Hunting for River Gold in the Jungle

Every angler’s got that mental list—you know the one. The fish you have to catch at some point in your life. I’ve been lucky to spend my life on the water, and I’ve checked off a bunch of mine. But there are still a few that I think about way more than I probably should… barramundi and tiger fish being right at the top.

That said, if you hang around enough fishermen, two bucket-list species come up almost every time: peacock bass and golden dorado. Big, aggressive, and living in places that usually require a passport and a long flight.  They are known for destroying tackle, and breaking the hearts of anglers.  I had been fortunate enough to catch both but in different countries thousands of miles apart.

For years, I kept hearing about this one place in Brazil where you could catch both—big dorado and double-digit azul peacocks. And honestly? I didn’t totally buy it. It just sounded like one of those fisheries where something had to give. Like yeah, maybe you’d catch one species well, but not both.

Then in September 2025, I got the call.

My buddy Eduardo invited me and my son Andrew down to Brazil’s Mato Grosso region for an exploratory trip. The plan was to fly fish for dorado and peacocks, but like always, I tossed a travel spinning rod in my bag. That thing has saved too many trips to leave it behind. And of course, I packed a few bags of Z-Man® Scented Jerk ShadZ™—because at this point, if it swims and eats other fish, there’s a good chance it’ll eat one of those.

As with most destination trips, you never really know what you’re walking into weather-wise. We landed in Cuiabá and immediately realized this one might get interesting.

It was hot. Like, Sahara dessert hot, fry an egg on the sidewalk hot. And on top of that, the region was dealing with major wildfires.

Driving toward the Rio Manso, we could actually see flames off in the distance. The next morning, heading up river, it got even wilder—fires were burning right down to the riverbanks in some spots. Not exactly what you picture when you think “dream fishing trip.”
Meanwhile, the guides? Completely unfazed. Basically shrugged it off and said, “Let’s go fishing.

We started by running about eight miles upriver to the dam, then drifting back down. No trolling motor—just a paddle to steer the jon boat. The guide swore the trolling motor would spook fish, so we rolled with it.

Day one was a grind. We picked up a few fish, but nothing to write home about. Same story into the afternoon.

That night, the guide tells us, “We go early tomorrow.”

We met at 5 a.m., just light enough to see to make our run up river.  

He had us rig up 7-inch Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ in hot chartreuse on a 5/0, 1/4-ounce hook. Simple setup.

About five minutes into the first drift… absolute chaos.

A fish explodes on the bait. I mean blows it up. Line comes tight, and suddenly there’s a giant golden dorado completely airborne—easily 25 pounds—just going nuts. Jumps, head shakes, the whole deal.

And then… gone.

Pulled off right at the boat.

We slide back up river a bit, to start the drift over, and not long after—another big dorado blows up, but misses.

At this point, you can feel it. It’s about to happen.

A few casts later, I launch one way up into the shallows. Out of nowhere, a massive dorado crushes the Scented Jerk Shadz. This time it stays pinned. After a few pretty intense minutes, we finally land it—right around that 25-pound mark.

From that point on, things changed.

Over the next couple days, we tried other baits just to see—but every big dorado we landed came on that Hot Chartreuse Scented Jerk ShadZ. It wasn’t even close.

Time for Peacocks

After a three days on the river, we switched over to the lake to chase azul peacock bass.
At this point, we were running low on plastics—just a couple bags left of hot chartreuse and coconut ice. But here’s where things got interesting…

Those Scented Jerk Shadz held up way better than expected. We’d already caught multiple dorado on them and still had enough left to fish for peacocks.

And … the peacocks were all about it.

If anything, they liked them even more than the dorado did. The coconut ice color seemed to get the most attention, but chartreuse and even a little pearl got bit too.

The biggest surprise though? Durability.

Normally, soft jerkbaits and peacock bass don’t mix for long—one or two fish and the bait’s toast. But these things were lasting 10 to 15 fish easy. The only real problem was the occasional piranha cutting one in half.

Trips like this always remind me of something simple: predatory fish eat other fish. Match that, and you’re in business.

For me, that’s why I keep going back to the Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ. They’re simple, they’re tough, and they just flat-out get eaten.

At this point, they’ve earned a permanent spot in my travel bag.
Doesn’t matter where I’m going… they’re coming with me.

Kevin Howell
Davidson River Outfitters
For more info on fishing the Rio Manso or how effective Scented Jerk Shads are you can contact Kevin Howell at kevin@davidsonflyfishing.com