By Troyce Brown & Jack Cobb

By Troyce Brown & Jack Cobb Our flight arrived in the Venezuelan Capital city of Caracas about nine Saturday evening. Jose Velasques from "Tours Apure" met us at the airport and provided transportation to our temporary accommodations at the Caracas Hilton.
Sunday's schedule was open, so we filled the day with sightseeing around Caracas. Monday morning found Jose at our hotel promptly at 9 a.m., ready to shuttle us to the South Airport, about one hour outside of the city. From there we caught a two-hour flight to Laguna Largo, our lodge on the banks of the Rio Cinaruco River in the southern region of Venezuela.
We arrived just after lunch and were greeted by the owner of the lodge, Glenn Wells, who introduced us to the staff and filled us in on the days' itinerary.

Not wanting to waste any time, we immediately set about gathering our equipment, including rods, reels, sunscreen, and the necessary accessories; sought out our guide, whose name was Nick; and headed for the boat.
Nick knew his stuff. Within 20 minutes of boarding the boat we had arrived at our first stop and almost instantly began to catch fish. We started with top-water lures but switched to jigs in our efforts to get a feel for the equipment and the terrain. Nick's knowledge and expertise were immediately obvious as he directed our attention to the most promising sites, and he proved to be an invaluable companion in our quest for a first-class fishing experience.

In just a few hours on Monday afternoon we happily caught more than 30 peacock bass, thus setting the mood for the remainder of the trip. In the evenings we relaxed with a cool shower and refreshed ourselves with a cold drink and a light snack before dinner. The cook was skilled and provided us with very good meals - American style with an entree and choice of sides accompanied by red or white wine. Each morning the coffee was on by 4, and we roused ourselves out of bed at 4:30.
The cook always had breakfast waiting and we energized ourselves on his cooking and the fresh fruit and juice that he prepared for our enjoyment. After eating and a quick check of the gear, we were ready to hit the water.

Our overall best day began when we decided to concentrate on fly fishing. We caught 78 peacock bass, the biggest topping out at more than 10 pounds, and several other fish weighed in at well over eight pounds. Another day we fished two lagoons, spending most of our time wading in several feet of water, occasionally getting in over our heads. Even though our largest catch only tipped the scales at slightly more than 7 pounds, we compensated by catching more than 200. Even with the excellent fishing we were both a bit relieved to get back on dry land and away from the mesmerizing and not slightly menacing eyes of the Cayman alligators that populate the lagoons.

Though Nick assured us that Cayman alligators are not aggressive towards humans, there was something slightly disconcerting about sharing a lagoon with groups of large, mean-looking reptiles. The remainder of the trip followed the same course.
Each day we always caught more than our share of fish. Though Peacock Bass were our most common catch, other species would occasionally show up hooked to the end of our lines. We had only six hours of fishing on our last day before our plane would arrive to take us back to Caracas. While we had caught literally hundreds of fish over the course of our stay, the really big fish that we both wanted had escaped us so far.

We set out fishing the main river, and promptly began catching medium-sized bass, though we both had the feeling that one of us was going to hook the big one we were after. We were fly fishing close together in about three feet of clear water when our flies landed one after the other about four feet apart. Troyce's fly hit first.
Suddenly, the water exploded around it and for a few seconds all he could do was hang on as a huge bass took the bait and headed for deep water. The line was stripping fast as Nick fired the motor and took off in pursuit. Finally, after a long struggle, the fish tired and Troyce was able to patiently reel and play him until Nick finally was able to get the Boga Grip into his mouth and pull him into the boat. He was a monster topping out at l 5.75 pounds.
Even better was the fact that this huge fish was caught on a fly rod. It was truly a terrific last day. Any one interested in experiencing an awesome fishing trip should do two things: n Purchase and read a book titled "Peacock Bass Addiction" Book 3, by Larry Larsen. n Contact Lewis Cunningham at 205-970-0152 or reel-it-up@hotmail.com on the web. Lewis is a representative of the camp and can handle all the details of your trip.