11 minute read
Afloat in Colombia: What an Epic Fishing Day Means
Recently, Colombia has started to earn its rightful place in the fly fishing community. The country is finally getting over a tough past and has opened its doors wide open to tourists. Fishing tourism is no different. With a multitude of waterways and watersheds across its geographical sphere, aerial views of the country tend to look more turquoise blue than green. And there are vast amounts of interesting fish species to be found here. From saltwater to freshwater there’s so much on offer - and there is still a lot to be discovered.
BY Armando Giraldo
Colombia is home to incredible peacock bass fishing, and I have been fortunate enough to fish some of the most exciting peacock bass rivers in the Orinoco river basin. I doubt if even a lifetime is enough to fish them all. Virtually hundreds of rivers, lakes and lagoons that have never been explored remain in the area.
One of the minimally explored rivers - and a favourite of mine - is the Tomo River: A wide and deep river that runs for more than 650 km and represents a basin of at least 20,000 km2. The gallery forests along its shorelines are up to 100 meters wide concentrating diverse and dense jungle fauna and flora. Savannah landscapes, that will remind you of an African safari, extend for hundreds of kilometres beyond the lush green of the river course. Seen from the sky, the whole “map of the region” looks like a nervous system full of neurons.
Tomo has hundreds of lagoons; some big enough to be fished for a week! In the season that runs from January to April, Tomo’s water masses slowly clears up all the while taking on magnificent green, grey and reddish hues. Sight-fishing for peacock bass in the many conjoined stillwaters - and especially along the numerous river flats formed by very large beaches - is something truly exciting and nerve-wracking.
Getting there
My trip started in Medellin, on a charter flight provided by Afloat Adventures, one of the best outfitters in Colombia – a company that offers high-end service, top-notch logistics and a fleet of very comfortable floating cabins that are comfortable and well designed.
The floating cabins allow the outfitter to fish different parts of the river where - most likely - you’ll never see another soul aside from the fellow company of your fishing group for the week.
I got there in mid-February with a group of 8 fishermen. The charter landed after an hour-long flight in a town called la Primavera, on a simple air strip. Four 4x4 trucks were stand-by ready to drive us 3 and a half hours through the savannah and up to the river, where comfortable Jon boats would then take us to the lodge.
A very sweet canvas cabin floating on the river - anchored to the shore, was waiting for me to claim my private domain for the week. Generally, the cabins are double occupancy but as I was alone, I had plenty of room for organizing, gearing up and preparing for the fishing. And through the paper-thin walls I could hear my neighbours doing just the same – in a loud and often high-pitched tone of excitement.
Once ready, I headed to the dinner bungalow section to meet everybody. The chef cooked an amazing meal, and we then had one of those fishing conversations full of anecdotes that extend for hours with the members of the Afloat crew. Anticipation was in the air!
Off to the fishing grounds
Next morning, my guide Jonner parked the boat right by the cabin to pick me up; a happy scene that would repeat every morning for the whole week. And I tell you! After a couple of days of productive but average fishing, the third day would become etched in my memory forever. That day, we headed upriver for an hour or so. Jonner parked the boat in the river by a small creek that turned out to be the outlet of a lagoon some 50 meters away.
We jumped in the water and carried the electric motor, the battery and our gear through the channel up to a plastic pram parked halfway towards the lagoon (Afloat leaves these prams in different lagoons for easy access). We then pulled the pram up to the lagoon, which proved to be murkier than the river itself.
The lagoon was 60 to 70 meters wide and about 300 meters long: A relatively small but fishy looking spot. A strip of dead trees of what was once jungle emerged from the water along the whole right side of the lagoon. The left side had fallen trees and labyrinthic snags that covered at least 15 meters of water from a steep wall that bordered the lagoon. It was an amazing looking place!
Close encounters
I began fishing the deep left side full of structure using a 300-grain sink tip line that allowed me to also fish the shoreline, as long as I stripped fast. The rod, I was using, was a strong-butted faithful 8-weight, my go-to rod for continuous blind casting in hot weather. Finally, at the end of my 40-pound leader, a 15-centimetre fly imitating a small, shiny peacock bass tied on a 5/0 hook from Orinoco Flies; a tying company from Colombia that specializes in high-quality jungle- and generic predator patterns.
We kept a casting distance of about 15 to 20 meters to the structure. The first strike came 15 minutes later; very subtle, no hook up. I cast to the same spot again, stripped and this time hooked into what I, at first, thought was a small fish. The take, once again, was very subtle, but as soon as the line came tight a big peacock bass came jumping maniacally out of the water before rushing toward all the branches. I was lucky enough to react instinctively, putting maximum pressure on the fish – while screaming BACK UP, BACK UP!!
The fish then turned and headed for deeper water and exposed my backing a couple of times before I could finally land him. I couldn’t believe it! My first hook up for the day, and the Boga grip announced a staggering 21 pounds, 21!
It was all I could ever have hoped for - and all my trophy-fish-ambitions for the week were laid to rest then and there. Oh, little did I know… After a few pictures, the release and a few laughs and high-fives, we continued fishing only to hook another wild and colourful fighter 10 minutes later – a “gentle taker” like the first one and a solid fish that pulled the scale to 18 pounds.
The madness continues
It was the first time in my life I had caught two trophy fish in such a short time span. But we didn’t rest on the laurels. Instead, we kept fishing in an attempt to make the most of it. In the process, we landed around 15 smaller fish including butterfly peacocks and smaller speckled bass that, ironically, hit the flies like they were 4 times their size. Overall, the morning had been beyond my expectations. But I was still in for another surprise. Suddenly, I felt another gentle strike, set the hook and all hell broke loose. Jonner backed up and I held on to my line as much as I could, but the fish was charging off, and the line was burning my fingers. Along the way, I switched the rod from my left side to the right in order to increase the pressure even more, and suddenly the line began cutting through the water heading to the right side of the lagoon while Jonner was shouting “GRANDE!!! OTRO GRANDE!!” in a voice of sheer excitement - and with a huge smile on his face.
I could not believe what was happening but tried to stay focused. I picked up whatever line I could, put maximum pressure on the fish and prayed the leader wouldn’t snap. The fish went for a very long run, then – after a lot of head-butting in deep water - he finally gave up. WHOAH! Once in the net, we unleashed our screams of joy and elation. This one weighed 22 pounds. 22 POUNDS!! Two fish in excess of 20lbs and an 18-pounder in less than 2 hours of fishing?!! It felt like a dream.
We took a few pictures, kissed the fat guy goodbye and released him. After that I sat for a while just laughing and celebrating with a cold one before eventually continuing.
We couldn’t believe how lucky we’d been with none of the fish having reached the snags and, instead, having turned for deeper water. But perhaps, by talking about it, we jinxed it…
More action
As we moved on, the lagoon started getting narrower and the distance between the old sunken forest and all the half-sunken branches on either side of the lagoon was now fairly minimal. I went for a 60-pound fluorocarbon leader to have some leverage, just in case - right?
After a while, I cast the fly between a couple of sunken branches. I stripped and again felt a gentle take, set the hook and BOOM! Water came splashing everywhere, while I tightened everything up in order to horse the fish out of the branches. Then SNAP! I couldn’t believe it:
My leader broke like it was 2-pound test. Jonner was shocked and curious why I didn’t simply let it go. Well, I guess I was just overly confident after all the fish I’d already landed. You know that feeling when you lose the winner fly, right? Well, I was gutted but I dutifully retied everything, put on a new fly, continued casting, and – believe it or not - 20 minutes later I was fighting yet another pretty one; a very strong 15 pounder that – unlike the others - hit the fly super hard.
Apparently, my mojo was still intact, and more fish kept coming for my fly as we continued to search the lagoon. I was having the time of my life!
Popper action
We turned around, headed back to the outlet, and changed our setup, opting for a floating line and a popper. Admitted, poppers had been rather unproductive for the past few days, but the temptation was just too big. We began working around the sunken trees, but nothing was happening – and, after a while, we were about to change tactics once again. Then, all of a sudden, a big explosion on the surface and I was hooked up once again.
This one headed straight for the trees and, this time, I let it. I didn’t want to be broken off again, so we just followed the line and navigated the small pram through the morass until the fish headed for deeper water. When it did, I applied full pressure and, in the end, we landed yet another stellar fish – this time weighing in at 19lbs. We released the fish and headed out of the lagoon for lunch. Yes, for lunch! This all happened in about 5 hours.
Icing on the cake
While returning, Jonner told me that he had entered the lagoon several times in the past few weeks but that the fishing had been very slow. Isn’t it amazing how unpredictable fishing is?
After bragging about my morning at lunch and showing guests and staff select pictures, we went down river to sight-fish the beaches, maybe find some arowana or a shovel nose catfish. We had a couple of shots to some big peacock bass cruising in couples, but they showed no interest in our flies. Smaller fish in the 3 to 8 pound-range, however, provided tons of fun, and slowly – fish by fish – the day was coming to an end and we started heading back to camp. Just before calling it a day, I told Jonner to slow down so we could quickly fish a beach from where I could see the floating cabins. This beach was full of deep pockets, so I used my sink tip. I made long casts to work the fly from one pocket to the next and finally felt a strong tug.
The last fish of the day turned out to be a 14-pound showman that ran along the beach with much of its back clear out of the water sending cascades of droplets into the air with its powerful tail. What a sight it was! It was the best imaginable way to end the most epic day I’ve had in almost 20 years of fishing for peacocks.
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