we just got back a few weeks ago from a peacock bass trip with Ron Speed...we went on this same trip two years ago and it is a neat experience...there were 9 of us from Georgia and Tenn.and we were joined by 5 guys from Texas....turned out everyone was a fisherman/hunter so we had some great stories to swap during happy hour and meals...unfortunately we got exposed to the nora-virus and 9 of us had to deal with vomiting/diarhea and typically each of us missed 1 1/2 days fishing...(fortunately two of our group were doctors and they were able to give us medication that was a big help in reducing the virus effects)....
water was lower than two years but fishing was not as good although one of our guys did catch an 18lb fish...we fished two guys in a boat and typically would catch 15-25 fish per day....lot of 6-12lb fish were caught...trust me,a 10 lb or bigger peacock bass is an experience you will not forget...the strike on topwater is similar to somebody dropping a cinderblock out of an airplane and even with 65lb braid,you are going to hold on and hope he doesn't swim into a tree and rip the bait out of his mouth...

we flew overnight Atlanta to Sao Paulo,Brazil (9 hours),Sao Paulo to Manaus,Brazil 4 hours) spent the night in Manaus...next day flew approx 200 miles (1 1/2 hrs) from manaus to Barcelos where we transferred out to the mothership where we spent next 6 nights...that night,the boat took us about 50 miles downriver. over next 6 days we fished our way back upriver to Barcelos with the big boat moving 15-20 miles every other night...

flight from Manaus to Barcelos took about 1 1/2 hours....nice turbo jet I believe it was Embrarer(sp) and we flew 11,500 ft at 180 knots(207 mph).....note the river and tributeries off the river in second pic.....unbleievable how much water there is in Amazon basin...

boat has this table full of baits and jigs to choose from....my son and i used 10-1 retrieve kast King reels for ripping the big woodchopper baits and that worked out well but we caught more fish on the brightly colored jigs....(probably because we spent more time fishing the jigs resting our arm from ripping the topwater baits)...

my biggest fish was 9lbs,my son's biggest was 8lbs..3rd pic is a "butterfly" peacock and I'm told they don't get much over 3 lbs...

these two fish are piranhas.......am told they grow up to 6 lbs...we lost several jigs due to them biting 65 lb braid into....commercial fishermen catch them in nets and we them for dinner couple night...pretty good tasting fish...
I wouldn't dare swim in these waters but guides have no problem jumping in to retrieve a bait hung up underwater..

first couple pictures are drone pictures my son took of the boat....remaining are our group at happy hour and sunset on Rio Negro river...

first pic is our "mothership" that we lived on...rooms were two person,small but comfortable each with bathroom and shower....the 2nd and 3rd picture is the boat the guides,cook and cleaning lady lived on....they had hammocks and cots on the open deck and roll down tarpulins when it rained...

first pic is a tyical tropical downpour (like a cow peeing on a flat rock)...second pic is termites nest.....last pic is sorry but best I could do.....look close and you can see the shape of two fresh water dolphins....they are 100-300 lbs and have learned to follow fishermens boats and catch the peacock bass you are fighting with or grab the fish as soon as you release it....one of our guys had a huge dophin grab an 8-10 peacock he was fighting with and bit the fish into right behind it's head....when we would catch a fish,our guide would take the fish near the bank and release it into a fallen tree in the water or would crank the big engine and rev it up severak times to scare the dolphins away....

You are a very fortunate man and take some awesome fishing / hunting trips....

Thanks for the report and especially the great photos.

This is one of the best posts I have seen on the forum. I need to make this trip.

thanks for the compliments....am blessed far beyond what I deserve....

Looks like a great trip.

Now that's a trip of a lifetime.