RIO’s product team travels to the Amazon to catch big Brazilian bass.

Marlin Roush, Barry Reynolds and Co. venture to the exotic Brazilian Amazon for Peacock Bass.

This trip was a first time adventure for me, suggested and lead by RIO Advisory Team member; Barry Reynolds. It was also an excellent opportunity to experiment with RIO’S tropical Versitip and fish with experimental tropical sink tips and lines.

Our camp consisted of tents stationed on small pontoon barges. This allowed for the exploration of more waters as the camp moved upriver on regular intervals. Amazingly, the sleeping quarters of the tents were equipped with air conditioners!

The weather for the trip was hot and humid. Days were sunny with limited periods of cloud cover and temperatures rising into the high 80′s. there were days with above normal winds, but surprisingly, we experienced no rain.

The bass were generally found along the banks of lagoons, or on the sandbar drop-offs leading into the lagoons. Most of the fish were caught by casting into the shallows and stripping the fly into deeper water. As the week progressed, we discovered the “Grandes” lying in deeper water, particularly during the heat of the day. I found that varying the strip rate invoked more strikes than a steady retrieve did.

On this river we caught all three varieties of Peacock Bass; Butterfly, Striped and Paca as well as a number of local fish such as the Triara and Pirana. Several of the boats had daily catches of 50 or more fish per 2 anglers and with 6 anglers in the camp, the guides reported 971 bass boated for the trip. There were 23 bass over 12 pounds landed and my largest came in at 15 pounds. Several fish between 17 and 20 pounds were boated. Another great aspect of the Amazon trip is the variety of other fish caught and, as can be expected, several of them exhibited extreme dentures!!

I will definitely be back!