The Orinoco
The Orinoco, in Spanish río Orinoco, is a South American river that flows through Venezuela and Colombia. To be more precise, it does not cross Colombia per se, but it serves as a border between Colombia and Venezuela.
With a flow of 36,000 m3/s, the Orinoco is ranked third in the world in terms of flow. It is located after the Amazon, also in South America, and the Congo, which is in Africa.
Payaras and sardinatas
Considering its impressive flow, the Orinoco is far from being a long quiet river and the current is strong! Here, the goal is not to fish for peacock bass, which is a fish that does not appreciate areas subject to the current, but rather for payara and sardinata. These 2 species, less popular with international fishermen, are not uninteresting, on the contrary.
This is how this trip begins, with 4 days dedicated to fishing on the Orinoco.
For this first day, I spend alone, because my group arrives later. The time is thus with the discovery and to benefit from the landscape.
I share this day with a regular of the place, who takes me on several spots without much success, until he finds a place with active fish.
On this spot, I quickly take a few hits and my first payara. Shortly after, I hooked a big payara that came off after several jumps. This event announces one of the characteristics of this species: it is complicated to get this fish out of the water and it does not spare the lures.
Indeed, the payara is a fish which has a very hard mouth, it is complicated to plant firmly a hook there. I must therefore perfect my technique to succeed in bringing the fight to a conclusion.
After the payaras, I add another new species to my collection: the sardinata.
This first day rich in touches comes to an end. It's time to go back to the hotel and adjust my way of fishing, to increase the size of the catch.
