As an avid fisherman who finds the opportunities in my local rivers and lakes a little mundane, the opportunity to fish in the Amazon had a powerful allure to me, even if I was only fishing in the Amazon rainforest and not the river itself.

After researching the available options for lodges and guides in the Amazon basin and spending a couple years telling myself I don’t really need to do this, I finally decided that life is short, and yes, I really do need to do this. I reached out via email to an outfitter that worked with Caño Negro lodge in the Bolivian Amazon. Within a few days I had a spot reserved in the lodge.

American tourists to Bolivia require a visa for entry. When I looked into the requirements the consular website appeared to be down which frustrated my efforts to figure out what was needed, and after inquiring with the outfitter they recommended I obtain the visa upon arrival. The amount of documentation is not terribly onerous except that you must pay the visa fee in cash, and all bills must be in good crisp, condition. So I gathered my documents and fresh bills, and when the trip arrived flew from my home to Panama and then Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

Getting the visa when I arrived in Santa Cruz was trouble free and took only a few minutes. The immigration officer barely looked at the documents before taking the money and giving me the visa. One of the people working with the lodge later indicated getting the visa can take hours, but this was not my experience.

I have a hard time characterizing Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The reading I did in advance indicated it is the most dangerous city in Bolivia, but the main risk is property crime. The chance of being a victim of violent crime as a tourist is fairly low. However, the general assessment of safety made me hesitant to do a lot of exploring on my own. The driver from the lodge who picked me up showed me around the main sites the next day. The main sights appeared to consist of a cathedral:

And a square across from the cathedral.

There is also a zoo, a few museums, and a several parks inside the city, though I did not visit them. There appeared to be some national parks outside the city that I would have been interested if I had another day or two in the area.

The driver also took me to Porongo, a small city outside Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It is a nice town to have lunch or an ice cream in, and spend an hour or so. This Jesuit church is the main tourist attraction.

After a night of rest, the lodge transported me to the local airport in Santa Cruz to fly out to the lodge.

With all the travel I have done over the last few years, I have gotten used to flying, but I am still nervous with turbulence and do not particularly like to fly. Never thought I would get in one of these, but it is the only way to the lodge, so there I was.

After about a 2 hour flight straight north, we set down on the lodge’s dirt run way.

We were immediately escorted to our cabins to settle in, given lunch and allowed to rest for a few hours until 3 pm, and then we set off fishing.

I was paired with a solo traveler who was there on approximately the same schedule for the duration of our stay. There was also a group of 5 Texans there together. Having lived in Texas for almost 20 years I have learned to view anything coming out of that state with considerable suspicion, but found that they were very pleasant and good company for the week.

This was the patriarch of the group’s 11th trip to Caño Negro. They indicated that the fishing was slower this year than in any previous year due to high water levels. This gives the fish more room to run and spread out and makes them harder to find. The main target species in the Rio Negro and Rio San Simon where the lodge is located is the peacock bass. The arapaima has become invasive in these rivers in the last several years. This has reduced the numbers of peacock bass considerably as the arapaima feed on them. Nevertheless, I found the fishing very satisfactory, and caught upwards of 40 during my four days at the lodge, with the largest being around 2 kg.

This may or may not be the largest one. It is hard to tell at this point.

As a fisherman, I am more excited about pulling out uniquely impressive fish than catching dozens of the same thing. This is an arapaima. It is a small one, estimated by our guides at 35 kg (they can exceed 200 kg), but still probably the largest fish I have caught. I got slapped in the leg with its tail, which was fairly painful, but no real injury resulted.

Later that night we went catfishing. My first catch was a surubi.

My second catch was unexpected and to some extent undesirable. I could hear the fear in my guide’s voice when I reeled this in and he saw what I had on the line. he indicated the sting will not usually kill, but is extremely painful. We did not bring it into the boat, but he cut it the hook out of it while still in the water.

The second and third days of fishing were a little slow, though still with some successes. Not to worry, when the fishing slows down there is plenty of wildlife watching available.

Black caimans. These are everywhere. I would guess the largest we saw was 4 meters in length. Most are around 3. Attacks on humans are rare, but possible. The lodge sternly warned everyone not to get out of the boat.

The guides referred to these as vatos. I am not sure what they are called in English. They are not exactly pretty, but definitely interesting.

There are also pink dolphins, river otters (called nutria by the guides, a term that refers to a different animal in the Southern USA), bats, and many species of birds.

Late in the evening on my last night after a lunch of grilled peacock bass put on by the guides, my final catch was the red tailed catfish, called General in spanish. It got the line wrapped around a submerged log and the guides spent over an hour freeing it while bats buzzed around and occasionally collided with the fishing pole so we could land it and take credit for the catch.

The next morning I returned to Santa Cruz on a moderately terrifying charter flight into headwinds. I had originally planned to do a city tour while I was in Santa Cruz before flying home. However, with the mini-tour I received on arrival, I felt I had seen everything I needed to. If I had a day or two more there were overnight trips to the wild regions around the city I would like to have done. But as it was, I did not have time for further adventures and I was not entirely comfortable exploring Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and it appeared that there wasn’t much more to see anyway. So I chose to spend a couple relaxing days reading in my room or by the pool of a very nice hotel before flying home.

This is without a doubt the best fishing experience I have ever had, and one of the best experiences in a wilderness area. All the staff of the lodge were great hosts. That said, I think I will leave this as a singular adventure I enjoyed thoroughly and not attempt to repeat or recreate it…except possibly to take my nephew who enjoys fishing on a similar adventure perhaps in a few years, if he wants. There are some lodges and boats in Namibia and Botswana I have my eye on for that. For now, back home to everyday life and to work up some excitement for the next adventure.