Tattoo Tuesday -- Welcome to the Jungle

You may not want to head to a foreign country any time in the near future, but if you’re jonesing for a trip to the Amazon like we are, there are other ways to think of exceptional South American fishing. Depending on where you live, and your level of risk-tolerance, the next best thing might be a tattoo.

We’ve been to the Rio Negro region of the Amazon Basin twice, where we whacked a bunch of big peacock bass, mostly on topwater prop baits. They’re colorful and acrobatic, which means they’re prime for good ink.

Here’s a good one from Nikki’s Tattoo Studio in North Carolina:

Tattoo Nikki.jpg

And another by Orlando’s Rise Above:

Tattoo Rise Above.jpg

And a third by Inksmith and Rogers:

Tattoo Inksmith.jpg

Which of the peacocks do you like best?

Last year I went without Hanna to the Mato Grosso state of Brazil, a few hundred miles south of our past trips, and my highlight was catching Payara – aka, “Vampire Fish.” There are definitely more peacock tattoos, but a little searching helped me find some toothy critters as well.

Like this skeletal black-and-white one from Hypnosis Tattoo in Peterborough, Ontario:

Tattoo Hypnosis.jpg

And this guy in Brazil got one on his noggin:

Tattoo Payara.png

We have not yet been to Argentina or Bolivia to chase Golden Dorado, but they’re definitely on our list. Skeet Reese, who fished for peacocks on our same waters a year after our first trip to Brazil told me that a 10-pound Dorado would kick the crap out of a 20-pound peacock – and the Dorados grow to over 50 pounds. That’s all it took to convince me.

Here’s one I found on Facebook by Martin Augusto Rodriguez of Argentina:

Tattoo Dorado1.jpg

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