FISH OF THE AMAZON

The black water rivers of Brazil’s Amazon is home to over 2,500 species of fish, the most famous of which is the hard fighting Peacock Bass, the largest member of the African Cichlid family of fish.  These powerful fighters are extremely aggressive producing devastating top water and subsurface action unlike any other freshwater fish in the world. You know you’re fishing for a bruiser when the guide hands you a heavy bait casting rod with a reel spooled with 65 - 80 lb test braided Kevlar line and a 6” top water lure with several 4/0 treble hooks hanging from it!  You can expect to catch 3 or 4 species of Peacock Bass including the massive Paca variety weighing upwards of 30 lbs, the Butterfly Peacock weighing upwards of 10 lbs and the Popoca weighing up to 4 lbs.  Fishing the black water tributaries of Brazil’s Rio Negro, Rio Branco and Rio Madeira watersheds in the Amazon on the exclusive waters River Plate Anglers leases from the indigenous Indians you can expect to catch 15 – 35 Peacocks per day!  In addition to Peacock Bass, anglers can catch two or three species of catfish, some of which can top 200 lbs, and other interesting fish including prehistoric Arapaima & Arowana, several species of Piranha, Bicuda, Jacunda and a variety of Oscars.  Most people target the Peacocks casting big noisy top water lures, jerk baits and jigs with fly fishermen throwing streamers & end up catching a lot of “interesting” species in addition to Peacock Bass!