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:

And another by Orlando’s Rise Above:

And a third by Inksmith and Rogers:

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:

And this guy in Brazil got one on his noggin:

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: