River Plate Outfitters -
Fishing Day

Anglers experience six full fishing days. The schedule normally begins with a 6:30 a.m. wake-up call and breakfast at 7:00 a.m. The knowledgeable native guides are ready to depart as early as 7:30 a.m., although fishermen are welcome to remain in camp and depart at their leisure.

Typically, anglers have lunch in the field, often meeting at a rendezvous to compare notes and effective techniques. Hammocks are hung in the trees for an often-needed siesta. Some fishermen may prefer to return to camp for lunch and a mid-day siesta. Anglers fishing more distant waters may spend the entire day searching and fighting fish, returning to camp in the evening. Dinner is usually served after all guests have returned to camp.

“The Peacock Bass, by nature is aggressive and its personality is downright belligerent. It is a fish so powerful, it can destroy tackle, and straighten hooks. The fiercest fighting fish in the world will smash and tangle lures, even break them apart, and then give you the battle of your life. It is impossible to exaggerate the strike and fight of this colorful gamefish. The larger it gets, in contradistinction to its North American cousins, the better it fights. The fish almost always jumps the second it is hooked, and after a head-shaking leap or two, they make an incredible run. Even a four or five pounder can wear a person out, and they probably grow to over 30 pounds.”

- Larry Larsen in his comprehensive book, “Peacock Bass Explosions!”

Flyfishing for Peacock Bass is extremely exciting and a battle right down to the end. In most cases, large, baitfish- type flies with “noticeable” silhouettes are the. Seasoned fly fishers can catch as many, if not more peacocks as a conventional fisherman.

Flyfishing for peacocks is extremely productive but can be tiring if you're not used to blind casting (and then rapidly stripping) a heavy-weight rod all day long. If you don't think you have this type of endurance, we recommend you bring casting or spinning tackle to give yourself a break. Streamers fished on sinking lines seem to be most productive (not only in terms of overall numbers of peacocks, but for larger sized fish as well). Popular streamers include 6-inch (5/0) bi-colored, heavily-dressed buck tails in red/yellow, olive/white, black/white, and orange/black. Big Deceivers, Bunnies, Saltwater Zonkers, Clouser Minnows, and other flashy baitfish imitations all take fish. All patterns should have generous amounts of matching Flashabou or Crystal Flash. Big saltwater poppers are exciting to fish, but can be extremely exhausting to cast and retrieve for a prolonged period. Gaines saltwater popper in red/yellow and pearl/olive hold up well and are hard to beat in terms of their 'action' in water. 'Sliders' are productive in clear water situations. Popovic's 'Silicone Mullet' in olive and white is hard to beat. Fly SHADE seems more important than COLOR depending upon light conditions. For this reason have an adequate selection of light and dark patterns. We recommend you bring at least two dozen streamers (half light and half dark) and 8 - 10 poppers. Hooks should be razor sharp-dull hooks SIGNIFICANTLY reduce hookup rate.