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I KNEW well in advance of booking this trip that
conditions were going to be tough. After all, only a handful of whites
had ventured into this incredibly remote Amazonian Indian Reservation which
had been cut off from the rest of the world since time immemorial. Luckily
we had permission - a deal brokered by peacock angling specialist Paul
Reiss of U.S based Acute Angling, his Brazilian partners and around 100
Indian chiefs as signatories. Not so lucky were two gold miners who entered
without permission - never to be seen again.
In an exchange of e-mails with Reiss I got
wind of a potential amazing new fishery for all manner of species in the
reservation. He mentioned that we would have to rough it - camping in pup
tents, eating what we catch for food, bathing in the river amongst the
piranha, and to use |
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his vernacular, "crapping in the woods." On the positive
side we would be fishing about a 160 kilometre stretch of an untouched
river teeming with giant piranha, payara, bicuda and where the discovery
of a potential new species of peacock bass awaited formal reporting and
further scientific study. In addition the scenery and wildlife was meant
to be unbelievable and we would have the unique chance to interact with
the Indians - who would in any event be our guides and bush tucker gatherers.
This is the type of trip that is right up Fishing Wild's alley and I had
no hesitation in accepting the challenge and quickly organising a team
of like-minded individuals.
We knew it was going to be a challenging week
but never did we expect the problems that lay before us. In the early
stages of the trip - or perhaps |
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'endurance test' would be a more apt description
- this article looked like it would be more suited to the Horror Travel
Stories column in the magazine, yet the words of Rob Bland - one of the
group - rang true: "start bad, finish good." That's exactly how it
panned out to such an extent that it will go down as one of the most frustrating,
heart wrenching yet at the same time satisfying and enjoyable trips both
in fishing and cultural terms that I have ever had the good fortune to
undertake.
Things did not get off to an auspicious start.
We were due to fly from the Amazonian provincial city of Manaus to the
small township of Sao Luiz Do Anaua before embarking on a two hour road
trip to our ultimate destination - the Rio Travessão. That was until
we received word that one of Reiss's partners who had been commissioned
to collect the boats and motors from another camp on the Urariquera River
system and put in situ had gone missing for the past four days. No-one
had heard from him after he had departed the township of Boa Vista in his
truck. With no camp set up Reiss had little option but to put the flight
off to the following day and hope that his partner would miraculously wander
in from the jungle.
While we enjoyed the delights of Manaus, Reiss
worked the satellite phone attempting to track down his partner missing
in action and looking at alternate options. He arranged to hire some dugouts
from the Indians as an alternative and again booked the charter plane.
The following morning we learned that |
the partner had been located and would
arrive at our destination that afternoon. After heavy rains in the region
the road had become washed out, requiring loads of
| Rio Travessao peacock bass
are likely to be designated as a new species. One of the points of
difference to other species of peacock bass is a 25 - 30% deeper body.
This one was taken on a Rapala X Rap. |
blood sweat and tears to build a new track which took days to complete.
At least he was alive and we would only lose a day of fishing - or that's
what we thought.
Sao Luiz Do Anaua is remote cattle country.
Its notoriety as a bovine centre no doubt enhanced by the number and size
of the cow pads found throughout the free |
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