headed to Brazil later this week...using Ron Speed's adventures as outfitters based on our good experience with using him on trips to el salto,picachos and comedero...have talked to couple guys who have been down there and tried to get prepared/equpped for everything we might encounter.....
appreciate any tips,suggestions or advice....
(am gonna put this on both other topics and bass fishing forums)

I've not been, but its on my bucket list. Justin Rackley (Lake Fork Guy) went a few years ago and posted a bunch of videos on YouTube about it.

Reach out to James at Falcon Lake tackle. I think he’s been several times.

Let us know how it goes. I have a buddy who bought a trip for two and now can't go due to health reasons, I've been debating on purchasing his trip from him.

The Amazon is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. I went in 2004, before wife and kids. My data point is only one trip from a tributary of the Rio Negro, right at 0 degrees latitude (we crossed the equator every day, slept in southern hemisphere and fished in the northern).

The ferocity with which they hit topwaters is hard to describe. I noticed two distinct types of topwater hits.

The most terrifying one is like a watermelon falling out of an airplane. I’m not sure how they make the water move that way, but they do. These fish are harder to catch. It might be a territorial thing vs a feeding thing.
Second strike is just an all out blitz. You might see them pushing water for several feet as they come after it. They will flash under the bait a couple of times prior to striking it. My largest of the trip (18lbs) missed the first two times and connected on the 3rd. Keep it moving. They aren’t that boat shy when amped up.

The fish (especially bigger ones) are frequently in pairs or triples. Once your partner has the fish under control, toss in there and see if you can get a friend.

The big woodchopper baits had the largest average size, but you’ll still catch 2lb fish on them. For numbers of fish a jerkbait, super spook or ½ bucktail jig worked well and isn’t as tiring. Everything we did was power fishing, keep the bait moving. I bet a chatterbait burned back would get torn up. I don’t think I had heard of a chatterbait in 2004.

You’ll catch other cool fish. The trieda (look like a grinnel, bowfin, dogfish) tend to be in the super shallow flats. We had better luck for peacocks when there was a little deeper water, Jacunda, Arrowana, and a few others will probably show up.

Just like largemouth, wood and other debris are your friends. Most of our biggest fish came off laydowns in deeper lagoons. We didn’t do as well in the really shallow stuff.

I saw a 2-3lb butterfly swimming around and tossed my woodchopper towards it. He jumped out of the water and hit it before it landed.

Dad was winching a 1.5lb trieda across the surface, we saw a green flash, a giant explosion and his trieda went cartwheeling 20 feet through the air. Spent a lot of time trying to catch that fish. Was every bit as big if not bigger than my 18.

Saw a big one of these
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arapaima_gigas

Monkeys, parrots, lots of wildlife. Great time.

Need to go back with dad and son…..

I went many years ago on the Rio Negro. Flew into Manaus and then to Barcelos where we caught the main boat. What a trip! Its definitely a "trip of a lifetime ". We caught fish up to 20 lbs on that trip- my personal best was 18.5 on a Woodchopper. The peacock (there are several varieties) seem to like noisy surface baits. I bought multiple Woodchoppers and the big Rapala's (saltwater stuff) , changed out the hoops to 3X hooks and had one fish straighten out 2 barbs of a treble hook and get off. It was bigger than my 18.5 lb fish. I bet big Chatter baits would work as well. They seem to like yellow, red and purple. I painted up a few of my baits based on internet chatter - seemed it helped a bit . The strike is ferocious and the fight is something else- hard to believe that a freshwater fish can fight that hard. 80 lb braid recommended. All the guides have rods and reels , so unless you just gotta have particular set up - I'd leave them at home . Maybe bring your favorite 2 reels. It's all "combat" fishing - nothing finesse. You'll also likely catch freshwater catfish and piranha , maybe arapaima . The piranha are good eating ! Its exhausting work- bring baseball or golf gloves - your hands will thank you. Lots of info on the internet now. It will rain like crazy- drenching downpours and then clear. Pink dolphins, parrots , butterfly's not any bugs ! We went out one night and caught caiman- lots of fun - released them on the top deck of our house boat- everyone scrambled for a chair to stand in! Envious , I'd go back , for sure !

A good golf glove for your reel hand is a must!

You will have a blast
Take fishing gloves (Fish Monkey with the leather palms). You will want to take some tape to protect your fingers from blisters, primarily from your rod.
Cover up, the sun is brutal, not that hot but you will get a sunburn on anything not covered.
If you are taking your own reels use the fastest retrieve reels you have My Revo Rockets & Beast Rockets worked out well.
Wear a gator to protect your face. the reflection from the water will burn you.
Take a waterproof case for your phone, as stated it rains every day.

Good luck & have fun.

Good luck on your trip and post your experience when you get back. We are going in January 2024 with Acute Angling.

My old business partner went several years back. He suggested I do the trip, I asked him if he would do it again and he said absolutely not. Lol

I would not do it again, glad I went but once is enough for me.

One of my buddies went fairly recently. They did the house-boat thing and had a great time. He caught an 11 and a 15. The biggest caught was 17. He said it was kind of a pain getting there but that the trip was worth it. Same thing about the sun and sunburns, Eris said that ain't no joke. He also said that the boat people had some type of thing where you pay a bunch of money to use any and all of their lures that you want when all he used was a zara spook the entire trip. He said little "deal" they had ended up being a waste of about $200

Hope you have the time of your life and catch some bigs. Keep us all posted.

We stayed at the Rio Negro Lodge, it was a 5 star resort, cannot believe they managed to build that in the middle of the Amazon.

I have been with Ron Speed. Solid outfitter. The Otter is a excellent base to fish out of. Comfortable. Separate twin occupancy rooms each with its own shower. When we went it was a smaller group so each had their own room. You control the small window unit. Food was decent. You get plenty with 3 meals per day. Sun I pretty much 6am to 6pm year round. Out fishing at 6 am, back at the Otter at 11:30 or so for lunch when you want and then back out to about 30 minutes or so before dark. Each day it pretty exhausting. Be sure to keep well hydrated. You will feel better if you do. They have water on the boat. Most were out asleep by 9pm. They will do laundry daily. Just set it out and it’s back when you get back. They took us from Manuas to the Otter and back in a float plane. Super nice plane. I was surprised how new it was. About a 50 minute flight.

Morning is decent then it’s pretty hot. You need solid sunscreen and light layers covering as much skin as possible. Big brim hat. Absolutely no mosquitoes or other biting insects to worry about. Have gloves and tape for your hands. Constant jerking on that Woodchopper takes a toll by the end of the trip. Take fast retrieve reels that hold a decent amount of line. They used 80#. I didn’t have a issue with 65# Suffix 832. They have plenty of decent rods to chose from on the Otter. Lots of long casts and you need to rip the Chopper. If it doesn’t sound exactly like the guides want they will be tuning the prop on it. I took some of my own. I would not do that again. They have plenty laid out on a table to chose from. The hair jig catches more but they were generally under 10#. All the big fish we caught were on the chopper. You don’t go to the Amazon to catch10 pounders. You want one in the high teens or larger.

They rotate guides each day. They tell you what guide you are paired up with. Just enough English spoken to be able to communicate. It’s entertaining when they jump in to get a big one hooked in the under water tree tops or climb a tree to get the Chopper. Small Basstracker type of boats. They work fine. They move the Otter throughout the trip to fish different areas. You fish tributaries of the Amazon. They are still large. Amazing the amount of water in the Amazon System.

You should catch plenty. Some days were more action than others. You don’t want the water to be too high. It its high they fishing is tougher. Everyone but one in our group caught one over 15#. Three went over 20# in the group. I forgot the total count it was good. However, higher water slowed the action a little from the more solid action trips. Still enough action to be had.

They had a drink they make out of rum and shake the heck out of when they make it. Can’t remember the exact name. It was good to have after a hot day on the top deck waiting for dinner.

Everything about the trip went good. Speed has been doing it for a long time and has all the logistics down. It’s a great trip. One place I would go again. I want to get one 20#+.

thanks for the advice and information......