Fishing lodges in the Amazon

Fishing the Amazon means very different rivers: the blackwater of the middle Rio Negro, the rapids of the Teles Pires and the São Benedito, the Xingu, the Aripuanã and the Guaporé. These are the Amazon lodges and liveaboard boats in our guide — most run week-long packages with air or river transfers built into the logistics.

Giant peacock bass (tucunaré-açu) is the blackwater trophy; the fast rivers add payara, matrinxã, redtail catfish and giant trairão. Fishing is almost entirely catch-and-release, and the good window follows each basin's dry season — the right river in the wrong month is high water and scattered fish.