Exotic Species Trip Schedule

NEW - Rio Pacu Exploratory

2009 / 2010 Trips .

Peacock Bass Trips

Blackwater Explorer Yacht

BWE - Igapo Acu	- Fall 2009
Rio Negro Basin	- Winter 2010
Special Yacht Trips

Floating Bungalow Camps

NEW! "Express"Trip	- Fall 2009
Rio Tapera	Winter 2010
River Plate Trips	- 2009 / 2010

Air-Conditioned Lodge

Macaroca Lodge

- Coming soon

Exotic Species

Rio Pacu Variety	- NEW for '09
Rio Travessao	- 2010
Golden Dorado

Costa Rica Trips

Rio Parismina	- Tarpon
Crocodile Bay	- Blue Water

Explore an Exciting New Fishery with us

Rustic wilderness cabins

w/comfortable amenities

Remote, isolated fishery

World-record pirapitinga

Trophy payara

Fastwater Peacock Bass

Giant Catfish

Bicuda, surubim, pacu,

Piraiba, jau,

Pirarara and more!

At an Amazing Exploratory
Price! - Just $3250

Once again, Acute Angling has uncovered an exotic species fishing gem just waiting for groups of avid anglers to put it to the test We plan to do just that with a full scale exploratory trip in November 2009. Three groups only, will join us to probe the rivers most interesting and varied sections. A preliminary look this past October showed us a beautiful highlands fishery loaded with huge, world record class pirapitinga, trophy payara, big aggressive suribim, chunky peacock bass, giant catfish and more. This trip will give us the opportunity to collect in-depth exploratory data and tell us just what this river's potential really is.

This exploratory will be easy on the explorers. Right in the middle of this isolated fishery sits a rustic little ecotour 'pousada'. This wilderness cabin hotel makes for a comfortable and secure homebase for our explorations. Four bedrooms with private bathrooms and real beds makes this a far cry from the rough camping necessary for some of our other exploratory and highlands variety trips. With a well-equipped kitchen and comfortable dining room, we can assure you you'll leave fat and happy. This is one exploratory trip where we get to have the best of both worlds - an untouched fishery with pleasantly comfortable accommodations!

The 2009 Rio Pacu exploratory trips will be operated by Amazon Fringe Expeditions, using their proven exploratory technique of total immersion in the fishery. Groups will be hosted by Wellington Melo, and Paul Reiss

Rio Pacu - Fall 2009 - Exploratory Trip

Charter Departure from Manaus, Brazil	Charter Return to Manaus, Brazil	TRIP DESCRIPTION	HOST	FISH	COUNTRY
			Click to e-mail
Group 1 - November 3rd, 2009	November 10th, 2009	"Rio PacuExploratory Trip - Featured Trip - Roraima, Eastern Brazil	Wellington, PaulReiss	Multi-Species Exotics	Brazil
		5+ Days Fishing - $3250	- 1 Opening -

Group 2 - November 10, 2009	November 17th, 2009	"Rio PacuExploratory Trip - Featured Trip - Roraima, Eastern Brazil	Wellington, PaulReiss	Multi-Species Exotics	Brazil
		5+ Days Fishing - $3250	- Full -

Group 3 - November17, 2009	November 24th, 2009	"Rio PacuExploratory Trip - Featured Trip - Roraima, Eastern Brazil	Wellington, PaulReiss	Multi-Species Exotics	Brazil
		5+ Days Fishing - $3250	- 1 Opening -

These are preliminary dates for these trips - Due to carriers and conditions, variations may occur.

Mark Drnec, a veteran peacock bass angler, contributed this first person report on our recent preliminary exploration of the Rio Pacu. He opted to join us even though we repeatedly warned him of the potential pitfalls of a first venture into a new fishery. He was well prepared to suffer discomfort camping in the forest, to suffer boredom parsing out logistics and to suffer fishing deprivation if the river was a bust. Happily, none of these things came to pass. Instead, we found a very comfortable little pousada that provided our lodging, we flew in, bypassing all the detailed logistics and we caught lots of great fish-the river turned out to be a real winner. Join us on our full-scale exploratory series in November, 2009 - only $3250!

     Our adventure on the Rio Pacu started with the plane ride in. We landed a Cessna on a little grass runway lying perpendicular to the river. Nobody would think of landing a plane here, but we did. After being warned that I was going to camp in the woods and sleep on the ground, we were lucky enough get access to a 'pousada' that had been meant to be an eco-lodge built along the river. It was a quaint, but comfortable little place that can hold up to about 10 anglers. I ended up having a great place to call home for the trip. The food was surprisingly good - as I tend to be one of the worlds pickiest eaters. The many different types of fish and the local game we ate were all delicious.
      We had four anglers fishing in two boats. Each boat had a native guide who knew the river like the back of his hand. We traversed many different rapids and never hit a rock! I was amazed! Ironically these people had never seen any artificial lures, or even a baitcaster, or spinning reel before. Our guide would throw out a hand line when we were anchored and in no time would have a fish on. It was humorous to watch him struggle with a big cat on that rig because he went into full conversation with the fish while he fought it, which took a very long time. I couldn't understand a word he said, but he got it into the boat.
     We explored close to 60 miles up and down the river. Because we were committed to travel in October, before the normal low water season, the river was about 3 feet higher than optimal. Yet it provided plenty of great action anyway. We were able to locate lots of peacocks up to about 10 lbs. in small tributaries and braids off the main river. These were readily available whenever we wanted to catch them. Meanwhile, the main river seemed to hold the really big fish.
   One afternoon, we took our guide's advice to use cut bait for Pirapitinga. It didn't take very long between piranha bites to hook up with an enormous 28 pounder. I thought sure this fish was going to break my rig. It took me a good 15 to 20 minutes to land the beast and having no net made it all the more fun. I could barely hold the fish up for a picture after the battle. Although it was my only Pirapitinga in the 3 days we fished, it was a beauty. The locals claimed that this was a small one for this river. Ha! I cannot imagine one getting twice as big.
     I didn't spend a lot of time fishing for Payara, but I did manage to get a nice 7 pounder on a Yo-zuri. I had a few more payara chase various baits right up to the boat and take a swing and miss. Wellington, Paul and Dave landed several larger specimens that day, however. On our last morning before departing, we meandered through some backwaters above a nice series of rapids. We then walked for a good 20 minutes through the jungle and fished off of some rocks below the rapids. There, I watched Paul Reiss jump off a really big payara. Because the water was a bit high and rough here, we hiked our way back to the boats. This was another cool looking place that is bound to hold some really big fish when Acute Angling returns to these waters next November.
     In the late afternoons we would typically hit spots where our guide liked to catch surubim catfish. He sure knew what he was doing, since each time we hit a spot we were on the cats quickly. The flatheaded surubim is one of the coolest looking catfish I have ever seen. They don't reach the size of the jau, or some of the other giant cats, but they'll give you a serious fight, since they swim in open water and will reach over 50 pounds here. Our biggest surubim that made it into the boat weighed about 30 pounds. This river also holds the bigger giant catfish species and I would think some real beasts are waiting within its confines.
     Catching a huge Pirapitinga was great, but the highlight of my trip was watching a jaguar swim across the river. Our guide spotted it in the middle and was able to get the boat to it quickly where I snapped off a few really cool pictures. This thing wasn't as happy to see me as I was him. Although it didn't last long, it was one of the neatest things I have ever seen. There is plenty of wildlife here. This area holds many of the same birds as other Amazon regions, but we also saw a lot of toucans. One afternoon, Paul and I were greeted by a snake that was knocked out of a tree as we bumped it while passing underneath. Although I didn't like the fact that it chose to slither across my feet to exit the boat, at least I didn't embarrass myself by jumping and screaming like a little girl. I was too scared to move at all!!
     Under the lower water conditions that will occur in November, this place will offer fantastic fishing opportunities for many different species of fish. There is a lot of water here and a lot of variety within it. I can't wait to see what types and sizes of fish come out of here during the three full scale exploratory trips next November.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us, toll-free or E-mail us.
Thanks for fishing with Acute Angling!
Paul Reiss: - (866) 832-2987 - E-Mail Paul Reiss
Garry Reiss - (866) 431-1668 - E-Mail Garry Reiss

We are pleased to be able to arrange trips to the right place at the right time, anywhere in the world, with the most reputable, professional outfitters. References are available upon request.