Cotton Cordell Red-Fins tend to produce jumbo fish wherever anglers throw them, and nowhere is that more true than in the jungle-bound lagoons of the Amazon River basin in Brazil. Red-Fins are favored baits for the region’s most sought-after sportfish – spectacular colored and explosive peacock bass; however, occasionally something even larger and more exotic latches on when you are swimming a Red-Fin in Brazil.
Just ask Rick Schair.
The owner and operator of Wet-A-Line Tours, Schair was reminded just how big a fish a Red-Fin is apt to attract last season while he was fishing in a tributary of the Madeira River, which is a major tributary of the Amazon. Schair had peacocks in mind when something stopped a Chrome Blue C10 Red-Fin dead in its tracks, and it didn’t take long for Schair to figure out that this was no peacock bass. After a lengthy battle, Schair and his lead guide, Popcorn, landed a 185-pound pirarucu – a Goliath-like armor-plated inhabitant of the Amazon that has a snook’s mouth and an eel’s tail.
"The Red-Fin survived the fight and has gone on to catch many large peacocks, and is still in use in my tackle box," Schair said.
The C10 Red-Fin, which is 7 inches long, excels in the dark but clear waters of the Amazon basin because of its large profile, which imitates a big baitfish, unique rolling side-to-side action and ultra-tough construction. Peacock bass anglers also cherish Red-Fins because one of the best ways to work one is simply to cast it out, crank it back at a medium pace and hold on tight.
Other top lures for peacock bass and other Amazon giants include Bomber Magnum Long As, Creek Chub Knuckle-Heads and Heddon Zara Spooks, and veteran jungle anglers are eager to put Heddon’s new Magnum and Super Magnum Zara Spooks to work in South America. Constructed of wood and built ultra tough, these new Spooks are 7 and 8 inches long, respectively, and have loud rattles for calling up aggressive gamefish.
Wet-A-Line Tours fishes the Madeira, which feeds the Amazon from the south, during late summer and early fall, and then moves to the Rio Negro for winter/spring fishing. Trips include seven days of fishing, and the "fish camp" is a 130-foot luxury yacht, which tows well-equipped aluminum bass boats and moves daily to different waters.
For more information, visit Wet-A-Line Tours on line or give them a call at (888) 295-HOOK.