Brazil
February 2024
Species: Arapaima, Peacock Bass, Piranha
It had been over 10 years since my last trip to Brazil, and a return was long overdue. My prior two trips, booked through Acute Angling, resulted in many spectacular catches, and I anxiously anticipated more of the same. Unlike my prior trips, I actually had a little spare time to do some sightseeing in the city. I visited the famous Manaus Opera House, the fish market, a floating village outside the city, and the Meeting of the Waters where the clear dark Rio Negro meets the muddy Rio Solimoes to form the Amazon River.
February 2024
Species: Arapaima, Peacock Bass, Piranha
It had been over 10 years since my last trip to Brazil, and a return was long overdue. My prior two trips, booked through Acute Angling, resulted in many spectacular catches, and I anxiously anticipated more of the same. Unlike my prior trips, I actually had a little spare time to do some sightseeing in the city. I visited the famous Manaus Opera House, the fish market, a floating village outside the city, and the Meeting of the Waters where the clear dark Rio Negro meets the muddy Rio Solimoes to form the Amazon River.
Touring a small floating village outside Manaus
The famous opera house in Manaus
The Meeting of the Waters where the Amazon River begins
Below is a quick clip of me feeding some captive Arapaima in the village:
After a day of sightseeing, I had booked a day of Arapaima fishing. This took place at a property about an hour outside the city. The owner of a large ranch had dammed up the river to create a series of ponds, and wild Arapaima thrived there in the protected environment. You could observe them gulping air on the surface frequently, but they are a cagey fish and not easy to catch. I did manage to hook one pretty early on casting a Rapala Super Shad Rap. I was retrieving the lure very slowly, and suddenly I felt a sharp strike. I set the hook hard multiple times, and suddenly the reel started peeling drag. I couldn't believe how easily the line was being ripped off the reel, because I thought I had the drag very tight and was using heavy gear. The fish jumped and I saw it was well over 100lbs. Once I got it away from structure, I backed off the drag a bit to tire it out and not pull the hook. When it was sufficiently tired, I hopped in the water for some photos before carefully releasing the fish. It was so big that I could not really lift it well for the photo. At the time of this writing, it was the largest freshwater fish I had ever caught lure casting.
After such quick success I thought it might be easy, but after that there was a long drought for several hours with no fish. Arapaima often shut down in response to noises they do not like, and it is hard to catch more than one fish from the same spot. We moved around to different spots and had a couple more strikes on the Rapala but they didn't stay hooked.
After lunch, we were back at it again, but with little to show for it for the first few hours. I switched to bait, and around 3pm I got a bite and was able to land the fish. This fish shook so violently when it was brought close to shore that it headbutted one of the teens who was helping out and he was out cold, face- down in the water. I had never seen a fish knock someone out before, but they do have very large, hard heads.
After lunch, we were back at it again, but with little to show for it for the first few hours. I switched to bait, and around 3pm I got a bite and was able to land the fish. This fish shook so violently when it was brought close to shore that it headbutted one of the teens who was helping out and he was out cold, face- down in the water. I had never seen a fish knock someone out before, but they do have very large, hard heads.
This fish knocked one of the helpers out cold
I caught two more small (50-70lb) fish right at the end of the day. At one point I handed my rod to someone and he put it down with the bail closed, and when I looked for the rod it was gone. A fish had bitten the bait and yanked it into the water without a trace. Thankfully, one of the teen helpers dove into the water and found the line, and we were able to get the rod back. The fish was even still there, although it jumped off pretty quickly, probably because the hook never really got set.
The next morning I was up bright and early and headed to the airport with the other 6 people in my group. They consisted of two fathers with their adult sons, along with two brothers. They were an agreeable group to spend the week with. I never love small planes, but the trip was smooth.
The next morning I was up bright and early and headed to the airport with the other 6 people in my group. They consisted of two fathers with their adult sons, along with two brothers. They were an agreeable group to spend the week with. I never love small planes, but the trip was smooth.
We landed on the Cuini River, our home for the week. Our camp consisted of 4 floating bungalows, a floating dining area, and a supply boat that the staff slept in. Throughout the week, the whole camp got towed to different locations in order to access different areas. The camp offered creature comforts I had not anticipated, including AC and internet access. The food was also surprisingly excellent all week.
Floating bungalow camp
After a brief orientation, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed out to fish. My guide Manoel did not speak English, but I spoke to him in Spanish with a Portuguese accent and he responded in Portuguese with a Spanish accent and we were able to communicate. I started with a big propeller lure, ripping it quickly across the surface to generate loud splashes. This often drives Peacock Bass wild and results in massive strikes that sound like someone dropped a Volkswagon in the water. I got a decent-size fish pretty quickly, and then missed a few bigger ones and had one break me off in the timber. I caught some small fish in the last few minutes on a bucktail jig, and that was the end of the first day.
First Peacock Bass of the trip
My guide looking sad after a big one got away
The next day I was determined to experience the huge topwater explosions that Peacocks are known for, so I threw the the big prop lures relentlessly. I did get some big blowups, but none of them stuck. Some missed the lure completely, which is common, and two that grabbed the lure swam straight towards me and spit it out before I could reel in the slack and set the hook. In the last hour of the day I switched to the bucktail jig and landed 16 small fish.
The assortment of big propeller lures I brought. I was loaded for bear, but the bears wanted to eat jigs
The simple, but highly effective, bucktail jig
The next day I persisted with the big prop lures for the first half of the day, but threw in the towel about midway through the day and switched to the jig. The prop lures are incredibly tiring to work in the hot sun, and after switching to the jig I could barely feel the weight of the rod in my hand. The switch to the jig resulted not only in many small fish, but some big ones as well. Here are the best three from that day.
The next day happened to be my birthday. I finally learned my lesson and took what the good Lord provided and only fished the jig all day instead of trying to force it with the topwaters. This resulted in a spectacular 75 Peacock Bass landed. One of my best days of freshwater fishing ever. Here are a few fish from that day.
My biggest Butterfly Peacock Bass of the trip. Not huge, but they sure fight for their size
A beauty pulled out of some gnarly flooded timber
I will not give a day by day account of the rest of the time at camp, because each day was pretty similar after that. I fished jigs all day, caught a ton of small fish, and once in a while would hook into a bigger one. We had one day that was cool and rainy and hence pretty slow, and then a couple very hot days when the fish bit better. On the hot days I usually took a little siesta after lunch, because it was just too hot to fish all the way through. On a couple days I drank an entire gallon and a half of water and didn't pee. You have to take that heat and humidity seriously down there and constantly be hydrating.
Midday siesta
Most people probably think of the Amazon as being full of animals and snakes and bugs, but that was not the case in this area. Most of the land is underwater for half the year, so there is not a lot of food for land animals. There were a lot of birds, especially various types fo kingfishers hunting for fish. Freshwater dolphins were omnipresent, often following the boats to try to snatch a hooked fish and get a free meal. Some of the other guys saw a Coral Snake swimming across the river and a Palm Viper when looking for Caiman at night, but I did not see any snakes this trip. Bugs could not breed in the acidic tannin-stained water, so there were almost none near the river, although if you headed into the jungle they quickly found you.
One of a handful of Piranha I caught
My guide would occasionally take me off the beaten path and hack into some hidden area with a machete. These spots always produced great fishing.
Hacking into a lagoon
The reward
At one point I took a break and let my guide fish so I could get some action photos.
The exact moment the fish spit out the jig
A small Butterfly jumping
Landing a bigger fish
By the last day, I was running on fumes from all the casting and heat. I really wanted to get a few more big fish on the boat, so I made myself cast over and over again looking for big bites. I got some nice fish throughout the day and then at 430 hooked into the biggest of the day on my last cast. Great way to end the trip.
I finished up with 240 Peacock Bass. I probably could have landed another 70-80 or so if I had not stubbornly thrown the big propeller lure for 14 hours for 1 landed fish, but you never know unless you try. Sometimes they really like those big loud lures, but not this time.
I finished up with 240 Peacock Bass. I probably could have landed another 70-80 or so if I had not stubbornly thrown the big propeller lure for 14 hours for 1 landed fish, but you never know unless you try. Sometimes they really like those big loud lures, but not this time.
Final cast fish
We landed back in Manaus, and I headed out for one last day of Arapaima fishing. The Arapaima bit a little better than the first day, possibly because of the warmer weather. I hooked a monster 200lb+ fish that I fought for several minutes before it jumped right in front of me and spit the hook. Surprisingly, I hooked another fish right away from the same spot and landed it. Not as big as the one that got away, but still a beautiful fish.
After that I figured that spot was cooked so we moved to another area and got another fish before lunch.
At this point I was on my 9th full day fishing and did not have a lot left in the tank, so I just soaked bait and patiently waited for bites. I had a big fish get under a log and break my 100lb leader, and another big one jump off, but I landed the two biggest fish of the trip to finish off the day. Two other guys who were fishing there that day got skunked, so I was really happy to land the fish I landed.
Check out the girth on this one
This fish bit way in the back of the lagoon in the weeds that are just barely visible in this photo, so it was a lot of work reeling it in.
After that I went back to the hotel for the long-but-smooth trip home.
The outfitter, Acute Angling, did an amazing job on this trip. All the logistics were seamless, the staff were friendly, the food was good, and I caught tons of fish. It was my 4th trip with them, and God willing it won't be my last.
The outfitter, Acute Angling, did an amazing job on this trip. All the logistics were seamless, the staff were friendly, the food was good, and I caught tons of fish. It was my 4th trip with them, and God willing it won't be my last.