By Troyce Brunson

Our party of seven left Birmingham Feb 8th. We flew to Miami via Atlanta. In Miami we were joined by Al Jordan. Al is the Brother-in-law of Charles Spewick who was along with the party from Birmingham. The other fishermen were Troyce Brunson, Sonny Lusco, Lewis Cunningham, Jack Cobb, Matt DiGiovenna and myself Charles Gagliano. From Miami we flew to Manaus, Brazil on the Amazon river. From Manaus we boarded three small planes and flew 1 1/2 hours to the small fishing village of Terra Preta. We were then taken by boat 1 1/2 hours upriver to our fishing camp on the Rio Xeriuini (pronounced Sher-e-ou-ni).

This is in the southwestern part of the Brazilian state of Roraimo. The Xeriuni flows southward into the Rio Branco just north of its confluence with the Rio Negro, one of the Amazon River's largest tributaries. This was to be our home for the next 6 days. The camp was very comfortable. It consisted of two duplex cabanas with hot water showers and flush toilets. there is also a separate restaurant/lounge/ dining room cabana.

There were two fishermen and a guide for each boat. The boats are 16 ft. long with 15 hp outboards. Everyone was very excited in anticipation of the first fishing day. After a great breakfast Matt and I were headed down river with one guide, Zerome. he didn't speak much English but we were able to communicate with a few Spanish and Italian words that we knew. They speak Portuguese in this part of Brazil.

The fishing was slower than we had expected. several of the guys along on this trip had been to Venezuela fishing for Peacock Bass. They told stories of the many fish that they would catch each day. We didn't know that these bass had gone on the bed. We were told that they bed according to the water temperature and depth. The River is at its lowest in February. The fish were indeed hard to catch. We experimented with many different lures trying to find one that the fish couldn't resist. We would catch a fish now and then. By lunch we landed maybe about a dozen fish.

After midday the bass became more active. They began chasing bait fish and feeding on the surface from time to time. Some of the bait fish we saw were the same size and color of a silver and black rattletrap. I quickly tied one on and two casts later caught a 15 lb. peacock.

By the end of the first day Matt and I had caught 20 bass over 6 pounds. Matt caught the largest at 16 lbs. When we returned to camp that evening, the other fisherman had caught fish but not many large ones. The second and third days were slower, but we continued to catch fish.

The fourth day out guide took us up a small creek that flowed from a lake. We had to get out and wade, the water was so shallow. We pulled the boat along behind us. The Guide saw some bait fish so he took his ultra light spinning outfit with dough balls and began to catch some bait fish. They were about 6" to 8" long. He put them in a cooler filled with water. Zerome looked at us and smiled and with his best English said "lunch peacock."

It took us a little time to figure out what he was doing. When we got to the lake and back in the boat, he tied an empty water bottle on our line about 6 feet up from a hook. He then hooked the minnow through the upper lip and lowered the lines in the water. One on one side of the boat and one on the other. when the bottles touched the water they immediately went under and we were hooked up with two large peacocks at the same time. In a few minutes we had a 10 and 12 pounder in the boat. That afternoon we caught 12 fish over 8 lbs.

What I remember most was that the strikes were very violent. Most of the tine the live bait was hit and stunned by the first strike then the peacock bass would come back and eat it. One of the minnows survived the initial strike and when we reeled it in his eyes were bulged out.

The strikes on artificial lures were also very violent. After the strike the fish under 10 lbs would jump five or six times as they were reeled in. The larger fish would make 5 or 6 - 20 foot runs when you got them near the boat. We continued to experiment with lures as we fished. The Yo-zuri crystal minnow proved to be one of the best lures. I sure am glad that Matt had two. One afternoon he caught 21 peacocks with about 30 casts. That's great action. I caught several large fish on a 7" Cordell Red Fin. One afternoon I caught a 9 pounder, an 11 pounder, a twelve pounder, two 13 pounders, and two 15 pound fish. Mark's Outdoors has a great inventory of lures for Peacock Bass.

Ask for Matt Holland; he knows what they are hitting. Over all we had a great trip. we also caught Piranha, fresh water Barracuda and Trieata. These fish all have sharp teeth. They completely ruin a lure; biting holes in the 7" Red Fins. They would also cut your line on lures like the rattletrap. Our guide told us that November and December are the two best months to fish. Each boat could expect to catch between 200 & 300 fish per day. The largest being about 20 lbs. This is before they spawn. Large top water lures are best then. The temperature during the day was 80° to 90° and very sunny. Don't expect much rain in February it's the dry season. There aren't many biting insects in the area.
The camp was very good with air conditioned rooms. Food was also great.

If anyone is interested in a peacock bass trip to South America; you can contact Lewis Cunningham (Reel It Up) 2921 Christopher Court, Birmingham, AL 35243, 205-970-0152. Lewis can take care of everything for you. I'd like to thank the other guys on the trip they were great. Maybe next year Lewis can arrange a trip to Venezuela.