Amazon Adventure Day 8 - The Kendjam 'Gram

My Catch of the Day - Photo Credit JV

Our third day on the River and the halfway point for Kendjam Lodge fishing experience on the Iriri.  It's Danny's turn to get inked before heading out.

Fishing Day 3

Guide: Joao (JV)
Native Guides: Foguinho, Pebcue
Fishing Beat: 2
QOD (Quotes of the Day): "Tep Kokoi!" and "Tep Ken!" - Native Guides 

Today and tomorrow we'll have Joao as our guide and I'm delighted we have him for two days. To be clear, all the guides are great. They love fishing, know what they are doing,  go about their business in an efficient and professional manner, make sure each angler's gear is properly configured for success, and are always quick to take action - whether its wrestling the boat, netting a fish, replacing flies, leaders, lures or freeing a snagged cast. Can't say enough about how impressed and appreciative I am of their work with us. 

That said, Joao has a unique skill. He's broken the code on composing pictures and videos of anglers with their catch. It seems that most of the best shots on the Kendjam website and social media are his handiwork. Yesterday's image of Larry's catch was a JV composition. My goal of the day is to have a JV photo worthy catch. 

First, I should explain the native guide QODs. When we're fishing from the boat, we're often drifting downstream in briskly moving water, casting to rocks or water near the shore under overhanging bushes and tree branches. Harlan fly fishes from the front of the boat and I'm spin casting from the middle back. Inevitably we cut a cast too close and snag a tree branch or rock. Which precipitates a call of...

"Tep Kokoi!" 

"Tep Kokoi!"  translates to "Monkey Fish!" - The native guides are amused that we are casting into trees - apparently trying to catch a monkey. Similarly "Tep Ken!" translates to "Rock Fish!" as we apparently attempt to hook rocks out of the bottom of the River. You get the idea. 

But we did actually hook into some "Tep Tep" (Fish Fish) this day. Harlan let JV know that we would prefer to do more wet wading than casting from a moving boat and JV obliged.  JV found a spot where a feeder stream fed into the main river. The native guides wrestled the boat around some rapids while Harlan and JV waded upstream. The Kendjam guides are all accomplished fly fisherman and I think they prefer to guide with fly fisherman than us lowly spin casters. Elitists one and all. Anyway, this led to one of my prouder catches. With Harlan and JV around the bend, and the native guides downstream with the boat, I hooked a nice bicuda. 

 

Don't worry about me, I got this...

Not only did I hook him, but I landed him without a net, as there was no one with a net in sight. Needing to document the catch, I balanced the phone on a rock, turned on the timer delay, got the shot, and released the fish. 

Meanwhile, around the bend, I was glad to see Harlan getting some guidance, quality net and photo work from JV while landing this Peacock Bass. 

It was a great day fishing for both of us. I got 5 Peacocks, 1 Jakunda, 1 Matrinxa and 3 or more piranhas. Harlan had at least that many. Most importantly, I got my JV Original Peacock Pose Pic and Vid. He posted it as an Instagram story which goes away in 24 hours (Which I really don't understand - What's the point?).  But he also sent me the source pics and, with Jared's help (I don't use the 'Gram much), I posted it it on my Instagram account  and on my Facebook account. 

Another of my favorite bass pics by JV

Some more pics of my catches this day: 

My first Matrinxa

The native guides were impressed with the Matrinxa and Piranha catch

New species for me - a cute Jakunda

Harlan also had a great day...

Harlan's best bicuda, best matrinxa, & best peacock bass.

Cousin Danny was whining about the lack of cousin pics in this blog. Which is primarily due to the fact that they were in another boat and I don't have their pics. However, I try to accommodate and, going forward, will include a Token Heller Fish Pic of the Day in my posts. 

Danny's big bicuda

Back at the lodge - more fish stories, more drinks, more good food, and more good cheer.

Snacks accompanied fish stories at the end of the day.

Dinner - Roughing it in the Jungle

My "Go To" drink at the lodge - The Jovani Gin and Tonic

Oh Yeah. We also played cards. Back to Euchre. Harlan opted out, so I teamed with Jared against Larry and Danny.  We took two out of three. And I remain undefeated. 

Amazon Adventure Day 7 - It's called "fishing" not "catching"

The Green Wall

"The lofty and matted forest rose like a green wall on either hand. The trees were stately and beautiful. The looped and twisted vines hung from them like great ropes. Masses of epiphytes grew both on the dead trees and the living; some had huge leaves like elephants’ ears. Now and then fragrant scents were blown to us from flowers on the banks. There were not many birds, and for the most part the forest was silent; rarely we heard strange calls from the depths of the woods, or saw a cormorant or ibis." - Teddy Roosevelt, "Through the Brazilian Wilderness"

Today it's our turn to have the mystical body adornment applied. Expectations are high for Day 2 on the river. 

I'm liking this look.

The itinerary for our second day on the river is the same as the first. As will be the next four days. 

Fishing Day 2
Guide: Ezekiel
Native Guides: Menhmro, Bepayre
Fishing Beat: 3

QOD (Quote of the Day): "As the saying goes - Lucky in cards, unlucky in fish." - MW 

We head out full of confidence proudly displaying our new ink... 

There is no getting around it. We did not have a good day fishing. I had plenty of strikes but kept losing them due to my Midwest fishing instincts. I did land a piranha, but it was not photo worthy. Harlan had better luck than me, landing some peacock bass and piranha. But certainly disappointing compared to yesterday. 

  

Here Harlan with a Peacock Bass and me with a desiccated baby Pacu. Ezekial brought the Pacu to me while Harlan was fly fishing from shore and I was thrashing the water with my lure from the boat. I guess he wanted to be sure I had a fish in my hand before the day was out. Very considerate of him. 

Given the lack of fishing success, today is a good day to post some scenic Iriri River landscapes. 

 

I can't blame Ezekial or the native guides for my fishing performance today. They put us on fish all day. I just couldn't land them. 

Others had better luck this day. As noted elsewhere, I am trying to accommodate some of the incessant whining coming from the cousins about insufficient photos of their catches. Despite the fact that they were in another boat and I don't have their pics, I try to accommodate. Today's Token Heller Fish Pic of the Day:

Jared lands a monster payara.

 

One nice thing about the Kendjam Lodge experience - Regardless of whether you had a successful fishing day or not... At the end of the day, after nine hours on the river, when you trudge up the beach back to the lodge, Jovani has a delicious snack ready and Allie is waiting to greet you with a smile and a cold drink.

Dinner, as usual, was delicious. Moqueca's Fish was everyone's favorite.

After dinner, drinks, and many more fish stories (everyone had a much better day fishing than us), the conversation turned to cards. Larry was again insisting we play Euchre - a game with which I was completely unfamiliar. But, I agreed - thinking that losing at Euchre might improve our fishing odd the next day (see QOD at top of this post). Harlan and I teamed against Larry and Jared. We played two games with a win each. We never got to the rubber game due to a ruling dispute. Larry is just bad at explaining the rules of the game. Or he was changing the rules from one game to the next. Don't know. In any case we left it as a tie and I remain undefeated. 

Amazon Adventure Day 6 - Fishing at Last

My Catch of the Day - A Big Piranha

"The piranha is a short, deep-bodied fish, with a blunt face and a heavily undershot or projecting lower jaw which gapes widely. The razor-edged teeth are wedge-shaped like a shark’s, and the jaw muscles possess great power. The rabid, furious snaps drive the teeth through flesh and bone. The head with its short muzzle, staring malignant eyes, and gaping, cruelly armed jaws, is the embodiment of evil ferocity; and the actions of the fish exactly match its looks. I never witnessed an exhibition of such impotent, savage fury as was shown by the piranhas as they flapped on deck... The only redeeming feature about them is that they are themselves fairly good to eat, although with too many bones." - Teddy Roosevelt, "Through the Brazilian Wilderness"

The official itinerary for 27-July to 01-August:

"Each day individual team (2 anglers) will head out for the day, fishing downstream the Iriri River, its channels and tributaries. Each two anglers will share a fluent English speaking fly fishing guide along with a local native guide in an aluminum boat. Both anglers are able to constantly fish all day long. That allows anglers to access an amazing new area neve fished before by guests and also optimize fishing days with less navigation and more fishing hours. The outcomes are planned for two anglers. 

Typical Day 

5:30 AM - Coffee is hot

7:00 AM - Breakfast

8:00 AM - Head to fishing grounds

12:00 to 1:00 PM - Anglers will have a picnic style lunch on the river.

1:00 PM - After lunch, fishing will resume until late afternoon when the

guides will deliver anglers back to the camp around 5:30 PM

6:30 PM - Cocktails and appetizers will be served

7:30 PM - Dinner will be served"

The challenge is to try to summarize some of our wild fishing and extraordinary experiences on the Irini River over the next six days. We'll start with the daily drill: 

Two anglers are paired with an Untamed Angling Fishing Guide and two Native Guides who drive, paddle, and wrestle the aluminum skiff around one of four designated fishing "beats" or sections on the river. The sections are large with many different options to fish in each "beat". Eight anglers means four boats, one per "beat" each day. We'll each see all four guides, two days each with the first two guides, then one day each for the remaining guides on the last two days.  

DISCLOSURE: Harlan and I are paired for the entire trip so obviously our direct experience is most of what we can describe in this journal. Anything we include about the other anglers should be treated as second hand uncorroborated fish stories. 

I should also note that, while I consider myself a good fisherman, I was clearly outclassed by everyone else on this trip. The other seven anglers have all had much more experience than me, as evidenced by the fish stories they told and the gear they brought. Everyone had a large selection of lures and/or flies and at least two or three rod /reel combinations.  I purchased a new spinning rod and reel just for the trip (based on cousin Danny's recommendation) and borrowed a fly rod from my brother-in-law, Jeff. I brought seven lures that were purchased for me by my brother Harlan based on cousin Larry's recommendation. I carried my lures in a ziplock plastic bag - a source of some amusement and sympathy from my fellow anglers who all carried backpacks full of flies and lures. 

Fishing Day 1

Guide: Ezekiel
Native Guides: Menhmro, Bepayre
Fishing Beat: 4
QOD (Quote of the Day): "Talk to me when you still have seven lures." - Jared

Before heading for the boats, we have another opportunity for a fun aspect of the trip - a local artist applying decorative body designs. You tell her the general area you want painted and she applies the design as she sees fit. The patterns are supposed to help protect you from the Amazon dangers or help you catch fish, or both, or neither. Don't know. In any case, Jared was the first to volunteer, setting the bar pretty high for the rest of us. 

Back to the fishing, When fishing at home in Big Shag Lake with visiting friends and family, we will often track First Fish, Most Fish, and Biggest Fish honors. Other additional categories than could be applied at Kendjam might include Most Species, Toughest Catch and Weirdest Catch. 

As the saying goes - "It's called fishing, not catching." You never know what to expect when you hit the water. But for us this first day - the action started early.  I caught the first fish in our boat. A piranha...

First Fish - A Piranha

I doubt anyone else in the other boats were even thinking about tracking the first fish of the trip, BUT... we had a short ride on our beat, this one came quickly, and the photo has a time stamp of 8:59 AM Sunday, July 27. Which was pretty early after we put the boats in the water. So, unless someone else documents an earlier time stamp, I'm claiming First Fish honors for the group.

The fish soon started coming fast and furious. We both lost a few hooked fish as we needed to unlearn the way we fish in the Midwest. There, you strike a fish too hard and you might yank the hook out it's mouth. Here the mouth of the fish is so tough that if you don't strike hard and frequently, the hook won't set and you'll lose it. 

We each managed to land a few small Peacock Bass and I got a Bicuda. My big catch before lunch was the big Piranha at the top of the page and here: 

The native guides were sufficiently impressed that they kept the piranha to bring back to the family for a meal. As I already determined in a previous post, piranha are good eating. 

We pulled ashore for lunch at a peaceful shaded spot and enjoyed the sandwiches and other foodstuffs we each selected this morning.

 Then back on the river. Significant catches after lunch include:

Harlan caught a nice Matrinxa...

... and I caught another nice bicuda.

My count for the day: 5 - Piranhas, 2 - Peacock Bass, 2 - Bicuda.  Harlan had a similar total with different mix. We were both pretty happy with our first day on the River. 

Back at the Lodge, the Angling Eight gravitated to the Lodge for a drink and to exchange stories. Everyone had a good day. Brian caught seven different species, Dave hooked six Wolf fish. The Hellers took too many fish to count (by their count), apparently aided by Danny's innovative new chumming technique. 

Everyone was exhausted after dinner, but Larry wanted to play cards. This invoked a discussion of whether we should play Euchre (which Harlan and I never played) or Hearts (which the Hellers never played). The discussion precipitated the OQOD (Other Quote of the Day) by your humble Blogger:

"I've never lost a game of Hearts." - Mike 

So Mike, Harlan, Larry and Jared played Hearts. 

And I won. 

On to day two. 

Amazon Adventure Day 5 - Flying and Floating to the Kendjam Fishing Lodge

Anglers Assemble!
L to R - Fred, Brian, Danny, Jared, Larry, Harlan, Dave, Mike

Quote of the Day: "Are you going to wear that hat fishing?" - Brian

The official itinerary for 26-July:

"Breakfast Buffet at Hotel. The host will pick up the group at approximately 5:30 AM and head to the local airport, to board the charter flight to Kendjam. After a 3:30 hours flight, guests will arrive at the Kendjam Indian Community landing strip where our guides and staff will be waiting. There will be a “Meet and Greet” providing anglers time to discover the Kayapo culture, social organization and more. We will present the group to the Indian chiefs. The group will head downstream to the Lodge. Anglers will be served a simple lunch of sandwiches for the 3 hours boat trip downstream. It’s a great trip to the lodge where anglers will see great river scenery, birds, animals and obviously lots of fish in the Iriri clear waters. Anglers will use this first afternoon to get situated and ready their tackle for the following day. That evening the fishing team will brief anglers on the daily fishing plans and make arrangements for any exploratory camping trip plans." 

On our way

The itinerary closely matched reality.  We're up before dawn, breakfast at the hotel, check out, gather luggage in the lobby, then loaded into a mini-van and whisked to a local airport. The bags are weighed and loaded. It's actually a two-step before we're on out way. The plane takes off with our bags to fly to the main airport and refuel. We bus there, clear security, and board. 

Flying and Floating to the Kendjam Lodge

Although we greeted our traveling companions individually the night before, this is our first opportunity to meet as a group. Only eight anglers are allowed at Kendjam for each one week slot during the dry season. The five in the Heller / Wallach family contingent are the majority of the group. As I'm older than Danny by a few months, I thought I'd be the old man in the group. But of the remaining three, Dave was 76, and Fred 84.  So there's that. 

Another way to divvy up the group was by fishing style. Danny, Larry and Jared are pure spin fisherman. Dave, Fred, Brian and Harlan are committed fly fisherman. I brought both a spinning and fly rod /reel, but planned to primarily spin. Let the debates begin. 

Flying

The plane is a single engine Cessna 208/B Caravan. And we're off..

On board and on our way.

Mike, Brian, Harlan

 

Upon departing Manaus, we are offered another unique perspective of the Encontro das Águas as we fly over the confluence of Rio Negro and Rio Amazonas.

Brazil is a big country. Approximately 85% the geographic area of the United States. And about 60% of the country is encompassed by native vegetation, primarily in the Amazon Rain Forest and associated geographies and ecoystems. That area alone is comparable to the size of Europe. 

It is relatively easy to understand these numbers in a dispassionate analytical way.  Not so looking out the window during our flight. Our views from the the plane over the 3.5+ hour flight covered a small percentage of Amazon Rain Forest. But even with that limited scope, it presents a perspective on the size of the Amazon forest, rivers, highlands, wetlands and wilderness that is so incomprehensively vast, it fills you with wonder and astonishment.

The landing at the Kayapo village of Kendjam offers a bit of excitement as the plane banks over Kendjam Rock, clears the trees and lands on a dirt strip that doubles as a road the rest of the week.

Kendjam Rock and locals strolling down the landing strip.

Floating

 

Shortly after we disembark and bags are unloaded, the anglers from the previous week at the lodge board the Cessna and take off for Manaus. A cycle that will be repeated for us one week hence. 

There's not much time to interact with the locals as the bags are quickly loaded onto the waiting aluminum skiffs, as are we. We change into water shoes and sun shirts for protection during the ride. The itinerary accurately describes the journey as we are handed a "simple" sandwich and push off for the downstream cruise.

So, after 3 1/2 hours in the plane we now embark on a 3 1/2 hour boat ride down the Iriri River to the Lodge. I labeled this blog section as "Floating", but that's fake news. It's more like an exciting motorized nature tour, while running small rapids and portaging around shallow areas and small waterfalls. There are two angler guests in each boat along with a guide and one or two native guides controlling the motor and/or paddling from the bow. Harlan and I are paired with a couple of native guides. 

Let's check in again with Teddy:

"The paddlers were a strapping set. They were expert rivermen and men of the forest, skilled veterans in wilderness work. They were lithe as panthers and brawny as bears. They swam like waterdogs. They were equally at home with pole and paddle, with axe and machete; and one was a good cook and others were good men around camp." - Teddy Roosevelt, "Through the Brazilian Wilderness" 

At the lodge we settle into our rooms, and start setting up our rods, reels and bait. The guides check out our gear, make suggestions, and change out some lines. Mostly they cut out the flourocarbon and go with long wire leaders and biteline.

We convene for dinner in the lodge and get to know each other. 

Many fish stories are told. Some of them true. 

The 7/26/25 - 8/2/25 guests first dinner at Ketcham
L to R - Danny, Jared, Mike, Harlan, Fred, Dave, Brian

Tomorrow we fish.