Last Thursday I took the family out to a rural area of Arizona for some creek fishing for smallmouth bass and got a special treat of watching a pack of Coatis or Coatimundi.
Check Out These Books To Choose Your Arizona Wilderness Adventure
A Rare Experience with Coati or Coatimundi
This was a rare experience for me as I haven’t seen very many coatimundis in the wild in my lifetime. These critters go by both coati and coatimundi if you are wondering why I use them interchangeably.
These strange creatures are part of the raccoon family and kinda look like a raccoon was crossed with a monkey of some sort.
I remember the first time I saw one in the wild I called it an Arizona monkey. They have long noses and long tails. Pretty amazing animals.
These guys weren’t scared of me at all and I watched them fool around for about 15-20 minutes before they disappeared back into the woods.
Add in Catching Smallmouth Bass
This trip became even more rare as I came across these crazy coatis while I was wading in the creek and catching smallmouth bass.
In fact, in the video above I show a clip of catching a smallmouth bass and seeing a couple of coati come down and drink right in front of me.
See Another River Fishing Trip Here
I was really wishing that I had something more than a GoPro when I was filming these guys and actually stopped recording when I thought I was at first, so I apologize for that.
The Beauty of the Arizona Outdoors
I love the Arizona outdoors. As more people move to Arizona and more and more people are getting out these sightings are more rare, but they can still happen and make for a perfect day of fishing and connecting with the wildlife.
I remember a few years ago when my brother-in-law and I were fishing this same stretch of river and came across a sow bear and her cub sitting in the middle of the stream. She was flipping over rocks and eating whatever was underneath and the cub was having a great time just splashing around in the water.
We watched for a while, enjoying this rare experience, and then gave them a wide birth and resumed fishing for smallmouth.
That’s the cool thing about these fishing adventures is that you never know what to expect. I never would have expected coatimundi, but there they were.
Get out and catch some fish. You never know what you might see.
To your fishing success,
Jonathan Burke
LiveBassFishing.com