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Pro's Prose
Amazon Fishing Adventures with Ranger Dave
When I woke the next morning I could feel my muscles aching from the day before. My forearm stiff from working the Luhr Jensen Woodchoppers and lifting big fish on Boga grips. I rolled over in my bunk and slowly opened my eyes.
It was another day on the Unini River and I was back in the Amazon. Legend has it, once you drink the water from the big river you will always want to return…maybe true, but I believe once you experience what I was about to…you would have to or go crazy!
It was day 4 of a 10 day trip to the Amazon to fish new and uncharted waters on the upper reaches of the Unini River. North West of Manaus about 250 miles as the crow fly’s, the Unini offered us a shot at some really big fish.
I looked down at my cameraman in the bunk below. He was sun burned and snoring. I got up and opened the door. Ahhhhh, the smell of the Rain Forest, and that fine Brazilin coffee on the morning breeze.
I was always one of the first ones up. I liked to take my coffee and walk to the upper deck and catch the sunrise. I also enjoyed watching the crew get ready for the day. What a life it must be for these guides, guiding on the Amazon. I stood there mesmerized watching them sitting in their boats tying baits on and re-spooling fresh line…it looked all to familiar. I have done the same for many years but only on Rayburn, Toledo or Fork.
Guiding and living on the Unini River had to be a real experience. This wasn’t the Rio Negro. This wasn’t a few miles up river from Manaus. This was the “Real Thing” in my book. I could see the look of anticipation on the guide’s faces. I could feel the excitement that was pumping through their veins. It was contagious. It was addicting.
This would turn out to be a day I would never forget.
Everyone was ready to go by around 7 that morning and I was fishing my first day with my special guest, Judy Wong. A good friend that just happened to be the WBFA 2 time World Champion!
This would be our first trip together on the Amazon. The last few days Don Cutter and I had fished below base camp but the guides said we needed better water conditions, so, we were looking at 1-hour boat runs each morning up tributaries that empted into the Unini. Wild lands for sure.
That morning I got to talk with Judy about the last 4 day. I told her to get ready for some fishing that was out of this world. I had landed my biggest to date, a 17 pound 3 bar. We were pumped when the guide told us we were going for bigger fish….bigger than 17 pounds?
Over the next hour Judy and I would talk a bit then drift off into the beauty at every turn and bend in the river. Sometimes blue neon butterflies the size of dinner plates would cross our path or a pair of scarlet Macaws would fly overhead. The sights, smells and sounds of the jungle seemed to roll over us as we traveled deeper into the vast Unini tributaries.
As we sped by the jungle I would wonder what was looking back. It was so thick, so deep, and so massive; words cannot describe seeing the Rain Forest up close and personal like this.
Around 8 we reached our first spot. A deep cut in the bank opens up into 3 different lagoons and the one on the right had a small island in the middle.
This particular lagoon looked like it was around 30 acres or so, give or take a few acres, and had all the classic Peacock hide outs…big palms standing on the points that looked like they would fall in at any moment, its roots forever ravaged by the rising and falling waters of the Amazon. Little cuts and turns and secondary points every 20 or 30 yards, and to top it off, a small canal feeding each lagoon to the next.
Classic!!!!
As the guide put the trolling motor down I could see the excitement on his face….he winked at me and said this was perfect water conditions….
” grande tucanare Ranger Dave!” Or in English …Big Peacocks brother! I let Judy take the lead at the front of the boat as this was her first trip down. Watching her battle some big fish was going to be fun. We had just turned in the cut when Judy made a long cast to the point.
I made a long cast down the canal. In unison, we both start working the big baits back toward the boat. Rip…reel…rip…reel, you really have to rip these baits to attract the attention of these big fish.
I had ripped my bait maybe 5 times when the first explosion came. The fish smashed the Woodchopper and raced towards the front of the boat, she was pulling drag and it was all I could do to hang on. I scrambled to the front as Judy jumps out of the way rod and reel in hand. I am hollering, Judy is hollering, the guide is going for the net…it’s a big one.
Three times the monster jumps and three times my heart skips a beat, then with one carefully aimed swoop of the net, JoJo got her, and she’s mine. A beautiful 17 pound 3-bar, my second 17 pounder in less than 2 days.
We take a few pictures then I release the beast.
With-in minutes Judy hooks up with another giant, and I make the cast right behind where the explosion just took place. I start ripping the bait back as I watch Judy battle her fish back toward the boat, then….WHAM, another monster slams my top water plug. Now we are cooking with “doubles” as they say. Judy’s fish is around 10-12 pounds, but mine is another big one…maybe another 17 pounder.
The fish explodes right at the boat and dives…pulling drag….the guide looks at me and hollers “Big Fish …Big Fish ”! I can’t believe it. I just landed a 17 pounder and this one bigger? I wrestle the fish back to the boat and JoJo nets her, hands me the boga grip, I lip the fish, then he turns and lands Judy’s fish.
Holy Cow, in less than 10 minutes, I landed a 17 and now an 18 pounder. I am beside myself. Judy stands there in awe. We take the pictures and release the trophy’s to fight another day. Judy and I high five, what a morning! I stand there for a moment just shaking. I look at Judy, and she just laughs, shakes her head as she lets another cast sail….”You all right there Dave?" she asks.
I have never had a rush like this when fishing, I think I was still in shock. My mind is reeling. I am in the Amazon Rain Forest on the Unini River…catching Trophy Peacocks ….I have to pinch myself.
Judy reels in and casts her big Woodchopper at the next little point and starts the retrieve. Like soldiers on a drill or the snap of the football at game time, I stand up and follow right behind her with another cast.
Remember, this is the very next cast….sweat is dripping from my forehead, my hands still shaking from the fish I just landed 2-3 minutes ago, then it happens again….KA-Boom, a massive strike crushes the Woodchopper and I have hooked another “teener”!
Judy starts hollering “Big One, Big One” as I fight the fish toward the boat. The monster takes drag and again… it's all I can do to hold on. After what seems to be an eternity, JoJo finally nets my fish…another 18 pounder!
Okay, time to re-group now. In less than 30 minutes I have landed a 17 and two 18 pound trophies within minutes of each other!
JoJo suggests we turn around and hit the same area once more. I sit down for just a moment, retie and gather my strength for another assault.
Sweat drips from my forehead and my hands are still shaking. As soon as I am in casting distance of the canal where I landed the first big fish, just minutes before, I send the woodchopper on its way with a really long cast.
Once again, I stand there mesmerized as the bait sails through the air towards the open water. Again, I have to pinch myself as to what’s happing, what I am experiencing. The bait hits the water and is immediately engulfed with a tremendous strike.
Now Judy says something…."What gives there Ranger Dave? “ …What the heck are you doing back there???” The guide looks at me like … hey man, is this guy some-kind-of-lucky or what.
What could I say…dreams were being made with each cast. This was unbelievable. Another 17 pounder is weighed and released.
After I land that fish, I cut my line and give Judy the only Peacock Special I had. It was very apparent the really big bass are keying in on this bait in a big way. She was catching Peacocks right next to me but not near the size I was. Within minutes Judy lands a 16 pounder.
Still dizzy from two 17 pounders and two 18 pounders I dig around in my box in desperate hopes I might have another and find an old Peacock Special that’s torn up and waterlogged. PURE GOLD! JoJo works on it and we now have 2 “specials” in the water within minutes.
Its action is impaired and weighs double what it should, but hey, it’s the Peacock Special! I land a solid 16 pounder on our way out of the lagoon. So, lets have a tally here…..Within 45 minutes I have landed two 18s, two 17s and one 16 pound Peacock…and its not even 9:00 am…..wow!
Soon after we left that wonderful lagoon Judy hooked up with the biggest Peacock I had ever seen…at least 23-24 pounds. She fought it the best she could but right at the boat the massive fish jumped, actually hit the boat, and came un-buttoned. This fish dwarfed my fish, no joke!
Of all the trips I have been on and all the different kinds of fish I have pursued over the years, NOTHING, and I mean nothing, will ever compare to that glorious morning I spent with my good friend Judy Wong in that little lagoon on the Unini River.
Honestly, I don’t think she will ever forget it; and I guarantee you this, it will forever be burnt into my memories. Not to be outdone, two time world champion, Judy Wong, took big fish honors from me the very next day with a 20 pounder over my 19.
Oh, by the way, did I mention we caught all this on film…. We sure did. In closing, if you like to fish, I don’t care if its fresh or saltwater, deep sea fishing or jerking on white perch……you owe it to yourself to check out the Unini River and Don Cutters operation. Granted, not all fishing trips are like this, but you will never know unless you try. I have been on trips to the Amazon where we fished hard for ten bites a day and a 13 or 14 lber took big fish honors. But pound for pound and dollar for dollar, the Unini is my bet for big fish.
Give me a call today if you want to book a trip…lets go!
Tight Lines
Ranger Dave
For more information, contact David Masterson @ 936 598 2519
936 591 2971-cell
www.trophyquest.com
Don Cutter @ www.peacockbasstrips.com
1-888-6AMAZON (626-2966)
Dan Stock
909-864-5226
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