Home in the Jungle:

The Amazon Explorer is your home in the Jungle. The owners of the Amazon Explorer are one of only two operators with permits to fish this river. The fishing pressure is very light and the areas fished are rotated in order to preserve and improve the fishery. As a “catch and release” operation, the staff of the Amazon Explorer take great pains to assure that all of the hooked fish are returned in good health to fight another day.

For the adventurous peacock bass angler that desires a remote, more intimate setting, away from the large lodges and crowded fishing boats found around Barcelos, and for the fisherman that seeks hundreds of miles of productive waters with very limited fishing pressure, look no further than the Amazon Explorer.

The Amazon Explorer will be located in the upper regions of the Rio Unini and the Rio Preta. It will be moved on a regular basis to keep you in fresh fishing water. Your fishing will be in newly discovered lakes and lagoons which have seen no fishing pressure from either the commercial or the sport fishermen. You may be casting plugs to Peacock Bass that have never seen a plug before. Hang on!

The location is so isolated that access is limited to very shallow draft boats, such as the Explorer. There are no nearby villages and only a scattered number of locals who fish from small dugout canoes.

The accommodations include a newly (2004) refurbished houseboat with five staterooms. Each room is air-conditioned and has a private bath. There is a complete restaurant service, a comfortable gathering area, and daily laundry service. Upstairs, you will enjoy the panoramic view of the Jungle as you prepare your tackle for another day of fishing.

The fishing is from aluminum bass boats with swivel seats, outboard and trolling motors. The guides are intimately familiar with this extremely remote area of the interior of the upper Amazon region.

The Rio Unini is a tributary of the Rio Negro which is located some 200 miles northeast of Manaus, Brazil. The Unini is approximately 200 miles long. Both the Amazon Cutter and Amazon Explorer are located on the Unini with the Cutter located about 165 miles from where the blackwater Unini empties into the Rio Negro. The Explorer is located several miles further up river. This is an extremely isolated region. The large riverboats cannot access this section of the river in all but the high-water, non-fishing times.

Each year the size of the fish seems to increase and the numbers of Big Fish caught per angler rivals any location in the Amazon. If you are looking for a river or destination with big numbers and little fish then this river is not right for you! But if you are after the Big Fish and several of them each day, you owe it to yourself to experience the Unini River. Under normal river conditions, you can expect to boat about 30 Peacocks a week per angler over 10 pounds. And you will probably loose twice that many fish. As with any fishing, there are no guarantees, but we do publish our results on our web site for all to see. Last season, more Peacock Bass were caught weighing over 20 pounds than were caught the previous season. We expect, with our rotating and conservation practices in place and with the limited pressure on this river, that this season will exceed the results of last season. The largest fish to date is 23.5 pounds. All fish are weighed on Boga Grip Scales that have been pre-certified by the International Game Fish Association. The weight is called by the guide and verified by the angler.

If you want a more rustic experience in the Jungle; want to catch some big Peacock Bass; want to catch a lot of Peacock Bass and want to save a little money, look no further than the Amazon Explorer. The Amazon Explorer will satisfy those desires.