Throughout the week Pam set a new personal record, Breno caught so many fish over 80cm we lost count, and Rodrigo had two fish over 90cm in a single day.
One learns a lot during a month in the jungle. This past month working in Brazil with Untamed Angling wasn’t my first long-haul assignment in the Amazon but, like past jobs, I came back grateful for the skills I have and with a long list of things I want to learn. Because there’s nothing quite like the jungle for teaching lessons and for exposing areas needing improvement.
And for highlighting the spots in which you’ve put in the work.
Rio Marié and the Headwaters Camp
My first week in the Amazon this trip was spent at the famed Rio Marié, a stunningly-gorgeous blackwater fishery in the northwestern corner of Brazil. The tannin-colored waters are home to cichla temensis–the largest species of peacock bass—as well as healthy numbers of butterfly peacock bass, which are smaller but a whole lot of fun. I was lucky enough to be teamed with a veritable A-Team of anglers for my time at Rio Marié: after two nights on the luxurious Untamed Amazon mothership, a group of us cut out and headed upriver for four days of fishing the headwaters, exploring further upriver and scouting out for client trips later in the season.
Sometimes you get lucky and get to work with the perfect group. This was one of those times. Our two-skiff exploratory squad consisted of Untamed Angling’s Brazil CEO Rodrigo Salles and his wife Pam, both strong anglers, who were joined in their boat by Lithuanian videographer extraordinaire and all-around mood-booster Vaidas Uselis. My skiff was manned by me, the random American woman with cameras, and Breno, a wonderful, affable Brazilian who could fish very well and knew how to hold fish properly for pictures. The native river boat Carlinha tailed behind us, carrying camp supplies and—believe it or not—Starlink. (Every night Vaidas and I crafted a little mobile camera charging / editing office on the boat’s central deck.)
If you’ve never fished for trophy peacock bass, you’re missing out on a core life experience. These fish are jungle predators: targeted with big, large-profile flies, and they aren’t always easy. But the effort pays off: throughout the week Pam set a new personal record, Breno caught so many fish over 80cm we lost count, and Rodrigo had two fish over 90cm in a single day. Thanks to an epic guide team including head guide Rafa and indigenous-turned-pro guide Carlos (who was utterly wonderful), joined by native guide Neto, we all got into so many peacocks that we lost track daily.
At night we’d tuck into a new campsite—the Carlinha would have moved camp upriver each day while we fished—to enjoy good food, excellent company, and a good night’s sleep in the jungle wilderness before doing it all over again the next day.
My last cast of the last day, a fish we’d been working on for a while finally decided to eat. I’d landed a fish of 19.8lbs. earlier in the week, preciously close to the coveted 20-lb. mark but still shy, and had decided I was content without making it over the marker this trip. For I had no doubt I’d be back to Rio Marié some day, with more shots at big fish in the future. But this last fish… this last fish changed that. He measured in at 84cm and a 20.5lbs., enough to get me over the 20-lb. mark. The perfect end to the trip.
And it just means that next time, I need to get over 21lbs.
I fished both the 890Ti 8-wt. Titanium and the Reference 10-wt. Bandit FastGlass, both paired with Scientific Anglers lines at Rio Marié and the Headwaters Camp. I’m hosting groups back to Rio Marié in both 2026 and 2027—reach out for details!
Learning From the Kayapó and Kendjam
After Rio Marié I headed southeast, crossing hundreds of miles of Amazon jungle before arriving at Kendjam, located where the rainforest meets the savannah. The jungle here is more arid, and is home to a seemingly endless array of wildlife, including jaguar (we run into three in the first week), puma (I see two the second week), capybara, tapir, giant blue macaws, red striped water snakes, giant river otters, electric eels, caiman… the list goes on and on. And more bird species than I can count.
And while the wildlife is lovely, I’m here for something else: the fish. The Iriri River, which flows alongside Kendjam Village, home to the indigenous Kayapó tribe and then—three hours downstream—Kendjam Lodge, is home to a hit list of jungle species to chase with a fly rod. Peacock bass, payara, three kinds of pacu, matrinxã, wolf fish, bicuda, red-tailed catfish, surubi, piranha and more… they all call the Iriri home, and many of them will eat a dry fly.
No one knows this fishery better than the Kayapó. Kendjam Lodge is run in deep cooperation with the tribe, and every fishing boat departs the lodge each day with not only an English-speaking pro guide, but also one or two Kayapó guides. It’s a combination which means we find the right places on the river, stay safe in a very wild corner of the world, and have a lot of fun.
Kendjam Lodge itself feels a bit like an African tent camp, though we are treated to actually wooden cabin-style rooms with en-suite bathrooms… posh for the jungle. The daily routine is gloriously simple: rise, breakfast, head to the boats and motor to our beat of the day, fish, boat lunch, fish more, motor home, shower, hang, dinner, sleep. Rinse and repeat. It’s a rhythm I easily fall into during my two weeks and the lodge, and one that leaves me wanting more of the same. Something about the wildness of the place, the camaraderie of the guides and newfound Kayapó friends, and the plethora of fish ready to come play, makes it seems like paradise. By the end of my time at Kendjam I’ve ticked off eight new species and know I want to return to chase a few more.
At Kendjam I fished the Reference 5-wt 590 G Carbon Fiber and the Reference 6-wt. 686 FastGlass (lovely for peacock bass and wolf fish!), paired again with Scientific Anglers lines. I’ll likely be hosting a group at Kendjam in the future, too—let me know if you want in on the adventure!
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