Jungle Permit & Golden Dreams

There I was, in a dugout canoe, jamming to AC/DC heading upriver still in shock that we had finally made it to the Bolivian Jungle. The vastness of untouched wildness around me was just starting to set in, and I couldn’t wait for the week ahead.

Untamed Angling’s Tsimane programs had been on my mind for as long as I can remember. Epic shots of huge dorado crashing bait and eating flies with prejudice. Countless birds and jungle species making unfamiliar sounds as you make your way through the heart of the Bolivian Amazon. To me, there is no experience that seemed quite on the level of adventure as this.

Two years ago, prior to my job with Fly Water Travel and as a guide with Confluence Fly Shop, I reached out to a handful of my most adventurous guests for the trip of a lifetime. Within a day or two, we had a full group and were set to head to Untamed Angling’s Pluma Lodge, arguably the best-known golden dorado operation in the world. The waiting game began. Periodic check-ins: what flies to tie, travel changes, gear lists, etc.

To now, heading up the Secure River in dugout canoes, taking a hard left into the Pluma River and up to the lodge. We had made it. It was time.

The lodge itself is a work of art. Adorned in locally harvested timber, Pluma Lodge is set on top of a bluff overlooking the Pluma River. Since this is the home base for not just the regular boat program, but also the heli program, it has a much larger capacity than the other two lodges in the area. With a lodge capacity of 16, each guest is set up with their own private room with an en-suite bathroom, queen-sized bed, and a front deck to enjoy the jungle each morning and evening.

We were all ecstatic about being here. The fishing is clearly the main event, but just seeing the natural wonder around us was stunning. Massive jungle trees draped in vines, bird nests hanging down from the branches, making enchanting calls all day long. Jaguar and tapir tracks covered the soft sand throughout the river systems. It was a place that we all decided was going to be impossible to describe unless you see it for yourself.

We were here for six days of fishing, and throughout the week, each different fishery felt completely unique. The massive amount of water provides a unique experience each day and offers a new style of fishing. One day, you could be on the Lower Secure River, blind casting to likely holding water for large numbers of dorado. The next, hiking deep into the jungle up the Itirizama River to fish in a river that resembles a trout stream in Colorado. The main difference is that these fish are bright gold missiles with pointy teeth.

Over our time at Pluma, we fished three rivers, but each of these rivers offers different sections that are wildly different from one another.

The Secure
The Secure River is the lifeblood of the Tsimane programs, and each of the rivers that we fished are tributaries of this larger river. While the Lower Secure may not offer sight fishing and clear water that many of the other rivers do, there is a massive number of fish in this section of river. We found that the highest numbers of fish came on the day we fished the Secure, laying lots of blind casts into runs that could’ve been mistaken for a swing run if they were anywhere in the Pacific Northwest.

The Pluma
The golden child of the standard Pluma Lodge program. The lower, middle, and upper Pluma are all standard beats that will be fished throughout the week. It stuck out to me as one of the more diverse pieces of water. The Lower was a bit wider, like the Secure, but a bit clearer, with a lot of fish crashing bait. Many of the dorado caught in this beat were found as they hunted Sabalo in the shallows. The middle was the group’s favorite Pluma beat. Lots of fast riffles, but also a lot of long pools. Similar to the Secure, days on the middle Pluma offered high fish counts. It also doesn’t hurt that it had good pacu fishing. There are a few really cool braids in this section that held some great fish. The upper Pluma was a much clearer, smaller piece of water that offered sight fishing for dorado. When fishing on the upper Pluma, be prepared for a long day of walking!

The Itirizama
The “Iti” was the fan favorite. Generally, much smaller than the Pluma and the Secure, the Iti was the most similar to a high mountain trout stream. The name of the game here was sight fishing. Because the water was so clear, we could see nearly every fish we cast at. Personally, I can’t think of a more exciting fishing style. The river featured tight pocket water, that then turned into longer, deep pools before another piece of tumbling pocket water. We were able to successfully target both dorado and pacu in this system.

The fish. While golden dorado are the main target, there is a surprising amount of diversity in the Tsimane region. Black pacu, yatorana, and various catfish species also call these waters home. Interestingly, the fishery varies wildly from year to year. We were fortunate enough to hit a year with a massive Sabalo run. Sabalo are an incredibly important baitfish in the rivers and provide a stable food source for the migrating and resident dorado. On a low-return year, the dorado fishing can be a bit tougher.

Each day, in addition to your fishing guide, there are two native guides from the surrounding Indigenous villages who help you navigate the river and jungle. They are a keystone of the operation, and it is beyond impressive to watch them move about the jungle. Going up and down the rivers, they use wooden “push poles” to steer the dugout canoes in the right direction. Without them in the boats and jungle, there is no way we would have made it anywhere, much less had a successful trip. They worked tirelessly to make sure that we had the best experience possible. A favorite memory of mine was watching them hunt for Sabalo in the shallow water while we fished. They used their handcrafted bows and arrows to shoot the fish, and it seemed they rarely missed. The Sabalo run is not only important for the fish, but also for the native communities throughout the region.

I feel like I tend not to have the best luck with weather on fishing trips. A lot of the time, I get a lot of wind, rain, and generally cloudy weather that is very unhelpful when trying to spot fish. We were fortunate enough that this time around, we couldn’t have asked for better. It was pretty hot, but we had sun all but one day, making for exciting sight fishing and some very happy fellas. The warmer weather can also make the pacu a bit more active, as we were told that when the water heats up a bit more, they can become much more responsive. It will be tough to replicate a week where we have a better weather pattern!

Now, pacu vs. dorado. Which are better? I don’t think it’s a fair comparison. They are both epic in their own way. Golden dorado eat just about anything in their path, crushing flies not just once, but maybe two or three times if the hook doesn’t stick. They tend to go airborne as soon as the hook sets and pull incredibly hard as they try to get the fly out of their mouth. Pacu are a bit different and tend to be very selective. They’ll eat huge dry flies, as well as smaller streamers that are well placed right on top of them in the right situation. Rather than jump and rip around in the pocket water, they peel off backing as they run deep into the pools and hold there, not allowing you to pull them out. The pickiness, to me, is what makes them so cool. It provides a unique challenge. I couldn’t get enough!

While this is obviously a well-known destination for dorado, for me, a big point of interest was the shots at large, black pacu. Nicknamed the “jungle permit,” these picky sons-of-guns pull incredibly hard and can be incredibly challenging to get to take the fly. Over the first couple of days, I had a few shots with no love. Then day three came, and it was the only day where we experienced a brief 30-minute rain. I didn’t think much of it, but our guide, Juan, said that a break in the water’s surface tension can make the pacu a bit more ready to eat a fly. As luck would have it, we crept up on a pool to see the big, dark shape of a pacu patrolling the shallow-to-deep transition. With pacu, there is no graceful presentation. They are attracted by the loud “plop” of the fly falling on the surface, as if it were a nut or seed falling in the water. Armed with our size 2/0 dry fly, a quick cast cut through the rain and landed right on top of the pacu. We watched him tip his head up and calmly sip the fly off the surface. That’s when all hell broke loose. I set the hook, and the fish erupted and tore off toward the bottom of the pool. Dorado fight hard, but in my opinion, this fish fought harder. After a long fight of back and forth, we had the fish to hand. It was a stud, and my first pacu! High fives all around. It turns out I was able to wrangle in one more of these fish on the Upper Itirizama, only after another one ripped my whole leader off the rod. What a fish!

On the last day of the trip, a couple of our crew and I were asked if we’d like to do a pretty burly hike through the jungle to an upper section of the Itirizama River. Although our feet were fried from the last five days of walking, there was no way we were going to refuse. The hike into the river wasn’t bad, maybe about an hour, and we ended up at a pool on the river that we hadn’t yet seen. As far as the fishing goes, this was our favorite day, with lots of big dorado and some excellent chances at pacu. These were the first pacu we found that seemed a bit more willing to eat the fly. Not everyone is able to fish this section, as the hike and walking do tend to be strenuous. After a very successful day, we started the journey back. Brutal. Almost four miles through windy, thick, hilly jungle with wet feet. We only took seven wrong turns, but luckily, we had one of the Indigenous natives with us who corrected the mistakes. By the time we were heading back down the river, everyone was pretty well beat. Six days of casting, hiking, and chasing fish through the jungle will do that to you. But sitting in the dugout canoes, heading back to the airstrip, I would have stayed another week in a heartbeat. Tsimane had been on my list for years, and after finally getting there I can say confidently that it lived up to the hype.