A big toothy payara

      The Predator Grand Slam - For anglers favoring artificial lures or flies, the Travessão offers a  "grand slam" consisting of four of the world’s greatest freshwater fighting fish.  Take your surface lures or shallow runners and plug away at the Travessão’s ubiquitous rock formations.  Big, stocky peacock bass will slam your presentation with unabashed violence.  The unique peacock species found here, while not quite as big as its brethren in the lowland rivers, tends to average an extraordinarily hefty 6 to 10 pounds, with big specimens attaining a broad-shouldered, tackle-busting 15 pounds.

     If the peacocks don’t get you, the trairão surely will.  Slipping out of their slack-water hideouts, they stealthily ambush passing baits.  Set the hook and then the leaping, thrashing battle is on.  Watching a 15 or 20 pound Jurassic-looking monster pirouetting through the air is the kind of thing that will make any fisherman’s heart pound, but it’s just the beginning.  When the talk turns to overall fighting power, the leader of the pack is the toothy payara.  Lure-pounding, line-stripping, saber-toothed demons, these beasts have amazing stamina, leaving anglers wondering who’s going to quit first.  Dominating the fast-water tailraces of the Travessão, payara are one of the world’s greatest gamefish.  We’ve caught them here up to 36 pounds!  

Larry Larsen with a Travessao peacock bass.

     Complete the Travessão’s predator grand slam with the elusive giant bicuda.  Although often hard to find, these high-speed predators cut and slash at Zara Spooks and Yo-zuri’s in fast water or slow.  Their bony mouths and flying, head-shaking leaps send lures flying through the air, making big bicuda a prize indeed to land.  Without question, the Travessão holds world-record size bicuda.

     Want more on lure or fly?  There are hefty pescada, a silvery Amazon drum.  A 14 lb. world-record was recently caught here.  There are several species of chunky pacu and colorful jacunda. The Travessão has piranha the size of an Escalade SUV’s hubcaps.  We’ve twice set  the world record for black piranha here. 

     The Catfish Grand Slam - As if one grand slam opportunity isn’t enough, the Travessão offers even more.  The Travessão boasts some serious catfish species.  Enormous, incredible catfish.  Nowhere else can an angler find a catfish grand slam like this one.  Fast, sleek, sorubim will pounce on a lure or a cut bait and run for the hills.  Reaching up to 50 pounds, these beautiful shovel-nosed cats are only the beginning.  The Travessão has produced a new IGFA record for burly jundira catfish year after year.  Delicious to eat and a blast on medium tackle, these strong cats populate deep, swirling eddies.

     Move to the big, deep pools and you’ll find big, bottom-hugging redtail catfish that reach over 100 pounds.  They can spool a hefty peacock rod before a guide can start up an outboard.  If you can manage to stay hooked up, they’ll thoroughly test your stamina as well as your tackle.  Then there’s the capstone of the Amazon catfishes, the mighty piraiba, the goliath catfish.  The IGFA world record was caught here two years ago at 295 pounds and we’ve seen two that were even bigger since then.  Stout, stiff rods, high capacity reels and 100 pound braid are the only way to ensure success with these mighty brutes.  If your muscles still work after completing this heavyweight grand slam, you can fish for Bocão and barba-chata to round out an even half-dozen catfish species.

A big red-tailed cat.

     The pristine surroundings, protected by an Indian reservation are an attraction in their own right.  The  Travessão’s natural beauty and isolation allows visitors to develop a serenity of mind and a state of spirituality that can return a sense of wonder to even the most jaded traveler.  Comfortable Rio Travessão camp is situated in the midst of this natural fishing treasure.  Well-equipped with generators, refrigeration, lighting and a great field kitchen, anglers are secure and comfortable while enjoying the camp’s great meals, punctuated with some of the exotic fish they’ve caught.

     Join us in this amazing and unique fishing wonderland.  Some of the world’s most famous angling stars already have.  During our 2009 season, we were pleased to host ESPN’s Jose Wejebe and crew, followed by the Peacock Bass Association’s Larry Larsen and then Global Adventures' Steve Townson, filming for www.OnlineFishing.tv.  Trips operate from mid-January to mid-March.  For more information or to book a trip to the Rio Travessão, call us, toll-free at Acute Angling, 866 832-2987.