However, with experimentation, fly fishers learned that aggressive saltwater-style tactics using outsized streamers and poppers really did work for targeting trophy peacocks. Rodrigo: “Well, the sport was really pioneered in the late 70s and early 80s when conventional gear anglers started to augment their gear with fly rods.Īt that time, little knowledge existed about effective flies, lines, and techniques for catching peacock bass. Matt: “Rodrigo, tell me how fly fishing for peacock bass really got started.” There, gleaming in the early morning sunshine is my prize.įor high-octane thrills and spills with a fly rod, very few fish can compare with Cichla temensis - the one and only speckled peacock bass. Twenty pounds and more of bristling fins, stripes and muscle wrapped up in that freakish Fauvist paintjob of red, green and gold. Gazing into the copper-colored waters, I find myself gazing at a truly magical sight. The fish starts to yield to the powerful carbon blank, and finally, it is beaten. The fight is a nerve-shredding tour de force of barnstorming runs and primal violence, but slowly it deteriorates into a stubborn slugfest.
I cling on grimly and do my best to keep this brutish creature from bulldozing its way to the sanctuary of the dead branches that snake out treacherously beneath the surface. It cartwheels wildly before crashing back into the lagoon. I jab the rod back hard and the big tucunare clambers up into the blinding white light of the jungle. Suddenly, a vivid flash of olive, gold and scarlet and then a nerve-shredding implosion bursts through the glossy waters of the lagoon. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I tuck the steely ten weight rod under my arm and work the big popper back hand over hand, watching it gurgle and sputter provocatively across the dark, tannin-stained water.
I send the big surface popper skimming low under the rainforest’s thick emerald canopy and watch the big topwater fly splash down into the inky shadows beneath the trees. Matt Harris in conversation with Rodrigo Salles of Untamed Angling King of the Jungle Giant Peacock Bass on Fly
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