Acute Angling  

New! The Blackwater Adventurer - The Blackwater Adventurer, our luxurious new floating hotel has a navigational design different than anything Acute Angling has ever built before.  We created it to access a previously untouched river with 90 miles of rocks and rapids in its lower reaches; pretty much inaccessible with normal vessels.  So, our new flagship features a super shallow-drafting barge hull, letting it get into the fishery through the rough stuff.  Then we use super-safe, Cessna Caravan floatplanes to deliver anglers in comfort and ease, bypassing all of the hazards and difficulties and bringing you straight into the heart of the fishery. The floatplane’s capacity of 8 anglers also defined the Adventurer’s design.  Limited to pleasantly intimate 8-angler groups, all guests enjoy spacious private cabins; fully appointed with private bathrooms, hot showers and individual air-conditioners.  And, by simply removing a divider, cabins can convert to couple’s suites with king-sized beds and two of everything.  But it’s not just about luxury.  It’s about fishing success.  The Adventurer uses an altogether new fishing formula;  Its shallow draft ensures it gets to the fish; its mobility allows it to move to the best possible conditions, wherever they are;  Transfer by floatplane means never having to leave the hotspots.  The Adventurer provides the best possible combination of features, ensuring a productive fishing trip in first-class accommodations. We use the Adventurer to access two very different fisheries.

     Giant Peacock Bass on the Rio Curicuriari - This floodplain river in a closed Indian reservation is the Rio Negro basin’s last unexplored giant peacock bass tributary.  Although overall numbers of fish caught are very low, there are huge, world-record sized fish here.  This beautiful blackwater river holds huge peacock bass that have never been fished before and never seen a lure.  We’ve already proven that this is a world record fishery (with a new IGFA length record caught here). This is an extremely remote region, creating significant logistical challenges, thus, anglers will arrive via a direct floatplane flight.  This trip is available only in September and October.  Total trip price is $7950 (USD) for a private cabin. 

Below are some links to information on our website;
Click here for Information about our Rio Curicuriari trip:
Click here for fishing characteristics:
Click here for info on our new Floating Hotel:

     Peacock Bass Productivity in the Rio Negro basin - .  In January and February we move the Adventurer into the gigantic central Rio Negro basin, where excellent numbers and some of the largest peacock bass in the world are found.  Here, the Adventurer’s combination of characteristics allows it to optimize productivity and access the best waters at any given time.  Regular price per angler in this fishery is $6250 (USD) for a private cabin.  Here is more info;

Our Floating Bungalow Peacock Bass Trip is an intimate jungle experience and especially recommended for anglers whose focus is access to trophy peacock bass in remote Amazon fisheries.  This trip is a float-plane-access only adventure in secondary tributaries of the Amazon.  These are austere, oligotrophic (low dissolved nutrient) waters.  Our floating bungalows draft less than a foot of water and we can move them past obstacles that will block other operation types, giving us access to headwaters locations and generally unpressured waters. 
           In September, we offer a “numbers based” version of the trip in an Indian reservation in a southern tributary of the Amazon.  This trip is focused on high numbers and constant action.  This just might be the best fly fishery in the Amazon basin, where high numbers of aggressive Cichla temensis peacocks are found in a beautiful lagoon studded river with winding tributaries and lazy creeks. Enclosed in an Indian reserve, we enjoy exclusive fishing rights in this hyper-productive fishery.  The "All-inclusive" price per angler is $5850 USD, double occupancy. 
            From October through March we fish in tributaries of the Rio Negro, where the largest peacock bass in the world are found. This trip is focused on trophy peacocks. Our Floating Bungalow operation lets us access headwaters regions when conditions are right.  There are usually a higher percentage of big, trophy sized Cichla temensis peacocks in these regions Regular price per angler is $5350. 
 
Here are some links to more information on our website;
Click here for detailed info about our Floating Bungalow operation
Click here for Rio Matupiri Reservation Information
Click here for Rio Negro tributary dates and current trip availability

Our Blackwater Explorer yacht trip is our most popular and most consistently productive trip.  This extremely comfortable trip is especially recommended for anglers whose focus is constant action with Amazon peacock bass.  Our beautiful, air-conditioned boat is 10 years old and was built specifically for the purpose of accessing optimal peacock bass water.  Comfortable cabins feature either bunk beds or double beds, private bathrooms and hot showers.  Gourmet food, fine wines and first-class service will make you forget you're in the middle of the world's largest wilderness.  Living aboard this elegant yacht while fishing remote Amazon backwaters in nimble bass boats gives anglers the best of both worlds.  The Blackwater Explorer’s great mobility ensures that we are always in optimal fishing conditions and allows us to follow the dry season as it moves through the major basins in the Amazon.  

In September and early October we fish in the Igapó Açu, a controlled access Indian reservation, with no other mothership operations and no commercial harvest.  This is an exclusive fishery.  The region boasts great numbers of fish and is an especially productive fishery.  Regular price per angler in the Igapó Açu Indian reservation is $5850. 

In mid-October we move into the gigantic Rio Negro basin, where the largest peacock bass in the world are found.  Regular price in this fishery is $4850 per angler (USD) for double occupancy, $5250 per angler for a private cabin.  Here is more info;

Here are some links to more information on our website;
Click here for detailed information about the Blackwater Explorer yacht
Click here for more information about the fishing
Click here for Igapó Açu Indian reservation information
Click here for Rio Negro basin trip information

Our Multi-Species Variety and Giant Catfish trip (private Indian reservation) at comfortable Picapau Lodge on the Rio Travessão is a unique adventure in Brazil's Guyana Shield highlands.  This trip is especially recommended for anglers whose focus is catching a wide-ranging variety of the Amazon's most exotic and fiercest fishes.  The huge, pristine Rio Travessão is located inside a protected Indian reservation, closed to the public and exclusive to Acute Angling.  It is a fast-water river system with complex braids, roaring rapids, spectacular waterfalls and quiet backwaters, providing a wide range of fish habitat, hence great species variety.  Here is where you can encounter fanged payara, massive wolfish, fast-water peacocks, acrobatic bicuda, feisty pacu and a whole range of giant catfish, including; sorubim, red-tails, jau and the immense piraiba. Our charming, rustic lodge is accessed only by float-plane and located on a sandy, wooded island in the middle of this clear, blackwater river, completely free of biting insects.   The lodge boasts individually air-conditioned cabins, private bathrooms and en-suite walk-in hot showers.  As remote as the region may be, you are not “roughing it” here.  Your job here is to fish, eat, drink and relax while you enjoy a unique Amazon experience.  Price per angler is $5850. This trip operates only from October through February.

Arapaima can be tough. Most of the waters that hold them are loaded with food and are replenished each year by the flood pulse. By the time these beasts start getting hungry, the rains come and they leave their temporary dry season lakes to rejoin the river-spanning flooded forests. Under these conditions arapaima are choosy and lazy, preferring slow moving baitfish and inhalable shrimp. They just won’t bother with artificial baits under these conditions. But we never stop searching—we’re always looking for the next fishing opportunity. In a recent exploratory, we found a great solution; a chain of 5 isolated lakes independent of the floodplain; fishable during our entire season and with hungry fish that take lures and flies!

Did I say they take lures and flies? You can bet on it and we will! (presuming you have at least a basic ability to deliver a lure). If you don’t hook up at least once, we’ll refund your entire trip cost! If you don’t hook up at least twice or land at least one fish we’ll give back half the trip cost. How’s that for a guarantee! Here’s why we’re so confident. In the first morning of our exploratory here we quickly probed three of the five lakes and hooked up with big arapaima on swimming plugs, jigs and flies. Better yet, they just crushed Zara Spooks, exploding on them the way you’d expect a 100 pound peacock would (if a 100 pound peacock existed, that is)! We hooked up 9 times between two anglers with huge adult fish from 80 to 200 pounds, all in a single morning. We were so taken with this fishery that we spent the afternoon hiking around and figuring out how our anglers would best access each of the five lakes.

A fisheries census taken on these lakes shows the total population of adult arapaima here to be around 1000 fish. We’ve set a daily limit of three fish per angler to protect this fishery, so it will be a long, long time before they start wising up to anglers. We think we’re making a pretty safe bet, so we’ll continue to offer our guarantee.

What happens if you limit out on arapaima? Why you simply switch tactics and gear and fish for big tambaqui, chunky cara açu, pacu and small peacock bass. You can even take an ultralight spinner or bring a light fly rod and fish for matrinchão. Catch all you can. You’ll have the rest of the fishing day full of unusual fish to add to your list.

We want to protect this fishery. Arapaima are notorious for succumbing to excessive stress and handling, so we’ve instituted a 3 per angler per day limit. We want to minimize breakoffs or extended struggles, so we’re providing the rods and reels and line (you may bring your own only if it has the same or better capability). Fish must remain in the water to be unhooked by your guide; you may join in for photographs and the release if you wish. Your English-speaking guide will make sure you are successful and help with all fish handling aspects of the day.

Here’s the program. This one-day trip is only available as an add-on to an Acute Angling trip. It is not available to other anglers. The trip includes:

1. One extra night at our Manaus home base hotel
2. Pick up and return to our Manaus home base hotel (approx. 1 hour drive time).
3. Delicious lunch, Amazon style.
4. One day guided fishing.
5. All conventional rods, reels, line. Not included: lures, fly fishing gear.

We have negotiated an exclusive agreement for this privately owned fishery and it will be available throughout our entire fishing season as an add-on to any of our four fishing trip types. Price per angler is $1250 USD. Anglers will fish two to a boat with a Brazilian guide. We prefer to limit access to 2 anglers per day if at all possible, so dates should be arranged well in advance to be certain you can adjust your travel and attach this side-trip successfully to your existing trip schedule.

Call us, toll-free, for more information. — 866 832-2987