Fishing at Lake Guri

As mentioned in the previous post, I recently went fishing for Peacock Bass at Lake Guri which is only about 70-80 miles north of Angel Falls. This was my second journey into the heart of the Gran Sabana. I checked in on the website of the fishing camp, The Headwaters Fishing Club, (look at the "fishing report") and lo and behold there was a post about our fishing trip written by the proprietor of the fishing camp, Steve Shoulders. Now steve is a good ole boy from East Texas, and he can tell a story, but his account of the fishing trip is pretty straight up accurate...well as accurate as fish stories go anyway. I am not sure what prompted the first part of the post, about grammer and bodily functions, but it made for some entertaining reading. So, without further adieu, I will let Steve tell you all about our fishing trip:

It has been brought to my attention by a very good friend of mine, who for the sake of continuing that friendship, will be referred to as Mr. Word Perfect or Mr. Fishing Report Censor, depending upon which hat he wishes to wear while harassing me. Mr. WP told me that my reports were chocked full of spelling and grammatical errors, and I should do something to correct the mistakes prior to sending it out worldwide. He also continued his critique of my writing by saying certain subject matter such as bowel movements, farting, and erectile dysfunction should be left for the locker room.Well Mr. WP, I am proud to announce to the world that I have taken your advice, and corrections have been made. Although you probably won't know it since I took you off my mailing list. Now that I'm free of such unnecessary restraints, I shall forge ahead with my ever so enlightening report.Although the water level in Lake Guri continues to hold much higher than normal for this time of the year, the fish are beginning to start acting like they are supposed to in January. By that I mean they are moving into the shallows to feed, and for us that means good topwater action for some really big peacock bass.This past Monday and Tuesday, it was my pleasure to get a chance to fish with David Brown, Mike Siemer, and Dave Smith, who, and I'm not making this up, is of Hawaiian, Mexican, German, Polish, French, and Dutch ancestry. I told Dave that it must be difficult to choose who to root for at the Olympic Games.Mike and I started the trip out fishing together, and in the first hour we had already boated four peacock bass from 10-13 lbs. Yozuri Minnows and Bomber Long A's were our best big fish producers. But being a true sportsman, I tied on a Norman Bait Co. Little N in a perch pattern, and caught numerous other fish up to 9 lbs. It became quite apparent to Mike and I that every time David and Dave's boat got near us, we always hooked a big fish right in front of them. Their guide, Angel, also noticed this, and he did everything in his power not to be within the same time zone as us after the first three or four big fish. Don't you just hate an uncooperative guide, not to mention one being downright unfriendly. Irregardless (This is a nonexistent word Mr. WP need only see me use for it to cause him to fart loudly, followed by watery bowels, which in turn cause erectile dysfunction), Mike and I had a great morning fishing together, as we boated eighteen fish with nine if them over 8 lbs.That afternoon, I joined up with my new multinational friend, Dave, and we went after him a big'un to brag about. As luck would have it, fishing had slowed down considerably from the morning session, but at HFC there is no such thing as a bad session, just less than one would desire sessions. We were fishing with HFC guide, Santos, and I don't think there was a lure left in my tackle box Santos didn't tie on and try, unfortunately with little success. As the sun was just about to wish us goodbye for the day, we rounded a rocky point, and 'Shazaaam', Dave tied into a big fish on a large minnow bait. Soon Dave had his big fish in the boat, and Santos and I breathed a sign of relief. As Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over until it's over." Dave's fish was a big, beautiful female peacock bass, but you will just have to take my word for it since he hasn't sent me the photo. The last session on Tuesday, I fished with repeat client and friend, David Brown, who until that point on this trip had not been able to land anything over 9 lbs. All that was about to change, and change dramatically. Our guide, Angel, suggested David use a red headed/white bodied Chug Bug of his, and within minutes of starting, David had his first 10 lb fish in the boat. Then David proceeded to land one fish after another, while your truly turned fishing into a spectator sport. When the score reached david 7, Steve 0, I finally managed to land an 8 lb fish, which was my only fish of the afternoon. David continued landing fish, and after a few bad luck battles with some huge fish, he boated the 12 lb fish shown in the attached photo. Even though I should have been happy my client had such a great afternoon of fishing, I could only sit there watching the sun go down thinking what might have happened if I would have had a similar bait as the one Angel had loaned David. I mentioned this to Angel, and with a look on his face that only a diabolical guide could muster, he informed me that in one of my boxes there was a brand new one just like it. Since it hasn't rained more than a little sprinkle here and there, I am going to officially declare dry season upon us. This also means the super sized peacock bass are feeding heavily in the shallows, and they are suckers for baits thrown anywhere in their vicinity. Why don't you give me a call, and that bait could be yours. There are some weekday openings for groups, and only limited openings on weekends all the way into March. You do not have to be an expert fisherman to catch these fish, because my guides and I will assist you in learning all the techniques necessary to make your dream a reality. We have been doing just this thing for many, many others over the years, and I believe we are pretty darn good at it, as our record of having over 90 % of all fishermen that come to HFC catch at least a 10 lb peacock bass each and every trip. Ask any other camp to match or even come close to that. Ya'll have a GREAT week!!!!

Wow! Well said, Steve. Another fish that inhabit the waters of Lake Guri, and rivers in Venezuela in general, is the Payara. These fish look psychotic! look at the one Dave caught. Although we were not really fishing for Payara, a few jumped onto the hook. Unfortunately, I did not catch one.

Dave Brown and his Payara. Check out the teeth on that bad boy!!!

The drive out to Guri was quite arduous. It was twelve hours from Caracas. We drove through mountains near Caracas, then jungle banana plantations to the east of Caracas, then along the arid Caribbean coast, then south through the semi arid plains of the Orinoco River Valley, which is one of the big oil producing regions of Venezuela, and, interestingly, looks a lot like Texas and finally into the Sabana. Our trip included a 2.5 hour drive on a dirt road that deteriorated into waht I would charitably call a path. We were officially in the middle of nowhere. The terrain around Guri alternates between the grasslands of the Sabana and jungle. There wer times while fishing that flocks of Blur Macaws flew overhead, parrots played in the trees and Red Howler Monkeys could be heard roaring in the jungle. It was quite amazing.

The jungle along the shore of Guri.

Moriche Palms growing in the water.

Moriche Palms at sunset.