Amazon trip with Busch gives VanDam serious Classic prep

Kevin VanDam yanks a large peacock bass from the Rio Negro River in Brazil during a contest trip with Busch.

Kevin VanDam lived Busch beer’s slogan during a peacock bass fishing trip to Brazil. The Busch Amazon Adventure Sweepstakes flew the winners down to Manaus for a once-in-a-lifetime fishing trip with KVD. 

See photos of the Amazon trip here.

“They wanted to come up with kind of the ultimate adventure for a bass fisherman, and going peacock fishing with me in South America really takes that to another level,” VanDam said.

While fishing with the winning couple, who received a vacation worth around $30,000, was enjoyable and somewhat relaxing, VanDam said there were several filmed outings that tested him and the Busch filming crew.

“The Busch slogan is, ‘Here’s to earning it,’” VanDam said. “Well, I can tell you never in a day of fishing have I earned it more than that trip.”

The trek was planned for the first week in February, when water levels should have been normal, but drought made it difficult to get into the backwater pools where the big peacocks lived.

“Our guide spoke Portuguese, and even though I really couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying, I could tell he was preparing me for a real challenge to get into the areas that held a lot of big fish,” VanDam said.

The Rio Negro, the largest of the Amazon River tributaries, is a blackwater river the color of strong tea. From a distance it appears black, hence the name. It supports a variety of wildlife, including 800 to 900 fish species. Peacock bass is one that draws visiting anglers.

Peacock excursions have grown in popularity over the past two decades, with outfitters taking adventurous anglers into the depths of the Amazon in the comfort of large, air-conditioned base ships and to lodges. VanDam said he’s been on a handful of these trips, and each had been an adventure. This last one moreso than the others.

Busch hoped to get some spectacular footage of the four-time Classic champ and seven-time AOY winner catching South America’s most popular sportfish. KVD left with a camera crew early one morning and ran a 19-foot Tracker with a 90 hp almost two hours up river. Then the task was pulling heavy 17-foot flatbottom aluminum boats and gear over sand to the honey holes.

“We had to carry in trolling motors, batteries, coolers and tackle,” KVD said. “We had a rope and the group of guys just pulled. We’d break off sticks and just lay them every 4 or 5 feet and roll the boats on those sticks. It was a lot easier than dragging them in the sand.

“There were several sections where we could float them, but we even had to pick them up and carry them in a few places – just an unbelievable, strenuous job to get back there. We spent hours dragging boats just to get to the water. Then you’re throwing huge topwaters and big baits to catch them, which is a lot of work.”

It was certainly worth the effort, VanDam said. He caught a big one in the first few minutes one day to fire the crew up. Several more large ones were caught, and KVD said he sure would have liked to seen some of the others that got off, especially the one that broke his 80-pound braid.

“Everybody there pretty much had to work their butt off,” he said. “In the end, we only got to fish about four hours, but all the fish on that day trip really made it pan out. It was an epic day.”

Doing that strenuous work provided VanDam with some nice prep work for the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, March 4-6 on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees out of Tulsa.

Last year, VanDam’s streak of 24 consecutive Classic appearances ended. He’s glad to return and said he feels the Amazon trip, where all that work was done in equatorial temps hovering around 90, helped get him in fishing shape. 

“I knew it would be a really good tune-up for me, both physically and mentally, for the Bassmaster Classic,” he said. “I came home in a lot better shape. When you throw those big rip rollers, those huge topwaters, from dawn to dark, it’s a serious workout … let alone all the dragging, and in those temperatures. You didn’t have a hard time going to sleep at night.”

“I’ve been down there for peacock four and five times, and every time it’s been different and unique, but it’s always an adventure. This time it was definitely epic.”