Usually swimming at 30 to 40 meters deep (100 feet to 130 feet ) , these Amazonian creatures can easily tow away your boat if you are not an avid sportfisherman. According to the world renowned marine scientist and conservationist Jacques Cousteau, these catfish (brachyplathystoma filamentosum) are the biggest scaleless or leather skinned fish in Brazil, reaching 3 meters (10 feet) in length and weighing up to 600 kgs. (approx. 1,200 lbs).
February to May often brings some of the biggest Amazonian catfish of the year, haunting the deep poços (wells) of the Xingu river, at the Belo Monte Fishing Lodge, as the locals call the deepest parts of the river. Fish under 100 kgs. (200 Lbs) are referred to as filhotes (pups) and piraiba above 200 lbs In the traditional method of fishing for giant catfish, hand lines are the instrument of choice.
Locals don't get to enjoy the action that's afforded the sport fishing angler in a rod and reel battle with these magnificent titans. In the local custom, baited hooks with 100 lb. test static lines are set with floats and weighted with rocks to sink to the bottom of the river. The lines are set with five to a float, set 15 feet apart, each hook baited with a 2 lb. payara fish. Piraíba catfish usually feed from 4am to 8am, so local fisherman seek out other species from midnight until 4am, when these monsters begin their daily hunt for food. At 5am, the first float begins to show the first signs of trouble. It starts to move slowly back and forth and sometimes in a circle, until it takes off in a bolt , moving as fast as a motor propelled launch . Pedro, the most senior member of the group, with 25 years on the river, grasps the animated line and hand-over-hand attempts by brute force to overcome the will of the determined creature to head for the depths. With boat in tow and his companions slapping the water to confound the beast, their only hope is to drive this piraíba to the shallows.
As the fish takes a turn for the flats, Pedro jumps in the water and literally wrestles the finned brute to the shore, struggling to maintain his balance and avoid being drowned in the tussel. Eventually with benefit of experience and a fair amount of good fortune, the giant mud sucker is grounded, with hunter and prey in a state of complete exhaustion.
Hoping to hear from you soon, Flavio
