From 2002, the Brazilian authorities have granted River Plate exclusive entry permits to Peacock Bass fishing Brazil in various Indian reserves and government reserves in a reciprocal arrangement for humanitarian and financial commitments. This arrangement means that you will not have to share the fishery with any other outfitting companies. Thanks to these permits, our guests don’t waste time in marginal overfished waters due to the high fishing pressure from commercial, survival and sport-fishing as it happens with river areas that are open to the public.
Although many well-established land-based lodges, including our former Jufari and Tapera Lodges, are located upriver from natural barriers, they offer no mobility to seek better water levels. Areas that are 2 to 3 hours upriver or downriver at fixed lodges rapidly become overfished. ‘River Trains’, however, move daily to unfished river segments, spending the night along Caribbean-like beaches.
The key to exceptional Peacock Bass fishing Brazil is our floating cabins, which allow you and your guides to navigate low water, unlike the traditional live-aboard and commercial fishing boats because these must stop where the low water prevents passage. It’s no surprise that beyond these barriers is where the best fishing starts.
Our unique mobility allows us to fish in areas above natural barriers: shallow waters, sandbars and rapids, which prevent the passage of sportfishing yachts and commercial fishing boats. Travel times to fish each day are an average of 10-20 minutes.
On the other hand, other operators have approximately 1-2 hours of travel time, or even more, from the fixed lodges or large hotel boats. We do not overfish; we move on to freshwater every few days. Our guests catch double or triple the number of fish than guests with other operators. Our small groups, twelve anglers maximum, enjoy personal service and access to pristine waters that seldom see a lure. Other operators can take as many as 30 guests per week. Here are some of the prime areas we fish during the year, and you will notice we fish in different zones to eliminate overfishing.
Marmelos (Jun – Aug)
Matupiri and upper Igapo Açu (Sep – Oct)
Jufaris (Nov – Feb)
Xeruini (Nov – Feb)
Omero (Nov – Dec)
Itapará (Nov – Feb)
Roçado (Oct– Nov)
Here you have access to un-fished waters above natural barriers such as waterfalls and shallow river mouths. The fishing boats are particular shallow-draft tunnel types that can freely traverse almost any water level, including virtually landlocked lagoons. Angler’s fish two per boat, with talented Brazilian guides, experienced bait-casting, spinning and fly fishing.
Peacock Bass fishing Brazil is done by casting to structure and showing fish; these fish hit hard and will readily engulf a lure passed in front of their noses, all from fully equipped, 21ft shallow drafting bass boats.
Like Largemouth Bass, Peacock Bass often prefer a structure of some sort. Rocks, fallen logs, points and sand bars are hiding places for baitfish, so this is where the Peacock Bass will usually be lurking. Of course, you should always heed the guide’s recommendations on where to cast.
Peacock Bass typically roam about in small schools searching for baitfish, often bursting into a feeding frenzy. When you encounter a feeding frenzy, you aim to present your fly or lure in front of the feeding fish as soon as possible. The sooner you cast to the fish after they’ve you’ve spotted them, the better your chance of a hook-up. Peacock Bass fishing Brazil are greedy and highly competitive schooling fish.
Always cast a lure or fly right next to any hooked fish. Another Peacock Bass will almost always be close by, attracted by the commotion. If no strikes result with the first two casts, then fish the surrounding area thoroughly. You can watch our videos about Peacock Bass fishing Brazil over on our YouTube channel.
With over 20 years of experience under our belt, we have overcome the most significant barriers to reaching remote unfished areas, the Amazon’s shallow sand bars. We have gone from using the attractive but ineffective U.S. 120hp high-speed bass boat to our newly designed, built and field-tested, all-welded aluminium shallow-draft tunnel boats.
These boats are 20 feet long with a 40hp outboard and all the standard bass boat features (trolling motor, high swivel seats, etc.), yet they are still sufficiently light to navigate the shallow sandbars.
River Plates’ guides are undoubtedly the best in the business. Most Amazon outfitters employ poorly-trained, unenthusiastic “boat drivers”. River Plate’s carefully-trained guides are hard-core sport fishermen who are intimately familiar with the complexities of Amazon angling.
Many have guided for River Plate for over 15 years. With thousands of fish boat trips for clients, they’ll put you onto big numbers of big fish like no one else in the Amazon.
No compromise in comfort. “River Train” guests, at any point, can leave the River and retreat into the luxurious comfort of their elegant and roomy cabin. Cabins have full private bathrooms; and are fully carpeted, tastefully decorated, and every detail has been carefully considered.
In our 12’ x 23’ dining/sitting lounge, you will dine on linen table cloths, enjoying our chef’s four-course meals. An excellent variety of both – continental and exciting regional dishes make up the week’s menu. Fresh bread and pastries baked daily, chilled wines, ice-cold beer, soft drinks, and Brazilian-style margaritas flow freely throughout your fishing trip.
Each of the six floating cabins, managed by our Brazilian “co-owner, who is not only a knowledgeable fisherman but also experienced in handling logistics inherent to the Amazon fishing operations.
Since our groups are small, the manager and a bilingual host and a staff of 14 offer unique, personalised, hands-on attention. Breakfast room service, laundry service and guest satellite phone are a few of the available amenities.
What you won’t find are many pesky bugs. The pristine rivers we fish in have naturally high tannin levels (from extensive leaf decay), which discourage biting insects. Of the few bugs which might exist, our daily mobility eliminates any possibilities of concentrations.
Comfortable twin size beds
Fully ventilated walls
Interior curtains and decorative drop ceiling
Standard pressurised water
Heavy-duty vinyl outside roof walls and outside shades
3 inches of ceiling insulation
Steel frame structure
Air conditioning (low noise)
Eco-friendly septic tank
All fully-welded aluminium carpeted floor
An excellent variety of both continental and exciting regional dishes make up the week’s menu. Fresh bread and pastries baked daily, chilled wines, ice-cold beer, soft drinks, and Brazilian-style margaritas flow freely throughout your fishing trip.
All the meals provided to each of the camps for the regular/standard consumption of the scheduled visiting guests. Please note that the logistics involved in supplying our Fly-In Floating Cabins in remote places in the jungle require careful planning and attention to weight restrictions. Our primary concern is not to overweigh the floating cabin train, and this affects its draft. We also need to consider that our cabins trains are often situated 200 to 500 nautical miles from major supply towns. Moreover, fresh food is flown in on charter planes, and non-perishable food has strict weight limits.
Although the fishing days are fixed, the below itinerary is still flexible should you require additional free days to explore at the beginning or end of your holiday; we can tailor this itinerary to suit you personally. Feel free to talk to our travel consultants who can explain all options available.
Please note that depending on what international airport you depart from, travel to this destination may involve an overnight flight and/or an overnight hotel.
Once flights are available, your itinerary will be finalised.
Depart Any international Airport (See Details
Arrive Manaus
Once you have arrived and collected your luggage, you will be greeted by a River Plate representative who will then transfer you the short drive to your overnight hotel. After check-in, you are then free to relax around the hotel or take a stroll around the local shops.
Overnight accommodation: The Juma Opera Hotel (Twin Room) B/B
At a pre-arranged time a representative from River Plate Anglers will transfer you to the small internal airport for your charter flight to the river. Once you have arrived you will be taken by express boat to meet up with your Floating Lodge. Time permitting, after you have checked in and unpacked, you may well have time to have an afternoon fishing session
Overnight accommodation: Luxury Floating Lodge (Twin Room) F/B
Each day breakfast is served at 7:00 AM and your guide will be ready to leave by 7:30 AM.
As you will be as close as 5-15 minutes away to the fishing, we suggest you return to camp for lunch and a “siesta” before returning back to the water late in the afternoon until dusk. When out fishing, remember, that Peacock Bass usually roam about in small schools searching for baitfish, often bursting into a feeding frenzy. When this situation is encountered, get your fly or lure in front of the feeding fish as soon as possible.
Overnight accommodation: Luxury Floating Lodge (Twin Room) F/B
If time allows and you still have the energy, grab a few fishing hours in the morning, before departing back to Manaus.
Depart Manaus
Arrive Home
Please note that depending on what international airport you wish to return to, travel from this destination may involve an overnight flight and/or an overnight hotel. Once flights are available, your itinerary will be finalised.
The season runs from September to April.
Season: All Year
Peak: September to April
Weight: 1lb to 27lb
Average Weight: 7lb
N/A
Remember that Sportquest Holidays' services are completely FREE! When you book a trip with Sportquest Holidays, you never pay more than when you book directly with the lodge and flights independently.
| From | To | Duration | Price | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/01/2025 | 31/12/2025 | 11 | Enquire for prices and availability | Enquire Now |
Prices are based on two adults sharing transfers, fishing and accommodation (unless otherwise stated) and are correct at the time of going to press. Subject to time of year or date and currency fluctuations, these prices may fluctuate slightly due to flight price increases or fuel surcharge.
All went very well - flights on time etc. We could imagine things going wrong - weather/river conditions etc, but that would hardly be your fault ! The fishing was amazing we had so many fish and ALL on the fly so we defiantly would love to go back.
Mike thanks for your feedback and taking the time to talk to me on the phone, so so happy that you all enjoyed the trip and thanks for all the pictures those Peacock Bass are sure amazing. Regards Peter
I just returned today from fishing in Brazil.
Not sure that I even have the words to explain the incredible experience that we had this week.
Everything was fantastic from the fishing to the food.
The outfit as a whole went above and beyond was more than I ever expected.
Adam did a fantastic job running the camp and made us all feel very comfortable.
I will definately be back soon.
Thanks for a great journey
Thanks for the review and it would be great to have you all back oneway soon.
It was a pleasure to share the River Plate camp with a group of great guys. the stories were absolutely as tall as they could get, the camp itself was great, cabins extremely clean, the service was tops, food was probably the best I have seen at any camp.
Thank you so much for your review and kind words, we will make sure they are passed on to all the staff.
We flew by floatplane from Manaus to just inside the mouth of the Xeriuni where it joins Rio Branco (roughly 1 degree south of the equator). The water was high but we found pretty good numbers of smaller fish and had some 100+ fish days which are always fun. Although I occasionally loose a few fish with this little lure I absolutely love to throw a Heddon baby torpedo in bull frog colours and work it like a crazed critter scrambling for its life. With a 6’ med homemade rod and a stradic 1000 CI4 carbon fibre reel I landed 100’s or peacock up to 14 pounds on that little rig and lost only one baby torpedo (30# powerpro).... of course I also threw a variety of riprollers and pavon props along with the standard yozuris and rapalas and my own hand tied jigs but the baby torpedo is simply a blast with the bigger fish (gigantic explosions)
As we moved upriver we found lower water and started finding some larger fish and still found good numbers as well. The Xeriuni is an absolutely gorgeous river with lots of beautiful sandbars and loads of lost lagoons. I just love hacking thru jungle covered creeks to find a huge lagoon that has not yet been fished.....you just know there are going to be some monsters in there..
We had 4 extra anglers with us in this camp for a total of 12. The staff did a great job of handling the extra workload and other than a few trolling motor issues I’d have to say that everything we really well. The food was perfect and tasty as always.
My fishing partner Jeff and I boated quite a few teeners on a wide variety of lures. I lost 2 nice fish on some of my own hand tied jigs so even though I was bummed to loose them I was pleased to know that the new jig colours that I tried were well accepted.
All in all I wish the trip could have lasted a week or 2 longer but there is always next season.
John, wow thanks for the detailed feedback I will make sure this is shared with future customers i am sure they will all find it a great help.
This week’s fishing experience and success was incredible in many respects.
We landed an impressive number of Peacock Bass, some of which were mammoth proportions. In addition to the 'count', our group was also pleased with the variety of tactics we could employ throughout the week. From topwater to subsurface, and from sparse to jumbo flies, our fishing was successful with a variety of methods and flies.... ... The lower water levels created a much different fishing scenario than last year’s trip. Last year, with the high water levels we focused our blind-casting toward the bank structure and submerged jungle tree line where the Peacocks would be patrolling for a meal. This year was a much different scene – the river level below the jungle tree line, exposed sand bars, shallow flats and lagoons (or 'lakes' as the guides like to call them), and narrow river braids and channels. We would fish a variety of areas in a section of river or lake – bank structure if water was deep enough, drop-offs at exposed points, sand flats, and, most surprisingly, dead-center in the middle of a lake or lagoon. All of these qualities added up to a fishing experience that was much more diverse, intimate, and visual. Most apparent was the ability to see the Peacock Bass in some areas. The low water conditions concentrated the fish on some shallow flats or sand bars. ... Seeing Peacock Bass cruising the shallows puts an angler in the 'hunt mentality'. It was awesome to see a number of fish in the shallows and get to choose which fish you wanted to pursue… of course, it just so happened that we always seemed to choose the biggest Peacock when we had the choice! ...
On this trip, our group was fortunate to post remarkable numbers of fish for the week – almost 1850 Peacock Bass were landed." ...
Keith tank you for taking the time to provide such great feedback. Look forward in having you back again with us next year.
Regards Mel
My peacock bass trip to the Matupuri in November was fabulous. We were the group that caught 1953 Peacocks for the week. I had a 1 day total, fishing alone of 143. On the final day I managed a 20lb, 19lb., 16lb and (2) 15lb
fish. a total of 88 Peacocks for the day.
With fishing results like I had it is easy to rate the experience as Excellent. However special recognition is due Daniel our camp host. His attention to the details of making our trip a success was truly incredible. I feel he is a real asset to River Plate. What a true gentleman.
The fishing report tells the tale of my guide Tunino? He grew up on the river and knows where the big Peacocks live. Although he spoke no English and I spoke no Portugese neither of us were at a loss for words as we admired all the fish. He was one of the best guides I have ever had and would request him every time.
Thanks for making this a most memorable trip, I hope to do it again soon.
What a great detailed feedback, thanks a million. Plus congratulations on such an amazing trip.
The outing was just great.
I could send several pages on what we liked. Our entire group had a great time. The fish were really hitting the lures. Nothing compares to a strike/hit like a peacock bass. We caught and released over 400. I do not remember using jigs in the past I wish I had taken a few more. Amos picked us up and took us back. Timely courteous and very helpful.
Great crew at the camp. Alejandro and his team did a great job. They went the extra mile helping land the fish and salvaging our lures from roots and tree tops.
By the end of the trip we were sharing family pictures and activities the families are involved in. We also learned how to make bows arrows and how to use them. I think all of us gained weight the food was great.
Great camp crew.
Everyone hopes to do this again some day.
Glad you all had such an amazing trip, thank you so much for the review.
Overall, a great trip. I think our guide (the senior one)made a huge difference.
We caught an average of 140 fish between us per dyad always a couple over ten pounds. we took our own tackle and I would stress this more in your information.We flew to Sao Paulo; Manuas but you can also go via Miami.
Add six inch Stick Baits to the recommendations as these caught the most fish. I especially liked the texts before departure and arrival time
James
Thanks for such a great customer review and for taking the time to talk to me on the telephone. it was a pleasure in dealing with both you and your son.
I am already looking forward in receive copies of all the pictures.
Again thanks for your custom and I look forward in dealing with you again soon.
