By Jesika Fry
As we already know, I love to travel outside of my home state of Texas to toss flies at different species of fish. I have been to lots of different areas in the U.S. to fish, but in August of 2017 I am checking off an international location! I have the opportunity to travel to Kendjam, Brazil to fish for multiple species on the fly. Some species are: pacu, piranha, wolf fish, payara (vampire fish), bicuda, and let’s not forget to mention the world record sized peacock bass. Total, I will be targeting 10 exotic species.
Kendjam is a remote land in the core of the amazon and is a small indigenous community. This community is run by natives and is made up of about 700 people. These people are a part of the Indian ethnic group called the Kayapo. As a guest in the community, I will have the opportunity to interact with true native Indians and experience the rich culture of the Kayapo.
In Brazil, I will be fishing the Iriri River which is an untouched, clear-water river with a granite-base, which means that wet-wading will be easily accessible. This area of river is in the heart of a highly remote tropical jungle area. With this being said, I am in for a grand adventure!
When packing for a fishing trip while travelling inside the United States, I am able to pack however much clothing/gear I desire. Unfortunately for this international trip, I have a limited amount of cargo that I can take. This amount is extremely small…I may bring up to 40 pounds total. This means that my clothing, fishing gear, toiletries, and everything else that I will need for an 8-day stay in the Amazonian jungle must fit into a duffle bag, and weigh under 40 pounds. With this being said, I have to strategically plan my packing tactics for this trip.
Usually when I travel, I am headed to somewhere with cooler temperatures as that is usually where trout live, meaning that heavy clothing is required as well as jackets. In this case, I am headed in the opposite direction. The temperatures in Brazil in August will be particularly warm- even warmer than Texas temperatures. With this being said, I plan on wearing very light clothing, and definitely not wearing waders. With wet-wading being so accessible, I don’t think that bringing waders will be necessary. This will take off quite a bit of weight to my luggage. I plan on wearing thin, lightweight shirts that provide sun protection as well. An example of this would be the Simms Solarflex long-sleeve. These type of shirts will be easy to take as they weigh almost nothing.
With temperatures being quite high, I plan on wearing shorts in order to stay cool while on the water. I will also wear my Simms Vaportread wading boots to ensure my safety and stability while in and out of the water. Wearing a face shield will be important while in Brazil because whatever lies beneath the sun during August will become toast if not protected!
As goes for fishing gear, I will bring my Orvis Safe Passage Carry It All carrying case with my rods, reels, fly boxes, tippet, etc. In using this, I am ensuring that all of my beloved fishing gear stays safe inside a zipped, padded case.
Packing for this trip will have to be minimal, but it will all be worth it once I catch the amazing, exotic species that Brazil has to offer.
As you can imagine, the fish in Brazil will be quite large. Along with big fish comes big flies. Good flies to use in Kendjam are baitfish patterns, large insects, fruit, and even algae imitations. Some general colors to use in Brazil are white, yellow, and chartreuse. The sizes of flies that I will be using may be from 2 to 6 inches, and some even larger. These flies will range from hook size 1/0 to 3/0 and will need to be extremely high quality considering these fish will be mighty big. Some flies recommended are:
- Glimmer Minnow
- Sardina Cruiser
- Clouser Half & Half
- Chernobyl Ant
- Puglisi Everglades Special
The flies that I am most excited to use are the huge poppers and divers. I am anticipating the feeling of watching a giant exotic fish attacking my top water fly!
I am so extremely excited for this trip in August, and I plan on writing on my planning for this trip in the near future! I strongly believe that this fishing trip to Brazil will be one of the most exciting ones yet!
