My goal, he said by cell phone while sitting in the rain on New York’s Cayuga Lake Friday, “as the first Brazilian to fish BASS, is to qualify for the Elite Series. If I can do that I will be able to promote American bass fishing a lot better in Brazil.”

And not just techniques, he said, but the ethics associated with bass tournament fishing.

“What we want to do is show how the guys in America do it,” Malucelli said. “We are trying to teach our people that fishing is more than killing the fish, show them how to practice catch and release, that it’s not always to catch something to eat, but also as a sport. If I can qualify for the Elite Series I can have more recognition and be able to work better in my country to promote the sport of bass fishing.”

After 17 years guiding for peacock bass in the Amazon River and for Dorado and other prized saltwater species, Malucelli came to America as a technical consultant for Aquabrazil, a wholesale distributor of top name brand American fishing tackle. He works with the American companies to modify tackle for use in Brazilian waters and create packaging and marketing for the Brazilian market.

An accomplished writer, he creates articles for fishing magazines in his home country and also writes for fishing shows on the Brazilian equivalent of the Outdoor Channel in Brazil.

Ironically, his mission in America was aided by a real mission – a church in Fort Mill, S.C., which offered his family an opportunity to live close to Southern bass fishing.

“We had an opportunity to live in Miami and spend three months a year guiding for Peacock Bass, but we knew of this church that had a sister church in Brazil so we came to Fort Mill to a church called Morningstar.”

A member of the church hosted the Malucellis for several months until Marcos could get his feet on the ground and get his family established.

Not long after arriving in Fort Mill he had the opportunity to fish as a co-angler in a Walmart BFL tournament on nearby Lake Wylie. He caught two bass that weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces the first day.

“I was surprised I made the cut,” he said. “On the second day I drew Todd Auten (BASS and FLW pro who lives on Lake Wylie) and he helped me a lot. I ended up winning my first tournament here.”

Currently ranked 40th in the Norther Open standings, Malucelli, who has finished n the money in 11 of 19 tournaments fished in BASS, needs a strong finish on Cayuga Lake to move up into the top 12 in order to qualify for the Elite Series. A win next weekend would propel him into the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.

But the fish so far have not been cooperating, he said.

“It’s not easy at all,” he said. “My friends are telling me the fishing is off. Right now the water is too warm, 82 degrees, and the fish are not used to that warm water. They are not biting at all. You can mark a lot of fish deep but the bites are not coming.”

On Thursday, his first day on the lake, Malucelli concentrated on smallmouth bass in the main lake.

“I love smallmouth bass. They behave a lot like peacock bass, although peacock bass don’t go as deep as the smallmouth. Yesterday I was throwing a Fat Free Shad No. 7 and every time I hit it right I got a good bite, but it was not very easy to duplicate.”

Malucelli explained that the lake bottom is covered with short aquatic grass where the smallmouth are lurking.

“You can get your crankbait in there and then rip it and when it explodes free they react to that to bite.”

On Friday he checked out the largemouth bass in one of the canals that finger off the main lake.

“The last two big tournaments here were won on largemouth bass. I came to the canal to try because it was overcast which should be perfect for the largemouth, but the fishing was not very good,” he said.

Malucelli said it was too early with nearly a week left of practice to formulate a strategy, but he plans to return to the main lake for a few days and concentrate on throwing a big crankbait in 18 feet of water for smallmouth.

The rain has cooled things down some and with the forecast for weather not as warm as it has been he hopes the fish will bite a little better.

“With a crankbait I can cover a lot of water,” he noted.

Whatever the outcome of the Northern Open on New York’s Cayuga Lake next week, Malucelli has no plans to leave Fort Mill anytime soon. There’s too much good largemouth bass fishing available on the nearby lakes in both North and South Carolina to keep him occupied testing tackle for a long time.

“I love Peacock Bass, but I also love largemouth bass. There are many, many ways to catch them. We’ve lived in Fort Mill for almost seven years and we are very proud of having two American children born in South Carolina.”

 

Bassmaster Northern Open

Aug 16-18, 2012

Cayuga Lake

www.bassmaster.com