Peacock Bass fishing with Captain Peacock
Traveling with Roberta and John
Traveling with Roberta and John
Tuesday, Feb 4
We drove to Miami for a 6:45 departure to Manaus. Greg’s GPS in the Enclave and Miami do not like each other. We decided to use Park n Fly and it’s right at the airport but we went in circles several times before getting on the right road. Once we found the garage, easy peasey. It was valet, dropped off the car, on the shuttle, did curb side baggage check, TSA precheck and at the gate quickly. Met up with Roberta and John and went to the duty free store to buy the guys bourbon and Jameson in case the boat doesn’t have their liquor of choice. Our plane left on time and arrived early, 12:30 am instead of 1. We were met by Captain Peacock’s rep, Francisco, who gave us information, our room keys, took us to the bus and to the hotel. Hotel is a Wyndham , but not quite the Wyndham quality in the states. Bed only had a sheet and my feet were freezing all night. The bed was comfortable and good shower except for the black crud in the grout. Room is decent size with plenty of storage. The USB connection didn’t work but we did bring a plug for Brazil so all good there. We paid $300 for the extra night and found we could have booked privately for $80. Sheldon said the extra cost was to pay for staff and vehicles needed for both days. Hmmmm.
Wednesday Feb 5th Manaus
Greg went down for breakfast, I was lazy. Our guide called and asked if we could start at 1 instead of 2, so that we could beat the 5 o’clock traffic and some of the sites closing. Worked for us. Since I didn’t have breakfast, I wanted a bite to eat so we went down to the restaurant. I ordered a bowl of soup and Greg ordered French fries. Took forever for my soup to come. It was a huge bowl. No fries. We waited and still no fries. We asked our waiter and he said, “You want fries?” 15 minutes later, the fries arrived!
Milton, with Tours By Locals,
arrived right at 1. It was an interesting tour and Milton was very knowledgeable. Manaus has a population of 1.7 million and is the capital of Amazonas State.
Our first stop was the market which was huge.
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| Plantains |
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| Pineapples were smaller but had a very sweet, less tart taste |
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| Plantains and oranges |
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| Avacados |
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| Brazil nuts. Taste much better before roasting |
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| sharing cashews |
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tiger catfish |
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| House built by a German during the rubber boom. Later became the home of the Governor and now a museum. |
We also went to the Opera House ( Amaxon Theater) which was built during the rubber boom over 120 years ago.
Milton pointed out interesting buildings and gave us a good feel for the history of the area.
We arrived back at our hotel at 5 and decided a drink was in order. Boys got to try a new beer, Itaipava Premium.
I ordered a rum and coke. Waiter didn’t know what I was ordering but after talking into his phone, we communicated. The waiter was really nice, bringing us snacks. So we had to have another round. After cocktails, we had dinner and off to bed, but first I requested a blanket. I wasn’t going to freeze my toes again!
Thursday, Feb 6. Manaus to the boat
5 o’clock alarm and down to breakfast at 6. Francisco was back to help with logistics and we met Sheldon who will be with us the whole trip. After getting off the bus from the hotel to airport, we waited for a long time for check in with the charter flight. Finally, we are ready and after security we are back on a bus that takes us to the plane.
Flight was one hour from Manaus to Barcelos.
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| Street in Barcelos |
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| Church across from dock |
Then back on a bus which took us to the dock. We were ferried by bass boat to our home ship.
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| Rio Negro Queen |
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| Outdoors patio |
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| Upstairs meeting area where we gathered before dinner |
Sheldon provided information and then we went to our rooms to unpack. Room is nice but could definitely use some more shelving storage space.
Lunch was served at noon as the boat started up river.
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| Barcelos as we sail away |
We took off fishing at 1:30 with our guide Dillon. Our boat left a bit to be desired. Both passenger seat backs were broken, pedestal seats were broken and halfway through fishing our steering cable broke. We continued fishing on the trolling motor and then caught a ride back with another boat. Dillon’s English is weak and we weren’t communicating well. He did not put the pedestals in the fishing chairs and I felt very unstable as the water was choppy. I got a pedestal but Greg and I had to ask 4 times to get Greg’s pedestal put in. Greg and I each caught 4 bass and Greg caught a barracuda.
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| Greg's first fish |
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| Butterfly Peacock |
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| Susan's first fish |
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| Roberta's first catch |
Greg had a long talk with Sheldon when we returned.
Dinner was served at 7 and was plated. Soup, salad, salmon starter all good. The main course was chuck roast. Disappointing. They cooked steak and French fries for Greg. He said it was just ok. After dinner we sat outside with another couple, Teresa and Scott from Reno. The guys shared cigars that John brought and we called it a night.
Friday, Feb 7th
Alarm at 5:30, breakfast and off to fish in a different boat!
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| Boats waiting for us |
We drove almost an hour before starting to fish and went through very shallow water to get to our starting point.
Dillion had to get out and push us 3 times. We met up with a John and Roberta at lunch along with Francis and Bill from Austin. Out of 13 passenger, 6 of us are from Texas. Roberta had bragging rights with a 16 lb bass.
We fished after lunch until 3:30 and called it a day. We are out of practice fishing all day. In the end Greg caught 7 bass and 1 barracuda. His big bass was 6.5 lb. I had 9 bass, 1 sardine and 2 barracudas. My big was 8 and 7.
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| 8 lb speckled |
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| 7 lb true peacock |
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| 6.5 lb speckled |
Dinner tonight was buffet style, pork, fish and pasta. Everyone enjoyed our Amarula nightcaps each evening.
We called it an evening after dinner.
Saturday, Feb 8.
Alarm at 5:30. We moved a bit slower but off the boat by 6:30. By lunch Greg had 4 bass and I had 8 but Greg was the big winner with an 18 lb peacock bass.
Lunch today was a shore lunch with the whole group. We had peacock bass and piranha. Enjoyed the nice long lunch break. They set up hammocks and chairs in the shade and cooked the fish over a fire.
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| Another new beer for the guys |
We fished all day today, leaving at 4:30 and getting back to the ship at 5:30. Our total today was Susan 17 bass, 3 barracudas. and a sardine. I had a 10 pound and a 5 pound bass, both on trolling. Greg had 11 bass, 2 barracudas and a dog fish. Besides his 18 pound, he had a 6 pound this afternoon, trolling.
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| 10 lb peacock |
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| 6 lb speckled |
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| A picuda |
After a wonderful warm shower, we went upstairs for a drink and then dinner. Again it was buffet with chicken, pork and bow tie with Alfredo sauce. The peanut butter dessert was the best choice and capped off with Amarula. Greg, John and I went up top for a view of the full moon. It was a nice, pleasant night outside. It has been much nicer than we expected. Mild until around 11 and even in the heat of the day, not unbearable. We had 3 new guests (dad with his 11 year old son and uncle) arrived today by float plane. Unfortunately, we missed seeing the float plane land.
Same routine. Breakfast has pretty much been the same. Pastries, toast, cereal (one kind), Sausages (kilbasa looking), scrambled eggs and bacon. Not bad.
We only fished half a day so the guys could go fishing for catfish. Greg caught a 13 lb right off the bat, 1 small one and I got a small one. Nothing for a long time and then we started trolling and got into a school of fish, mostly speckled. 3 times we both had fish hooked by the last time mine got off. Greg caught 10 and I had 7.
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| 13 lb peacock bass |
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| our first double |
Lunch was plated and very good. The 2 potato soup was excellent, a Parmesan type dish and ice cream for dessert. I went upstairs and finished my book. With the breeze it was very nice. Guys left at 3 for their catfish trip. I took the time to read, watch a couple of Netflix shows I had downloaded and took a leisurely time bathing and even got duded up. They may not recognize me at dinner! The guys back at 6 and did not have a single bite, plus they spent half the time catching bait. The description said bait would be provided. They did see lots of crocodiles (caymans).
Dinner tonight was excellent. Starting with Piranha soup,
then a fish rib from a large fish found in the Amazon River. It was very tasty.
Main course was filet with a small baked potato.
Dessert was apple and chocolate in a pastry with chocolate and cream pudding on the side, followed by Amarula.
All very good. Everyone went to bed but us, but we stayed upstairs to play Skip Bo. Even getting up at 5:30 am it's hard to go to bed at 8:30 pm.
then a fish rib from a large fish found in the Amazon River. It was very tasty.
Main course was filet with a small baked potato.
Dessert was apple and chocolate in a pastry with chocolate and cream pudding on the side, followed by Amarula.
All very good. Everyone went to bed but us, but we stayed upstairs to play Skip Bo. Even getting up at 5:30 am it's hard to go to bed at 8:30 pm.
Monday, Feb 10
Same routine. When we got in the boat Dillon said big fish and long ride. We left at 6:30 and didn’t start fishing until 8. No big fish, basically no fish. Greg and I both caught 4 bass and nothing of any size. We did see lots of crocodiles and heard toucans. It seemed warmer today. My scarf dipped in the ice chest saved the day. We did pass 2 villages and several boats.
Definitely more traffic on the river than we have seen. We surrendered at 2:45 and got back at 4:15. Shower felt pretty durn good. Tonight is dinner on the beach. We are parked tonight on a sand bar. The staff cut down trees, picked up wood for a fire to cook on, and set the table with candles. It looked really nice and it was a beautiful evening with a full moon. We had fish and wings along with lots of sides. Dessert was meringue floating on a sauce. All was very good.
Tuesday, Feb 11
Same morning routine. We only drove 1 hour this morning! By lunch, Greg had 2 bass and I had 3, one of which was 11 pounds. Greg had a 7 pound. By the end of the day I had 7 and Greg had 5, including a 10 pounder that he caught trolling.
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| 11 lb peacock bass |
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| 10 lb peacock bass |
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| pirahna |
We got back to the boat at 4:30, jumped in the shower, and met those that wanted to visit the village at 5:00. The village was right across the river. Very humbling experience.
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| Gourd holding Brazil nuts |
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| Cashew tree |
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| orchids in the wild |
After dinner, Greg and John went bow fishing. The group that went two nights ago said they saw tons of fish and shot 30 times. The guys saw very few fish and shot 7 or 8 times. Roberta and I played Farckle upstairs.
Wednesday, Feb 12
Last day fishing. Breakfast and on the boat at 6:45. We motored for an hour, throwing lures where we each caught 2 bass then we trolled the rest of the day. We had our best day. Greg caught 24 bass with a 9 and a 5 pounder, a rainbow, a blue gill looking fish, picuda, a barracuda. I caught 2; bass with a 5 pounder being my largest, 2 barracudas, a dogfish and a sardine.
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| Not sure what kind of fish but our guide put it in the live well. Must be tasty! |
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| 9 lb |
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| butterfly peacock |
We left at 4:15 and back on the boat in Barcelos at 5:15. We showered and began the packing. Dinner tonight was buffet and was just ok.
Thursday, Feb 13
Breakfast and off the big boat by 8:15. We took the bass boats across the river to catch the bus to the Barcelos airport. The group coming in was 22 so we had a bigger plane going back to Manaus.
Francisco met us at the airport and we were off to the hotel. After a bite of lunch we retired to our rooms. Greg and I both napped, me more than Greg. At 7, we joined most of our group for dinner at Buffalo Steak, a Brazilian steakhouse. Francisco arranged all the logistics.
We came back to the room for an hour and a half. We are meeting Francisco at 11 to go to the airport.
Pros
Boat was beautiful, bedding and linens super thick, staff was very friendly and helpful. All the logistics were well organized and done in a timely manner. Shore lunch and dinner on the beach were nice touches. Wine served was decent.
Cons
Filled out a drink request before boarding but told they would not have Jameson. Greg brought his own in the Miami airport, but he shouldn’t have had to. Fishing boats were not in good shape. Seat plates were missing screws which made the seats very unbalanced. Our first boat had a steering malfunction and next boat had a motor that seemed at times it was going to cut out, but luckily it didn’t. Food was good to ok. The beef was not their strong point, which was surprising since Brazil is known for their beef. We caught fish but no where as many as the other groups on the boat. It was frustrating every night to hear how many fish they had caught. Often, the two ladies who only fished in the morning caught more fish than we did fishing all day. The $400 charged for the fishing kit was a ripoff. We only lost one lure and piranhas ate two lures. The internet worked ok but it was very expensive, $500 for the week. Breakfast was exactly the same every morning, good, but a change would have been nice. Same for the lunches.
