One Heck Of A Ride

192 of tourism. Their center supported research and advocated conservation of the peacock bass fishery. Visiting anglers, such as us, were housed in cabins near the lodge. Jack and I shared a guide and fished various hot spots on the river from an outboard- powered bass boat. We were close to the Equator and although it was mid-winter at home, a thermometer that Jack wore around his neck said it reached 120 degrees or more every day we were there. To keep us hydrated, we were continuously served our choice of water, soda pop or beer. Breakfasts and dinners were at the lodge, but lunches featuring grilled-on-site peacock bass and piranha were on shore wherever we happened to be that day. I was not surprised to learn the IGFA (International Game Fish Association) world- record peacock bass had been caught near one of the places where we fished. The lodge furnished all of our fishing tackle and lures. When the fish were hitting topwater lures we were provided brightly colored seven-inch Luhr-Jensen topwater lures called “Woodchoppers.” (It was amazing to see how high a peacock bass could violently toss those big lures when they struck and missed being hooked. There was no way to measure it, but it’s safe to say the larger fish threw them four or five feet into the air!) When the topwater action slowed, we switched to smaller diving lures and continued to catch fish. There were three types of peacock bass in A fishing Trip I’ll Never Forget that stretch of the river, but we mostly caught the species known as “three-barred.” Although the largest “we” caught weighed only about twelve pounds, we were told this species could reach more than twice that weight. (I put quotation marks around “we” because Jack caught several of them that size. My largest weighed only about South America, a fishing trip I’ll never forget. Jack and a 12lb. Peacock Bass Author and well marked Peacock Bass