The river was peaceful, the birds were singing, and we were excited for another day of fishing. I really like this photo of George. That guy was a ball of enthusiasm for the entire trip!
We loaded into the canoes again, but this time we paddled up a different creek from the previous day. It lead to another lake that also promised to have good fishing. Once again, the going was tough.
Our strategy was similar to the previous day - alternate between lures and cut bait, mostly targeting predatory fish. This lake was loaded with brycons, but they were a species we had already caught.
Black-Finned Brycon (Brycon melanopterus)
Larger lures got hit by peacock bass. Their average size was smaller than the previous lake, but they were still fun. Chartreuse and orange were good colors.
Monoculus Peacock Bass (Cichla monoculus)
Cut bait gave me my first new species of the day, a new kind of piranha. The red eyes, orange throat, iridescent silver scales, and black terminal band on its tail are all ID characteristics of Sanchez piranha.
Sanchez Piranha (Serrasalmus sanchezi) - new hook & line species #371
Most of the piranhas we caught during our trip were on cut bait, so it always a fun surprise to get one on a lure. This red-bellied piranha hit my largest Mepps spinner.
Red-Bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri)
Piranha were frustrating to ID during our trip, which was our fault because we didn't thoroughly research the different species ahead of time. I think most of us ended up photographing every one we caught and sorting them out once we got home. It didn't help that juveniles often had characteristics that adults did not, such as the spots on this young red-bellied.
In the afternoon I downside my hook and bait to see if I could get a new micro or two, but everything was the same as the day before. The micro cichlids were the same.
Wonderful Flag Cichlid (Mesonauta mirificus)
And the micro catfish were the same. We enjoyed a good laugh every time we saw those long whiskers!
Bloch's Catfish (Pimelodus blochii)
Seriously, how did evolution come up with this?
This lake had ravenous swarms of tucan fish. If you teased them with a small piece of cut bait, they would jump out of the water to try to grab it.
Monoculus Peacock Bass (Cichla monoculus)
Cut bait gave me my first new species of the day, a new kind of piranha. The red eyes, orange throat, iridescent silver scales, and black terminal band on its tail are all ID characteristics of Sanchez piranha.
Sanchez Piranha (Serrasalmus sanchezi) - new hook & line species #371
Most of the piranhas we caught during our trip were on cut bait, so it always a fun surprise to get one on a lure. This red-bellied piranha hit my largest Mepps spinner.
Red-Bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri)
Piranha were frustrating to ID during our trip, which was our fault because we didn't thoroughly research the different species ahead of time. I think most of us ended up photographing every one we caught and sorting them out once we got home. It didn't help that juveniles often had characteristics that adults did not, such as the spots on this young red-bellied.
In the afternoon I downside my hook and bait to see if I could get a new micro or two, but everything was the same as the day before. The micro cichlids were the same.
Wonderful Flag Cichlid (Mesonauta mirificus)
And the micro catfish were the same. We enjoyed a good laugh every time we saw those long whiskers!
Bloch's Catfish (Pimelodus blochii)
Seriously, how did evolution come up with this?
This lake had ravenous swarms of tucan fish. If you teased them with a small piece of cut bait, they would jump out of the water to try to grab it.
Red-Tailed Tucan Fish (Chalceus erythrurus)
Microfishing didn't yield any new species, so it was back to lure fishing. I added trahira to my count for the day, but what I really wanted was the strange elongated fish that Ken caught. It looked like a cross between a freshwater gar and a saltwater needlefish.
Trahira (Hoplias malabaricus)
We circled around the lake and continued to see the strange gar-needlefish. They would follow my spinner near the surface, but I couldn't get them to commit. Finally, as were heading back to our meeting point, I felt my lure connect with one of them. Success! This pike-characin was one of the coolest species from the trip.
Spotted Pike-Characin (Boulengerella maculata) - new hook & line species #372
Anthony suggested we hike back to the river on foot so the canoes would have an easier time navigating the log-choked creek. It turned out to be a fun experience, and we saw a lot of interesting plants and wildlife along the path. Back at the mothership boat we fished for catfish while we waited for dinner. Sweet juicy grubs ended up being the hot bait. I caught three or four of these armored catfish using them.
Granulated Catfish (Pterodoras granulosus) - new hook & line species #373
These fish were extremely strong despite their limited range of motion. You absolutely did not want to get nailed by those pectoral spines or the scutes along their sides. The only safe way to handle them was to pinch the sides of their bony head and keep all the pointy stuff pointed away from you.
I also caught this long-whiskered catfish, which I believe is the same species as the smaller one caught in the lake. They look a little less ridiculous when they reach a larger size like this.
Bloch's Catfish (Pimelodus blochii)
We saw a lot of interesting micros at the end of our hike back from the lake. Most notably, there were some really cool hatchetfish near the surface of the water that we wanted to try for. So, before it got too dark, a few of us headed back up the creek a bit armed with our Tanago hooks. The hatchetfish were extremely hard to catch. I'll admit, I got pretty frustrated with them. However, they ended up being a blessing in disguise. Every time I would lose my patience with the hatchetfish, I would take a break and catch a few tetras to help me cool off. In doing so, I ended up catching five new species! The goldencrown tetras were especially handsome. My only regret is that all the photos were in low light because the sun was setting.
Redeye Tetra (Stethaprion erythrops) - new hook & line species #374
Bigeye Tetra (Moenkhausia megalops) - new hook & line species #375
Angled Sardina (Triportheus angulatus) - new hook & line species #376
Cotinho Tetra (Moenkhausia cotinho) - new hook & line species #377
Goldencrown Tetra (Aphyocharax alburnus) - new hook & line species #378
When it was too dark to microfish we came back to the river and set up for catfish again. We were excited to hear that Josh and Joy had caught multiple Amazon redtail catfish. This was one of the iconic species that we all hoped to add to our lists. Ken and I fished a promising eddy just upstream of the creek mouth. We waited, and we waited...
But the redtail catfish had moved on. However, I finally did get a bite, and it was a nice consolation prize, a barred sorubim, or tiger shovelnose catfish! Ken asked if I wanted a photo with it, but I said no - it was too small of a fish to pose with. Instead, I stood up and held the fish out away from my body and attempted to take the photo myself. I was having trouble getting the entire catfish in frame, so I extended my arm further and leaned back with the camera. This is when a bad thing happened.
My leaning backwards caused the boat to rock. I tried to cancel out the rocking by leaning back more. It didn't work. I felt the boat start to tip past the point of no return, and then I fell backwards into the pitch black water - head first mind you - with the catfish firmly gripped in one hand and my waterproof camera firmly gripped in the other. Luckily, or unluckily (I'm not sure which), my boot caught on the edge of the boat and prevented me from being swept downstream. I desperately needed to come up for air though, so I reached up to grab the edge of the boat with the hand holding the catfish. As I held on and got my breathing under control, I watched our guide frantically pointing at my leg asking me something. Through his hand motions we were able to translate his question as, "did the catfish sting you?". I said no, it didn't sting me, but my leg really hurt from banging the edge of the boat. Then I looked at my leg.
The catfish was stuck to the side of my leg, and one of its pectoral spines was buried deep in my calf muscle. This was not good.
Barred Sorubim (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum) - new hook & line species #379
Microfishing didn't yield any new species, so it was back to lure fishing. I added trahira to my count for the day, but what I really wanted was the strange elongated fish that Ken caught. It looked like a cross between a freshwater gar and a saltwater needlefish.
Trahira (Hoplias malabaricus)
We circled around the lake and continued to see the strange gar-needlefish. They would follow my spinner near the surface, but I couldn't get them to commit. Finally, as were heading back to our meeting point, I felt my lure connect with one of them. Success! This pike-characin was one of the coolest species from the trip.
Spotted Pike-Characin (Boulengerella maculata) - new hook & line species #372
Anthony suggested we hike back to the river on foot so the canoes would have an easier time navigating the log-choked creek. It turned out to be a fun experience, and we saw a lot of interesting plants and wildlife along the path. Back at the mothership boat we fished for catfish while we waited for dinner. Sweet juicy grubs ended up being the hot bait. I caught three or four of these armored catfish using them.
Granulated Catfish (Pterodoras granulosus) - new hook & line species #373
These fish were extremely strong despite their limited range of motion. You absolutely did not want to get nailed by those pectoral spines or the scutes along their sides. The only safe way to handle them was to pinch the sides of their bony head and keep all the pointy stuff pointed away from you.
I also caught this long-whiskered catfish, which I believe is the same species as the smaller one caught in the lake. They look a little less ridiculous when they reach a larger size like this.
Bloch's Catfish (Pimelodus blochii)
We saw a lot of interesting micros at the end of our hike back from the lake. Most notably, there were some really cool hatchetfish near the surface of the water that we wanted to try for. So, before it got too dark, a few of us headed back up the creek a bit armed with our Tanago hooks. The hatchetfish were extremely hard to catch. I'll admit, I got pretty frustrated with them. However, they ended up being a blessing in disguise. Every time I would lose my patience with the hatchetfish, I would take a break and catch a few tetras to help me cool off. In doing so, I ended up catching five new species! The goldencrown tetras were especially handsome. My only regret is that all the photos were in low light because the sun was setting.
Redeye Tetra (Stethaprion erythrops) - new hook & line species #374
Bigeye Tetra (Moenkhausia megalops) - new hook & line species #375
Angled Sardina (Triportheus angulatus) - new hook & line species #376
Cotinho Tetra (Moenkhausia cotinho) - new hook & line species #377
Goldencrown Tetra (Aphyocharax alburnus) - new hook & line species #378
When it was too dark to microfish we came back to the river and set up for catfish again. We were excited to hear that Josh and Joy had caught multiple Amazon redtail catfish. This was one of the iconic species that we all hoped to add to our lists. Ken and I fished a promising eddy just upstream of the creek mouth. We waited, and we waited...
But the redtail catfish had moved on. However, I finally did get a bite, and it was a nice consolation prize, a barred sorubim, or tiger shovelnose catfish! Ken asked if I wanted a photo with it, but I said no - it was too small of a fish to pose with. Instead, I stood up and held the fish out away from my body and attempted to take the photo myself. I was having trouble getting the entire catfish in frame, so I extended my arm further and leaned back with the camera. This is when a bad thing happened.
My leaning backwards caused the boat to rock. I tried to cancel out the rocking by leaning back more. It didn't work. I felt the boat start to tip past the point of no return, and then I fell backwards into the pitch black water - head first mind you - with the catfish firmly gripped in one hand and my waterproof camera firmly gripped in the other. Luckily, or unluckily (I'm not sure which), my boot caught on the edge of the boat and prevented me from being swept downstream. I desperately needed to come up for air though, so I reached up to grab the edge of the boat with the hand holding the catfish. As I held on and got my breathing under control, I watched our guide frantically pointing at my leg asking me something. Through his hand motions we were able to translate his question as, "did the catfish sting you?". I said no, it didn't sting me, but my leg really hurt from banging the edge of the boat. Then I looked at my leg.
The catfish was stuck to the side of my leg, and one of its pectoral spines was buried deep in my calf muscle. This was not good.
Barred Sorubim (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum) - new hook & line species #379
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