I was invited on a fishing trip to Venezuela, most expenses paid for 10 days in 1998.
Caracas
Boats
Peacock Bass
Invited to make a trip to Venezuela back in 1998 I was happy to accept the invited with some pro bass fishermen. They said it was 120* everyday, and they weren’t lying, hot and humid everyday with no AC.
The Trip
There was a group of 6 that went. We flew from Chicago to Miami to Caracas, and stayed in a hotel complex. The next morning boarded a small plane on a mountain top. The plane rolled off and dove until it gained enough speed to level off. The scenery was excellent, water falls on mountain tops, villages, and small rivers.
We flew to southern Venezuela near the Colombian border on the Cinruco River, which was a beautiful river with clean water. We were flying, then dove down and landed in a field while all the guides and workers were standing there to greet us.
The Fishing
The normal lures were a surface lure called “Jumping Minnow” and everyone brought several and exchanged the treble hooks with 4x hooks which are very strong. They also use a swimming jig using a jerking motion.
The guides and owner told us we had bad news, the Peacock Bass were totally shut off. The last group didn’t catch any. So we headed out for a few hours to see if that was true, and it was.
The Button Trick
We went out right after we got there and my friend (who paid for the trip) wants to partner with me. After a nice boat ride on a hot afternoon we start fishing. An hour later and no fish on the usual Jumping Minnow lures. I added a button pegged up about a foot to give it a twitching action, like a small fish chasing an insect.
I started getting bites right away, but couldn’t get a hook set. My friend Jerry said to take that off, that we all use the same thing down here. I can understand that, but the fish weren’t biting so I had to experiment. When he invited me he didn’t say anything about rules on lures. Just then a giant fish smashed my lure and spit it out, leaving a huge swirl in the water. It was a huge fish what ever it was.
The Secret Weapon
Two hours later and still no fish. I changed lures to a jig and got Piranha biting the hair off. I just happened to buy 10 jumbo Rapalas at a bait shop before we left and tied one of those on. The store had a clearance so I bought them all. I tied one on and right away caught a 14 pounder!
It was getting late so we had to quit. Everyone was surprised I caught a big fish on a giant Rapala. The guide kept shouting Rapala Rapala! The fish were biting well the whole 10 days on that lure. I had enough Rapalas for everyone along with 4x treble hooks strong enough for those big Peacock Bass.
Rapala!
The next morning I caught 3 big Peacock Bass while fishing with Al – two 13# and one 14# on my Rapalas! I had the guide hold them up for me to get photos. My partner hadn’t caught a fish all day so he finally agreed to use one and caught his first fish. When we got back our guide yelled “Rapala, Rapala!” I passed them out to anyone who wanted one. I did good all week catching lots of big fish.
Fishing with Bob
The 3rd day I was matched up with Bob, one of the brothers that went with us. I caught fish all day again while my partner wasn’t catching any. Now this makes the 3rd guy who was watching me catch all the fish on my Rapalas. I offered one to Bob several times, but he refused because Jerry didn’t approve of us using different lures and Jerry paid for the trip.
We went into one small lagoon with lots of sharp lava rocks. I cast way back in and hooked a monster bass, likely 20 pounds. I could not stop him with my 20# test mono line and he raced along the shore trying to get the main channel. Bob and the guide were yelling, “don’t let him run” like I could stop that. I did try to keep the bass from getting to main channel but it raked my line across sharp rocks and cut my line.
Lure in Head
I sat down in the middle of the boat to tie on a new Rapala. Bob was throwing a temper tantrum because he wanted that fish so bad and hadn’t caught a thing in 2 days. He whipped his Jumping Minnow right into my scalp, burring 2 large treble hooks down deep. They had to cut my hat off to see it. They tried the string method, but the hooks were in too deep. I finally grabbed it and worked the hooks out.
The Best Spot
On the 4th day there was a lot of whispering at the lodge. Evidently no one wanted to fish with me because they weren’t catching many fish and I was. So it was decided, I get Bob again, and I got injured again. We fished some main channel spots, I caught fish here and there, but Bob had nothing. I offered to give him a Rapala if he wanted it and finally he did, catching his first fish of the trip, 4 days in.
The guide told us we were moving a backwater lake, the best spot was ours for the day. There are several types of Peacock Bass and these were smaller sized and they were loaded in there. It was a deep drop off going straight down to 20′. We were catching so many that I had to unhook my own fish and those bass have large teeth that sink into your thumb.
Bob had one decent fish on and was struggling to get it in while I had a nice one on myself, so I had to unhook and release it myself. I reached for my pliers and they were gone. Bob took them and left them back by his seat. I reached back and my back went out. It was pretty bad, I could barely walk and I was then bed ridden the rest of the day. The next morning I still couldn’t stand straight and had to stay behind. I had one of the kids make me a cane and I was able to walk to the river with it. I fished from shore and caught 5 bass and some other fish. One was a sheephead looking fish with teeth. When the guys got back they said fishing was tough again. I told them I had 5 from shore and they didn’t believe me.
Fishing in Boat Again
The next day I felt a little better and went out in the boat late morning with the lodge owner. We did ok, caught some of the colorful peacock bass. The 6th day I fished with Al again. Al is easy going and fun to fish with. I slowed down, did not want to hook anything big.
The Caiman and Pyara
On the 7th and last day I fished with Deny, who said he was going to kick my ass fishing I overheard him say to the guys. I was still laid up and could barely walk and did not want any big fish, by back was too sore.
There was a Caiman going after my lure in one spot with howler monkeys making a racket above us. Denny cast up there, and the Caiman grabbed the lure and gave a good fight. When he got it along side the boat, he threw it and threw it at my feet! That was the quickest I moved in days as I jumped up on a seat. I held it for a photo before we released it unharmed.
The guide asked if I had any last requests before we ended our 10 day trip and I said I wanted to catch a Payara, the ones with giant fangs. So we ran around the main channel fishing strong current and I did catch a nice one! It was in strong current by a tree branch and smashed my Rapala. Those fish are really slimy and the slime dries fast and sticks to your hands like glue!
Heading Home
The plane came back and landed in that field to pick us up. Back to Caracas to that hotel complex and next day back to the US. Back home from 120 temps to 20below zero in Illinois.
The image time stamp says 99 but it was off one year. The photos are not great, using a 35mm film camera. It was a great trip. At the time I was having back problems and losing weight. I was down to 125 pounds, my back was locked up-it had been for 3 years from running rough overhead cranes with broken rail joints. My back went out on me while there, but I was able to keep fishing.