How to Catch a Pirarucú (Arapaima Gigas)

How would you like to catch one of the world's largest freshwater fishes? Imagine reeling in a fish that is averagely six feet long and weighs a whooping 200+ lbs. Arapaima commonly known as paiche, pirarucú, or bony tongue belongs to an ancient family of fish called Osteoglossiformes. Pirarucú loosely translated means "red" fish, but the only portion of this fish that is red is a small portion of its tail. This long slender fish with a tapering snout is a graceful swimmer and isn't easily mistaken. It is piscivorous fish, eating the smaller catfish and has also been known to feeds on small birds by thrusting itself out of the water to catch birds on overhanging tree limbs.

Why fish for pirarucú?
If you are avid sport fisherman, the pirarucú is a strong fish, fighting, breaching the water with it head clear out of the water, and running the fishing line. You have to be extremely lucky to hook one and more so to land one. Be prepared to fight this strong and brave fish for more than an hour, depending on the weight of your test line. The pirarucú also makes for excellent cuisine. Its flesh is tender and delicious.

Where can it be found?
Pirarucú is found mainly in the Amazon River Basin in South America. Pirarucú is an obligate air breathing fish, surfacing every 15 minutes to breath through a swim bladder which forms a modified lung. It is found in clear and white oxygen deficient fresh water, all year round in the basin's creeks, lagoons, canals and lakes. The best time though, for such a fishing trip would be in the two weeks of the low water season as the pirarucú is mostly confined to the lagoons.

How to fish?
If you would like to fish like the locals, you could form a sort of fishing posse, as fishing pirarucú is like a hunting expedition. The locals have been fishing the arapaima for a long while, back to ancient times. They do so by trailing huge nets to confine the fish, then spear it when it surfaces for oxygen. This takes a lot of patience and persistence.

If you are a sport fisherman, make sure you have 30 - 50 lbs fishing rods between 2 - 3 meters long, 80 -100 lbs reel filled test line. If you are well seasoned, go for a 30 lbs line. Pirarucú is piscivorous and will feed on other fish so finding the right bait isn't hard.


Once you've succeeded in catching this ferocious fighting fish you'll understand what the fuss about exotic fishing is, but limit your fishing experience as pirarucú is considered endangered and is banned fishing from most of Amazonia.