This episode of the Tom Rowland Podcast is my conversation with Ryan Izquierdo, the YouTube creator and angler known as Ryan Iz Fishing, about chasing peacock bass deep in the Amazon jungle. Ryan walks me through a week of jungle fishing in Colombia—the ten-hour boat rides, the remote camps, the giant peacock bass, and everything it takes to get there. We also trace how he built his career from a GoPro and a skateboard filming pond bass into full-blown international fishing expeditions with a three-man production team.
Listen now: Megaphone · Spotify · YouTube
Ryan Izquierdo is a YouTube creator and fisherman who goes by Ryan Iz Fishing. He is 24 and picked up his first GoPro around age 13 or 14 after moving to Jupiter, Florida. He started by filming bass in local ponds and now travels internationally, including trips into the Amazon to target peacock bass.
Ryan landed a 21-pound peacock bass on the last day of his most recent trip, on the last lagoon of the day. It hit a small-profile redhead, white-body Yozuri. He identified the fish as a temensis sensato peacock bass.
Ryan caught his 21-pound peacock bass on a small-profile redhead, white-body Yozuri, and he landed a 19-pounder on a nine-inch bone spook worked along the beach. When the fishing got tough, a fellow angler he calls Doctor Bob handed him swimbaits that turned things around, and he got a 15-pounder the next day. He mentioned a Yum money minnow as one of the swimbaits Bob favored.
Ryan caught all five species of peacock bass on his recent trip. They included the temensis, which he called cinchado, the pintalapa, the butterfly, the electrico, and the temensis sensato. He noted that when peacock bass were introduced to South Florida, only the butterfly species survived and thrived.
Ryan flew to Bogota and then to a small town called San Jose before loading into a tiny boat for a roughly ten-hour ride downstream. The group stopped to refuel at a village 161 miles in that is reachable only by river. A night storm later forced them off the water around 250 miles into the jungle, where a Colombian family let them sleep in their home.
Ryan caught payara, which have long canine teeth, and matrinxa, which he described as the hardest-hitting fish he has ever caught. He also landed a 40-pound redtail catfish and a rip saw catfish that locals call caiman killers. Using live scope, he saw catfish over five feet long in 22 feet of water.
Ryan was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 17 and manages his blood sugar while traveling. On his first Colombia trip, nerves sent his levels swinging between highs and lows. On his second trip, he resisted the sugary Colombian snacks to keep his blood sugar stable so he could focus on fishing and filming.
I have followed Ryan Izquierdo since he was a kid running around Jupiter ponds with a GoPro, filming bass with his buddy Davis. I watched him make a splash, and unlike a lot of creators I have seen come and go, he stayed consistent and kept getting better every week. Now he is flying into the Amazon, sleeping in the jungle, and landing peacock bass most of us only see in aquariums. I wanted to hear how a kid with a skateboard and a camera turned that into a career. He tells the whole arc in the episode.
Ryan grew up chasing butterfly peacock bass in Miami canals and the Everglades, so I wanted to know what changes when you fish where they are native. He told me the fish behave almost identically, but the Amazon holds all five species and far bigger specimens, including the temensis that everyone wants. He came home four days before we talked with a 21-pound peacock bass from the last lagoon on the last day. The how, and why the fishing was the toughest he had seen, is worth hearing him explain in the episode.
Ryan bought his first GoPro at Best Buy around 13 or 14, right after moving to Jupiter, getting bullied, and struggling to make friends. Fishing was his outlet, so he skateboarded pond to pond filming bass. One largemouth, a twelve-four, pushed a video past 100,000 views almost overnight. Years later, on Christmas Eve 2018, he walked away from a good-paying job with no backup plan and bought a camera the next day. I asked him what that leap actually felt like and how he made the call. Hear him tell it in the episode.
On the way to camp on the Guaviare River, Ryan and his crew were roughly 250 miles into the jungle with no satellite phone when a night storm forced their boat off the river. They spotted a lit house on the bank, and a Colombian family took them in—hammocks, a thin mattress, and the worst bug attack of his life. He calls it one of his how-lucky-I-am-to-live-in-America moments. What that family cooked them, and how he thanked them, comes through best in his own words. Press play to hear it.
Ryan kept coming back to the people more than the fish. He described the happiest, most stress-free, hardest-working people he has ever met, living in a small town outside the jungle or in the jungle itself, all laughing and smiling. He calls the whole experience modern-day time travel, like stepping a hundred years back in time to zero pollution, crystal-clear water, and untouched fishing. I have felt something similar on my own first trips to remote places. Hear how he describes it in the episode.
Everything about this fishing punishes a mistake. Ryan talked about infections from bug bites, freshwater stingrays that put a guide on the ground, rip saw catfish that sliced his hand, and rivers full of venomous and poisonous things hours from any help. He borrows the phrase burn the boats to describe the feeling, because once you are that deep, there is no quick way out. How he and his cameraman keep gear charged and stay safe out there is worth hearing in the episode.
What sticks with me from this one is the throughline between Ryan's story and his fishing. The same tenacity that carried him through losing his friend Aaron and betting on himself on Christmas Eve is what gets him ten hours downstream to a peacock bass most people never see.
He is 24, he is only getting better, and he is already eyeing Oman and Australia next. I have no doubt this is not the last time he is on the show.
If you want the full story of the jungle, the fish, and the road that got him there, listen to the episode.
Listen to the full episode: Megaphone · Spotify · YouTube
Ryan Izquierdo is a 24-year-old YouTube creator and fisherman known as Ryan Iz Fishing. He picked up his first GoPro around age 13 or 14 after moving to Jupiter, Florida, and built an audience filming bass in local ponds and at the Juno Beach Pier. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 17, and on Christmas Eve 2018 he quit his job to pursue video full time. He now travels internationally with a three-man team, targeting peacock bass and other species in Colombia and the Amazon, where he caught a 21-pound peacock bass. He also trains Brazilian jiu jitsu and can be found on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok as Ryan Iz Fishing.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 730: Ryan Izquierdo
In this episode: these people have no worries, it is modern day time travel, we caught 21 pound peacock bass on the last day, without a doubt the hardest hitting fish I've ever caught in my life, and there's just, like, no escape button — in the exact words spoken.
Ryan Izquierdo: It is mind blowing. These people have no worries. They they literally live in in, the small town outside the jungle. Some of them live in the jungle. They're all laughing. They're all smiling. It's just an incredible experience, and I think everybody can learn something about themselves and and about the luxuries of this country going on on these trips. It really is amazing. And for me,
Tom Rowland: Ryan, what's going on, man? I'm glad to have you on the podcast.
Ryan Izquierdo: Happy to be here, brother. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah. I'm stoked.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, we've been in touch for a long time. And I I gotta say, man, I've been following your your journey all these all these years from fishing in a little pond with Davis, Davis following you around with a camera to, to what you got going on now. And, honestly, it's it's quite impressive, man. You've really you've really done incredibly well and stuck with it. And I've seen lots of other people come and go and you have remained super consistent and your quality has improved. Oh, every every week, it seems like.
Ryan Izquierdo: I appreciate that. Yeah. Definitely been a journey. I love this since I was a little kid. We'll talk about kinda how I started making videos. That's a pretty cool
Tom Rowland: Well, let's do it. How did you well, first of all, how old are you right now?
Ryan Izquierdo: I'm 24.
Tom Rowland: Okay. You're 24. Alright. So that gives me just a a a field of reference there to when we when we go back. So how did you start making videos and when? How old were you?
Ryan Izquierdo: So I was probably, like, 13 or 14 when I first picked up a GoPro. My parents got divorced and, I ended up moving down south for a bit. And then I I came up to Jupiter to, start high school and stuff and, really, like, the middle of eighth grade. So I moved up here, and it was a big adjustment for me. Like like, new town didn't know anybody, and, school systems are a lot different here than Miami. So it was a big adjustment for me. Had a lot and honestly, I had trouble making friends, got kinda bullied in school and stuff. And, you know, an outlet for me was just fishing. Went to Best Buy, grabbed a GoPro. And, yeah, I've always been a consumer of fishing YouTube and stuff, so I knew about it and stuff. I've been watching guys my whole life like you on TV, Mike Iaconelli. So I've always been a creative person in fishing, but I decided to put that together really around that time. So started off, just fishing in ponds, bass fishing around my house, just grabbing my skateboard and and hitting pond to pond to pond. And, you know, I ended up striking a lot of attention on those videos. I caught a really big largemouth bass, like, twelve four. Woah.
Tom Rowland: Out of
Ryan Izquierdo: one of these little ponds around my house. And that video overnight almost reached, I think, 70,000 views. And by the like, a couple days later, like, well over a 100 k. And, you know, like, the bass fishing was fun, and I was like, what what else is there to do? And, I doing some research, and I found out about the Juno Beach Pier, which is a super, super amazing fishery. And I grabbed my GoPro, went over there. And, I mean, talk about, like, the new kid on the block. When I walked down that pier, I was getting dirty looks from everybody. Where are you from? What are you doing here? Like, you know, so that was a big adjustment in itself. I I was getting picked on and stuff. Eventually, everyone accepted me, and I started making videos on the pier. And that's really when I caught a lot of traction and started blowing up by making these cool little edits. I dropped my GoPro down underwater. You could see all the the wall of snook, and I called that. I called it, snook fishing Juno Beach Pier 2 K 15, and that video, like, absolutely blew up. Then I started making videos here and there and, you know, school, was pretty busy. I was in JROTC in extracurricular programs and stuff. So, the videos seemed to slow down a lot. But in high school, I I built a a name for myself on Instagram as well. So, like, peep exactly like you said, running around the ponds with Davis and and filming catching bass and stuff. Never thought that I would ever turn this into a full blown career, but that's
Tom Rowland: Never did? I mean, at this point, you didn't. Right?
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, no. Yeah. And if you could if you told me I would be going to the Amazon and and doing all these insane international fishing trips and, you know, have a camera guy now and, like like, a full blown production, like like, absolutely not. I mean, but for me, this has always been my my deepest burning passion. I I creating and storytelling and fishing and, like, combine all that together, it's just everything I could ever want.
Tom Rowland: That's awesome. So when when was it that you did, like, see that, wow, maybe maybe I could do this for a living?
Ryan Izquierdo: So this is another cool story. December 2018, Christmas Eve, I quit my job. I had a I had a really good job. Give you some backstory. I was working for a fishing company doing all the marketing, like like, built up a social media presence, brand ambassador team. So I'm getting all these influencers and and, you know, I'm like, man, these these dudes are killing it. Like like, I wish I was on the other side of this. And, eventually, I shifted from there to doing, phone sales and other things like that, like building websites and, you know, I just wasn't happy. I was making good money, but I took that leap of faith. I literally just walked away from that opportunity Christmas Eve, went to Best Buy, got a got a camera, and I started making videos like crazy.
Tom Rowland: What? What was that like? Like, the whenever I talk to anybody that has has really followed their passion and done something that they really wanna do, There's always this point and you made it very easy to get to this to this point because you told the story exactly perfectly that there was this exact point. You know exactly what day it was and exactly what time it was. But what would, you know, a lot of people really, really struggle with that. They wanna do something and they get to the point to where it's like, okay, I either need to quit this job and go for what I'm looking for or not. And what was that like for you? How did you make that decision? What were the things that you were kinda weighing out? Like
Ryan Izquierdo: I mean, for me, in my life, I've experienced a lot of overnight changes. Like, a lot of crazy things just like when I was 17, something else that's pretty big in my story. I got a random diagnosis of type one diabetes.
Tom Rowland: Really?
Ryan Izquierdo: So that was a crazy overnight change and and, you know, learning a whole new lifestyle. So to this day, you know, when people see me go on these crazy trips and do all this, I get messages, you know, how do you do that, like, with type one diabetes? Like, like, I've always wanted to do this, but, I feel like I can't. You know? So I've always had that fire in me. My grandfather also, like, was such an influential person to me. He unfortunately passed away about a year ago, a little more than that. But yeah. So I've always had that fire to just, like, take that leap of faith, jump in. And I feel like for the viewers, if you have a passion and, you know, you have a job and, you know, you you eventually, it's going to just snap. And you're gonna be like, I just have to do this. Or and it's it's a slow slow burn, you know, too. Like like, you start and then you're just like, I I have to pursue this. But for me, I've always had that fire. And, I I took a chance. I I took a leap of faith and definitely was a a big shock, like, especially to my dad. He was, like, you know, concerned because he he is old school. He does he doesn't understand the potential. I'm like, dad, trust me. My mom has always been like, like, you go for it. I totally believe in you. You have this passion. Do it. I know you'll achieve it. And my dad too. I know he believes in me, but he was definitely he expressed his concern. You know, I call him, and he's like, hey. How you doing? Like, are you are you making money yet? I'm like, no. But it's gonna happen.
Ryan Izquierdo: And the first year of making videos, posting videos at least five, six times a month, like and I got to a point, like, almost every other day uploads. I grew maybe 2,000 subscribers in a year. So mind you, I started my YouTube channel back in 2014, around then. So I posted those videos back in the day. So I had a little bit of a of a following, about 5,000 subscribers. So I had 5,000, 7,000. And the next year, I I had a big blow up, and the year after that, I had a huge blow up. So it it definitely took a long time being consistent. I think of all platforms, YouTube rewards consistency more than anything else, more than Instagram or TikTok. If you're consistent on YouTube and you you post and you don't miss and and you're putting quality titles and thumbnails and good content, it will happen for you. But you you just have to be dedicated, and you have to put in that time. And there definitely does not come overnight.
Tom Rowland: Mhmm. Yeah. It seems it seems like it's gotten much more difficult, on YouTube. And like I said in the introduction, like, I've I've seen a ton of people make a splash, do some really cool things, and then just kind of disappear. But you you definitely did not do that. In fact, it was the other way around. And and I literally I've been watching your stuff for a long time. I remember I was in Jupiter and I don't know what it is about Jupiter and, creators, but there's a lot of creators that I was in Jupiter. And, I, did a podcast with Robert Arrington, and I think I put something on my Instagram or something and you and and you messaged me. And we're like, hey, man. Let's go to the pier. And I had to leave. And do you remember that? You you did? I do. I did. Man, it's there's a bite out here on the pier. You need to come come do this. Let's let's make something. And I was already on my way out of town when I got that message. And I was like, damn, man. That's pretty cool though that that this kid, just just messaged me like that. That was that was awesome. And so I have been watching ever since. I really have been. And, That's awesome. Yeah. But you're getting you're getting better and better, man. Really are. So, but tell me about like this, like getting back to this thing. You you quit your job on on Christmas Eve. Like, what's the what's the significance of that? Why did you just you just couldn't take it anymore? Like, I'm not gonna
Ryan Izquierdo: I couldn't take it anymore. I wasn't happy. Phone sales, like, it was just, like, driving me crazy. I felt like it would just not it was not me. And, like, I felt like I was losing myself and and, like, really what I stand behind and just, like, really who I was. I I just didn't like it. I didn't like the group of people I was around. I was ready to to to quit for a while. And, you know, I didn't give it two weeks. I just said, I'm out. I'm I'm sorry, guys. I got I'm out. And, just whatever I could do to to make money and, support myself and make videos.
Tom Rowland: Mhmm. So that was the that was the the the idea right away. You said you went and bought a camera that night?
Ryan Izquierdo: Literally, like like, either the day after Christmas or or something like that. I I bought a camera quick, just picked it up, started filming videos.
Ryan Izquierdo: And now something else I wanna talk about because, like, obviously, you you mentioned a lot of growth and with, you know, age comes growth, maturity, and stuff. But my mentality on YouTube for a while was, you know, I always made, like, fishing videos, but I've made a lot of crazy videos too. Really, I'm just it got to a point in myself making content that I fell out of love with it. You know? And I I like, my mentality was, like, we have to we have to make it. We have to to reach this finish line. For me, that finish line was getting monetized and then, a 100,000 subscribers. So how fast can I get there? I was filming with a lot of different creators doing a lot of, you know, some some silly videos and some videos that I wanna see that I'm really not proud of. And life hit, things happen, which maybe we'll talk about later. But, I ended up taking a a while off creating content to really find myself again and, pursued, like, fitness and and other things and picked it back up a little bit of mentality.
Tom Rowland: Past that. What what did happen? Just just curious.
Ryan Izquierdo: Yeah. So, I believe it was 2019. Yeah, 2019. So I I got into a relationship and head over heels madly in love. And, I was doing pretty well on YouTube at the time and just traveling a lot and and spending a lot of money and, kind of just was, like, throwing videos up. Like like, didn't really care about it as much, I guess. That relationship ended up ending. And just maybe a week later, one of my childhood best friends, unfortunately, like, passed away very unexpectedly, and that killed me. I mean, I'm talking like like we were both babies. Like like, our families were like this. Mhmm. My dad is a firefighter. His both of his parents are firefighters. My mom's a school teacher. But, like, our families were, like like, together, like, from the whole entire our basically, our whole entire lives. We played football together. Travel all over together, fishing, four wheeling, just pretty much anything and everything together. And, he was a he was a firefighter going down a good path and kinda like me. You know? He he wanted to pursue something in his life just like I did, which was making videos for him. It was making music. Unfortunately, he he kinda fell in with the wrong crowd. And, January 6, 2020, he was shot and killed in Miami. Oh my god. So it was absolutely tragic. I mean, I'll never forget the phone call. I was actually editing a YouTube video. My dad called me about, like, 10:00 at night, and he told me. And I was like, there's no way. And then my phone just started, like, met getting messages, and he's like, hey, man. Did you hear about Aaron? I was like, this is real. Yeah. So that really, really hit me. So on top of that heartbreak from my relationship, on top of that heartbreak from, Aaron passing away, I just, I I came at everything with a new fire in me. Like like, everything I do, everything that scares me, I think about Aaron, and and I'm living, for him.
Tom Rowland: Wow.
Ryan Izquierdo: So, basically, that that really means a lot to me. So I had to take a lot of time off making the videos, and, eventually, I made a video and I addressed it. And, you know, people were very supportive about that. And, you know, looking back, where I where I'm standing today, I I'm so proud of, the personal growth that I've made. I really see the world through a new lens. I'm much, I think, more empathetic. My heart is a lot softer, which I've always had empathy and everything. But now I I look at the the sunset, and I stare a little bit longer. Now I just, you know, when I'm releasing that beautiful fish that we worked so hard to catch and, you know, you're just really taking in the moment. And I I just appreciate, being my age, getting to do what I do, because a lot of people aren't that lucky. And, so yeah. So for me, that was kind of what kinda put a hole on making videos. And now I'm making videos that I truly love to do, not videos that are gonna get probably a lot of views. Because I mean, if I if I went down that route, I'm sure I'd have a lot more money in my bank account. More views.
Tom Rowland: I I see that with with with YouTubers. And, and it I I look at that and I'm like, man, at some point that has to be so tiring to just top the last video. Do something crazier than you did the last video. And I really have never wanted to do that. Right? Like, I just I don't I I see what happens when you do something crazy. You're doing I don't know. You whatever. Crazy. You're you're doing something purposefully crazy to get views. And then you get views and then you develop an audience that is looking for crazier things every time. Almost like jackass. Right? Like like they have to do something. They they have to raise the bar almost until like dude, like, somebody could die doing that stuff that they're doing now. Like but it didn't start that way. It was like, I'm gonna brand you with this little lighter, you know, or something like that. Then it now it's like, we're gonna jump 50 school buses with a with a snowmobile when there's no snow. Like, I don't know. Just crazy crazy stuff. And it's like, how tiring did you think about that? Like, when you're doing when you're doing crazy videos and stuff like that that that, you know, it's like, are we gonna be able to top this? Like, how do you do you is that a trap you fall into as a creator?
Ryan Izquierdo: I feel like definitely, like like, those thoughts come up and, for me, I I can't say I never enjoyed making, like, crazy stuff because I some videos were were crazy, but they weren't, like, dangerous. But I've definitely done some some videos I privated. My dad called me and said, hey, Ryan. This is this is probably not a good video. And I'm like, yeah. You're probably ready, and I'll take it down. And that only happened, like, once or twice, probably just once. But, you know, I can say today I'm making videos that I truly love, going fishing in places I've always wanted to go traveling. And, yeah, I I could put my videos on the TV and with with good friends and and really be proud of what I'm showing them. I can't say the same for other guys, and I definitely would not wanna put one of my older videos on because, you know, I was younger and, grown a lot since then. But, yeah, I definitely think those thoughts are those points you mentioned are are valid for sure.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. It seems like it seems like at some point. And I guess that's why you see you see some creators, you know, on YouTube specifically in TikTok and and Instagram. They they kinda come and go because it it has to be it has to be fatiguing. And then when you don't when you don't top the last couple of videos, then your audience is like pretty fickle. Like, moving on to the next guy. That's crazy. Mhmm. Right? But but you seem to have have, really moved into a direction that that's a little more sustainable in my in my opinion of, of this travel. Like, how did you how did you go from where you were to and did you, like, put it down on paper? Like, I'm I'm gonna try to create these kind of videos. And then what does that look like? How do you set yourself up to do that? You said you have a cameraman now and some people Yeah. Helping you. So what does that look like?
Ryan Izquierdo: It honestly wasn't ever something that I manifested or or wrote down, like, like a goal, like, I wanna do this. It just kind of, like, fruitioned, I guess. Mhmm. Excuse me. So I was making some videos in The States doing doing cool types of fishing, going up to New York or Pennsylvania catching, like, salmon and steelhead or traveling around Florida doing fishing. And, the videos were, you know, they're they were fun to make. And I was like, what's what's a really cool trip that I've always wanted to do? And, that's what I set out on doing. So I I went last March, 2022 to, the Rio Tomo River, which is in Colombia. It's a, it's a tributary connected to the Orinoco River Basin. So, you know, we can say it's similar to the Amazon. It's really not the Amazon. Mhmm. But we do have Amazonian fish species in there. Mhmm. And I did that trip solo, which I was absolutely terrified. But, one of my buddies who's made this trip probably nine, ten, 11 times over, he was down in Florida, like, right before I went on this trip. And I was like, man like, I was literally taking him to the airport. I was like, Ty, like, I'm pretty freaking nervous to go on the trip by myself, man. Like, I'm thinking about canceling you. Just like, don't do it, Ryan. Like, I promise you, you're going to have the time of your life. You're gonna come back home, sit in your bed, and and look at the look at the roof and look at the ceiling, and he's gonna say and you're gonna say, man, I did that. That was the most insane thing I've ever done. So we went down to the Amazon, targeting peacock bass. And one of the videos currently is almost at half a million views on YouTube. Got a lot of great feedback. And I made, I think, probably five, four or five videos of that trip. It was just incredible fishing. It was just absolutely insane. And, I got back from the trip, and I was like, what's next? I wanna do something else. And I was just scrolling through Instagram one day, and I and I see this video that pops up of the of the Amazon. There's a beautifully produced video catching, peacock bass, and it was by this YouTube channel called Project Bass Thumb. His name is Joel. He's from Switzerland. He's actually a good buddy of mine. He was working with another cameraman from, Poland who who is my cameraman. His name is Adrian Paloszczewicz. And so I found him on Instagram. I messaged him, and I was like, this is just absolutely beautiful work. And I was like, I have to work with this guy. So I contact Adrian. We hop on a phone call. I was like, man, I like, we have to do something cool. A month or a couple months go by, and we ended up planning for him to come down to Florida. Chevrolet, contacted me, and they're like, hey, Ryan. Like, we'd love to to do a road trip with you. Like, like, we'll give you a truck. They never said road trip. They they said, we'd like to give you a truck to make content with. And I pitched them the idea of a road trip called Hooked Florida. And, basically, we did a new, location every single day, kept targeting a new species for, like, five days. And, it was really cool, man. We we fished with some really cool individuals, got to interview the leaders for how that inspired their fishing, and basically just about their life and and what they do. And it was a really cool video. And so that was our first thing that we did. And then we did the Amazon, together.
Ryan Izquierdo: So we fished the, Guaviare River. So we went we flew to Bogota, and then we we flew to a small town called San Jose, and we had an absolutely crazy travel day. So it started out, you know, from Bogota offline to San Jose, load up in this tiny little boat. There's literally a spare lower unit on top of the boat tied by rope. We throw all of our bags in there. It's me, my cameraman, my buddy Jake, who I go up to fish with in Pennsylvania. He's a really good buddy of mine, and two dudes I never met, Carl and and Derek. Derek actually lives in, like, Boca. So it it was just cool, man. We had a really cool group of guys. We all load up in this boat, and they're like, alright. We got about a ten hour boat ride downstream. And we're like, oh, boy. Ten hours? In this rinky dink boat.
Tom Rowland: Ten hours, you said?
Ryan Izquierdo: Ten hours.
Tom Rowland: Okay.
Ryan Izquierdo: So we load up in this rinky dink boat, and, we start heading downstream. And we stop at a 161 miles at this tiny village, not connected by any roads, only by river. And, we we walk up these steps, and it's like a whole little town. And, you know, people are just looking at us like, wow. I I like, they don't see people like us often. So we we go there to refuel, eat some food, hop back in the boat, and we keep we we keep going downstream until the darkness. And our boat driver said that, over the last time.
Tom Rowland: What did you do at that town? You just stopped in for for a break or or what?
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, we stopped in. He had to make a few repairs on the motor and, but refuel the boat, and we just ate lunch at a little small restaurant. Mhmm. All this is on YouTube, by the way. It's a really cool video. It's called Jungle Jeopardy.
Tom Rowland: Nice.
Ryan Izquierdo: And so we load back in the boat. We head downstream until the night comes, and, we we get hit with a big storm. And the the boat driver didn't feel comfortable going down the rapids with all the with the boat being so heavy as it was with all of our bags and everything. So we ended up pulling off to the side. We don't have a satellite phone or anything. Like, this is sketchy, man. If we're 250 miles into the into the jungle at this point, and, we ended up, pulling off the riverbank till we saw a little lit up house up there somewhere in the jungle. And, our translator goes up, walks up, and he's, like, talking to to the guy And, the Colombian, man and his family, they let us sleep in his house overnight. So he he set us up in some hammocks. I slept on a little mattress about this thin on the floor. And, man, when I tell you, I've never had such a bad bug attack in my life, that that was one of my biggest how lucky I am to live in America moments. That was just, like, the luxuries that we have that we take for granted, that was
Tom Rowland: Even with all the time you spent in the glades and and and, you go up to Flamingo and and the bugs were 10,000,000 times worse than Flamingo? It's a Because that's
Ryan Izquierdo: saying something. A million times worse. But the the worst part is they're stinging bugs and they're flying cockroaches and they're, constantly you're trying to sleep and and you get silence and all of a sudden it's and they start attacking you. So that was, a night I was very happy to the sun came up when it did, and we got back in the boat. But it when I tell you, it was the coolest thing ever. Just I had Google Translator offline, and I'm just communicating with everybody. And, you know, they're asking questions. I'm asking questions. They they'd end up cooking us amazing dinner. It was, like, such a cool little dish they made. They made us, like, some nice rice, some, some fried, some fried what is it? They're not plantains, but smashed banana. They fry it.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Right?
Ryan Izquierdo: Yeah. So something like that. Plantains. With a nice egg on top. It was so good. And, like, for dessert, they made us, like, some tea with some honey. Damn. It was just it was just a good time to
Tom Rowland: Could you, give them anything on the way out? Like, did you have anything that they needed or wanted?
Ryan Izquierdo: Everybody tipped them. Or, I mean, I gave them
Tom Rowland: Just money?
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was, like, so grateful because, you know, if it wasn't for that, we'd be sitting in the boat, and these people were kind enough to let us come in their home and and, you know, crash at their place, you know.
Ryan Izquierdo: So we ended up going to camp. We get to camp, and we're told we have to repack again for three days. And we had another 150 mile journey downstream. So after basically two days of no sleep, traveling to Colombia from Florida, sleepless in Colombia overnight, we have another journey, downstream to our next camp that we're gonna stay at, which was unbelievable. We were camping beside a giant waterfall and just fishing our way all the way down to where we're camping, man. And we were catching these. I'll show you. Check that out.
Tom Rowland: Oh, man. Payara. Payara. So awesome.
Ryan Izquierdo: Yeah. So, we're fishing for payara. It was just, like, an incredible fishery, man. On fly, on spin, on everything. I think I broke, my rod on the way down. It was just, like, madness. So that that's just a little taste of Colombia.
Tom Rowland: Let me ask you about that payara because they obviously have those incredible jaws like you just like you just showed us, and they've got those big, like, canines on the bottom that just kinda come up. What is it? Why why do they have a jaw structure like that? Are they hunting something that that they have to have those teeth or like, what is that all about?
Ryan Izquierdo: For whatever reason, evolution made them. So they have these crazy teeth right here. Yeah. But so when they come up and they hit your bait, because I noticed that they like to hit, like like, pretty much topwater or subsurface, very slow retrieve. So when they come up, they they they miss your lure all the time. Like like but what they do is they open their mouth and they slice. Oh. So so that that that's pretty much how they hunt. And on their top upper jaw, they have holes, which these teeth go into
Tom Rowland: and come out. Barracuda has that. Barracuda has that on the right in the middle. That one tooth that comes up in the barracuda. And it's got a hole right there. I always thought that was the coolest thing because it, like, when it closes, it locks. Like, it's it's locked closed. So Oh, yeah. Like that fish is not getting out. Neither is your finger if you get in Oh, no. And it might bite you.
Ryan Izquierdo: My buddy caught one, caught a payara and he and, you know, unhooking it, it went crazy and it got hooked his the tooth in his boot. The the it went through his boot, but it didn't, like, protrude all the way through. Just through the material, but, I mean, it was stuck to his boot. Wow. So, I mean, it's just unbelievable, the species that we caught on that trip, man. We caught, another fish called the matrinxa. Without a doubt, the hardest hitting fish I've ever caught in my life. Imagine a, a golden shiner and a grass carp had a baby. That is this fish. And it was one of the most delicious fish I've ever had in my life. So the we caught this fish. I didn't know it at the time, but, I mean, we I actually brought, a tape and a scale and stuff because we're gonna try to break some IGFA world records over there. And the fishing was just so crazy. And so we didn't really really do anything with that, but, we caught some definitely unofficial world record size matrinxa. They hit so ferociously, especially after heavy rain. We we got hit with some really, really heavy rain, which made fishing tough. But after a heavy rain, they sit right underneath the trees. Mhmm. And as soon as your lure hits the water, they smash it right on top. It's it's on.
Tom Rowland: And what kind of lure do you use for this?
Ryan Izquierdo: So, just, I was using a redhead white body lip plug. Probably three foot diving.
Tom Rowland: Oh, does it float when you're when you
Ryan Izquierdo: It floats.
Tom Rowland: And they would hit it
Ryan Izquierdo: on the surface of your lip and it just kinda comes up like this.
Tom Rowland: Yes. And as soon as you as soon as it hit the water though, they were eating it.
Ryan Izquierdo: As soon as it hits the water or, if you're casting and it kinda hooks on itself and it swims all weird Yeah. That's for whatever reason, they they love to hit it like that. But, I I found the lure that worked for me. It was that redhead white body, plug. I was throwing that the whole time, or I was throwing a a fire tiger countdown Rapala the whole time. And I also noticed that single hooks work a lot better for these fish right here because with the treble hook, is almost impossible to hook the payara. But for the matrinxa, they'd wrap them in banana leaves and smoke them overnight over the fire. And that's what we had for breakfast most days was, fish soup, with some, rice and potatoes or the matrinxa. And every day, we'd have a lunch, and they'd wrap our lunch in these banana leaves and then Saran wrap it. And we leave early in the morning, probably load up on the boat, 06:30. We're gone. And we eat lunch around one or one, 01:30 every day. And we open up the banana leaves, and it is piping hot still. Really? And it blew my mind. I'm just like, wow. So it was really cool.
Tom Rowland: Sitting any kinda cooler or anything or or, like, just just that with saran wrap and that's enough?
Ryan Izquierdo: It was that with saran wrap, and they threw it in a little bag and, like, a little Publix bag and just threw it. We were fishing in this, you know, 12 foot john boat.
Tom Rowland: That is so cool, man.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. So with with that type of food and everything, did you have any trouble with your diabetes?
Ryan Izquierdo: Actually, no. I definitely can say my that time it was good. The first time I went to Colombia, I don't know if it was the nerves or the anxiety, but I had a up and like, up and down, up and down, very low lows and very high highs. So it was pretty tough to to keep that. But my second time, I was like, you know, I'm gonna resist temptation because all of the snacks in Colombia are like crack. Like, because they use cane sugar.
Tom Rowland: Yeah.
Ryan Izquierdo: So the Gatorades in Colombia are the most delicious thing you ever have. The the Oreos that they have are the most delicious thing. So the first time I went there, I was just a vacuum. I was just eating all of it. The second time, I was like, you gotta chill out. Keep your blood sugar nice and stable because we gotta make some banger videos. And, I mean, it it was just such a blast. And I like we mentioned on the call, I went back pursuing, a peacock bass over 20 pounds.
Tom Rowland: Mhmm.
Ryan Izquierdo: And I just got back four days ago, and we caught 21 pound peacock bass on the last day. On the the last lagoon of the day, we were throwing redhead, white body, little Yozuri, small little profile. And, it was very that that trip, it was tough. That that was the toughest fishing I've seen. I was expecting all the lures that I that I was crushing it on the first time I went for the peacocks to work. They didn't wanna have it. There were some doctors in the in the tent next to me. Doctor Bob Marks, he's a doctor at the University of Miami. And, you know, I didn't think they're gonna do good. So the first day we go out, we we had a tough day until, at sunset, I was throwing a a, like, a nine inch bone spook, and I'm throwing it on the beach. And so the beaches, they they're basically just like like these, and they come out and there's and they're deep pockets and everything, so I'm throwing the spook. My my cameraman, Adrian, he has a drone up and he's following the lure, and we get a 19 pound peacock bass, smashes the spook once on on, the drone we captured it. I set the hook, the lure flies. I'm like, no. No. No. No. Come back. Twitch twitch twitch. Like, four feet from the boat, this peacock bass smashes it. It was mad footage. This video is coming out probably the next, like like, three weeks. So we we catch this fish, and we get back to camp, and we're asking everybody about the day. And, doctor Bob Marks, he had an incredible day, and he he's been all over the world fishing. He's been to Africa, like like, 30 times. He's traveled. So, like, also forgot to mention when we were traveling there, I I got to ride with him. So we had about a six hour, car ride down this bumpy road and, like like, down all these fields and and farms and and craziness, and and I just couldn't believe that that that they knew where to go. I could we're just going deeper into these red dirt roads and and and through the bush and everything over sketchy little wooden bridges. And I'm talking to to Bob about everything, and he's like, telling me about this lure that he has. He's like, man, I can't wait to throw this lure. His eyes are, like, lighting up about it. And that lure was a yum, I think it's called a money minnow. It's just a swimbait. But he's like, man, this money minnow, like, he goes up to Canada fishing for pike, and he's like, I've had hundred day pike days on this lure, like, the peacock bass. I was like, yeah. I don't know, man. Last time I was here, they didn't touch the swim bait. I I brought swim baits last time. I thought I thought they're gonna organize. Like, I left them all at home because they didn't work.
Tom Rowland: Oh, no.
Ryan Izquierdo: And, the the next two days after I caught that p that big peacock bass, literally the following day, I only caught two peacocks. The next day after that, I maybe I caught three or four. Fishing was tough. Couldn't figure it out. The only thing that was working for me was was to fly. And, doctor Bob, he's like he's like he gave me some swimbaits. Next day, the fishing was amazing with the swimbaits. Got a 15 pounder, got a bunch of numbers. And so it's just really cool, especially going on these trips because all the fishermen that you meet, they're hardcore. To go on this trip Mhmm. You have to kinda be mad about fishing. And, so I've met some really cool individuals, learned a lot, exchanged some phone numbers with with some really cool guys. I definitely think I consider lifelong friends.
Tom Rowland: That's cool, man.
Ryan Izquierdo: So it's just really cool that the journey more than any and anything. And talk about one last thing I'll mention. I don't wanna talk about this all the time, but, like, when I tell you the happiest, stress free people you've ever met, some of the hardest working people you've ever met, like, it is mind blowing. These people have no worries. They they literally live in in, the small town outside of the jungle. Some of them live in the jungle. They're all laughing. They're all smiling. It's just an incredible experience, and I think everybody can learn something about themselves and and about the luxuries of this country going on one of these trips. It really is amazing. And for me, talk it's modern day time travel. You feel like you're a hundred years back in time when when you're when you're going on these trips. There's there's nothing. There's zero pollution. The water is crystal clear. There's amazing wildlife, and the fishing is untouched. It's it's really something special.
Tom Rowland: That's so cool, man. I've I've had, some experiences like that going like, the first time I went to Christmas Island, it was like going back in time fifty years. I mean, there's just, I mean, you're just like, people are like wearing like native dress. Like, then the second time I went there twenty years later, they were like wearing like t shirts and stuff. But there was just like, you know, it was just the coolest thing ever. I mean, some people were wearing t shirts and stuff that, you know, people would leave stuff there and and stuff. But they would still like fashion kind of skirts out of out of, palm trees and stuff, like palm fronds. And and it was just the coolest thing. And and you just do that modern day time travel. That's really cool to to think about it like that. What did you do? Did you have challenges with, with camera gear and charging and batteries and
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh my goodness.
Tom Rowland: Because like we when we plan like stuff like this, it's like, yeah, we'd love to do it. But, I mean, you know, like, where are we gonna charge? How much, you know, all this stuff. What was it like for you?
Ryan Izquierdo: So the first two trips were very very, smooth at that. At at our tent, you have, like, you know, outlets and everything. So I always bring, like,
Tom Rowland: What? Hooked up to batteries or what? Yes. Okay.
Ryan Izquierdo: Hooked hooked up to a generator.
Tom Rowland: Okay.
Ryan Izquierdo: So you can charge every night. So that that wasn't really an issue. The second trip, we literally had to plug in directly to a gasoline generator. All of our batteries were on the floor, like ants crawling over all of our batteries, like biting ants, like red ants. I literally have a video, and then I posted it on my Instagram story before. I might do it as a real one day, but, like, you can see I was like, this is how we charge in the Amazon, and we're and he's literally dumping gasoline into this generator. Our batteries are charged. It was really hard to keep charged that time, but I think you guys could absolutely do it. I'd I'd love to see you, go, freshwater and do that. It would
Tom Rowland: be awesome.
Ryan Izquierdo: And something else, I mean, for me because, my fishing journey kinda began, in Miami for the most part. My first fish ever when I was five years old was a sea trout fishing with George Myra who used to play for, the Miami hurricanes. Great friend of my dad. He took us out on on his boat. We were fishing, in Sanibel Island, Florida. Mhmm. And, I caught a sea trout, and I loved it. And then came back to Miami, and my dad and I, you know, went to the Everglades. Every weekend, we had a a a, like, a a thing. We we would go. Robert Is Here, grab some smoothies, hit the Everglades all day, dodge bait and tackle, grab some shiners, whatever, and and beat the bank and just peacock bass, peacock bass. So peacock bass have always been Mhmm. A very special fish to me. So literally, to get that 21 pounder, like like, that was just, like, like, such a moment. And I was like, man, I I I literally grew up watching amazing fishing shows. Every Saturday morning, my dad and I watched, you know, Saltwater Experience or Mike Iaconelli, Fish My City, all these shows. And and I and, like, that was, I think, a moment for me where I really was, like like, the ultimate blessing. I I can't I really can't explain that feeling.
Tom Rowland: What what do you think the biggest peacock you've ever heard about being caught in Miami or or the glades or or in South Florida, anywhere is?
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, I have a picture. Can I grab it real quick?
Tom Rowland: Sure you can. How much time we got?
Ryan Izquierdo: I think this might be one of the biggest peacock bass. So this was, like, after I used to play flag football. And, after our game, I called this gigantic butterfly. It might be a Popoca peacock bass, but this was a double digit. No doubt. Yeah. It was
Tom Rowland: Nice. No.
Ryan Izquierdo: That thing was an absolute monster.
Tom Rowland: That is so cool. So how much do you think that weighed? How How much did you did you just say what it weighed? I didn't hear.
Ryan Izquierdo: It was over 10 pounds.
Tom Rowland: Over 10 pounds.
Ryan Izquierdo: I I can't remember exactly, but I think the IGFA record is probably 10 close to 10, out of Homestead, which is where I I I lived in Homestead for some years. This was caught in Kendall right next to Killian High School. I was using a little rattle trap, and this fish was on its fry. So it had this was the big male,
Tom Rowland: and
Ryan Izquierdo: the the female was was around it. And I remember my dad and I, we were following these fish. I was casting at them, and they they they were not interested. And, and I was like, alright. Let's let's pack it up. It's it's getting time to go home, eat some dinner. I was like I was like, alright. And I took a few more casts, and these fish eventually went to the middle of the canal. So they were gone. So I was just blind casting this rattle trap, and and all of a sudden, I I was like, oh, man. I'm snagged. And I was like, I was like, oh my god. I have something. And it was a giant male. But our our film coming up, like, that's a picture when I was young.
Tom Rowland: Nice. Catching
Ryan Izquierdo: peacocks. Man, I've always loved catching peacock bass since I was a kid. I I have these pictures on hand because, our our film in the in the in the jungle starts out me, you know, looking at these pictures and and expressing my love for for these fish and and, the fishery. So
Tom Rowland: What what do you think the difference is between, like, you know, the peacock bass is an introduced species where where where we are in Florida and then you're going to where they're native. And did you notice any differences in in fishing for them in in anything, or did they behave
Ryan Izquierdo: the same exact fish.
Tom Rowland: Same fish.
Ryan Izquierdo: They really are the same exact fish. They they they fish just like you would in South Florida over there. The only difference is there's more species of them. So I got to catch all five species of peacock bass on my recent trip. So there's a cinchado peacock bass, which is the big temensis, which everybody wants to catch. They're the big green ones with the dark, stripes running down. There's, pintalapa, which is, they're a bit whitewashed. They have, like, like, the the dots running running horizontally, and they have very pale stripes. There's the butterfly peacock bass, which we have in South Florida, in Colombia. In the in the Amazon, they look they look a little bit different. They have very light, lines running down the three bars very light, but they have three dots that are very bright. And there is the electrico. Peacock bass is what is what the locals call them, and those ones are absolutely beautiful. I'll I'll pull up a picture to show you. And then there's there's another species called I'll show you real quick as a sneak peek. This is the 21 pounder.
Tom Rowland: Oh, wow. Well, which type is that?
Ryan Izquierdo: That that is the, temensis sensato, peacock bass. And now oh, this is the electrico. So this is actually my fishing guide here. His name is Cheeky, and he Wow. Look at this. Years old. Yeah. So It's a
Tom Rowland: little more, elongated, you know?
Ryan Izquierdo: Exactly. So it's almost like a snook.
Tom Rowland: Yeah.
Ryan Izquierdo: How how they have that lateral line running all the way down. So in South Florida, when the peacock bass were originally released to here, I believe they put all five species in Florida. And the only ones that survived and thrived were the butterflies. But, yeah, man. They they fish very similarly. They love, you know, fast action. Some days slow.
Tom Rowland: Now having gone having gone down there and seen the the native habitat and stuff, did could you make any, any kind of correlation to why that one species made it and the others didn't in Florida?
Ryan Izquierdo: You know, there's a lot of deep places for for those peacocks to to go when it when it gets hot. They they definitely like to to go deep in the middle of the lagoon. That's where we caught our big one. We were casting out in the in the middle of the lagoon. I really don't know why the peacocks all didn't thrive here because there's plenty of forage, you know. For whatever reason, I think the butterfly peacock just grows to, you know, that's that's one of the smaller sizes. And they I mean, still, they put up a great fight, and they get pretty pretty good size. But I I I really have no answer for that. It's honestly pretty fascinating to think about why one would make it and the others didn't because these are all from the same bloodline. You know?
Tom Rowland: Yeah. It's interesting. Now a couple of things I I saw, when I was doing watching some of your latest videos were the catfish too. Like, you caught some awesome looking catfish. And that and the catfish there is, seems to be much more of a gamey fish. Like, more so than just like a blue cat or something like we have, you know, up here, which it's a nice fish to catch, but it's not really like a flat head catfish. Now that one that one eats like you can fish live live sunfish and, you know, they they pound the crap out of that thing. And it's that's a really cool fish. I like the flathead catfish. I haven't really had, I don't know. To to I haven't really thought about a lot of other catfish and maybe I haven't fish for enough of them. But, I haven't really thought about a lot of other ones as like a real game fish. But like what you were catching down there looked unbelievable. And they've got some crazy fish, crazy catfish, like in the Amazon. Those those huge ones that there's that video that dude cuts his lure under the bushes and then this this thing comes out and it's like six feet long. That thing, I don't know what kind of catfish that is, but I wanna catch one of those. Oh, yeah. And then those red tails that you were catching look amazing, man. And you you know about those because of, like, like, the the predatory fins and all the stuff that we have in South Florida. I mean, you see those catfish like in aquariums and stuff like that. So I I would assume that you already knew all about what you might encounter down there. But tell me about that and the other kind of species that you caught.
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, my gosh. So the catfishing was really cool. So when we went to the Amazon, we were catching the payara for half the trip, and we had an option. We can either go try to catch big peacock bass or we can go, try to target, catfish. I was, yeah. I don't care about catfish. Just go
Tom Rowland: What what would be the difference? Like, you would go into slower water or faster water or, like, different areas or how would you
Ryan Izquierdo: If you want to go to catch big peacock bass, you had to make probably a four hour hike through the jungle, physically carry your boat Mhmm. All the way to a small lagoon that's like like, literally this there's this lagoon. And that and you get to fish out for, like, two, three days. It's a huge lagoon. But, yeah, you basically, you have to set up a new camp. You have to bring all your food, everything. So it's like a whole mission. And, you know, after all the crazy travel, I was like, man, that would be so cool for the video, like, all the cool wildlife. And I was like, but, like, I wanna try something different. I wanna try these peacock bass because the river that we are fishing, the Guaviare, is known for its big catfish. The peacock bass too. But, for example, where I just was in Colombia, there's no catfish. So we, we had an opportunity there to to catch some cool species, and, it was just amazing. So we we made a video called the food chain fishing challenge.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. So
Ryan Izquierdo: Basically, starting here from worms and working our way up the food chain. So we and even the bait fish that we catch there all have some serious sharp teeth. It's just like mind blowing. But, man, we, ended up fishing in this tiny little conjunction of, like, three different little creeks, and there's, like, this little deep pocket here. And, we're we're we're catching our live bait, and we ended up catching a a fish called the palometta. It's basically just imagine a moonfish. It's basically the size of of a dinner plate, super flat. They kinda remind me of, like, a pompano because the man, they they take drag when when you when you fight them. And, so the last day, we we actually
Tom Rowland: Is that what you use for cut bait for the catfish? Okay. Because I saw that, and it did look like a pompano. Like, you it looked like the head was cut off, but you could see, like, half of it. It looked like a pompano. That yeah. That's cool.
Ryan Izquierdo: So I I we caught a a palometta, and and, they're like, I think that's too big, man. Let's throw it back. I was like, man, we've been trying to get bait for, like, an hour. The piranhas just kept eating all the hooks away, and piranhas don't work over there. Believe it or not, you will not catch anything on a piranha. Cut bait, live bait, they don't eat the piranhas. So I was like, let let's just try it out. I threw the bait out there, and and mind you, this is probably a pound. Like, it's a big giant bait, like, literally this big. Like like, the mouth just imagine the mouth of a fish to eat that. It didn't last thirty seconds. It didn't last, like, literally fifteen seconds. Every single bait we're throwing out there was just getting just destroyed, man. I I had so much break offs on 150 pound braid, 200 pound leader. It was just Are they cutting
Tom Rowland: you off or breaking you off?
Ryan Izquierdo: Breaking us off. Wow. Yeah. I mean and something really cool is, which it's cool, but it isn't cool. And I'll explain why. The last two days, we we brought a live scope over the catfish hole that we are fishing. So, you know, you know what live scope is. So we're able to see fish and and all the structure and everything. And we literally saw catfish over five feet long in 22 feet of water. There's these giant brush piles everywhere. You can literally see the payara. So we would drop down, like a lipless crankbait or something, and and, you know, the lure comes all the way down and you're just over the brush pile. And you see the payaras, they all come up to it, and they hit just like a tarpon would. Imagine a tarpon. They just they flash just like it it was the most insane thing, but to see the size of the catfish there is mind blowing. Eventually, we were literally running out of all of our rigs and everything, so we ran outside of that, that conjunction of of small rivers, and we fished the main river, which is this I mean, it's just monstrous. And, we ended up catching, like, a 40 pound red tail, and I was like, oh my gosh. Like, a dream come true. And then they just kept coming. We're catching more big red tails and more big red tails, and, like, that's just a crazy, crazy dream fish for me. So that's so cool. Like you said, we actually caught something called the rip saw catfish. They call them caiman killers, because the caimans can't eat them. Yeah. Because on their lateral line, it's literally a bunch of, like like, knife blades coming out.
Tom Rowland: Could you handle that? Slice it. Handle it?
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, you you you don't get pliers and you hold it by the mouth or you can get your finger in the mouth Mhmm. And just put one finger kind of, like like, where his, like, anal fin is. Mhmm. And just be real careful. But I I tried to grab him and put my hand underneath when I first caught him, and he, sliced me with his pectoral fin, and it literally is serrated. Like, it cut me deep. And I was like, oh, my gosh.
Tom Rowland: On a on a Goliath or something or a snook. Right?
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Razor sharp. But serrated, I mean, these fish down there, I mean, even the big red tails, I mean, they'll they'll they'll cut you pretty good.
Tom Rowland: Seems like you gotta be pretty careful about stuff like that when you're that remote and far away. I mean, like a a little a little cut here is no big deal. Down there, that could, like, go bad fairly quickly.
Ryan Izquierdo: I think every single time that I've been I've had an infection on my foot or my ankle, just from all the bug bites, all the itching and everything, you you definitely have to be careful. Did anybody get sick? But the water the water is pretty clean, believe it or not. I mean, because it's just so out there, but you definitely just have to be careful, wash everything, just have good
Tom Rowland: Did you take any kind of, water purifier or or, iodine pills or anything?
Ryan Izquierdo: No no, like, life straws or anything. I was, you know, you brush your teeth with bottles of water, you drink bottles of water. Definitely would be a good idea to to bring, that kind of stuff. Pretty much activated charcoal. You know, if you eat something you feel like it's kinda sketchy, take one of those. You'll feel good. But, yeah. Definitely take vitamin c. All all your vitamins down there just it it's good to just to have it. It's
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Did you
Ryan Izquierdo: take any kind of You know the saying, like, burn the boats? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's kinda how it feels when you're over there. There's just, like, no escape button. If something goes wrong, you're you're hours and hours and hours away. And there's plenty of venomous and poisonous things over there. I mean, there's venomous snakes. There's poisonous plants, all all sorts of crazy stuff that oh, and and another crazy story before we end this thing, my first time there, there was a fishing guide who was walking, in the river, like, in the middle of the fishing day, and he got stung by a stingray right in his, foot, like like, kinda, like, on the sole of his foot. And he passed out from the pain. And luckily, the the the guys that he took fishing, like like, they have plenty of boating experience. So they ended up driving the boat all the way back to camp, which was a very, very far boat ride. And, you know, I took a video of his shoe, and there's just a hole about this big.
Tom Rowland: Wow.
Ryan Izquierdo: Like, the amount of freshwater stingrays there, that's the the biggest thing that you have to be careful for over there. It is those stingrays because they are so well camouflaged. And you don't think about it. You're like, oh, freshwater.
Tom Rowland: Some of those freshwater stingrays in that part of the world, I think in the Amazon. I don't know about where you were, but some of them can get really big, like, as big as our saltwater. Yeah. Like, it's bigger bigger than our saltwater stingrays. Right?
Ryan Izquierdo: Absolutely. They're huge. And and they're really pretty looking too. And they have all those beautiful little yellow rings and everything. But, man, that is not not a good time. I mean, that's serious serious doo doo.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Yeah. That sounds that sounds bad. But you guys seem to make it, pretty well. And what a test for your cameraman. Like, to see if see if you guys got a future is to take him to where he's gonna get just just crushed by stinging insects and biting biting ants and, see if he's still in.
Ryan Izquierdo: You know, the the cool thing about Adrian is, not only that, but just to get for for me to get to Florida to Colombia is about four hour plane ride. For him, he has to fly from, Switzerland to Berlin, Berlin to, Bogota or Medellin. That's about a sixteen hours in itself right there. I mean, that that's And he
Tom Rowland: did that in Saint Elmo. He he he travels alone and does that? Mhmm. Wow. I mean From Switzerland. That seems like the absolute polar opposite of Switzerland. Like, you're high and dry and and mountainous and then you're going to the deepest darkest freaking jungle on the planet. Like, that just I don't know how you could get more opposite.
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, yeah. I mean and, honestly, it's really cool work with him too because he is a super talented fisherman as like like, he loves to catch, like, those catfish that you were talking about, those big words that eat on top of the water. Those are called wels catfish. And he fishes for those, during the winter months. Also fishes for zander. I don't know if you ever heard of those. They're basically like a giant walleye, very similar to walleye, but they're they're different a bit. Wow. So, he definitely has helped me efficiently. He's like he's like, switch to this lure, and I and I was alright. And I end up catching a fish. You know? So, like, we definitely work really well together. He, has suffered with me. That's for sure. So I definitely have a great a great partner in this thing. We have a we have a three man team. Adrian films. He edits. There's me, and then another guy that we work with, Magic is his name, m a c i e k. He does all of our color grading. Magic, he works for, Red Bull in Switzerland. So he's, like, really, really good at color grading, and he loves to, like, film snowboarding. And we're trying to plan, maybe, like, an Alaskan trip together, all three of us, and go out and make, like, something in the cold because magic is not about that jungle life. And, honestly, I need a break from the jungle. So we're we're kind of figuring out our travel for the rest of the year. We have our eyes set on a few things. Oman would be amazing targeting giant trevally on poppers and and, you know, all the flats, fly fishing for those crazy trigger fish and blue trevally, all that stuff. Australia would be insane for, the barramundi, the GT, whatever. I have a bunch of
Tom Rowland: some people to hook you up with in Australia. These guys are freaking animals.
Ryan Izquierdo: They're animals, man. They they eat me off the breakfast.
Tom Rowland: These two guys I know, McGuffery and GT Buster. You know those two guys?
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, yeah. Dude. Yeah. Shout out to Mick and Andy.
Tom Rowland: Need to call them because Ben. I mean, the as crazy a trip as you just told me about, they do the same in in Australia. They, like like, they were like, okay. Well, there's a little weather window. So we're gonna drive seventeen hours, and then we're gonna get in the boat, and then we're gonna go out to the edge of the Earth, basically, and camp there on these little sand islands. Oh, and there are crocodiles there. And it's like, holy shit, man. What if something goes wrong? And they're like, well, I mean, it has, You know? It's like we've learned our lesson. So they take, like, six batteries and two lower units and all I mean, just like stuff that we don't even think about in Florida. Like, I mean, it's just, they they're those guys are animals. I loved I did two podcast. I did a podcast with both those guys. I loved I loved talking to them because they just it's just it's just extreme. But extreme to them is just like par for the course. That's just what they do. They don't even they don't even realize how extreme it is that what they're doing. They're just like, well, yeah. I mean, seventeen hours on this little tiny dirt road and if you get a flat tire, you know, basically nobody's coming and you're walking out of there. I'm like, do you understand how crazy that is? Like, that is so far remote. Like, that if you get a flat tire, you're you're basically gonna walk for days to get out of there. Like, that's I don't know, awesome. I wanna go. Honestly, I wanna go. But Different. Yeah, man. But I mean A little different. It's just like, you know, but I mean, if that's what you do, that's what you do. You don't even realize that it's like strange. Like, everybody doesn't do this.
Ryan Izquierdo: I feel like, you know, also, like, when you go through all those trials and tribulations and, like like, all the craziness and you get that fish in your hands after all you've been through, you just reflect on that in that moment, and it just makes it, like, so much more of an adrenaline rush, so much more of, like, a, we did it, like, like, like, through everything. I don't know. And for me, I would compare that kinda to just, like, how this whole journey has been for me. Just like like, so many unexpected things, so many, you know, you you have to be tenacious. You have to just, like, be about the grind and and about everything. And that really just fires me up. I I love, I love those crazy trips, and I've learned a lot from traveling, and, being outside of my comfort zone. It's something that I know you are a regular at. You know what? I gotta be honest. I've not I have not come close to those 10,000 push ups. I I have not.
Tom Rowland: Well, there's always next year. But you're you're doing you're doing other things. It's hard to do 10,000 push ups in the jungle. But, next year. Do it next year. I'm at 7,000 something today. I don't know. We did we did well, you know, if you just I don't know. I like to do them. I like to front load them in the day and and like I'll do I'll do 50 during my warm up anyway. And then so when I'm doing this, it's like, then I'll do 50 after the warm up. So now you're at a 100. Then I'll do
Ryan Izquierdo: 50 before I stretch my shoulders. For you. Right now? Is it
Tom Rowland: only only I I have a gym, but it's outside. I mean, everything's outside. Man, I
Ryan Izquierdo: I wanna do next next I cast your deck of cards Yeah.
Tom Rowland: Workout. Come on. I I
Ryan Izquierdo: have to I have to do it. I'll be
Tom Rowland: at the Miami Boat Show. We'll probably meet before the Miami Boat Show. I don't know if you're going there.
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, sweet. I I think I was gonna probably go.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, maybe, I I usually do it with with some dudes, on the beach there before before the boat show in the mornings. But, yeah, we'll we'll get together. Yeah. I watched your fitness journey. It's awesome. I appreciate it. Really working hard.
Ryan Izquierdo: I love it, man. I love for me, I I mean, it just does a lot, like like, from a mental it's just good. I think everyone should just challenge their self and just do something that they don't wanna do. Channel your inner David Goggins. You know? Something that I recently started, was Brazilian jiu jitsu.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. I noticed that.
Ryan Izquierdo: I train pretty much every day, one to two times a day.
Tom Rowland: That's awesome.
Ryan Izquierdo: But that's another luxury of doing what I do is is you have the free time to to pursue other things. And I've learned so much through jiu jitsu. You know, when there's a big dude on top of you, you're trying to breathe and and you're figuring out how am I gonna get this dude off me. And, you know, all the amount of strength doesn't matter. It's just literally a game of inches and a game of angles, and you flip them right on over.
Tom Rowland: Did you have any wrestling background or anything?
Ryan Izquierdo: What's that?
Tom Rowland: Did you have a wrestling background at all?
Ryan Izquierdo: No wrestling background. I always roughhouse though with with my friends and, two of my really good buddies, Aaron Benz Raham. He's a a black belt at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and and he's a really awesome inshore snook fisherman. He honestly probably be great for your podcast. Probably gonna end up doing some fishing with him tonight, sunset snook fishing. Nice. So I I've been training with him in his garage before I started. And another one of my buddies, he's a brown belt, captain Matt Budd.
Tom Rowland: Oh, Matt Budd. Love Matt Budd.
Ryan Izquierdo: Yeah. He he's a great buddy of mine too.
Tom Rowland: He's awesome, dude, man. Great, a great fisherman too.
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh my gosh. He he's so talented. I don't you know, I I would cons I would say I'm probably, like, a a brown belt in fishing. Maybe not even. He's a he's a four stripe black belt, that guy. He's like
Tom Rowland: Well, he's he's really good because, like, he he he's like, he's like a lot of my friends in Key West that that really are really are commercial fishermen, but they also guide. And then they like like have like the they have both mentalities. Like you have the people that are just fishing guides and that's fine. But then you have the guys that are just commercial fishermen and that's fine. But then you have a few people that kinda cross over to both and they know the bait and they know the they know everything, man. So, I mean, I don't know. It's just a it's like it's like what you're saying. Like, it's a different belt. Like, it's you you know more And you know the guiding side and you know the commercial side and you know the bait side and you know the, you know, the the artificial side and and just makes you overall really, really good. And I've had a a couple opportunities to fish with Matt. He's really good, man. Really, really good.
Ryan Izquierdo: Matt Matt's like an animal, honestly. He'd you know, I I know of Matt, like, like, pretty much one of my closest friends over at his house every single week. We train pretty much every day. And, you know, he was thrown into that life by his dad. His dad's a really good charter captain. And, you know, his dad would would drop him off of the boat ramp with the boat, and, you know, Matt would go get bait for his dad. And, you know, pretty much every every day or every couple days and, you know, when it came down down time for the charter, Matt brings the boat back to the ramp, fill the blacked out the the well with bait, and and gives the boat to his dad. His dad handed him a $20 bill. So, I mean, I mean, I've never had that. Like like, my dad loves to fish. I'd say he's more he's more passionate about boating and just being on the water. But I've never had, like like, like like, Matt's upbringing in fishing. Yeah. But I've, man, I've learned a ton just by fishing with Matt. Like, I'll help him out during mackerel season or kingfish season. And, you know, Philip brought up a fish with him, and it's it's really cool just to to to learn. But I don't think he's commercial fishing anymore. I think he's, just doing his summer camps and and taking trips here and there.
Tom Rowland: His summer camp's really cool, what he does with that.
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, yeah. It's it's really awesome.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Yeah. Well, Ryan, man, it's been great talking to you. I really I really enjoy talking to you, and I've I've I've really enjoyed watching you develop. And, I'll I will continue to do that. And this won't be the last podcast. I'd love to have you on again.
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, absolutely, Tom. Thank you so much, everybody. Thank you for, listening and
Tom Rowland: How do they find you?
Ryan Izquierdo: You could look me up on YouTube. Ryan Iz Fishing. Ryan, I z fishing. And same for goes for Instagram and TikTok, all that stuff. But, yeah. Be looking out for those peacock bass videos. We we got I think it's pretty gonna be, like, one long epic peacock bass video. Nice. Probably thirty to forty minutes. Narration, throughout the video just to kind of about me growing up and and, what these fish mean to me. And Tom, man, we gotta do some fishing this year.
Tom Rowland: Let's do it.
Ryan Izquierdo: We have to.
Tom Rowland: I'm ready, man. We'll do it. Sounds awesome.
Ryan Izquierdo: Alright, brother. Do the
Tom Rowland: deck of cards too. Alright, brother.
Ryan Izquierdo: Oh, yeah.
Tom Rowland: Thanks, man.
Ryan Izquierdo: Alright, man. I'm gonna go hit some push ups right now at fifty.
Tom Rowland: Okay.
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