The Dry Fly Angler’s Jungle Paradise by Jess McGlothlin

I wasn’t certain what to expect, coming to Kendjam for the first time. The Kayapó Indigenous Lands carried the same allure I’d felt in jungles around the world, from Africa to Asia to Central America, as well as other countries in South America. This was big country, wild country, and I figured the fishing would follow suit.

What I didn’t anticipate, however, was the dry fly fishing paradise that awaited. The Iriri River winds through this countryside, providing an important highway system for the indigenous people but also serving as home to a myriad of fish species primed to take a fly. From the very game peacock bass (Cichla melaniae are endemic to the Iriri River Basin) who favor streamers but also are more than happy to come slash at a topwater popper presentation to the strong- fighting matrinxã which reminded me of some strange hybrid of maybe a bonefish and a trout and would happily eat a terrestrial fly when the drift was right, this could be a sportfisherman’s heaven. And once we add in some of the other stars of the river: the payara or “vampire fish,” three species of pacu (rubber, silver, and seringa), bicuda (basically a freshwater barracuda that loves poppers), and the prehistoric-looking wolfish, it’s a fishery set to entertain.

I was lucky enough to spend two weeks at Kendjam Lodge this past season, fishing the Iriri each day with newfound friends. For a girl who grew up fishing Montana trout at home, it felt downright novel to tie on a bigger version of some of my favorite dry flies and chase these jungle species. Each day I marveled how it felt like I could be in parts of Africa; the scenery right out of the old cartoon version of the Jungle Book and felt somehow oddly familiar to landscapes I’d seen in the past throughout parts of the dark continent.

But we were very much in Brazil, as was evidenced by the Kayapó native guides we worked with each day on the river. Each day we motored from the home pool in front of the lodge either upsteam or downstream to our assigned beat, and the drive ended up being one of my favorite parts of the routine. It was a wildlife safari each time; over the course of two weeks we see jaguar, puma, tapir, giant river otters, capybara, caiman, turtles, rays, electric eels, red water snakes, macaws, and more.

Less than 100 visiting anglers e to come to Kendjam each year during the season, and every night when I crawled into bed I listened to the jungle sounds outside and thought how happy I was to be there, to see that place. The world is losing some of its wild corners; the places that still hold a good adventure and the promise of fish who haven’t seen a fly in a good long while. Not many people get to see or fish a place like Kendjam, yet it’s a place every adventurous angler should visit at least once. Especially for some of those “dry fly only” trout aficionados I come across often enough at home in Montana… this is the perfect jungle playground.