A Bucket List Adventure: Fly Fishing for Trophy Peacock Bass on Remote Amazon Waters

If you are looking for a real adventure, an exotic location, battles with big, strong, angry fish on a fly rod, the waters of the Amazon jungle are all of that and more.
A jungle peacock bass is a savage fight on a fly rod.
A jungle peacock bass is a savage fight on a fly rod. / photo by Dan Favato


One question I get asked all the time is, “What’s been your favorite fly fishing destination?” And my answer? I can’t pick just one. I could name a top five, I could suggest some trips that should be on a bucket list, but to narrow it down to one? That’s tough.

Experience a Real Life Fly Fishing Adventure

High on my list is fishing the tributaries of the Amazon River in Brazil with Midcurrent and TC Fishing outfitters. A fly fishing trip to the Amazon rainforest feels like stepping into the pages of Outdoor Life—the kind of thrilling adventure stories I used to read about and daydream over as a kid.

An angler holds up a peacock bass he caught fly fishing in the Amazon Jungle.
A beautiful Azul (blue) peacock bass. / photo by Dan Favato

Travel With a Friend

If this is a trip that sounds appealing, I suggest going with a good friend. Fishing is just a small part of the experience. Getting there is an adventure, and if you are traveling with a friend the fun is multiplied.

Next Stop-the Jungle

Each stop along the way feels like shedding another layer of civilization, building anticipation until you’re thinking, "What did I get myself into?" If you travel light—and travel with a friend—there will be plenty of laughs along the way.


A plane flying over the Amazon rainforest for a fly fishing adventure.
Amazon jungle as far as the eyes can see. / photo by Dan Favato

Where the Wild Things Are

The final leg of the journey is surreal—flying in a small plane over endless jungle canopy. Besides the plane itself and any electronics you’ve brought, you have stepped away from modern life. You are entering a wild, untamed world that’s remained largely unchanged for centuries. Looking down at the jungle below a small voice in my head get repeating,“If this plane goes down, no one’s finding us.”


A plane dropping off fly anglers to transfer to bass boats to take them to floating cabanas in the Amazon rainforest.
The final transfer to your floating cabana / photo by Dan Favato

A Smooth and Soft Arrival Into the Jungle

The pilot brings the plane down and a boat is waiting to take you to your home for a week. Your room is a floating "cabin" connected to five other cabins and a few support facilities. This set-up forms a train that a larger boat will move up the river to a different location each day, allowing you to fish new water on every outing.

A train of cabins moving up an Amazon tributary to set up camp for fly fishing in the Amazonian Rainforest.
The angler cabins along with support facilities moving up river to a new beach. / photo by Dan Favato

You are now smack dab in the middle of the remote Amazonian Rainforest, surrounded by raw wilderness, yet staying in first-class accommodations.

Private Cabanas on a white sandy beach somewhere in the Amazon rainforest. Housing for a fly fishing adventure.
Private Cabanas on a white sandy beach somewhere in the Amazon rainforest. / photo provided by TC Fishing

Eat-Fly Fish-Eat-Sleep-Repeat

Fresh brewed Brazilian coffee awaits you the next morning at 5 am, followed by breakfast at 6 am. Then, you hop into a 21-foot bass boat to explore the jungle’s creeks and tributaries. After a full morning of fishing, guides set up camp on the shore, stringing hammocks for a midday rest while they prepare lunch.

A fly angler sleeping in a hammock in the Amazon rainforest
An afternoon siesta in the jungle. / photo by Jim Kern

Your Guides Are Indigenous People From the Rainforest Villages

Watching the guides cook is fascinating. Their methods, their knife skills—everything feels deeply rooted in tradition. You can tell they come from the local indigenous tribes that still inhabit the rainforest, and they’ve been cooking this way for generations.

A Piranha from the Amazon river for lunch.
Piranha for lunch. A great tasting fish. / photo by Ken Baldwin

Get Ready for a Fight

It's difficult to describe the hook and fight of a peacock bass over 10 lbs. You’re casting poppers made from champagne corks, trimmed with six-inch feathers. The air is thick with humidity while exotic birds scream and cackle from somewhere in the jungle. You work up a sweat stripping your popper to cause as much commotion as possible.

The Take

A peacock bass slams the popper at top speed, slashing in from the sides—Sometimes it's not trying to eat the fly as much as kill it with that big knot of a forehead. I’ve seen poppers knocked six feet in the air, only for the fish to come back and crush it on the landing. It is all at once heart stopping and exhilarating. 

Fly Fishing for Mike Tyson

a fly angler showing off a big peacock bass he caught on a fly rod in an amazon rainforest river.
Former MLB pitcher Jim Kern with a bruiser of a peacock bass caught on a fly rod with the TC Fishing crew. / photo provided by Jim Kern

Now the fight is on. The fish won't run far, but good luck moving it. This is a puncher, not a sprinter—Mike Tyson-style body shots, heavy and brutal. Even the small ones fight big.

The Gear and the Grind

Brandon Powers, the exclusive booking agent for Midcurrent, describes the peacock bass as "A Rottweiler that hasn’t eaten in a week, not much is going to scare him away from a meal."

Brandon is seasoned in fishing these waters and has definite opinions about gear. "I would recommend a 9 weight rod for anglers that are used to throwing a 5 or 6-weight for trout. Suddenly jumping up to a 10-weight can wear you out." He adds, "For fly anglers accustomed to throwing a heavy rod I would recommend the use of a 10-weight. When fishing for peacock bass you will often bring your rods home in more pieces then you left with, so be sure to bring several fly rods with you so that you will have at least one to use the last day of your trip!"

Comfort in the Middle of the Amazonian Wild

A floating cabin on a river in the Amazon jungle where you rest after a day of fly fishing for peacock bass.
Your floating cabana on the river. / photo by Ken Baldwin

The floating cabins, the food, the riverside camps—they’re nothing short of four-star comfort. But once you go out on the bass boats to chase the peacock bass, you're in a wild jungle.

The quarry you’re after is a pure product of that wildness. And when you hook into one, it will test you with a savage intensity.

It Doesn’t Have To Be a Daydream Anymore

If stories from Outdoor Life made you daydream as a kid, a trip to the Amazon Rainforest will let you live them out. The adventure lives up to the stories.  KB

"The gods do not deduct from man’s allotted span the hours spent in fishing.” - Herbert Hoover


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Published
Ken Baldwin
KEN BALDWIN

Ken Baldwin is a Writer/Editor for Fishing On SI where he writes stories about fly fishing and the lifestyle that surrounds it. His work has appeared in Catch Magazine, Fish Alaska, American Angler, and the Netflix documentary Our Planet 2. He also created and hosted the TV show Season on the Edge, which aired on NBC Sports and in seven countries, showcasing travel, adventure, and culture through the lens of fishing. For twenty years, Ken worked as a fly fishing and photography guide in Alaska. His photography mainly focused on capturing the Alaskan brown bear. Ken is a graduate of the University of Washington.