Peacock Bass Fishing on the Amazon
Captain Peacock’s Rio Negro Queen
Peacock Bass Fishing on the Amazon
by Mary Harter
In January of 2024, Don and I flew from Detroit to Ft. Lauderdale to Manaus on the Rio Negro, a tributary off the Amazon River in Brazil. Our daughter, Ann, and her husband, Mark, our son, Todd, and his girlfriend, Tracy, went with us. We had always wanted to fish for Peacock Bass and while at the SCI Convention in Nashville last year, found their booth and booked this trip.
We arrived in Manaus about 4 a.m., were taken to our floating hotel, the Rio Negro Queen, met all our fishing companions, heard a few rules, had a few drinks, and were assigned to our rooms. We slept until about 8 a.m., had breakfast, arranged our gear in our room, and talked to the other guests. Lunch was served at noon and we napped until 4 p.m. Then we were up exploring our hotel which was 165’ x 34’ with 4 decks, 15 suites with air conditioning and safes, a gym, spa, solarium, and pool. Dinner was at 7 p.m. with seven courses including three kinds of fish and ending with a special birthday cake for Tracy. It was also the 28th wedding anniversary for Mark and Ann.
The next day after an omelet breakfast for me and many other options for others, we were out fishing for the day. Each couple went out in different boats with their own guides. We caught six peacock bass and a piranha. We took lunch with us and ate our sandwiches on shore. Dolphins would come by to catch the fish we would catch and release so our guide kept the small fish in a live well on board and released them in shallow water so the dolphins couldn’t get them.
Dinner was a buffet of fish, chicken, and pork with many other salads, desserts, etc.
The second day we caught seven peacock bass, a piranha, and a freshwater barracuda. One bass was 27 inches and one was 25. We used jigs which were destroyed if hit by a piranha, poppers, and crank baits. They also used cut bait for the piranhas. We caught three kinds of peacock bass, the three bar, speckled and butterfly which have three rosettes along their colorful sides. They really are not bass but because of similarities, that is what they are called. Our son-in-law, Mark, caught the largest peacock bass of our trip which was 18 pounds.
On the third day, after catching five peacock bass and a freshwater barracuda, we met at 11 a.m. for a picnic lunch set up with white tableclothed tables and a wood fire over which they cooked fresh fish we had caught. We agreed that the piranhas tasted the best but all were excellent especially when cooked over an open fire. We had an assortment of salads, rice, and flamed plantain over mixed fruit for dessert.
After lunch, we stopped at the home of a native family of six, of which one was a fishing guide with our group. They were members of the Dessana tribe. They had lived on the river for five years, had mango trees, a garden, chickens, and several boats. We took a walk to see two huge trees.
On day four, we caught 13 peacock bass and one Don caught was 13.2 pounds and 30 inches long, our largest on the trip. We also caught a freshwater barracuda and another unknown. We would sometimes see others from our group but usually everyone fished in different locations and sometimes we traveled for an hour in the morning before we even began to fish. Our guides really knew the area which is huge. The Amazon is nine times the size of Lake Superior.
Dinner that night was a barbecue on the beach. Tables were set up with tablecloths and the meal was cooked on a wood fire right in the sand. Such a beautiful night with a gorgeous sunset.
On the last day we caught ten peacock bass and another unknown. One of the bass was 27½ inches long and 8.8 pounds. The day started out very calm with the water like glass but just before noon it got very dark and rained and the lake got very rough so we left early to go back to the floating hotel.
We began the trip back to Manaus at 4 a.m. arriving around midnight. We transferred to a hotel for the rest of the night, and after a delicious breakfast, were transferred to the airport.
Such a wonderful time spent with our family in a great location and meeting other like-minded people who love fishing and many also hunted. Our kids really enjoyed the trip and the people they met. The accommodations and food were impressive and the fish beautiful.