The Fly Shop800·669·3474

Included in your angling package at the Pirarucú is all boat transfers / All necessary ground transfers in Brazil / 5 days fishing, fully guided / 6 night, all inclusive: lodging, meals, and beverage (including wine, beer and spirits) / One overnight at the Tropical Hotel in Manaus on arrival / Guided-operated 20 foot fully equipped shallow draft skiffs per two anglers / Fishing licenses / Daily laundry at fishing destination.

Not included in your angling package at Pirarucú are 10% Native Community Fee / International air fare / Domestic Airfare – Manaus-Tefe-Manaus (around US$150) / Brazilian visa (no longer required after June 17th, 2019) / Tips and gratuities for camp staff and guides / Food and beverages in Manaus and private city tours / Airport departure tax / Satellite phone calls ($5/minute) / City tours in Manaus / Extra hotel overnights / Flies (we have an extensive selection of best flies at Camp - $10/each).

Native Community Fee:
This Project was based as a long term social project which supports the preservation of the Indian Culture by improving their quality of life. The project has a significant user fee on all visiting anglers. The funds from the fee will primarily be used for social projects, infrastructure development, transportation, and medical and education projects.

The fee will be 10% per person for the trip. The tax will be payable in (Cash $USD or Brazilian Reals) to our representative at your arrival in Manaus and goes directly to the Indian Association account and anglers will receive a receipt from the association. This fee represents an important step in the continuing effort to protect our ability to continue to share this amazing and unique part of the world.

The Fly Shop® is not in the insurance business, but we recommend Travel Guard coverage as a service with a desire to see your best interests protected. It is impossible to know when an unfortunate situation (loss of luggage, fly rods, illness in the family, or an accident) may occur. However, such things can and do happen, and this insurance can provide a means of recourse against non-refundable financial losses.

• Travel Insurance Information

In Tefé, you are greated by a representative of the lodge with a sign for Pirarucu', who will load your gear into the back of a truck for the short, 5 minute drive across the small town of Tefé to the river. The town is bustling with scooters and motorcycles, and with a population of about 70,000 people it's busy but not a huge city. At the river you'll load your luggage into a large white and green "fast boat", a long narrow vessel with six rows of seats on either side of the center aisle, high metal sides with open windows and a roof for shade.

From Tefé it is about one hour scenic boat ride to the Uacari Lodge, up the mighty Solimôes river, then a right turn up the Japurá River, finally heading into the mouth of the Reserve and ending at the lodge. It is an interesting trip, seeing plenty of boats of all shapes and sizes moving up and down the river, and a few small indigenous communities located on stilts high up on the river bank, a hint of how high the water can get during the high season. Keep an eye out for pink dolphins, as they are around in this part of the river and it's not uncommon to see several on your way in to the floating lodge.

Sample Itinerary:

Day of Arrival:
Upon arrival at Manaus International airport, guests will greeted by our English speaking representative/transfer driver. They will arrange for transfers to the Hotel Tropical. You and another angler will be put up in a Double Occupancy room at the Tropical for the night (included in the trip package). The transfer staff will let you know when they will pick you up at the hotel the next morning, to take you to the airport for the domestic flight. It is best to arrive in Manaus a day earlier rather than late at night the night before heading into the jungle – this helps buffer you against possible airline delays into Manaus, and will give you a day to enjoy what Manaus has to offer. This is important as there is only one flight a day to Tefé. It costs an additional hotel night, but for many it is worth it, for the peace of mind.

Friday – Day 1:
Enjoy your complimentary breakfast at the Hotel. The host will pick up the group at approximately 12:00 pm and head to Manaus airport to take the Azul Airlines Flight#5244 to Tefe, which departs at 8:00 am and arrives in Tefe at 9:15 am. The commercial flight is not included in the package price, and you will want to reserve this flight in advance. A lodge representative will meet you at the airport in Tefé and take the group to the port to board the fast boat to the lodge, roughly a one hour trip. Once you arrive at the lodge you will meet the fishing team and staff, prepare your tackle, and head out for the first half day of fishing.

Day 2-5 (4 Full Days of Fishing):
Each day individual teams (2 anglers) will head out for the day and fish one of the beats in the Pirarucú area, its tributaries and or lagoons. Each two anglers will share a fly fishing guide along with a local native guide in specifically designed fly fishing boats with two large casting platforms. Both anglers are constantly fishing, all day long from these perfectly designed boats.

Typical Day:
5:30 am – Coffee is hot
6:30 am – Breakfast
7:30 am – Head to fishing grounds
12:00 pm– Anglers will have a short ride back to the lodge for lunch.
2:30 pm – After lunch, fishing will resume until late afternoon when the guides will deliver anglers back to the lodge around 6:00 pm.
6:30 pm – Cocktails and appetizers
7:30 pm – Dinners will be served inside the dining room area.


Wednesday - Day of Departure:
After breakfast, you will take the fast boat ride back to Tefé, then transfer to Tefé Airport in time to board the commercial flight from Tefé back to Manaus on Azul Airlines (Flight #4245), departing around 9:45 am and arriving back to Manaus around 10:50 am.

Once back in Manaus, some anglers will be departing on the late night flight that evening or very early the following morning. Your staff driver will deliver you to the International Airport after a nice Brazilian BBQ dinner (we highly recommend the Bufalo Restaurant (not included)) or to the Tropical for a quick shower if you choose to rent a day room. If you do not feel like taking the red eye out of Manaus that night, another night’s stay at the Tropical can be arranged.

that is the main lodge building, a two-story structure housing the kitchen, dining room, bar, and a few couches for lounging. The lodge and all of the cabins are connected by a series of wooden walkways.

To either side of the main dock and deck wooden walkways run to both directions connecting to the guest rooms. There are a total of 5 floating cabins, two on one side and three on the other, all connected with these floating wooden gangways. Each building has two rooms, for a total of 10 rooms. All rooms have en suite full bathrooms with flush toilets and good hot-water showers.

The lodge is eco-friendly, so entirely run on solar electricity. The rooms are spacious with lots of screened in windows for air flow, and there are fans by the bed and ceiling fans to help with additional airflow at night. There are no plugs in the rooms, but a couple of multiple plug outlets are available in the main lodge for charging electronics. There is fairly reliable, albeit slow, wifi that is best in the lodge but does also reach to the rooms.

The sounds of Arapaima (and the large ever-present black Cayman that frequent the area) are constant.

covers an area of 1,124,000 hectares. Because it is protected, it has a healthy and remarkable population of wildlife, especially birds. In fact, it is one of the top birdwatching destinations in the world. Located in the heart of the protected ecological zone is the Uacari Lodge, named for the Uacari monkeys that the ecological reserve was originally designed to protect. Many other monkeys including several types of howler monkeys and spider monkeys also live in the reserve, along with plenty of jaguars. And lots of large black cayman.

In the high water season the waters from these two rivers flood the jungle of the reserve. In the low water season, which corresponds to the fishing season from mid-September through November, these inland lakes and lagoons are connected by a series of naturally occurring canals and channels, creating ideal habitat for a variety of aquatic species including arapaima, arowana, tambaqui, yellow peacock bass, piripatinga, piranha, oscars, payara, and many small varieties of baitfish.

Anglers exploring Pirarucú will fish both the inland lakes system - formed in the rainy season from January through June when high water floods the inland jungle areas, then drop during the dry season - and the system of channels that remain to connect them all to the main waterways.

Our initial exploratory season in 2015 taught us that this region has unbelievable potential for the adventure angler. Obviously with only one brief exploratory season under our belts, there remains much to learn, but the feedback from our staff and guests was off the charts.

So far we have discovered at least four "unique" fisheries at Pirarucú:

Big Arapaima:
Arapaima are the largest scaled freshwater fish on earth, and the current world record on the fly is 440 pounds. You will see fish in the 100, 200, 300, even 400 pound range on a daily basis at Pirarucú, as they roll and splash on the surface. We find these bigger fish in the lagoons at times, while they are more concentrated in the deeper channels and near the lagoon mouths. A 12 weight rod is the best tool for these river monsters, with a heavy-sinking (450-500 grain) line.

"Small" Arapaima:
These fish range from 20-100 pounds and are found in good numbers in the shallow lagoons, inland lakes, and along the edges of the lake and channels. These fish hit a fly incredibly hard and, once hooked, they pull extremely hard and frequently explode in acrobatic aerial displays. Floating or Intermediate lines are best, on either a 10 or 12 weight rod. When these "small" arapaima are actively feeding in shallow water, they offer consistent action with multiple hookups.

Arowana:
Arowana are a well-known aquarium fish that reside here in vast numbers. They range from 2-10 pounds and swim just below the surface, presenting excellent sight-casting opportunities. And they love topwater flies. They are a finicky fish, at times hyper-aggressive (to the point they'll take the same giant streamers used for arapaima) and at times very spooky, making them great light-tackle quary, a fun diversion from casting the bigger rods for the bigger fish. A 7 weight rod is perfect for them, while an 8 weight also works great. Floating line is all you need, with a few poppers and terrestrials.

Tambaqui:
The tambaqui is the "freshwater permit" of the Amazon. A part of the pacu family, these fish range from 5-30 pounds and are very strong and fast. They are omnivorous and will eat fruit, seeds, nuts, or baitfish. You will see large fish in singles cruising along the edges, and at times schools of small/medium sized fish where you can actually spot nervous water as they cruise and feed on pollen and small bugs on the surface, just like permit on the flats! Fruit or seed fly imitations or large beetles work when they are cruising. 8 weight rods are good, while a 7 works too.

The Mamirauá Slam! Many dedicated saltwater anglers vie for a "Grand Slam", landing a bonefish, permit, and tarpon all in the same day. At Pirarucú, we have the greatest Grand Slam challenge discovered to date in jungle fishing: The Mamirauá Slam consists of landing an arapaima, arowana, and tambaqui all in the same day! Make it a "Super Slam" by including a yellow peacock bass, piranha, or Oscar, too!