Jungle Fishing Misadventures 1974-2019

For close to 40 years, Steve Orndorf and his brother, Dave, have traveled to the jungles of South America in the pursuit of adventure and trophy fish. While the fishing hasn’t always been productive, there’s been no shortage of adventures. Journeying through seven countries, they’ve encountered logistical nightmares, hostile Indians, and a host of intimidating creatures—piranhas, electric eels, poison dart frogs, vampire bats, caimans, freshwater rays, snakes, bullet ants, and more.

The richly biodiverse Amazon and Orinoco River basins have served as backdrops for most of these trips. Here, a brief walk in the jungle can expose one to an astonishing array of different species, more perhaps than would be revealed in a month of walking in most parts of North America. For the Orndorf brothers, sportsfishing has opened the door to exploring this magnificent region, truly one of our planet’s last remaining frontiers.