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That new Amazon fly fishing program we have been writing about for several months now has taken a new and broader twist. The program, you’ll recall, was the brainchild of J. W. Smith of Rod and Gun Resources (www.amazonflyfishers.com) and Luis Brown of River Plate Anglers, who pioneered the use of mini-barges to transport and house anglers in comfort on remote rivers. River Plate was also the first operator in the Amazon to enter into extensive agreements with Indian tribes to fish rivers on an exclusive basis. Their fly fishing program envisions the creation of fly fishing–only reserves in the upper reaches of various waters. Still in its infancy, no fly-only groups had been hosted until last month when, surprisingly, a new operator entered the picture – namely, Untamed Angling (www.untamedangling.com), the company that pioneered dorado fishing on the Uruguay River at La Zona and also in Bolivia at Tsimane.
As this is written, we are awaiting results of the first trips hosted by Untamed Angling (UA). Additional trips are planned for August and September of this year on the upper reaches of the Marie River, which is all the rage now among peacock bass cognoscenti. The river has been producing lots of huge fish. UA’s Rodrigo Salles says plans call for a trained English-speaking fly fishing guide to accompany all groups. The purchase of new shallow-draft, state-of-the-art fly fishing skiffs is on the drawing board, too. “These steps will ensure a new standard of quality in Amazon peacock bass fishing,” Salles says.
For sure, the entry of Untamed Angling into the peacock bass fishing business guarantees that fly fishing will play a larger role in the Amazon, where upscale American spincasters and baitcasters have ruled the roost up until now with their noisy topwater lures. There has long been a single fly fishing operator in the Amazon, of course, Agua Boa Lodge (www.aguaboaamazonlodge.com). It consistently earns rave reviews, despite being a fixed facility with a finite amount of water that anglers can reach in a single day. Teaming fly anglers with mobile mini-barges capable of reaching faraway stretches of fly fishing–only reserves is almost sure to be a winning combination. Stay tuned.