Hard not to daydream about return trip to Amazon
I awoke in one of those cold, miserable sweats the other night. I can remember tossing and kicking and flailing my arms just before I opened my eyes.
The dream was a vivid one played out in the middle of a black-water lagoon. The water was flanked on all sides by a dense jungle of trees so tall that I had to look straight up to see the sky.
I was sitting in a small boat -- rod and reel in hand -- with nothing tugging on the opposite end. There was a dark complected Brazilian fishing guide perched near the transom. He was poking fun at me in Portuguese about the giant peacock bass that had just slammed my topwater plug and swam away without getting hooked. The huge fish's violent strike was so pronounced that it sounded like someone had dropped a car battery into the water from a second story window. Noise from the commotion reverberated throughout the forest like a waning clap of mountain thunder.
It was sort of disappointing to wake from such an eventful dream. For a brief moment, I thought I was back in the Amazon.
Then I remembered. I'm going back soon.
Roughly two months from now, Tim Boatman, Ebb Flynt and I are scheduled to make what may be freshwater fishing's ultimate journey in a quest to brawl with one of the sport's baddest prize fighters.
I tangled with my first peacock bass six years ago when outfitter Dave Masterson of Center took me to the Unini River, so I already have a good hint of what to expect.
My fishing friends are on a different level, though. Both have caught 10-pound largemouths, but there truly no comparison between the two fish. Catching a peacock that weights in the double-digit pound range is something you have to experience to fully appreciate.
Ask anyone who has made the trip and they will surely agree. While the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of the Amazon rainforest will grow on you, tucunare has a way of staining a fishing soul so deeply that years of abstinence can't wash the memories away.
Tucunare is a Brazilian word for peacock bass, a freshwater dynamo native to the tropical waters of South America. Known for its brute strength and bad disposition, the peacock is a tenacious fighter you could accurately describe as an NFL linebacker and a pit bulldog wrapped into a colorful stick of dynamite that can easily reach weights of 20 pounds or more. Even more attractive is the fact that the fish are equipped with a short fuse easily lit by the rhythmic dance of a topwater plug. Once provoked, the peacock strikes violently and usually without warning. The battle typically begins with a ferocious explosion that leads to a leaping, line-stripping war that can wreck the finest of fishing tackle and crush the tallest of egos.
Billy Chapman Jr. knows tucunare as well as anyone.
Chapman is a legendary outfitter whose name is widely recognized in association with his five star Anglers Inn facilities on heavy hitting Mexico bass lakes like El Salto, Mateos and a host of others. But he also has a rich history in the Amazon River basin dating back more than three decades, and he is using his experience this season to launch what may be his most adventurous undertaking yet.
Chapman will host our week-long trip in January, and he is promising an experience unlike any we have witnessed before if the weather will cooperate. Knowing what I know about the man, I don't doubt it a bit.
Chapman recently teamed up with Luis Brown's River Plate Anglers to bring all the amenities of a top-notch resort to pristine backwaters so remote that most outfitters don't try to reach them.
At the heart of the plan are the outfit's all new "Anglers Inn Floating Mobile Suites."
Think of a fully-staffed hotel on pontoons, and you'll get the picture. Chapman says the floating suites are towed by boat like a water train. Brazilian fishing guides follow in aluminum boats rigged with reliable outboards, trolling motors and all the fishing tackle.
According to Chapman, the floating suite concept enables the operation to remain mobile 100 percent of time. It also allows for access to the uncrowded and often untapped tributaries that dissect the majestic rainforest like giant serpents.
"Our floating suite concept gives us the ability to navigate beyond shallow sandbars or other natural barriers, so we can reach the most exclusive fishing areas that other operations can't get to or are not allowed," Chapman said. "It also provides our anglers the unique opportunity to explore new water each day."
The accommodations are designed for small groups of eight anglers. This guarantees the personal touch of service for which Anglers Inn is famous. The suites are neatly decorated in a tropical motif and fully equipped with beds, air conditioning, bathroom, DVD/TV, an outside sun deck and picture windows for taking in the stunning scenery.
Each evening, the water train comes to rest on a sand beach where the staff prepares an evening meal that can be enjoyed next to a crackling fire or inside the comfortable dining suite.
The outfit has access to a number of primo tributaries that feed the Rio Negro, but Chapman said by telephone Friday that he is unsure which one we'll be taken to via floatplane after our long flight to Manaus from Miami.
The outfitter says the weather has been rough on the neighboring countries of Venezuela and Columbia for the past month. The Brazilian state of Amazonas is on the receiving end of all the runoff. As a result, the best fishing waters have been blown out due to high water.
At best, the rains will cease and the waters will recede before we get there. At worst, we'll have to cancel and reschedule in 2013.
"We're just going to have to wait and see what happens," Chapman said. "In a normal year, the rivers are at their lowest in January and February, and that's when the best fishing takes place. But this has been anything but a normal year so far.
"Our first trips in September and October were outstanding with several 60-100 fish days. Then it started raining, and it hasn't stopped. We've had to cancel our last three trips. It's killing us, but it is just not worth it to come all this way and have a bad trip."
Only time will tell the rest of this story. Until then, I'll cross my fingers and do some more Amazon dreaming.
Matt Williams' email address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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