The Most Amazing Week of My Life!

I just got back from what was probably the most amazing week of my life. My 13 year old son and I spent the week of Thanksgiving fishing for peacock bass on the Unini River in the Amazon. We booked the trip through the good folks at Rod & Gun Resources and everything went off without a hitch.

We flew out of Miami for a late night arrival in Manaus, Brazil. Customs was smooth and we were greeted by a friendly driver who assembled our group for a short ride to a beautiful hotel (probably the nicest in Manaus). After a wonderful breakfast buffet, we were off to the airport and the float plane to the camp. The flight was great and the river landing was a real thrill, and a great deal smoother than any airport landing I’ve ever had.

Once at the camp, our luggage was quickly set up in our floating cabins. We had a quick snack, changed clothes and we were on the river fishing. It was that quick!

And that is where my preconceived notions of the Amazon came to an end. When you talk about the Amazon, everyone gets images of instant danger around every bend. Bugs, snakes, piranha and more are all out to get you and you are at the bottom of the food chain.

Once you get there and start to relax and appreciate the environment, you see that’s just not the case. We were camped on the most beautiful sand beaches you’ve ever walked on. Perfect white sand that you’d expect in Tahiti. It was so clean, it squeaked when you walked on it. The weather was very pleasant, the bugs were minimal and it was all in all, very comfortable and relaxing. One would think there are hoards of mosquitos but we probably only saw one or two the entire week. When we were fishing, we would get a couple of what I nicknamed “Wazzat Flies”. These were big, loud bee’s of some sort that would just hang around, looking at us as if to say “Wassat?” They never once landed on anyone or bit anyone. They were just curious. I even saw two collide in midair as they were trying to figure me out. They were more amusing than irritating.

And the fishing.

It’s like nothing on earth. I do believe we’re both spoiled for life. We live on a lake in Texas and we’ve fished for years as well as chasing reds on the coast, but nothing compares to this. Our guide would take us down the glassy waters and turn off the main river onto a tributary. He didn’t talk much, so we’d turn around and look at where he’d point. He’d been on these rivers for over 6 years and knew every bend and lagoon. His knowledge was truly amazing. He had a GPS built into his head and never got lost.

We fished a variety of lures from big woodchoppers to small sub surface baits. The small baits brought in higher numbers and varieties of fish, but the big woodchoppers were the real excitement. You would be in a pristine, prehistoric lagoon (I kept thinking “Gilligans Island”), ripping that loud woodchopper across the surface of the perfect glass water and suddenly the water would explode. I likened it to a big man doing a cannonball from the trees. The big peacock would explode on the topwater and leap into the air. Sometimes they’d hit so hard, the rod would get ripped from your hands (and the guide would actually JUMP IN to get it!)

There is nothing like it. Once you figure out what kinds of structure they like, you were certain to hook up MANY times a day. We found our best fishing at the mouth of inlets where there was a lot of foliage growing out of the point (we nicknamed it Peacock Weeds). The fish hang around waiting for dinner to swim by. We also haunted the backs of lagoons, along banks and in submerged woods. Even in low water, there are stands of exotic trees growing through four or five feet of water. You might be casting on one side of a lagoon and hear a huge splash in the trees as a big peacock chased its prey around the tree trunks.

Many times, our guide would suddenly turn towards a small opening in the jungle. Some of these creeks were no wider than the boat and we’d machete our way into the bush, power over logs and squeeze between trees. Suddenly, you’d emerge from the darkened jungle undergrowth into a beautiful and timeless lagoon. There was never any sign of human habitation, so it’s not hard to imagine you’re the first person to ever enter the place. Some lagoons were an acre or two, some where huge and connected to many more through small waterways. We explored dozens of these over the week, each time pulling up impressive numbers of fish.

And even if you decided to just relax and watch the surroundings, you’d never know what was around each bend. We saw monkeys in trees, bizarre birds, hundreds of macaws and parrots, caiman, a huge variety of strange fish and even a jaguar playfully splashing around on a river bank. A five-pound toad hopped through our camp one night, brightly colored butterflies were everywhere. There was always something to see and capture your imagination. Even the numbers of plants that could be growing in a single tree, some of which would have long, hanging roots dropping 100 feet into the water, kept you looking all around and constantly surprised.

The “Garden of Eden” images are true, but it was really quite benign and relaxing. My son quickly turned into a Huck Finn of the Amazon… barefooted, relaxed and happy with everything that came our way.

Of course, it was all made so comfortable with the amazing system put into place by Rod and Gun Resources and the folks at River Plate Anglers. The floating cabins are quite comfortable. Good beds, private bathroom and shower and even AC (even we never used it). Every morning we’d wake up to a full breakfast buffet with exotic local juices, hot Brazilian coffee all served in a separate floating “dining room”. After breakfast, we’d back up whatever we wanted for lunch and get on the boat.

After a full day of fishing, we’d head back to camp around 5:00 and there would be a table set up on the beach with drinks and a different snack each day. We’d all talk about our fishing and at 7:00, dinner was served. And it was a great dinner. Every night was a different buffet of courses and every day was fresh fish, caught an hour earlier. There was a full open bar, soft drinks, ice cold beer and bottles of wine.

After dinner, we’d usually retire back out onto the beach to a canopy of bright stars. There was never a late night though. After such a full day of fishing and a big dinner, it seems everyone was ready for bed by 9:00.

I never thought Maxx and I would be fishing the whole time. I thought, who could fish 8 or 9 hours a day for a full week without a break… But I was wrong. He was rousting me out of bed by 6:30 every morning to get breakfast out of the way and get on the boat. We never took a day off, the fishing was just too amazing to miss, even for a minute.

We even had lunch on the boat, usually tucked under the jungle canopy, then right back on the rods.

All in all, it was the trip of a lifetime. I’ve been to some of the great cities of the world but nothing compares to the Amazon. Especially when you can see it from such a comfortable and brilliantly thought out standpoint.

We’re already planning on going back again for NEXT Thanksgiving. I told Maxx we should do this every year till I’m too old to even walk. He agreed.

Chris Greta