Stan Fagerstrom
02-01-2004, 11:39 AM
Woodchopper Lures Are Top Producers
For Amazon Jungle Bass Anglers
Part 1
By Stan Fagerstrom
Every now and then certain lures carve out a niche for themselves among fishermen all over the place.
I think of an earlier day when bass fishermen wouldn’t consider going out without carrying a couple of Heddon’s venerable Lucky 13 lures. Then there was a time when the Hawaiian Wiggler was tops for many kinds of fishing around top water cover. Today most bass fishermen heading into fabulous Mexican lakes like El Salto are a cinch to pack some 10- worms along with their shorts and sandals.
I had that brought home to me again on a trip I made into the Amazon jungle a year ago. I don’t think the lure exists that gets more attention from jungle peacock bass anglers than the Woodchoppers marketed by the Luhr-Jensen Company of Hood River, Oregon.
Phil Jensen, the likeable president of the Oregon bait-making business, is himself an ardent peacock bass angler. And he’s good at it. Jensen caught one of the largest peacocks ever brought to the boat. The International Game Fish Association lists the all time peacock bass record at 27-pounds. On a trip into the Amazon three years ago Jensen caught one that weighed 26-pounds, 12-ounces. That’s just 4-ounces shy of the record. The lure that big peacock grabbed? You guessed it---it was a Luhr-Jensen Woodchopper.
http://www.ifish.net/sfamawood.jpg
Luhr Jensen Woodchopper lures like these are favorites of Amazon River peacock bass anglers.
The 27-pound record bass also smashed a Woodchopper. So have countless other jungle peacocks. I’ve watched Phil Jensen heave his Woodchoppers at those savage-striking Amazon peacocks. I’ve studied how he handles them and the retrieves that get results. It’s not hard to understand why he loves the darn things.
Now it doesn’t take a whole lot of gray matter to figure that a bait-maker like Jensen is going to be big on his own lures. He is and he should be. But he’s far from being the only one who feels that way. It didn’t take long for that fact to surface the last time I was in the Amazon myself.
Few fishermen are in a position to know which lures do what better than a guy who managed a fishing lodge deep in the Amazon jungle. Such an individual was Mike Bryant. Bryant used to live in Manaus, Brazil when he wasn’t taking care of things at Phil Marsteller’s jungle fishing lodge on the Rio Araca. Mike passed away suddenly while attending the 2003 Bassmasters Classic. He will be missed. He did a great job of managing the Rio Araca Lodge
The Araca River is a tributary of the mighty Rio Negro River. The Rio Araca Lodge is the most remote of the remarkable facilities Marsteller has constructed for visiting anglers who invade the jungle in search of peacock bass.
http://www.ifish.net/sfphiljen.jpg
Phil Jensen just doesn't build Woodchopper lures---he catches fish on 'em. Look close and you'll see a Woodchopper lure pinned to the mug of the peacock bass Jensen is holding in this photo.
You spend most of your time fishing when you’re staying at the Rio Araca Lodge. We came in early one hot and humid afternoon and I managed to get Bryant away from his duties long enough to probe his thinking with regard to peacock bass fishing. One of the questions I asked was for his opinion on the best lures.
“A topwater lure with propellers is the best you can use for peacocks,” Bryant told me. “The Luhr-Jensen lures made especially for these fish are among my favorites. These baits are so popular all over the Amazon that they’ve become almost generic in nature. Some of the anglers we see are calling all of their prop type lures Woodchoppers whether or not they are the real thing. They’ve become almost like Xerox where copiers are concerned or Frigidaires in the field of refrigeration.”
In my next column I’ll detail what colors the late Mike Bryant favored in his Woodchoppers. We’ll also take a look at the best way to manipulate them to attract the attention of those wild-eyed Amazon peacocks.
[ 02-01-2004, 11:43 AM: Message edited by: Stan Fagerstrom ]
For Amazon Jungle Bass Anglers
Part 1
By Stan Fagerstrom
Every now and then certain lures carve out a niche for themselves among fishermen all over the place.
I think of an earlier day when bass fishermen wouldn’t consider going out without carrying a couple of Heddon’s venerable Lucky 13 lures. Then there was a time when the Hawaiian Wiggler was tops for many kinds of fishing around top water cover. Today most bass fishermen heading into fabulous Mexican lakes like El Salto are a cinch to pack some 10- worms along with their shorts and sandals.
I had that brought home to me again on a trip I made into the Amazon jungle a year ago. I don’t think the lure exists that gets more attention from jungle peacock bass anglers than the Woodchoppers marketed by the Luhr-Jensen Company of Hood River, Oregon.
Phil Jensen, the likeable president of the Oregon bait-making business, is himself an ardent peacock bass angler. And he’s good at it. Jensen caught one of the largest peacocks ever brought to the boat. The International Game Fish Association lists the all time peacock bass record at 27-pounds. On a trip into the Amazon three years ago Jensen caught one that weighed 26-pounds, 12-ounces. That’s just 4-ounces shy of the record. The lure that big peacock grabbed? You guessed it---it was a Luhr-Jensen Woodchopper.
http://www.ifish.net/sfamawood.jpg
Luhr Jensen Woodchopper lures like these are favorites of Amazon River peacock bass anglers.
The 27-pound record bass also smashed a Woodchopper. So have countless other jungle peacocks. I’ve watched Phil Jensen heave his Woodchoppers at those savage-striking Amazon peacocks. I’ve studied how he handles them and the retrieves that get results. It’s not hard to understand why he loves the darn things.
Now it doesn’t take a whole lot of gray matter to figure that a bait-maker like Jensen is going to be big on his own lures. He is and he should be. But he’s far from being the only one who feels that way. It didn’t take long for that fact to surface the last time I was in the Amazon myself.
Few fishermen are in a position to know which lures do what better than a guy who managed a fishing lodge deep in the Amazon jungle. Such an individual was Mike Bryant. Bryant used to live in Manaus, Brazil when he wasn’t taking care of things at Phil Marsteller’s jungle fishing lodge on the Rio Araca. Mike passed away suddenly while attending the 2003 Bassmasters Classic. He will be missed. He did a great job of managing the Rio Araca Lodge
The Araca River is a tributary of the mighty Rio Negro River. The Rio Araca Lodge is the most remote of the remarkable facilities Marsteller has constructed for visiting anglers who invade the jungle in search of peacock bass.
http://www.ifish.net/sfphiljen.jpg
Phil Jensen just doesn't build Woodchopper lures---he catches fish on 'em. Look close and you'll see a Woodchopper lure pinned to the mug of the peacock bass Jensen is holding in this photo.
You spend most of your time fishing when you’re staying at the Rio Araca Lodge. We came in early one hot and humid afternoon and I managed to get Bryant away from his duties long enough to probe his thinking with regard to peacock bass fishing. One of the questions I asked was for his opinion on the best lures.
“A topwater lure with propellers is the best you can use for peacocks,” Bryant told me. “The Luhr-Jensen lures made especially for these fish are among my favorites. These baits are so popular all over the Amazon that they’ve become almost generic in nature. Some of the anglers we see are calling all of their prop type lures Woodchoppers whether or not they are the real thing. They’ve become almost like Xerox where copiers are concerned or Frigidaires in the field of refrigeration.”
In my next column I’ll detail what colors the late Mike Bryant favored in his Woodchoppers. We’ll also take a look at the best way to manipulate them to attract the attention of those wild-eyed Amazon peacocks.
[ 02-01-2004, 11:43 AM: Message edited by: Stan Fagerstrom ]