Piranha – Deadly and Delicious
The Amazon is full of danger. March soldier ants by the millions devouring all life in its path. Water resistant to eyes, Crocodiles lie in wait for the unwary – whatever or whoever that may be. Undulating its 20-foot below the surface, the Anaconda, one of the snakes in the world, using heat seeking guidance to find their next meal. The barbed stinger in the tail of the size of striped disk can inflict a wound it takes months to heal. But none of these carry the fearsome mystique of the voracious Piranha, the perfect killing machine.
They even before we knew what was happening. My rod bowed in prayer to something below the surface color of tea. The six-pound test line danced like a cat on a pavement hot. All hell had broken. Beads of sweat rolled down Doris' back. Their clothes were now a second skin, clinging to his every move. We panted for breathing. We had fish. The oval-shaped silver body and red belly of a Piranha broke the surface. I reached for it. "Do not let a finger get near your mouth or lose it ", our native guide barked.
Minutes earlier, I shuddered from a breeze escaping from somewhere below despite more than 85 degrees of heat. The double digit humidity did not help either. A maddening buzz filled my ears, but thanks to my Vick's vapor layer Rub, the blood-suckers party would not be me. My eyes burned. My nose is running. A coffee table-sized leaf or hanging branch slapped into me every few steps. Curses burst from my lips, even with my best efforts to become one with the rainforest, as the Indian.
Our fishing rods extended from 18 " five feet and a half. He hoped the light mono would suffice, although I raise far spools of twelve and twenty pounds of proof in the last minute. If you have ticked one of more than 50 Tambaqui pounds even that would not be enough. Vines as thick as my wrist dipped into the coffee-colored, water making little ripples as it slid down the roots the past and fallen branches. Tangled growth matted the gentle slope of the shore in color milky tea moisture. She gave me a thumbnail-sized piece of chicken liver blood in a tongue-less hook with a split shot on a dinner plate sized turbulence right next to a tangle of mangrove roots protruding upward through the surface.
Minutes later, his tanned skin shining with moisture, our guide demonstrated the efficiency of the scissor-like teeth. A green leaf near the open mouth instantly sported a neat, crescent-shaped bite. Three heavy blows to the murderer's head prepared for cleaning. After cleaning, the Embera made a series of diagonal cuts along each side of fish. In these carefully rubbed a mixture of salt, garlic, soil and the roots of a small gourd he carried. A simple framework shaved branch on fish over a smoky fire of glowing coals. The company Roasted meat flavor and a bit soft ground, as a catfish experienced and matured. With a wink and a sly gesture towards Doris he said. "Make these heads into soup and have many wives." She gave me a puzzled look. I smiled.
Ranging through South America from Brazil to the lowlands of Peru, which also inhabit waters in Venezuela, Guyana, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. In the Amazon and the Black River in Brazil and the Orinoco River in Venezuela, no creature is safe from the Piranha razor-sharp teeth and powerful jaws. The serrated teeth fit together like scissors, enabling Piranha to cut the flesh from their prey. Like a shark, a piranha's teeth are replaceable, when it breaks a new grows in its place.
Yagua Indians of Peru often use the sharp edges between the teeth of a Piranha jaw to refine the point of darts of blowgun. A fish that is dying or swimming erratically, will be immediately attacked by a great school. Piranha will also attack without warning to defend their eggs and the territory. A wounded animal that moves away in the water to be stripped to the bone so fast that it seems almost to "dance" on the surface and is stricken from below. A bird that falls into the water will be gone, feathers and all, three minutes or less. A fish caught in a net control should be chewed clean to the head in seconds. The Attacks on large animals and humans are often dramatically portrayed, but are rare. In some regions Piranha are known as "castrating donkey.
"They tear and devour alive any wounded man or beast." U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt said, adding, "Piranha are the most ferocious fish in the world." Piranha, also called Caribe or PIRAY that furthered his terrible mystique when Roosevelt encountered during his exploits in 1914. There are about 35 known species piranha, but only five species represent a danger to humans. The variety of species from the Red-Belly Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) with its characteristic red belly in most carnivorous species, the Black Piranha his red demon eyes and a 17 and half inch long dark body up to ten pounds. It could remove the hand of a man in two or three bites.
Most species dine on fruit or seeds that fall into the water from overhanging trees. The fish are not always aggressive. Women wash clothes in water knee, where men Spearfish, while children bathe or swim in these same piranha-infested waters without harm. Further enhancing the mystique of the piranha, Indian men with half a dozen wives and up to twenty children attribute their potency piranha soup head, although there is scientific justification for the power of the soup does not yet exist.
Fishing for piranhas
Piranhas are usually part of the diet of indigenous peoples in areas where the fish. All you need to go piranha fishing are lines with a metal leader next to the hook so the fish do not bite through the line, a source of red, raw meat (worms or pieces of fish as well) and a little luck. Piranha swim in large groups and are attracted by movement and blood. In May 1999, hundreds of fishermen armed with rods, reels, and raw meat flocked to the Brazilian city of Aracatuba near Sao Paolo for a piranha fishing tournament Sunday. The townspeople had declared open season on the flesh-eating fish that had decimated other species in the local river. The prize for the tournament was an outboard motor. But "most fishermen were content to go home with a lot of supposedly aphrodisiac piranha ", claimed then town spokesman Nelson Custidio.
Piranha, earning their notorious reputation of reports, killing 1,200 head of cattle each year in Brazil, is one of the best food in South America. Whatever name you call and no matter where you try them, when cooked in a variety of ways, their firm light flesh with its smooth and light nutty flavor, a taste that you will enjoy.
About the Author
FISHING IN GUYANA
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