River Monster Memories

As I sequestered myself in the house through a cold winter week, I got word from Advanced Taxidermy in Canada that my payara replica would be here shortly after the New Year. I kind of suspected that to be the case, because my friend Leroy Boss in New Mexico informed me a short while ago that he’d received his – and we’d not only caught them on the same day, but ordered them about the same time as well. 

Why did we choose Advanced? Well, a big part of it was because they’d done exceptional work on the tigerfish, cutthroat trout and two peacock bass that already adorn my walls. The other part is that there just aren’t that many places that already have a mold for a 40+-inch prehistoric beast. 

As I anticipated the arrival of my mount, I thought back to that amazing trip organized by Billy Chapman Jr. of Anglers Inn International to the Mato Grosso state of Brazil, south of Manaus. We caught so many big fish of various species, and experienced things few gringos will ever get to see – especially because the similarly remote regions of the world are shrinking or evaporating daily. 

I went through some pictures from that trip and watched the videos of the fights, and even though I’d witnessed it first hand it was jarring to see again just how primitive the landscape and the fish themselves were. Not only were the payara brutal and elusive fighters under any circumstances, but the current was absolutely ripping. We broke two imitation Boga Grips that day when a supposedly-tired fish twisted in its grasp and bent the metal. 

The fish on the wall will be an amazing reminder of that trip, but nothing will ever compare to being there.