Last Two Days: Agua Boa River, Feb. 1-8, 2020
By Scott Heywood
On our 6th day, Mike Schwartz and I motored off with Coboclo. Cobooclo is a serious minded fellow and a great guide. He is a hunter and his skills were on display today. Coboclo doesn't chat. His eyes are constantly scanning for sign. He poles very quietly and moves slowly. All traits I very much appreciate. In the morning, Coboclo put us on many big peacocks often in very shallow water. Mike, an old friend and excellent caster, had a bit of buck fever and I certainly cheesed my fair share of casts too. In all fairness, many of the fish we saw were in very shallow water and as a result, they were very vigilant and easy to spook with a less than perfect cast. We only connected with a few big fish and watched a big arapaima disappear after a few superb shots.
Mike (above) with a big butterfly peacock. We caught many of these beautiful fish. So many, we lost count. After a while, one lands them, appreciates their beauty, but hardly remembers the details as all attention is focused on the big tucanre peacocks. In certain areas, you could catch one on every cast. This species can certainly salvage a slow day!
After a much needed lunch, a quick nap and pep talk, Mike and I nailed it in the afternoon. I lost one fish as a result of poor rod management when the fish made a strong and unexpected dash under the boat, but for the most part, we made Coboclo's hard work pay off. We boated some big, brightly-colored peacocks. Ahhhh yes, redemption is a delicious thing!
For those contemplating a trip to the Agua Boa, below are a few of the flies we had success with on this morning. In a bit deeper or off color water, we used lots of flash and bigger flies. In shallow, clear water, we used a size smaller, lighter, less flashy flies:
By the time we turned for home at the end of the day, Mike and I had indeed retrieved a great day from a slow start. Mike and I always have fun together, but the addition of quite a few large fish definitely made for even a better day. Sadly, tomorrow would be our last day. We would have to make the most of it.
Doug Jeffries and I fished together again on our last day. We were both feeling very mellow after six excellent days of fishing. We went downriver with Bacaba hoping to find some good fishing, but also to just enjoy the wonders of the Amazon before we had to wait another year to see it again. On this day, we fished an extensive lagoon system and the fishing was again terrific. My first fish was a beast that charged my fly in two feet of water. The 14-15 lb. fish voraciously attacked my fly putting on full display the width of its impressive mouth. Doug soon added another and I soon contributed a big spotted (or paca peacock) to the days' tally. This is the way the day went. By the time we were ready to quit and head home, we had had another great day. As we reached the mouth of the stream where it met the main Agua Boa, Bacaba had seen a peacock tail sticking out from under a log. He spent the next 15 minutes catching this fish with his hands while Doug fished the main Agua Boa catching wolf fish, piranha and bicuda one after another.
Doug helps Bacaba pole the skiff up the small stream into the lagoon.
Piranha are amazing creatures...
...and I'll add delicious
sun bittern shows off his...
...dramatic eye spots that ward off predators.
The caracara calls the tapir and the tapir answers... both use a similar high pitched whistle to call each other. The tapir is arranging an appointment to have parasites removed from his coat. AMAZING!
Bacaba's peacock caught with his hands!
Now it was time to pack up and go home, but the Amazon had one last surprise for us. In the next post, what Mike and Kristie Schwartz, along with their guide Jopseph, found on the way home.
