Payara ain’t for the faint of heart. Billfish flies, 500-grain fast-sinking heads, 40-pound wire leaders. Long, long casts to the roughest, fastest, meanest water you can find. And the meanest fish, with the face of a million nightmares.

Nosferatu, without the seduction. Expect an explosive strike from these ambush predators, then burning runs that take you places you weren’t prepared to go. Perhaps fresh water’s most challenging fish. For adrenaline junkies only

Jim Klug of Yellowdogflyfishing.com and Oliver White of IndiFly fished payaras on the Paragua River in the eastern Venezuelan Highlands with Uraima Falls Lodge (Uraima Falls info). This is a big river in wild country, and the accommodations are basic. But there’s nothing quite like the fishing—For the adventurous. See more of Jim’s photography at www.klugphotos.com