FLY “In a split-second, the entire skiff was twisted around fully 90 degrees with the savage, wild quality of a fairground ride.”

IMPOSSIBLY GIGA Heading deep into the wilderness of the South American rainforest, Matt Harris goes in pursuit of monstrous arapaima – the most astonishing thing you will ever do with a fly rod in your hand. ➻

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s the big Airbus A320 lumbered up that. They are about as big as freshwater fish “Its whole form was utterly unlike anything I have ever seen before: into the warm evening air above can get. These colossal fish can grow to up Manaus, I took one last long look to 15 feet in length. a bony, armour-plated head, resolving from olive green into a rich at the serpentine curves of the Fifteen feet! Imagine that! To see these beasts AAmazon River, receding into the last flickering pitching their vast forms through the glossy gold, and transforming into a vast, sleek blade of a body, with the tail embers of the day, far to the west. I studied the surface of an Amazonian lagoon is a simply darkening to a sooty black...” deep groove burnt into the flesh of my thumb, breath-taking sight. Gliding through the dawn and thought yet again about my brief but mists, its easy to conjure a vivid image of the 400-grain line they advised, and retrieving reputed to eat. Big fly, big fish, right? However, spinfishers’ Alabama rig, convinced that the unforgettable encounter with the leviathan that Francisco Orellana and his valiant conquistadors at a snail’s pace, I just had to experiment. with so much relatively small baitfish on offer, arapaima swallow these little creatures in big I had travelled 8,000 miles to tangle with. trembling in their dug-out canoes, with these Every morning, as we headed out into the the vast fish seemed immune to the charms of mouthfuls rather than individually. The Solimoes River is, in effect, the upper unearthly beasts rolling all around, on a steamy dawn, the endless forests resolving out of the these beautifully tied flies. I tried monstrous I experimented with a variety of ultra-heavy Amazon River. It tumbles down out of the morning much like this, fully 500 years ago. mists and the vast forms of the arapaima ‘head buoyant-headed flies that hovered just above sinking lines, right up to a 750-grain beast Peruvian Andes and then meanders its sedate Tragically, in the intervening centuries, and tailing’ all around, I conjured yet another the bottom in the style of the reservoir trout designed for sailfish fishing, basing my approach course through the remote jungle, before its these fish have been heavily impacted by new plan that would unlock the conundrum of anglers’ booby pattern and that could be fished on the theory that it would cut through the turbid, mud-stained waters blend with the savage , exacerbated by their habit how to catch these monstrous fish. ultra-slow. I tried big surface flies imitating water column quickly and allow more fishing relatively clear waters of the Rio Negro to of betraying their whereabouts by surfacing I tried everything: my great friends Tomasz a wounded baitfish, and smaller, flashy gummy time, but actually, retrieving this line ultra form the mighty Amazon ‘proper’, just regularly to gulp air. While commercial and Tomek at the brilliant Polish operation minnow patterns that mimicked the million- slowly meant hooking the bottom in all but the upstream of Manaus. arapaima fishing has been banned in Brazil since Pike Terror Flies had tied me some huge strong swarms of baitfish. After a couple of deepest spots. It’s almost impossible to imagine what 2001, illegal fishing and habitat destruction are with fish ranging to way over 200lbs in weight and beautifully lithe fly patterns of up to 10" hours at the vice early one morning, I even Finally, using one of the big, 10" flies my those first intrepid conquistadors made of the both continuing apace, and populations are still being caught. However, the fish can also be long – great articulated monsters that swam created a pattern that mimicked half a dozen Polish friends had sent me, I had a take – Solimoes watershed. The region is, even to this declining sharply. infuriatingly fickle, as they were when I visited with a seductive action that perfectly mimicked of these sparkling little sardine-like fish on a strange, electrical ‘pop’, followed by a distinct day, a truly wild place, deep in the very heart of If you want to see an arapaima, head to the for four short days in late October. the small armoured catfish that arapaima are hookless droppers, reminiscent of the infamous but subtle heaviness in the line. I set hard, with ➻ the rainforest. A dark wonderland populated by in Manaus. The place is full of I am lucky enough to have travelled far and a kaleidoscope of stunning birds, butterflies, and them – freakish great carcasses that dwarf the wide with my fly rod, and I like to think that XXXXXX XXXXX giant otters. A lush emerald waterscape where other fish that are piled high in the endless stalls. I can usually get the job done. However, the XXXX XXXX XXXX jaguars prowl the forest, absurd pink dolphins Arapaima are, sadly, delicious to eat, and they arapaima of Mamiruau had me baffled. With XXXXXXXXX XXXXXX roll lazily in the endless network of channels, fetch a high price. Although they are supposedly vast shoals of sardine-like baitfish crowding the and huge cayman lurk malevolently in the all farmed fish, rumours are that wild fish are lagoons, persuading them to eat an lagoons and backwaters. In addition, where the still caught and sold, often with little regard for seemed almost impossibly tough. Solimoes meets another major Amazon artery, long-term sustainability. Arapaima fishing is typically – though not the Japura River, the bewildering network of Fortunately, the Brazilian Government have always – a slow business, with long hours channels and oxbows play home to another set up a number of arapaima reserves. between action, and I was desperate to figure singularly remarkable creature unique to the Mamiruau – based in the wetlands between out a way to catch the fish more regularly. South American rainforests... arapaima gigas: the the Solimoes and the Japura – is one such I have fished with all three of the guides at red fish – the legendary ‘pirarucu’. reserve, and it boasts a staggering biomass of Mamiruau – Rafael Costa, Alain Pereira and ‘Gigas’ means giant, and arapaima are just these huge fish. After protracted negotiations, Guilherme Manzione. They are all brilliant pioneering jungle anglers Rodrigo Salles and guides, and I have enjoyed sensational fishing “I am lucky enough Marcelo Perez of Untamed have with all three of them at Untamed Angling’s managed to establish a sustainable fly fishing world-class trophy peacock operation at to have travelled far programme that allows strictly limited catch Rio Marie, in another remote corner of the Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx and wide with my fly and release fishing for these monstrous fish, Amazon jungle. They are still figuring out this while helping to fund the policing of this young , but they are way ahead of me rod, and I like to special place. Rodrigo and Marcelo have named in working these fish out. They counselled to their operation simply ‘Pirarucu’, and having fish flies tied by Allan – black and white flashy think that I can experienced the fishing, I can tell you that profile patterns with lots of lateral scale flash to usually get the job hooking one of these behemoths is one of the imitate the sardine-like fish. How I wish that most astonishing things you will ever do with I had taken their advice! done. However, the a fly rod in your hand. While my good friend Lance Ranger did as There are a mind-boggling number of he was told and fishedexactly as prescribed by arapaima of Mamiruau arapaima at Mamiruau, and when the fish are his guide, I was – in hindsight, rather arrogantly had me baffled.” really ‘on’, the fishing is simply remarkable – – determined to crack the code and push the three anglers caught no fewer than 66 of these boundaries of this still fledgling fishery. Thus, fish in six incredible days in September 2017, while Lance fished with the guides’ flies, using

124 FIELDSPORTS fieldsportsmagazine.com fieldsportsmagazine.com FIELDSPORTS 125 FLY FISHING a classic, tarpon-style strip-set, and for back into the skiff, and I picked up my a moment, I felt the weight of a big, big “It had been 12wt with a new resolve. fish, before the fly came away and I was a tough morning, Then, finally, it happened. left exasperated and fishless. Arapaima often betray their whereabouts by Rafael told me that he would show me but suddenly I saw sending bubbles to the surface. These aren’t the an arapaima’s skull when we returned to the beady little tench bubbles that British coarse lodge, and seeing the fish’s bony maw, I realised a number of these anglers know. These are huge, football-sized that conjuring a take was only part of the huge bubbles off to globes of air that wobble up to the surface. You conundrum of catching one of these huge fish. simply cannot miss them. Ultimately, after Lance had managed to my left, and I was It had been a tough morning, but suddenly show the way with two handsome juvenile I saw a number of these huge bubbles off to fish, I did as I was told and adopted Allan’s instantly galvanised.” my left, and I was instantly galvanised. fly. Predictably, I finally managed to catch an saucer-sized scarlet-tipped scales. I cast the huge fly towards the target, and arapaima. At 50lbs, it was a baby, but it was an The following morning, Lance upped the impatiently counted it down into the depths. arapaima nonetheless, and the realisation of a ante with our first ‘proper one’ – a fish of way After 30 interminable seconds, I started the boyhood dream. Seeing this remarkable creature over excruciatingly slow retrieve, and after a few up close was unforgettable. As I cradled it gently a hundred pounds. What a captivating sight seconds, my patience was rewarded as the in the margins prior to release, the pirarucu it was. Doing my best to deal with the line took on that same heaviness that I had stared back at me with its strange, beautiful little green-eyed monster of jealousy, I photographed experienced before. I jagged the rod back violet-hued eyes. Its whole form was utterly my friend with his trophy. I congratulated Lance sharply and suddenly felt a remarkable unlike anything I have ever seen before: a bony, through gritted teeth, and clapped him on violence thrashing down deep in the dark, armour-plated head, resolving from olive green the back with just a little more force than was tannin-stained waters. into a rich gold, and transforming into a vast, perhaps necessary. I may have called him In a split-second, the entire skiff was twisted sleek blade of a body, with the tail darkening a “jammy bastard” at some point. We clambered around fully 90 degrees with the savage, wild to a sooty black, decorated with remarkable, quality of a fairground ride. We were wrenched Waterside accommodation

The author’s first round not by the prow, but by the vast weight My friend Rafael, one of the very best Breno’s best fish taking the honours at 190cm. ever aripima of the stern and the engine. The line scorched guides that I have ever fished with and one of Lance managed two magnificent fish of 155 through my fingers, and I felt the monstrous the most experienced arapaima guides in the and 165cm, while Jonny left it until the last half power of the huge creature as it shook its head world, looked stunned. “I’ve never had that hour to pull out a beast of 170cm. Each of these with a truly astonishing ferocity. happen before,” he said. After a long silence, fish was utterly magnificent, and left my 50lb I have rarely known such a huge adrenaline he added, perhaps a little unnecessarily, tiddler well and truly in the shade. rush, and I felt a pure, unalloyed relief as the “That was a big one!” And yet the real monsters – fish of two, running line shot up through the rings and Rafael was positive: he consoled me by three and even possibly four metres in length I had the fish safely on the reel. I leant hard on telling me that I had done everything right, eluded us all. the fish and for a few precious moments, I felt hitting the fish hard with repeated strip-sets in This time, at least. its impossible, primal strength. I have caught the style of the tarpon , and retaining As the last rays of the sun guttered and died some big fish over the years, including big heavy pressure on the fish. He urged me to on the glassy waters of the great Amazon river sailfish, and tarpon to 160lbs. This was bigger. check the 8/0 hook and the 130lb leader and far below, I pushed the recline button down, Much bigger. The line shot up through the to get that fly back in the water. and took another last, wistful look at that livid, water column and I braced myself for my first But I knew... line-burnt scar seared into my thumb. I knew sight of it. The real brutes – fish of two metres and that I would simply have to come back. Not a 50lb tiddler. A monster. A true gigas. up – are a rare catch indeed. They’re there all Perhaps next time, I’ll have the humility – and And then, in a heart-breaking moment, right – Rafael showed me a picture of the brains – to do as I’m told. And perhaps, next the hook-hold gave way, and the mighty a fish caught earlier in the season that was time, I’d finally put my hands on a real gigas. creature was gone. way, way over two metres long and simply I felt sick. mind-bogglingly huge – but you don’t get Want to go? It was a bitter, bitter pill to swallow, after all many chances with fish this size. When you Pirarucu is more than just a fishing trip – it is a journey of those long hours and days of patient fishing, do, you really have to make them count. into the very heart of the Amazon rainforest. It is a tossing those massive streamers across the wide My chance might not come again. unique and very special experience. Matt Harris will be waters of the lagoons and retrieving the fly So it proved. returning to Pirarucu in xxxxx, and you can join him by at the agonisingly slow pace these vast hulks My friends Lance, Jonny and Breno all contacting him at [email protected] seem to prefer. conjured fish that were well over 100lbs, with www.untamedangling.com

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