Catfish Heaven in Exploratory Camp Trips
Catfish Heaven
Tour Summary
| Destination | Amazon Rainforest |
| Area | Primarily in Northern Highlands rivers and watersheds of the Guyana Shield and Southern highland region |
| Country | Brazil |
| Season | January to March in the Northern region |
| Trip Type | Mainly Catfish, but also with lure and coarse fishing - with native Indian guides |
| Species | Piraiba catfish ~ Redtail catfish ~ Jau ~ Surubim ~ Jandira ~ Barba Chata~ Ciuiu Ripsaw ~ Bocao |
| Description | Once in a lifetime chance to experience fishing for big catfish in another world of virgin jungle fishing with native South American Indians as your hosts and guides |
| Approx Cost | $4,950 / £2,995 / €3,345 * |
| No of Days | 8 day package 6 or 7 full days’ fishing, plus your international flights |
Catfish Trips Deep Into The Amazon Rainforest
Nowhere in the world are there more species of Catfish than the Amazon Basin. And some of them are literally humungous!
You will be casting big cut baits (deadbait) for the legendary Giant Catfish from the many deep pools in the river. You will moor under a big tropical tree in the cool shade with a cold drink and cast out your bait, knowing that at any minute your reel could get stripped by a huge Piraiba Catfish that looks more like a Great White Shark with whiskers. Or maybe an express train of a Retail or big bully of a Jau? This trip is the most exciting Catfish expedition in the world and it can all be done in a pair of shorts and sandals!
A Giant Piraiba catfish or a big, stocky Redtail catfish or Jau is a proper fish with an attitude and a bad temper. It will not stop until it’s beached. The Paraiba catfish is known to reach world record weights in these waters.
Leaving the city of Manaus by floatplane, within two hours we’ll land right on the river. Once you’re at camp, unpacked and set up ready to go fishing, our Indian guides will make sure you catch some big Black Piranhas to use for cutbait sections.
Imagine fishing in these fabled waters, deep in the Amazon rainforest, just you, your fishing buddy and an Indian guide, surrounded by spectacular, virgin rainforest. Macaws squawking overhead, Toucans calling to each other from the treetops, rivers filled with rocks and boulders (some with ancient Indian petro-glyphic markings), roaring white water over cascades and waterfalls, sandy beaches, slow stretches with deep holes and shallow, inlets and streams, primary and secondary jungle with tall fruiting trees and with such an abundance of wildlife all around.
Working closely with our Brazilian associates, the most breath-taking locations have been found for our exploratory trip agenda into the unknown. Deals have been made and plans put into action with some of the indigenous Indian tribes, who have allowed us exclusive fishing inside their reservations, deep in the jungle.
Few white men have ever been to these pristine areas and thousands of miles of rivers have yet to be discovered. We feel privileged to be among those who have been granted permission and invited to fish within these incredibly diverse, pristine, virgin jungle waters.
Seasons and logistics vary depending where we will be fishing, but our trips offer some unbelievable adventure fishing and an experience never to be forgotten.
Noone else will be around us apart from our trained camp crew and our Indian guides for the whole week. Within these reserves, the rivers have rarely, if ever, been fished with rod and line. Records have constantly been broken over the last few years with many new species found too in these undiscovered rivers. The present world records for Piraiba Catfish, Jandira and Giant Black Piranha were all caught on one of our associated trips.
While we work with Indian guides and trained camp staff, these amazing, eye-opener exploratory trips are not for the pampered few. You must be an adventurer at heart to take it on. It is hard-core fishing with sometimes basic accommodation and simple meals, but it is an experience never to forget.
The Camps
The camps have been tried and tested to suit our clients. They are fairly basic with tents, mattresses and hammocks if required. They are very comfortable, safe and well organized. We have camp managers, trained kitchen staff, daily laundry service and help is at hand 24/7. There is always a satellite phone and radio communication at camp in case of any emergency situation.
As these are mobile camps, we can easily move up or down river for many miles in one day. This way we are totally flexible and 100% non-reliant on anyone else. We may opt to either keep the camp in one area for the week if fishing is good or simply pick it up and move on to another site. Our work force will go on ahead and clear a flat area in preparation for putting up the camp in one easy move.
And we even have great ‘bathroom’ facilities built to measure, all screened and private. No part of the jungle is ever destroyed when our camps are set up and we must leave it as we found it. Not a beer can is left, not a banana skin can be seen once we leave and move on.
Although there will always be a stock of meat and poultry in the camp brought in weekly by plane, our chef may opt to cook up some Peacock Bass fillets, Surubim or Jandia Catfish stew freshly caught that day or perhaps a wild pig, Agouti ‘Paca’ or maybe a turkey-like Mutum bird that our Indian guides have hunted especially for us. The meals are always delicious, always filling and totally wholesome.
Drinks are available 24/7 and include all coffee, soft drinks, bottled water and beer. At the beginning of the day, a cool box will be put on the boat with a constant supply of drinks at your disposal.
As we provide daily laundry service, packing can be kept to a minimum.
The Seasons
Our Catfish camps are open from January to March in the Northern regions.
Days are typically hot with temperature over 60 deg F at night and 80-90+ deg F during the day. This is fishing in the Tropics and we advise clients to bring a lightweight rain jacket/suit as it can get chilly when temperatures drop during a storm. As we are fishing in tannin-stained acidic water, there are few or no mosquitos or biting insects.
Travel Plan
Day 1: From Europe – you will fly to Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Brasilia or similar, clear customs and check into a national flight to Manaus. From the States, you will arrive either via Atlanta or Miami directly to Manaus.
Day 2: Arrival in Manaus. You will be met by Steve or our English-speaking representative and from the airport taken to a nearby hotel to relax. You may want to go and see the sights of Manaus and we can have our representative organize this for you.
Day 3: After a good night’s sleep, we will transfer you to a small airport and onto a charter flight or floatplane into camp. Upon arrival you will be taken to the camp and from there start your fishing trip of a lifetime. Depending on charter plane departure and arrival times, fishing should be possible this same afternoon.
Day 4-9: Six full fishing days
Day 10: You will fly on an early charter plane from camp to Manaus arriving at about 11.00am. You will be met and transferred to Eduardo Manaus airport for your flight back home.
Day 11: You will arrive from Brazil and make the onward journey home.
Kit
See our Kit Page for a PACKING LIST advice & suggested FISHING KIT
Through our travel agent partners we are able to secure excellent rates for all your international and domestic flights and travel insurance that are not included in our packages.
Please ask for Details
view the CATFISH HEAVEN video
The Fishing
Piraiba Catfish visit Piraiba page >>>
The true giants of the catfish world known to reach weights in excess of 400lb, way bigger than the current IGFA world cafish record. If the angler who dares to fish for these leviathans doesn’t use a heavy enough outfit with a strong rod and large capacity reel, a big Piraiba will strip 250m of 100lb in an instant. Once hooked this fish will make blistering runs over and over again until he is exhausted enough to be brought to the boat or beached. The Piraiba has an elongated grey body and apart from the long whiskers, looks just like a shark. It often ‘explodes’ on the surface while hunting baitfish, but generally lives in deep holes and pools in slower running stretches of larger rivers. You really could latch into a world record catfish. The question is, can you land it if you do?
Jau Catfish visit Jau page >>>
This is a big catfish that grows to over 200lb and uses the current to its advantage. It can be caught in slow, deep holes or the fastest of currents. Like the other big Catfish of the Amazon, if you don’t have the right gear, it will make a mockery of you in seconds. It has a favourite trick of roaring off through waterfalls and cascades and you try following it in a small boat! The Jau has a mottled, marbled, dark skin and what it lack in good looks, it certainly makes up for it in the battle. This Amazon catfish has stamina and strength on its side and makes for a wicked and devious adversary.
Redtail Catfish visit Retail page >>>
These are short, stubby, big catfish that are brown/black with a white belly and a bright orange/red tail, hence the name Redtail Catfish. They grow to over 150lb and are some of the most common catfish found in the Amazon Basin. Redtails can be easily hooked on cutbait (and even on subsurface lures) but landing them is another story. They live among the dense tangles of sunken trees, deep trenches and holes in the river. Once hooked, they head for the hills and you need powerful gear to handle them.
Surubim Catfish visit Surubim page >>>
The Surubim is one of the fastest sportfish in town and can be caught on cutbait and on lures. It has beautiful, hieroglyphic markings all along its elongated body and is a superb predator. It haunts nearly all of the waters of the Amazon Basin and even down to the Pantanal in South Brazil. It averages 20lb but can reach over 80lb in areas. If an angler hooks one of these strange looking beasts, it takes off like an express train and medium-heavy gear is needed when targeting this fish.
Jundira Catfish visit Jundira page >>>
Jundira or Jundia are smaller Amazon Catfish that fight really well on lighter tackle. A 25lb specimen is a big fish for this species and they average out at 12-15lb. Jundira are often caught on small chunks of cutbait and are one of the tastiest fish to eat in the Amazon (they are known as ‘chicken of the river’)! They have beautifully honeycombed markings all along their whole bodies including the fins and are a rusty brown, orange colour throughout.
There are so many species of strange and weird-looking Catfish that there are just too many to mention, although the above species are the main bruisers of the Amazon.
And when you want a break from wrestling the biggest catifsh in the Amazon Basin, we can also offer you some of the most amazing fishing with lures or flies in the world, for the most aggressive predatory fish that live in freshwater. We have Payara, Peacock Bass, Pirapitinga, Pacu, Trairao, Black Piranha, Bicuda, Jacunda, Pescada and many more.
As an added bonus for the European ‘coarse anglers’, there are literally hundreds of lesser-known, ‘coarse fish’ in these rivers and daily bags of 200lb or more with Aracu, Pacu, Matrincha, Ariri, Cara, Sardinha and many, many more other brightly coloured fish can easily be caught, with fish weighing from a few ounces to 10lbs or more!
Maybe you would like to do all of it on the same trip? Well, whatever you want as anglers, we have it right here, just for you. Now, that’s what we would call a true exploratory trip!
For lure/predator anglers, there is superb topwater action to be had with Peacock Bass and Bicuda (and in some rivers, big Traiarao), using surface Prop baits, poppers and stick baits/Super Spooks amongst the rocky islands and against the submerged trees and banks. Even a free-lined fish strip or a whole ‘Sardinha’ drifted slowly downriver can result in slamming strikes.
You can also catch smaller ‘coarse’ fish and use them as livebait under a balloon. Drifted down a fast riffle or deep run, a livebait will often be taken by a big Payara or Bicuda.
Fly fishing is a wonderful way to search out many species with amazing results. Most of the fastwater species like Bicuda, Pirapitinga and Payara will rip line off your reel at a blistering pace and stripping gloves must be worn to avoid cuts and burns. Peacock Bass congregating around the rocky islands and banks of the river will attack flies with abandon.
The Peacock Bass of these Highland streams and rivers take on a different shape to their lowland cousins with a shorter but thicker body form. As they use the current to their advantage, pound for pound these smaller but feistier bruisers are the hardest fighting freshwater fish in Latin America. A point to be noted here is that these Peacock Bass will not move too far away from their shallow haunts as the Giant Black Piranhas will rip into them in the deeper water.
Pirapitinga and Pacu are predominantly nut and fruit foragers and the guides will often collect these baits from the forest floor to use for fishing or snack on during the day. Most are rock hard and will stay on the hook for a long time. They are easily cast out using either conventional spinning gear with a light line and only a small hook, or even on the end of a fly outfit. It’s incredibly exciting to see Pacu feeding on nuts dropping into the water from the trees. Casting to a rising Pacu knowing he’ll take the floating offering at any moment really gets the blood racing. Brazil nuts are also used in pursuit of Pacu. Guides will crush the nuts, shells and all into smaller particles to use as groundbait. Once attracted into the area, Pacus can be caught by the bucket load.
Our fishing boats have been purposely made for these wild waters and with two anglers and a guide, our camps have a maximum capacity of eight anglers only per week. We use 14-foot narrow boats with 15-25hp shallow-shaft engines to negotiate these exciting rivers.
What Does It Cost?
Our once in t a lifetime Amazon catfish expedition covers 11 days in all including your international flights. We will meet you in Manaus and take you to your fishing destination by charter float and float plane and you will enjoy six or seven days of fishing for catfish that are almost out of this world.
Included in our Amazon catfish expedition: Six full days of fishing; 7 nights in the exploratory camp, double occupancy; basic meals; open bar; charter plane; fishing licenses, guided fishing (2 anglers/ boat); overnight at Hotel in city; airport assistance and transfers.
Not included in our Amazon catfish expedition: *International and National air transportation to and from cities, Brazil; tipping; lures; passports; visas (Citizens of the EEC do NOT need visas for Brazil); meals in Manaus or elsewhere other than in camp; costs associated with medical advice and medications for your trip; other hotel stays (if necessary) elsewhere.
$4,950 / £2,995 / €3,345 per angler *
A 50% deposit is required to reserve places when booking. The remaining payment is due 90 days before actual trip starts.
* Prices are stated as a guide and may be subject to currency and seasonal variations. Please enquire for exact prices for the dates you are interested in.
** Note that flights to Brazil and onto Manaus are not included, but we can help you arrange them. We strongly advise booking flexible flights as heavy rainfall can result in a postponement. See Terms and Conditions.
***A strict 20kg weight allowance will be enforced on each trip for smaller charter flights.
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