WORDS

Stories from traveling fly angler and guide, Rebekka Redd




Peacocks are truly as gorgeous as they are fun to catch. We had the pleasure of landing all three subspecies of peacock during our trip, and while we all agreed that the big speckled peacocks were the stars of the show, my personal favourite was the handsome royal peacock. Royals may not be the largest, but they are the most brilliantly coloured of the peacock family. I landed one that must have featured every colour imaginable, from its candy red fins to its turquoise dorsal and obsidian star shaped markings, it was a wonder to look at. I secretly wished I could bring one home for my aquarium!

It was hard to say goodbye to that little cottage on the river, and I promised myself I would visit again as we soared over the treetops, watching the river wind out of sight. I had the opportunity to pilot our crew’s plane over gorgeous and vast landscapes, and up into the clouds! We were heading to the next river destination in search of Payara!

The vampire fish (Payara )

Once landed, we backpacked, trekked and sweated to the selected mysterious river we mapped out months prior. We drifted and rowed down river in old, hand built canoes made from a tree trunk as we floated thru the new territory. The local natives (dressed in tradition costume and vivid paints) came to the river banks to watch us with a cautionary eye. Once we arrived at our desired location, we made camp and slept under the stars where the river met the jungle while the lively night sounds of jaguars, birds, bats, monkeys, sloths and more ravished our ears and filled our souls with joy and wonder. The morning was a quick breakfast, gathering of our team and sorting flyfishing gear. We ventured towards rapids and strong current (a favourite of payara), and started casting hefty 8 inch bait fish imitation fly’s into the torrent waters , and soon after Juan hooked a smaller vampire fish! We all hooted and cheered him on as he landed the first payara of the trip! And then I witnessed something truly "wow factor”, I saw hundreds or payara leaping, tail and body slamming them selves on the rocky walls that lined the river. I stopped fishing and just watched with my jaw agape. I managed to record some of this behaviour . I thought it was perhaps to remove parasites , but later on I learned from an expert that they are releasing eggs!
We all drifted closer to our camp and after many casts I sent my fly sailing into more rapid waters of where I saw payara chasing a bait ball. It was mere seconds later that I had a massive, vicious vampire fish on, hooked and running me into my backing! With big cheers from my team, action photos being taken from the mens Journal crew , I was into a knock em' out fight with a huge, silver brute of a payara. I knew I was going to catch a beast, I just had the feeling, and I was right on the money! The fight with this fish had me jumping in a boat and going down river trying to keep it on and not run to the end of my backing! It performed acrobatics like a sail fish, or tarpon would , cartwheeling and zooming down river as fast as it could, all while my reel was singing a song that all us fly anglers love. It was an adrenaline rush like no other, and I soon landed the bucket list species. Photos where snapped and she was released quickly. A cautionary word to the reader who seeks to catch one of these badass fish: Be very careful of the fishes spines that line every fin but the tail. The spines are teaming with bacteria and I stabbed my self good between my fingers and my skin took about 2 months to heal afterwards.

while releasing we had to “throw” her quickly in head fist - it was explained to me that I can not hold my fish in the water like we do back home for trout, pike and more. In these rivers there is a parasitic catfish ( the candiru ) that swims into the gills of the fish - laches on and slowly kills it. By holding it in the water you are basically holding it for the candiru to prey upon. I was also warned to not go into the water past my knees for obvious reasons - the candiru swim into urethral and other body openings.

After I released my glorious, toothy-trophy fish, I was beyond thrilled and spent the rest of the morning taking photos and helping the others get their fish. We headed back to camp for some rest and refuel. We spent the warm evening fishing, sharing outlandish adventure stories and taking it all in.
We all landed fish and the pressure was off. We left the following day , but not until we explored a bit more. We travelled up river to sight see, and we came upon spectacular petroglyphs - ancient rock carvings / engravings that told stories from tribes that once ruled the area. The land reminded me of an Indiana Jones movie, there was even a “skull rock”.

This primeval river and forest was a real treat to fish and explore. It’s a steamy, jungled territory that was once reigned by the Colombian separatist, the FARC left-winged rebel group (guerrillas) that controlled endless land and prime fishing waters of Colombia from 1964 to 2017.
No one would dare to enter the guerrilla territory and risk being kid-knapped or more. After the peace treaty was signed between the Colombian gov and the FARC, we knew it was time to go explore those waters. It was surreal to discover & fish this newly free'd land.


From the great company to the sublime fishing, it was one of the best trips I had ever been on. We managed to get back to the plane in good shape and time, loaded up our kodiak aircraft with all our gear, and boarded for a many hour flight back to Bogota. Once we landed back into civilization, we all had a nice meal together before we had to say our good byes. We shared fond memories from this trip, laughing till we cried at some moments and excited about the article to come in Mens Journal (that was published and on newstands July 2018).

During the remainder of my stay in Colombia, I had a chance to visit the far away city of Leticia, which is known as the gateway to the Amazon rainforest. We took a boat up the Amazon river into Peru. During our visit we spent time with a local native family and ate a delicious meal of fresh fried fish and plantain. We also visited a shaman who was truly a wonderful man with incredible knowledge of herbs and using what the rainforest provides, we talked in great length on the preservation of the Amazon and it’s fish / wild life. He explained to me their way of life and sustainable living. When it was my time to leave from there I could not help but feel how back wards NorthAmericans live and our greed is killing our land. We could use some lessons from our native elders, the amazonian tribes have lived in peace with the jungle for an immeasurable amount of time. I enjoyed getting to know the shaman and the local Peruvians. We took a river boat on the Amazon into a tributary river where I couldn’t resist wetting a line. I caught more peacock bass and small payara. Later in the day the pink river dolphins came up to our boat and I could almost touch them! Completely magical! They are jaw droopingly huge! I never knew pink dolphins where so massive, but I should know better , they are a species of toothed whale.

It was an eye opening introduction to a completely different culture and way of life than I am used to back home, and while I couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of the rainforest and the amazing wildlife, it was also sobering to see the poverty in the streets and the common people in Leticia. I was glad to have the opportunity to visit the Amazon and see this side of Colombia. In contrast to our little remote peacock bass cottage and payara camp site, Leticia seemed like a bustling city, except unlike our cities back home it is right in the middle of a jungle!