| Mark and Marcus decide early
on that it would be wiser to insert an element of competition
in the tucunaré fishing. The person to win the maximum points
in the way of kilos caught only in the way of tucunaré, would
win the final prize. No one knew for certain exactly what
this prize would be, however if there were two or three they
would have to"share the prize ".
 Fractions didn't count, only whole numbers. If a fish weighted
a kilo and a half it only counted as a kilo.
Traira, piranha and even peixe de couro didn't count, which
was a pity, because Luciano, Mark and Paulo scored big time
with these. The largest fish caugh this trip was Paulo's monster
peixe de couro of 50 kilos! This fish was so big that legend
has it it took three grown men, Paulo, Marshall and the pilot
Salomão holding on to each other to maneuver the beast close
to the bank.
However let me let Paulo relate the story from his
own mouth:
"Marshall and I woke up at 4 A.M. Left at about 4:30, when
it was still dark. All we felt was the breadth of the river,
and the presence of the huge forest. We heard no birds and
the air was heavy. After about 40 minutes, we passed the expected
fishing site, because we were not able to recognize it in
the dark. We then motored back to it, tied the boat with a
small rope to a loosely rooted tree on the bank, and prepared
our fishing tackle .
We each put 1/3 of one traíra on a large hook, and as day
started to arrive, hurled the heavy bait about 15 m towards
the river channel. It was about 5:30, and the river was about
15m deep there. Salomão said there probably were fish there,
as it was the tip of an island, and fish/food from one part
of the river could go either way; big fish could also wait
to pounce on unsuspecting fish or food.
Which was what happened. At 5:55 my rod bent heavily. I waited
a bit then yanked the rod all the way back. I felt I had either
snagged a huge log going downriver, or maybe a fish. Confirmation
came instantly. The real started to sing. That obviously got
the three of us very excited. Salomão, the pilot, told me
to sit down, give line, and hold firmly, not to lose the rod
and fish. Marshall made a few good comments, but what I most
remember was that in a moment of confusion as we adjusted
positions, he held on to me - just in case. (Companions added
that the fish was so big that Salomão then hold on to Marshall
as well...but that may just be too much of a story).
Meanwhile, the real kept singing, in continual but different
pitches. The rod continued bent, we knew we had a fish, and
the line ran out. The rod bent further and I yelled back to
Salomão, "Salomão, acabou a linha! Solta o barco!" (Salomão,
the line finished. Release the boat.)
He fumbled in the back, obviously excited, got the motor started,
released the boat, and we were off. I was tense because I
had lost a big wish with him the day before; the tucunaré
had snapped the line, and I did not wish this to happen again.
It was raining slightly as we began our motored chase of the
fish. The fish probably swam for about 1km, as I slowly realed
him in, and he swam away again. When we finally saw the fish,
Salomão said he was too big to bring onboard, and suggested
we motor him to shore. So we put the motor in reverse and
started going towards the shore of an island.
The fight had taken 30 minutes. With 20 more minutes, we were
at the shore. The fish finally gave up, and turned belly up.
We saw it was big. We had taken one picture of myself with
the rod bent, and then took one more picture of Salomão trying
to hold the fish up. Then, the film ran out. Marshall´s camera
also was without a battery. So the only two pictures we have
are the rod bent, and a random piloteiro called Salomão holding
a random fish whose body is partially out of the water...
We released the fish. Then tried to fish some more "leather
fish" in different spots, without success. We then tried to
catch some tucunarés, also without any success. Back at the
boat, we found eager companions ready for a story, and anxious
for some confirmation. There, all we had was the pilot´s story
to his companions that this was the biggest "filhote" fish
he had ever brought to the boat, that he could not hold it
out of the water, and that the 17-kg capacity spring scale
we had obviously served no use.
When I informed my wife that I had caught a 45-kg fish, she
was impressed. Then, she was dismayed that I said we had let
it go. Useless point to explain the thrill of fishing, so
far away, so early in the morning, followed by subsequent
release. By the time I got to São Paulo, the fish had become
a 50-kg fish. My father, who has worked with scales for 50
years, asked if it was a real weight or an estimated weight.
I said, "Estimated," and left it at that.
Paulo"
 So if you think this is just a fishing story, here's the photo
to prove it!
After Mark had "consulted the judges" it was determined that
four of us were in first place. Osvaldo, Marcus, Luciano and
myself (Hans). However everybody became a champion of one
kind or another. Marcelo for instance became the "champion
of Chileans below 1m 60", and Francisco the "champion of smoking
Chileans"! |
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