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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