Everything here has earned its place over years of expeditions in this territory. Days are hot and humid, mornings and evenings on the water are genuinely cool, and it can rain hard at any hour — the list covers all three. Tick items off on screen, or print the page and pack against it.
Clothing
Gear & electronics
Health & personal
Fishing tackle has its own section. Open the Fishing Gear tab — it explains our rental service and, if you would rather fish your own, exactly what to bring.
Laundry: if you would rather travel light, for a small extra a community member will hand-wash your laundry.
Budget dry-bag trick: a funda quintalera from any ferretería in Coca does the job for a couple of dollars.
Leave the tackle to us —
rent everything, and travel light.
We offer complete, high-quality conventional-tackle rental: rods, reels, lines, leaders, hooks and a tackle box of lures proven on these exact waters, matched to the species and the water level on the week you arrive.
Skip the whole headache. No hunting down the right lures for a fish most tackle shops have never heard of. No guessing at rod class, hook size, leader strength or reel drag. No oversized rod tube. No excess-baggage fee. No wrestling a tube through a connection in Quito — and no arriving 175,000 hectares from the nearest shop only to discover the tackle you carried across the world is not the right tackle for an Arapaima.
Fly fishing gear is the one thing we do not rent — fly anglers bring their own setup, and the specification below covers exactly what works here.
Rental is not included in the expedition price. Tell us when you book and we will confirm the package and cost for your group.
If you are bringing your own tackle
This is what actually works in these waters, consolidated from our guides’ own kit lists. Arapaima are the heaviest freshwater fish most anglers will ever hook, with a mouth of solid bone — light gear does not survive the encounter, and undersized hooks do not penetrate. Everything below assumes catch-and-release under the strictest handling standards.
Rods & reels
The boats and the water we fish do not allow for a dozen rods rigged at once — plan on two rods per angler per day. Spinning or casting makes no real difference; bring what you are most comfortable with (our guides fish spinning almost exclusively). Three setups cover every situation on the trip. A fourth is worth adding only if you want to fish bait for Arapaima. Metric and imperial are given side by side throughout.
| Setup | Rod | Reel | Braid | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Arapaima | 2.25–2.40 m (7′6″–8′), XXH, fast action casting 40–140 g (1½–5 oz) long enough to cast far, stiff enough to drive a hook into bone, with just enough tip to absorb headshakes and jumps |
6000–6500 larger makes long casting hard |
100–120 lb (45–55 kg) thinner casts further but leaves guides and anglers in tricky spots during the fight |
Arapaima, all week |
| 2 · Multispecies | 2.00–2.30 m (7′–7′6″), medium-heavy, extra-fast casting 15–40 g (½–1½ oz) |
3500–4500 | 40 lb (18 kg) | Peacock bass, sábalo and everything else, in open water and in tight cover |
| 3 · Pacu | 2.00–2.30 m (7′–7′6″), XH, extra-fast casting 30–100 g (1–3½ oz) |
5000–5500 | 60–80 lb (27–36 kg) | Pacu |
| 4 · Arapaima bait rod optional |
2.40–2.70 m (8′–9′), XH, fast action casting 60–200 g (2–7 oz) |
8000–8500 | 100–120 lb (45–55 kg) | Only if you want to fish live or cut bait for Arapaima |
Bring a backup Arapaima rod if you can. It is the rod that takes the most punishment and the one you least want to lose mid-week. If yours breaks and you have no spare we can rent you one — but a rod you already know beats a loaner every time.
Reference setup — what your guide fishes: Westin W6 8′ Popping rod, Penn Spinfisher 6000, 100 lb PowerPro braid.
Other rods that suit setup 1: Westin W6 Popping, Shimano Grappler Type C. Reels: Shimano Twin Power, Shimano Stella, Penn Spinfisher.
Travel with a long rod tube so you can bring one- or two-piece rods. Four-piece rods work, but the good ones get expensive and the budget ones are rarely stiff enough for this fishing.
Arapaima lures
Arapaima fishing is less about the perfect lure than about the right depth and the perfect cast. If a fish will not take, it is usually better to wait for it to surface again than to keep changing lures.
Colour. Pattern follows water colour, so carry mostly natural and a few bright. Metallic silver and gold matter most — in clean water under sun they flash hard and drive fish wild. Then matte khaki, dark brown, black and charcoal, and patterns with dark flanks; many local baitfish look exactly like that. Best three on the Rapala chart: River Perch, Live Perch, Live Sucker. For bright: Firetiger, Clown, White & Red.
Proven models
- Zeck Dundee 12.8 cm 2.5 m
- Zeck Dundee 12.8 cm 1 m
- Rapala X-Rap Saltwater 14 cm
- Rapala Super Shad Rap
- Rapala X-Rap Jointed Shad
- Rapala Shadow Rap 16
- Daiwa SP Minnow F 15 cm
- Daiwa SP Minnow S 15 cm
- Strike Pro Buster Jerk 15 cm sinking
- Westin Swim 12 / 13.5 / 15 cm
- Shimano Silent Assassin AR-C 129–140 mm
- Shimano Coltsniper 140–170 mm
- Yo-Zuri Mag Darter
- Yo-Zuri Crystal 3D Minnow 5¼″
- Daiwa TD Minnow 120SP
- Yo-Zuri Crystal 3D Minnow Magnum
- Yo-Zuri Hydro Minnow LC
- Yo-Zuri Hydro Twitchbait
Big soft plastic swimbaits fish very well here — but they are expensive, and piranha go straight for them. They end up as waste in the lagoon and waste out of your wallet. If you already own plenty, by all means bring them; if not, do not buy them for this trip.
Peacock bass, pacu & sábalo
Roughly a tenth of the trip, so one well-chosen box is plenty. The single most productive lure across every species here is a jerkbait — it will out-fish almost anything else on almost any day.
Colour. Natural metallics (gold, silver, bronze) and bright patterns in roughly equal measure. Chartreuse, red and orange pay off far better here than they do on Arapaima — anything orange is a killer on sábalo, and Parrot is our guides’ favourite bright pattern.
Jerkbaits — bring these first
Any good jerkbait works; these are what we fish most.
- Rapala X-Rap 10–12 cm
- Rapala Rip-Stop 9–12 cm
- Duo Realis
- Megabass
- Yo-Zuri 3DB SP 110
- Berkley Stunna
Worth adding
- Subsurface walk-the-dog — Rapala Subwalk 9 cm, Westin Swim Glide 6/8/10 cm
- Slim crankbaits — small-profile only, never fat-bodied; nearly everything here feeds on slender baitfish
- Topwater — Lucky Craft Sammy 100; more fun to watch, but the jerkbait out-fishes it
- Inline spinners — size 3–5 (Mepps Aglia and equivalents), natural colours plus chartreuse and firetiger. Upgrade the split ring and the hook and they are a killer on sábalo, peacock bass and pacu alike. Badly overlooked
- Spinnerbaits — the one lure you can throw right into the vegetation. Chartreuse and white are the two best; piranha shred the skirts, so bring spares
- Rattlebaits — Yo-Zuri Rattl’n Vibe, Frostbite Tantrum, Strike King Red Eye Shad
- Spoons — Acme Little Cleo, Frostbite Dinner Bell medium / large
- Bladebaits — Damiki Vault 49–55, Megabass Vibration-X 2.25″, Silver Buddy Original
Terminal tackle
Leader — four weights
Split rings — replace every one
Hooks for lures
Bait fishing — Arapaima & pacu
Fishing kit to bring
On the boat
Easily forgotten
Everything else — clothing, sun protection, repellent, headlamp, power bank, rain gear, hygiene and medical kit — is on the Packing List tab, and applies whether you rent from us or bring your own tackle.
Flying with rods: a hard rod tube travels far better than a soft one, and most airlines treat it as a checked item with an oversize fee. Photograph your tackle before you fly — it makes an insurance claim vastly easier.
Not sure your setup is right? Send us a photo or a list on WhatsApp before you buy anything. We would far rather tell you in advance than watch a good fish break off.
We would rather tell you plainly what this trip involves than have you discover it on day five. None of the below should put you off — guests of every fitness level fish here safely, every season. But sport fishing in remote Amazon waters carries real risks, and knowing them in advance is most of managing them.
You will be fishing in genuinely remote territory, up to a full day's travel from the nearest road and many hours from a hospital. There is no rapid evacuation. Your guides are experienced and equipped for first aid, but a serious injury here is a serious situation — which is exactly why the precautions below matter more than they would at home.
Entering the water
Photographs and releases mean getting into the river. The bottom is uneven, invisible in black water, and often littered with submerged branches and roots. Currents vary, banks give way, and the water is home to caiman, electric eels, stingrays and piranha.
How we manage it: you only enter the water where and when a guide says so — they know each bank. Shuffle your feet rather than stepping down, keep footwear on, and never enter alone or at night.Fishing hooks
Heavy single and circle hooks driven by a hard cast, a headshake, or a lure flying free under load are the most common serious injury in sport fishing anywhere — and a hook in an eye is life-changing. A thrashing 100 kg fish with a lure still in its mouth, at close quarters in a small canoe, is the highest-risk moment of the entire trip.
How we manage it: polarized glasses stay on for every cast, by everyone in the boat. Look behind you before casting. Let the guide control the fish at the boat, and never grab a leader under tension. We carry hook cutters at all times.Bites & teeth
Piranha and payara carry serious dentition, and even a fish that appears subdued can turn its head fast. Insect bites are constant and can transmit disease. Snakes and other wildlife are present throughout the territory, on land and in the water.
How we manage it: never handle a fish yourself unless your guide invites you to, and never put your hands near the mouth or gills. Use repellent daily, keep boots on ashore, and watch where you place your hands on branches and lines.Handling fish
An adult Arapaima can exceed 120 kg and is pure muscle. Lifting or supporting one strains backs and shoulders, a single tail kick can knock a grown adult off their feet, and the scales, gill plates and spines of several species here cut skin readily. Wet hands on a wet fish in a moving boat is how people get hurt.
How we manage it: our guides do the heavy handling. Follow their positioning exactly, keep the fish supported and low over the water, and accept that some fish are released without a photograph — for the fish's safety and yours.Sun, heat & dehydration
Full days on open water near the equator, with glare reflecting off the surface. Heat exhaustion and severe sunburn are the injuries we see most often, and both are entirely preventable.
How we manage it: long sleeves, hat, buff, gloves and sunscreen from the first morning — not once you have burnt. Drink more water than you feel you need; we carry purified water at all times.Boats & long travel days
Reaching the territory takes a flight, hours of road and hours of motorized canoe. Boats are stable but open; wet surfaces, sudden stops and floating debris all make slips and falls possible, and rivers can rise quickly after rain.
How we manage it: life jackets are provided and worn on transfers. Stay seated while under way, keep your gear stowed and your hands free when moving through the boat.Tell us in advance about any medical condition, medication, allergy, recent surgery or mobility limitation — the health form is the place for it. Nothing on it disqualifies you from the trip; it simply lets our guides and cooks prepare properly.
Travel insurance including medical evacuation is strongly recommended and is not included in the expedition price.
One per angler. This confidential declaration lets our guides and cooks prepare properly for you — conditions, allergies, diets, fitness. Fill it in and press Send at the bottom of the document.
Trouble with the embedded form? Open the health form in its own tab.
One per angler — a parent or guardian signs for anglers under 18. Read it in full, sign in the signature box with your finger or mouse, and press Send at the bottom of the document. Available in English, French and Spanish inside the form.
Trouble with the embedded form? Open the waiver in its own tab.