Have Rod, Will Travel: Amazonia.
This fall I continued my adventures with Thomas & Thomas’s Solar fly rod in the Amazon Basin.
I’d traveled to Manaus and then flown over endless miles of jungle and rivers before dropping down on a dirt airstrip perched above the Tapajos River.
The Tapajos and its tributaries contain 20-some species of fish, including colorful borboleto, payara and the whiskered arowana.
I rigged up brightly colored streamers to catch them.
The payara is a menacing fish that has long, spiked teeth extending upward from its lower jaw through the roof of its mouth.
Hooking payara is not as easy as you’d think, as they often bite off the tail of their prey before engulfing it.
Months ago a veteran payara angler explained this behavior to me and shared his solution of tying a free-swinging stinger hook into his payara flies, to avoid countless “short” strikes.
I looked for these fish for a few days before finding them, and when I did, they surrounded me.
I swung a chartreuse-and-white version of the stinger pattern down and across the current, right through a school of payara relentlessly attacking baitfish.
This fall I continued my adventures with Thomas & Thomas’s Solar fly rod in the Amazon Basin.
I’d traveled to Manaus and then flown over endless miles of jungle and rivers before dropping down on a dirt airstrip perched above the Tapajos River. The Tapajos and its tributaries contain 20-some species of fish, including colorful borboleto, payara and the whiskered arowana. I rigged up brightly colored streamers to catch them.
The payara is a menacing fish that has long, spiked teeth extending upward from its lower jaw through the roof of its mouth. Its heavily toothed jaws are an adaptation to help it catch baitfish in the fast water and swirling eddies of tropical South American rivers.
Hooking payara is not as easy as you’d think, as they often bite off the tail of their prey before engulfing…
