resulted in a pale olive green trahira (wolf fish). No sooner was he on that when two others came out to see about the commotion. I sent my popper over near his and bam! I was on too – a double. But Rafi, loving our enthusiasm knows we need all three. Why leave the third empty-mouthed? So he grabbed Roberto’s streamer rod with a large peacock colored Puglisi fibered 5″ fly and handed the rod to me. Sure to form, the last one ate and we landed all three.

The morning shaped up nicely. Now the question is posed: Do we want to catch 20 more of these wolf fish in this creek, or do we want to mix it up by targeting some matrincha on dry flies? Always up for species and varieties and a bit of a challenge, we decide to pursue the latter.

After a 10-minute ride north, we found slow moving rapids on an extensive river flat. Roberto took the left bank, and I took the right, armed with my Thomas and Thomas 6wt Solar and Abel 5N with RIO Redfish line and 9′ leader (4′ of 30lb, 4′ of 20lb and a foot of 12″ 30lb fluorocarbon for the bite).

The river was almost too shallow, the fish were easily spooked, and the overcast day wasn’t making it easy to see these silver black-tailed fish very easily. The flat was littered with 15″ diameter black with white spot string rays that were everyone’s biggest fear. Upon arriving to the lodge the first day, our sweet and beautiful hostess, Manuela, had been struck by one that very day and was still cringing in pain and hopping upon one leg six hours later. Her foot was swollen where the barb from the tail had struck her in the side of her foot near the arch. It was three days before she was able to put her full weight back on her injured foot.

Within 10 minutes of wading, I hooked my first of these bullet-shaped fish on a yellow beat-up Pool Toy hopper. I hooked several before the hopper was so chewed up that it no longer floated. Out of yellow Pool Toys, I changed to a green and was rejected several times until I used my black sharpie again to color the underbelly. That worked immediately until a nice large five to six pounder chewed through the last few remaining inches of my 30lb tippet. l changed to large chubby black/purple Chernobyls as my 30lb was back at the boat. And I tied the fly directly to my 20lb class tippet, hopeful that the larger fly size would prevent the “saw toothed” fish from inhaling my fly too deep in their small mouth, therefore sawing through my tippet.

A few more and we headed back to camp for a lunch of leftover steak, onions and spaghetti pasta with soy sauce along with freshly caught peacock, thanks to Ken and Brian and some delicious pork sausage. One thing is for sure: I got plenty to eat. These guides aren’t just every day fishing guides, they’re chefs and mechanics.

At 12:45 we packed up camp for the season, and we set off upstream to the lodge. No eventful ride upstream until an hour and twenty minutes out when our two blade propeller hit a rock morphing into a one blade propeller that would get us nowhere fast. Luckily Matt was behind us in the boat with the equipment and extra motor parts and quickly came to the rescue.

Upon arriving back at the lodge, the chief of the Kayapo’s village and his family were all freshly painted up and had on their brightly colored celebrations garb. He, his three children, and one of his wives all posed for pictures with us on the beach in front of the lodge. A very special treat. The chief, who wasn’t shy in asking us for “things”, asked Matt to give him his drone. Ha. I don’t think he was used to being told “no”, but hopefully, he took it in stride and understood Matt’s refusal.

– Meredith McCord