About the author: Capt. Kdu Magalhaes is the only IGFA Certified Captain in Brazil. During Brazil´s summer period (November/March) he fishes in his 32' Sportfisherman for billfish at Rio de Janeiro and Cabo Frio. In the colder months he goes to the Amazon area looking for new records. His E-Mail address is fishing@unisys.com.br.

    The ichthyologist says that there exists more than 500 types of catfish in Brazil's river basins. Of the big ones, there are only 13 species. These range from the mighty piraibas that easily can reach 300 pounds, to the smaller cacharas of no more than 40. Some are beautiful, like the pirarara, with its yellow and red colors, and others look like pre-historic beasts, such as the aboatoado and the armal. All have big moustaches, but none as the barbado. Some dwell on the bottom, and some even attack artificial baits at the surface.

    They all are disappearing due to the pressure of commercial fishing in our rivers, the growth of the Brazilian economy, building new roads to inland, and allowing new settlements to appear in the middle of the jungle. The great fires (queimadas) due to the expansion of our agricultural frontiers cause the annihilation of our ciliate forests. The ever present need of fresh proteins to our inland population so far away from centers of production of meat and poultry, make the fish an easy target.

    I have mixed feelings about this situation. Of course I, like you Americans, have a high regard for nature conservation. I am myself one of the first to introduce catch and release at Brazilian waters. And I am also a professional fishing guide looking for good spots to take my clients. Even so, how could I blame a man, 100 miles from the nearest shopping market, to kill a big monster like that, to feed his children?

    The most popular way to catch them, between the local fisherman, is to make a "pinda." They use a very powerful nylon line of 300 pounds, attached to a number 12 hook, same as we use for marlins. This line is tied to a small but strong tree, flexible enough to fight the fish, but strong enough to hold it. The leader is made from a piano wire, with a very heavy 30 pounds of lead weight to hold the bait at the bottom of the river. Generally they use a live 4 to 6-pound fish for bait. They put the line in at sunset, and collect it in the early morning. Of course we professional guides do not use this kind of equipment. (But many of us sometimes looking at our broken tackle regret it.)

    Depending on the fish I am looking for, I use from 50-pound to 12-pound tackle. We go to some ponds at the river that we call "poços" and use dead baits. But the trouble starts when we try to cast the baits at a desired distance. You ever tried to send a 50 pound line with 2 pounds of bait with your rod more than 60 feet? Monofilaments of course. Forget the Spiderwires, (braided lines) because they do not stand the abrasion of the riverbed. I lost a lot of big ones because of this type of line. You really do need a very stiff rod and arm.

    The biggest one I ever caught was a pirarara around 90 pounds. I was using an Abu Ambassador with 12-pound line, and an equivalent rod. I was down trolling at the Xingu River, The IGFA just had opened the line class category for barred sourubins, and the 12 pound line category was open. As the barred sourubin never goes to more than 30 pounds, I was very comfortable with my tackle. To my surprise, suddenly the reel started to cry, and the line started to go away at a great speed. We turned the boat and went down river. After a 55 minute fight it surfaced. It was a monster pirarara, very near the world record. (97 pounds). We took the photos, weighted it, and let it go. It was the most beautiful fish I ever saw. All in reds and yellows. This name "pirarara", in Indian language means, " fish that looks as "arara". Arara is a beautiful bird that is dressed in bright red and yellow feathers. I think that in English you call them "macaws". Besides having very good meat, the pirarara have an added value to the youngsters that live near the river. If you eat its liver, your skin becomes yellow, looking as having yellow fever. And if the army drafts you, you will be dismissed by the army doctors, as unfit for the army duty. God bless the pirarara!!!

    The biggest catfish ever caught by a sport fisherman at Brazil was a Piraiba (Lau-lau). Dr. Gilberto Fernandes from Manaus, caught it in 1981 . The fish weighted 256 pounds, and was caught at the Solimões River after a 4 hour fight with a Penn 750 spinning rod, with 50-pound line. Dr. Fernandes is one of the top freshwater anglers of Brazil. He holds many IGFA world records, including the beautiful pirarara. He wrote a book were I learned a lot how to fish in the Amazon basin. A Pesca No Amazonas. This book should be translated to English, because it is a veritable fishing Encyclopedia.

    The IGFA recognizes 41 world records in Brazilian freshwaters. From those 25 are in the catfish category. 13 all tackle and 12 in the line class.

Some of the photos are courtesy of Mr. Nelson Lage, owner/operator of the PESCAMAZON lodge, which can be located at http://www.pescamazon.com/

Xingu Ranch's site is: http://www.ranchoxingu.com.br/

Surubin caught at Rio Benedito, by Rubens Prado. Photo by Pescaventura

Caught in Lower Xingu, estimated at 320 pounds

50 pounds pirarara caught by Nelson Lage in the Iriri River

130 pound Jau caught in the Lower Xingu