Welcome to the latest edition of The Acute Angler! 🎣 We are very excited about how 2025 is beginning. This month, we’re covering a new multi-species location. Not only is it an amazing sportfishing adventure, but also a cultural experience.

Don’t miss how you can win a fishing trip to Alaska this May targeting steelhead, salmon, halibut, and lingcod.

Let’s dive in! ⬇️

Zach & The Acute Angling Team

Xingu River: A new multi-species destination

What makes this trip unique

The Xingu River runs through the Kayapo indigenous reserve. 22,000,000 acres of preserved tropical forest. Each week our anglers will be the only fishermen in this massive section of river, and they will be the guests of the Kayapo people.

What sets this location apart from others is not only the incredible fishing, but ecotourism activities that can be experienced during your trip. Let’s dive deeper into both:

The Fishing

 The Xingu is one of the largest multi-species rivers in the Amazon Basin. There is no need to boat further than 45 minutes down or upriver of the lodge as the rock structures and pools are plentiful making ideal habitat for a variety of fish species including but not limited to: Payara, peacock bass (melaniae), wolfish, matrinxã, freshwater croaker, black piranha, and pacu. Catfish species include massive Redtails, Jau, Flat Whiskered, Mandubé, Surubim, and more.

Here are some additional highlights

Attempt the Payara slam by catching three different species including the:

• Hydrolycus armatus: Largest and thickest (most sought after sportfish of the three)

• Hydrolycus tatauaia: Smaller species often identified as the red or orange tail payara.

• Raphiodon vulpinus: A longer and slender species of Payara often referred to as the machete Payara.

As you float down the river one indigenous guide in the front of the boat and one in the back will maneuver you carefully through the rapids and rock structures while your English-speaking professional guide will direct you on where to throw your lures or flies. Within these boulder garden floats there are aggressive peacock bass, bicuda, and matrinxã.

Typically to target matrinxã one must use small flies or lures. However, the matrinxã in the Xingu attack the same lures you will use for peacock and bicuda.

The Jau catfish are large in this river and negotiating one of these muscled Amazon beasts from the depths of the river is a huge thrill. Large Redtails are also in this section of the Xingu and flat Whiskered catfish look like alien fish with their long whiskers. Perhaps the oddest catfish species is the Mandubé (barbless catfish) which jumps like a rainbow trout when hooked.

Ecolodge

The Lodge was built by the native Kayapó using local wood (they chose the trees that could be used). The electricity is 100% provided by solar panels and the water used at the lodge is from local water sources and treated by modern filtration systems. Each angler will be given a refillable water bottle at the beginning of the week to reduce the use of plastics bottles. 

The lodge is built overlooking the Xingu. Each double occupancy room has box spring mattresses, private bathrooms, and hot water for showers. Daily laundry is done to keep your clothing fresh and clean. The dining and lounge area is the perfect place to relax, bond with friends and family, and enjoy three delicious meals a day plus appetizers and drinks. The lounge area has décor that reflects the culture of the Kayapó people and the wildlife that call this part of the world home.

Collaboration and Guidance

During the 2025 fishing season we will be assisted by a fisheries Biologist named Alec Krüse Zeinad. He is the senior author of a book called Peixes fluviais do Brasil: Especies Esportivas which is a book about the sportfish of the Brazilian Amazon and fishing techniques to catch them. He hopes to have an English version in the near future. He has fished the Xingu for years and his experience and knowledge will be most welcomed.

We are also grateful and excited to be collaborating with Untamed Angling Brazil on this project. Rodrigo Salles and his guide team have fished and explored the river, and this project could not happen without them. Both Untamed Angling Brazil and Acute Angling strive to make this a world class fishing experience.

Last but also the most important are the Kayapó guides and people. A fishing operation here without their local knowledge and boat handling skills would be next to impossible. We look forward to learning from them and are grateful for the opportunity to fish with them. 

 Xingu Lodge Ecotourism Opportunities

While this is primarily a sportfishing trip, anglers and their non-angler group members can customize their experience with some ecotourism opportunities including:

1.Take a hike with the Kayapó:

Depending on your interest and experience, the trail can explore Brazil nut forests, ancient villages, lagoons, hunting grounds, animal viewing and much more.

Kayapó warriors and elders have incredible knowledge of the natural and cultural history of the region. During the interpretive walk, Kayapó guides will share knowledge about plants and help you spot and track different species, such as blue macaws, spider monkeys, jaguars, peccaries, tapirs or other small animals.

2. Kayapó Cooking

First, visit a vegetable garden and learn how they plant, harvest and process cassava root into flour, one of the staples of their traditional diet. Together with the Kayapó, you can help prepare a traditional dish, called Berarobu, where fresh fish and cassava flour are wrapped in banana leaves and roasted under the fire.

3. Body Painting

Spend some time with the Kayapó women as they demonstrate one of the most iconic elements of their tradition – body painting – using natural dyes from Amazonian plants Jenipapo and Urucum. Try painting yourself before tasting the traditional food you helped prepare.

4. Kayapó Art and Culture

Take a trip downstream to meet another Kayapó village and the community members who live there. You will also have the opportunity to spend the morning with Kayapó artisans making beads, working in wood or basket weaving, trying your luck at archery, learning songs and dances, practicing traditional (and contemporary) sports, learning the language and giving a refreshing dip.

After a picnic lunch, the Kayapó community will prepare a crafts fair, allowing you to take home your own bracelets, baskets, earrings, paintings, necklaces, oars and more, all made by artisans Kayapo.

5. Fishing the Kayapó Way

Experience how the Kayapó fish in the river using a hand line. Try your luck at catch and release fishing using their techniques. If you wish to participate, we recommend bringing fishing gloves made for fly fishing. Generally, fly fishing gloves have some leather protection for fingers. Golf gloves also work. 

Please note that all these activities can be arranged but please communicate with us at least three weeks before your trip so we can plan accordingly. Also be aware that these activities range from half a day to a full day. Note that they would cut into your fishing time if you chose to participate.

Tips are appreciated and recommended for these extra activities (Please plan on a minimum of $25 per person per half day activity and $50 per person for full day activities). Please do not tip an individual Kayapó. Their culture is based on community and tips are divided based on a plan of tourism. At the end of the week your host at the lodge will give you an envelope where these tips can be made and a local NGO that assists with the project will divide the tips according to their tourism plan.  

Special Promotion for 2025

Standard Pricing for this trip is as follows:

Price: Double Occupancy:
USD 7,155 per angler in double room/guiding
basis plus USD 585 of Native Fee (payable in Manaus)

Single Angler:
USD 11,960 per angler in single room / single guiding plus USD 585 of Native Fee (payable in Manaus)

 However, to kick off this new location, we are offering a $1,000 discount per angler for the following 2025 dates:

June 1^st -8^th

June 8^th -15^th

June 15^th -22^nd 

Xingu Summary

We are thrilled about this new location, and we believe it will be a wonderful experience for our clients. While ecotourism is a special addition to this trip, the fishing is really what brought us here in the first place. This world class fishery is simply complemented by a very cool cultural experience.

Please contact Zach at Acute Angling for more information about this special offer and trip.

[email protected]

Alaska Trip Giveaway

Join Zach for the fishing trip of a lifetime in the Sitka, Alaska region targeting Steelhead, Salmon, Halibut, and Lingcod. The weeklong trip will be split between a liveaboard vessel that will move to various small streams and rivers where steelhead will be the primary target species, and the second half of the week we will be at Wild Strawberry Lodge and fishing saltwater for Salmon, Halibut, and Lingcod.

How to win

All anglers that have a deposit paid before February 20^th 2025 for a future Acute Angling trip will automatically be entered in this trip giveaway. If you are considering fishing with us in South America now is the time to get your deposit in and be eligible for this incredible Alaska fishing trip giveaway.

For those organizing groups please encourage your group members to register and pay their deposits so they too can be entered into the drawing.

Rules:

• The trip date is May 10^th -17^th 2025

• If you cannot attend during this time frame another contestant will be drawn.

• Only those with deposits for future Acute Angling trips qualify for the drawing.

In the video below Zach discusses the fishing opportunities at Wild Strawberry Lodge with lodge owners Justin Karleski and Joshua Badder. Video footage of the beauty of Sitka, Alaska and the fishing opportunities are layered within the video so grab some popcorn, kickback and enjoy.

That’s a wrap for this edition of The Acute Angler!

Don’t let the excitement end here - stay connected with us on social media for more fishing adventures, tips, and updates.

We can’t wait to see you on our next fishing expedition!