The Orinoco & Tuparro rivers

Nice payara for this happy angler !

In March this year, I hosted another group of British, American and Swiss anglers to what must be described as one of the most exciting adventure destinations this angler has ever been to!

Our 10 days of fishing was split between two camps, one set up on the banks of the Rio Orinoco and the other on one of its tributaries the Rio Tuparro. Between large shoals of Payara/Vampire Fish and the biggest Sardinata I have ever seen on the Orinoco, and Giant Peacock Bass on the Tuparro, our anglers were all kept busy for the whole of their trip.

The untouched Rios Orinoco and Tuparro are some of the most beautiful rivers in the Amazon Rainforest. The Tuparro is a tributary of the Orinoco and flows through the Tuparro National Reserve. The surrounding jungle and savannah lands are spectacular and full of wildlife. The Rio Orinoco itself is one of the longest rivers in South America at 2,140 kms and its drainage covers 880,000 km2 with over 75% in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the third largest river in the world by discharge volume of water. The environment in the Orinoco’s basin is extremely diverse, having a wide variety of flora and fauna.

Colombia’s hot savannah dry lands and its bordering tropical jungle surroundings are stunning and have an average feel-factor of 25-30ºC during the day so our anglers should always wear a high factor sun-cream in the tropical sun!

The hard fighting sardinata.

Bogotá is situated at an altitude of 2,640 meters above sea level, high in the Andes mountains range, making it one of the highest capital cities in the world and one of the most comfortable to travel to, with an average daytime temperature of 16-22ºC. The first day, our group arrived in small batches at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogota and took the Courtesy A/C bus to the Courtyard in Marriott 4* Hotel to enjoy a great dinner, a few beers, and overnight in extremely plush twin rooms. The following afternoon we were picked up and taken to the local internal airport next to the main International, and flew by commercial flight to the town of Puerto Carreño. We were then picked up by 4x4 trucks and taken to our hotel. After taking showers, we all went for a great meal and a few ice-cold beers at the local Tasco.

After a few hours’ sleep, we were up at 3.30am and left the hotel at 4.00am. Following four hours of driving in our 4x4’s Toyotas and Nissan, we arrived at camp 1 on the Orinoco. A quick breakfast and having set up our gear, at 09.00am we ventured out on our first day fishing for Payara and Sardinata in the tannin-stained blackwaters.

We all had massive predatory Payaras smashing our deep diving plugs, but due to their bony mouths and all those long, sharp Sabre teeth, the hook-up rate is often less than 1 in 5! Plenty of our guys were taken down to the knot, and some of them were completely spooled. It’s not surprising seeing as the average size Payara is between 12-20lbs and uses its power, speed and the ferocious currents of the Orinoco to its benefit.

Colombian peacock bass on the fly

The next day fishing on the mighty Orinoco produced more huge Payara, and the biggest fish came to one of our American guests with a 23lb Giant on a deep-diving Rapala Firetiger CD 18. Most of the larger fish were taken on Rapalas, other deep-running lures, soft plastic Shads on heavy 50gm jigheads and even 1oz ‘Stevie Stinger’ bucktail jigs on both spinning and baitcasting gear. Big 6 and 7” streamer flies fished in the strong current on ultra-fast sinking tropical fly lines and 10wt fly rods did the trick for the fluff-chuckers amongst us. Wire leaders are a must for Payara and most of our lures and flies came back home with us nearly or completely destroyed.

Another remarkable predatory species that the Orinoco holds in abundance in this area is the Sardinata or Yellow Pellona. This is a savage and beautiful, gold and pewter shoal fish predator that also has a low hookup rate. We caught them to 14lbs, with the current world record is only 9lbs! They are extremely fast and aggressive fish and smashed into baitfish of 6-8” on the surface all around us in current.

The three best lures for catching Sardinata for us were small poppers, Stevie Stinger Bucktail jigs and streamer flies fished near the surface. Some guys even caught big Sardinata on Rapala CD 18’s while targeting Payara so that tells you how voracious these speedsters are. After two days of fierce and exhausting fishing on the blackwaters of the Orinoco, we packed our bags, and continued up the Tuparro which has a curious green/ grey colour.

Having fished many clear rivers and lagoons in Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia and Colombia in the past, and having arrived after some heavy rains, I thought that the slightly ‘dirty’ water would have an effect on the fishing. Well, it wasn’t fish after fish, but wow, each Peacock Bass we caught averaged a fantastic 14lbs or more!!!! We fished our way up to the middle stretches of this beautiful river to the second camp.

Camp 2 was even more luxurious than Camp 1 on the Orinoco. Massive single man tents, with fans and beds, with all the mod cons one can find in a jungle camp! Great fun, great guys and great staff. During the following five more days (Days 6-10) on the Tuparro, we caught hundreds of big Peacock Bass, with the largest coming in at just over 20lbs to the same pair of industrious anglers from the States. While the topwater strikes were explosive and extremely impressive, it was slow going with surface lures for most of the time. BUT the subsurface action more than made up for it!

Stevie Stinger jigs probably caught more Peacocks than any other lure, but having discovered that most of the fish were deep and on nests, I tried a lure that I had originally kept for small baitfish, Sardinata and small Payara. It’s a 3” big-lipped Silver and chartreuse lure with an orange belly that would dive no more than 2.5m. I cleaned up! I told this to my fellow anglers who immediately changed tactics and game plans, and everyone got stuck into some Giants! A few smaller Payara lures were resurrected, some deep divers were fished out of boxes, begged, stolen or borrowed and the results were outstanding.

I fished each day with a different guest and while having a ball, each angler caught big fish too. Great fishing all round. Most of the Amazon’s landbased mammals are nocturnal and hide during the day but we can sometimes spot a Tapir or Jaguar crossing the river. Monkeys are all around and can be seen way up in the canopy.

There are many families of Giant River Otters throughout the two rivers and most of our anglers here have a run-in with some of them. Snakes are abundant in the jungle, especially Constrictors and many harmless species, but all are very rare to find. And there are more insects, reptiles and amphibians in the Amazon Rainforest than anywhere else on Earth. On the Orinoco in particular, near the huge rapids and falls, I have never seen such a concentration of Ospreys in my career in the Amazon. There would be 50+ Ospreys circling and diving down on the many baitfish that Payara and Sardinata were pushing up to the surface, a real sight to behold. We packed up our bags and headed back down towards the Orinoco, fishing our way along the river structures and lagoons of the Tuparro and catching more great Peacock Bass. We ended the day by fishing again for Payara and Sardinata in the late afternoon. More crazy fishing ensued, with many big fish caught and released.

The following day, we headed towards Payara and Sardinata ‘heaven’ for last time. I cannot explain to any future Amazon Angler what this adventure fishing entails other than “hang on to your horses”! Peacock Bass is mayhem at the best of times and the strikes are awesome and explosive and tough on gear and body, and they still remain my #1 sport fish to catch in the Amazon. But Payara and Sardinata fishing has to come a close second. Line-stripping runs of the Payara will make any angler shake in their boots, and the feisty smaller Sardinata will frustrate and inspire them to come back again and again. We loaded up our 4 x 4’s and were driven back to Puerto Carreña and to the same hotel for a comfortable afternoon rest. Following a great evening meal yet again in the same Tasco as on our arrival, we all slept like logs!

The journey back to Bogotá began. An early commercial flight to Villavicencio in the morning and onwards van drive back to Bogotá, we arrived at around 2pm. A short siesta for all was on the books and then a sumptuous dinner at the Hotel Courtyard Marriott to follow.

Beware of the mean payara's jaws !

Our American guests flew back to the States the same evening, while all our other guests and myself flew onwards home on Day 15. All hotel stays as above, meals and drinks at camp and away from Bogotá, all transfers and transport and commercial flights were included. We currently have many more trips reserved for Colombia for 6, 7 and 10 day fishing and some are slightly different than the one described above. I would advise if coming from so far away, to arrive earlier and take advantage of your time to discover more of Bogotá and its surrounding areas. Colombia is now a major contributor to tourism, attracting so many foreign visitors looking for all sorts of adventures and fun.

Since FARC made a peace treaty and agreement with the current government, there was not one instance on this whole trip that any of us felt pressured or even threatened in any way. The Colombians in general are an extremely friendly and kind people and Bogotá has many great sights to see, places to visit, with great restaurants, bars, cafés and night spots to fulfil anyone’s dream expectations.

As I always say to potential future guests, our trips are not only for anglers but also for professional and amateur photographers alike, as well as for wildlife enthusiasts. We can give guests close up and personal access to an incredible array of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects, scenery and adventure.