Bem vindo, Peacock fans, it’s time once again for the Agua Boa Amazon Lodge Fishing Report. Although light rain is falling as of this writing, we’re happy to report continued steady fishing here on the Rio Agua Boa. Water levels continued a slow, steady rise throughout the last week, but the guides have taken advantage of the extra water to delve deeper into the jungle in search of untapped lagunas full of hungry peacocks.
No matter what awaits at the end of the trek, the approach is always an adventure, as evidenced by this shot from last week of Brookings Anglers’ Matt Canter “helping” guide, Samuel navigate a minor obstruction.
Last week, the cloudy and cooler weather made for some amazing sunrises here at the camp. Several of our guests made regular morning sorties down to the dock at first light to exercise some pacu on light tackle and dry flies while enjoying the show.
What a way to greet the day here at the Equator! Here’s a cool pic of Swiss fly pro, Michael Maissen of Bernhard Fishing, getting his 5 wt bent before his morning coffee.
With higher than usual river conditions this late season, fishing has been similar to that typically found in the early half of the season. Sight fishing opportunities, while still available, are limited, with more “blind fishing” to structure and searching open water throughout each day. This style of is best approached with an eye to establishing a comfortable rhythm and pacing yourself to be ready when a big hungry peacock attacks your fly.
Aqua Boa veteran and ace fly angler, Andrea Bernhard, always seems to be ready when that moment arrives, which is why she quietly and comfortably wins top-rod honors most days on the water. Here’s Andrea making it look easy with one of the many beautiful peacocks she landed last week.
Here at Agua Boa Amazon Lodge, we are proud to be a fly-fishing-only, catch-and-release peacock bass operation. This fishery continues to thrive thanks to the dedication of our guides and guests to this sustainable philosophy. As such we remind everyone to remember to crimp your barbs to enable quick and easy releases with less trauma to the fish.
Of course, there are other good reasons to crimp your barbs, as Brian Greig learned last week after his good friend and boat mate, Bob Ruyle got maybe a bit too fancy with his casting stroke. At moments like these, it’s nice to be fishing barbless!
When planning for fishing in higher water conditions, it pays to get down. As such, we recommend bringing some faster sinking tip lines such as the RIO 250-350 grain Leviathans along with your Intermediate RIO Outbound Short WF8F/I lines. These are the two lines that have been putting the bass in the boat most consistently of late.
Thanks, as always, for checking in with the Agua Boa Amazon Lodge Fishing Report. We look forward to seeing you here on the river!
