Article Written by Armando Giraldo
There are so many fish we all have on our bucket lists that we wish to target in the near or immediate future. As anglers, there are many species that we want to check off the list and once we finally do, you realize that not all species give that itch of constant pursuit. To me, Arapaima was one of those bucket list fish that I had tried to fish for in the past with no luck. Pursuing them with hard earned success makes them a favorite species of mine, ranking high on my list that I just cannot get enough of.
There's just something about targeting fish that are far from easy. Those fish that make you doubt your skills, yourself, your gear, your flies, your hat, the shirt, the day, the time, the temperature, the sun, the clouds, the wind, the water, etc. etc. Infinite factors that spin in your head while you keep blind casting over and over while nothing happens.
The whole deal began a couple months ago, thanks to my friend Mauricio who sent me some pics of Arapaimas he had landed. I went nuts about it and the videos and pictures just kept coming. Finding the right time for him and I to make the trip plus obtaining the permit to fish those private waters took a while. Then It finally happened... green light! I rode 8 hours to meet him and fish for 3 days with the added bonus of doing this from a float tube.
The first day of fishing we went to this awesome looking lagoon, murky green water with a narrow but long island in the middle and a huge dead tree fallen next to it. A herd of Capibara splashed into the water leaving one big male sunbathing on it peacefully. I Geared up, a 12 weight rod, my trusty Cortland 50+ series Intermediate, which has been battling some amazing fish since last year, 6 feet of straight 50 pound Cortland mono as leader and an 8” black fly I tied previous to the trip.
Arapaimas were showing everywhere! I launched on my float tube, being pretty anxious about it and the fact that so many of them were rolling everywhere didn’t help. It just gets you so pumped up. Fishing from the float tube so close to the water, watching fish in the 20 to 200 pound class rise, sometimes splashing hard, others rolling softly and some others just boiling delicately next to you, had me building a lot of emotion and anxiety. I never stopped casting. The retrieve is supposed to be very slow. Just long strips with a few seconds pause. I was preparing myself for that sudden stop or maybe a strong strike or whatever was supposed to happen next. But time passed and nothing was happening. Again, It is funny how that makes you wonder, doubt and question yourself. I changed the retrieve; faster, slower, longer pauses, looking right, looking left, looking up. Thought back on all I read, all I watched, changed flies, heard advice from my friend, my gut… nothing. The whole day filled with watching monster fish rise everywhere and never felt the slightest tug. Man! I was hooked! That’s a challenge, that’s a fish that makes you think and I can get pretty obsessed with such a task. I couldn’t stop thinking why no fish showed any interest, talking to Mauricio who didn’t have a bite either; came to the conclusion that maybe water was too murky. Who knows? I dreamt of Arapaima that whole night.
The next day and second day of fishing, we changed waters and were met with clearer conditions and taller shorelines full of grass. We got there early and were told they had seen an increase in the activity as the day was getting warmer and that some fish had been hooked along the shoreline.
I was so pumped up and saw some fish rolling, but not as many as the day before. I launched on the float tube in that beautiful water, this time I was able to see my shoes and fins, it all felt really promising. I casted along the shoreline for hours to nothing visible, looking for that fish that was in hunt mode. I could see baitfish gathering in the grass, and I insisted that one had to be ready to eat.
Once in a while, a splash next to the shoreline would happen, 50, 100 feet or more from me. I kicked my way towards those places, casting repeatedly with no luck just to hear the same loud splashing on the other far side, which would force me towards there, again and again to no avail. This became frequent for hours.
I had to force myself to stop for a minute in order to calm the anxiety and observe what was going on. Fish were rolling a lot towards the middle, not necessarily feeders but that told me a larger group of fish should be there increasing my chances. Longer casts, very slow stripping, and a lot of repetition that can get very boring. The thing is you get spaced out easily after doing it over and over again. Finally, after hours of stripping I had my first strike. It caught me off guard, thinking whatever and I missed it. Damn!
I hooked my first Arapaima a few minutes later on a really aggressive strike. It felt just like setting the hook into a log that somehow bounces back hard. Without losing any time, it took off peeling 150 yds or so of backing in seconds. A powerful, amazing run, with head shakes and jumps. He towed me around which I thought could possibly work in my favor landing him, I was wrong. The sight of such a fish jumping and splashing so loud, so close to me while floating slightly higher from the water level is an image that is engraved into my brain.
We played Tug o’ war deep for 30 minutes until I was able to land him. Estimated at 130 to 140 pounds. Unbelievable, these fish are very thick, have huge shoulders and are so heavy. I was amazed at the Jurassic look, long fins, the red coloring towards the tail, the textures in the scales and what looks like laser engraved designs in a shovel shaped head. Eyes are pretty small in proportion to the size of the rest of the fish and a square mouth that was as hard as a rock. An incredible creature with ancient genetics.
Later in the afternoon I landed a second in the same weight range as the previous one that took me almost 40 minutes to land. this one peeled 200 yds of backing after a very violent strike. It jumped and dived several times and kicked my ass in the process. I am not sure why, but we still think it was a girl.
The third and last day, I had 3 and landed one. A smaller Arapaima in the 70 pound range. (Isn’t it amazing the “small” fish is in that weight class?) Pretty good fighter that didn’t run as much, but dove deep and had aggressive head shakes, jumping only at the end of the fight which took me around 20 minutes. I Jumped off the float tube one last time to hold, hug and admire such a fish before release. What an amazing experience that was.
Some thoughts
The 12 wt rod is a heavy one to blind cast that much but once you hook them it makes absolute sense. Cortland 50 + Series Intermediate helped a lot as it loads the rod easy and allows for long casts with max two false casts and a good haul. Another great thing about these lines when cared for properly is they won’t tangle as much and if they do a good shake in the air will untangle them often.
As line piles on the float tube’s stripping mesh so close to the reel, a bird nest is easy to happen and with fish that run like Arapima, it is the last thing you want to happen after working so hard for a strike.
Best flies for me were the bigger 8” long in black and brown/tan, I had no bites on 6” or even 5” long flies, although my friend Mauricio has had them on 6” in the past.
Fishing from the float tube was a blast, it didn’t tire them out as much as I thought and they have no problem towing you around. The only disadvantage if I had to find one is that rod angles to fight such big fish are not the best, I had to high stick a lot when they were underneath or too close to me lowering the pressure on them.
Arapáimas, Pirarucú or Paiche as they are also called are an incredible game fish ranking high on my list. To me, one of the South American jungles holy grails. They are definitely the fish of thousands of casts, they are there, they see or feel the fly, but weather they want to eat it or not is always in question. They are far from easy, which inspires that mystical fascination. After 3 days of continuous casting and very slow stripping effective presentation happened just 6 times!
About the Author
Armando Giraldo is a fly tyer, instructor and travel host. He was born in Columbia where he self taught himself fly fishing without many resources through destroying gear and trial and error. He runs Orinoco Flies where he specializes in flies for many different jungle species. To find out more about Armando or to inquire about a travel trip / purchase flies for jungle species visit: https://www.orinocoflies.com/
