Payara: The fangs of the orinoco

We are going to introduce you to a fish from South America, known as the “vampire fish” or Payara. Its scientific name is “Hydrolycus Scomberoïdes”. 

It is part of the “Cynodontidae” family. Rodmaps went to meet him in the Mataven region, on the Rio Orinocco in Colombia which borders with Venezuela. The Rio Orinoco is the 3rd most powerful river in the world with 36,000 cubic meters / second.

Morphology of Payara

The first thing that stands out about this predator is its lower jaw. It has two incredibly long canines in its central axis. They are housed in the upper jaw in nasal canals provided for this purpose. Be careful when handling this fish because its buccal framework closes instantly when it touches a prey, a fishing grip, a hand, etc. This phenomenon is due to its nervous system which makes its jaw work by “reflex”.

The payara has a muscular body because it lives in the current areas of the orinoco. A very large caudal fin to be able to accelerate during its lightning hunts on forage fish. The colors of this fish are in light gray / silver tones and a vertical black line along its tail.

Behavior of the payara

The payara positions part of his time in counter-currents on the lookout for lost prey and disoriented by the flow of the river. He is an opportunistic predator who does not waste his energy for nothing. 

However, the hours to find them in his hunting periods are relatively short. When not hunting, the Payara rests in deeper areas with less current against rocks.

How to fish for payara?

As said previously, it is essential to target your hunting areas first. You can spot them visually because they are seen to rise to the surface regularly during their period of activity. We therefore advise you, in the first hour of the morning, to place yourself at the edge, on rocks and to cast your lures in the veins of currents near the counter-currents. If the payaras are active, it won't be long before you have hits. Hold on to your rods, because the keys are very powerful!

The payara lures

The families of lures that work very well are floating jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, spinning spoons, waving spoons, bucktails jigs.
⦁ Jerkbaits: Kten BKS 125, OSP Rudra, Borboleta Safada, Rapala Original floating 18.
⦁ Spinnerbaits: OSP Typhoon, Savage Gear Da'Bush, Deps Bcustom, Spinner Ernesto.
⦁ Spinning spoons: Willow leaf caperlan, Mepps Aglia n ° 4
⦁ Wave spoons: Sakura Skoon.
⦁ Bucktails jigs: Ernesto jig 17gr white and red.

The canes

Better to be well armed for the payara. We advise you to fish with Heavy or ExtraHeavy casting travel rods, such as:
⦁ Jabbers Beast flogger casting BFC705H
⦁ DEPS Huge Custom H2N-64R
⦁ DEPS Huge Custom H1N-60R

Now, it's your turn to play!

Discover our other articles on exotic fish: peacock-bass, golden masheer, snakehead