 The
Amazon river is the largest river in the world (the
Nile is actually the longest river), in terms of its
volume and area of its drainage basin. This mighty
river originates in the Peruvian Andes from the headwaters
of the Ucayali-Apurímac river system. It flows some
4,000 miles across northern Brazil to its discharge
into the Atlantic Ocean. This junction of freshwater
discharging into the area is so massive that it actually
turns the seawater from salty to brackish for more
than 100 miles offshore
In Peru the upper headwaters of this river down to the Peruvian
Amazon city of Iquitos is called Marañón, and from there to the Atlantic it is called the Amazon. In Brazil the name Solimões is used from
Iquitos to the mouth of the Rio Negro (near the city of Manaus) and
Amazon only from the Rio Negro to the Atlantic ocean.
 There are more than 1,000 known tributaries of the Amazon, with
seven of these in excess of 1,000 miles in length. The Rio
Negro is the largest of all the Amazon tributaries and is well known to
sport anglers from throughout the world. It is home to at least six
major sportfishing operations (Amazon Castaway, Ecotur Park Lodge
and River Plate Anglers being the most popular) and is the site where
the all tackle peacock bass (cichla temensis) IGFA world record (27
lbs) was landed. Many visiting anglers ponder as to whether the Negro can withstand the fishing pressure put upon it by all of the operations
that are sprouting up. The answer is yes. With a drainage area of
292,000 square miles, as long as the operators in this region continue
to seek out new oxbow lakes, lagoons and offshoot tributaries, the
area should have no problem sustaining a long-term catch and release
fishery.
 One of the Rio Negro's affluents, the Casiquiare, also well known
to anglers for its record class peacock bass fishery (currently,
4 line class records are listed as having come from these waters)
in the Pasimoni and Pasiba river tributaries, is a product of the
bifurcation of the Orinoco River (from Venezuela) and forms a link
between the Amazon and the Orinoco's drainage system. The Orinoco flows through impenetrable rain forest or through the vast grassland
region of the Llanos region (flat plains). The Orinoco basin or watershed
covers an area of about 366,000 square miles. The Casiquiare branches
off from the Orinoco River (which flows in a giant arc for some 1,700
miles from its source in the Guiana Highlands to its mouth on the
Atlantic Ocean) downstream from La Esmeralda and meanders generally
southwestward for approximately 140 miles (225 km), joining the Guainía
River to form the Negro River, a major affluent of the Amazon, across
from Sardina, Colombia.
 The second largest tributary of the Amazon is the Madeira, another
system that is very popular with sport anglers (at the Amazon Castaway
and River Plate operations). It joins the Amazon below the city of
Manaus, the jumping off point for the majority of sportfishing operations
in Brazil.
The vast Amazon basin (Amazonia), the largest lowland in Latin
America,
has an area of about 2.3 million square miles and is the largest
source of freshwater in the world. Stretching some 1,725 miles from
north to south at its widest point, the basin includes the greater
part of Brazil and Peru, significant parts of Colombia, Ecuador,
and Bolivia, and a small area of Venezuela. Approximately two-thirds
of the Amazon's main stream and by far the largest portion of its
basin are within Brazil. The Amazon Basin is home to more than 2
million insect species, 200,000 plants , 4000 species of fish (more
than Atlantic and Pacific Oceans together) and more than 800 mammals,
many of which are found nowhere else in the world.
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 The
extensive lowland areas bordering the main river and
its tributaries, called várzeas, are subject to annual flooding,
with consequent soil enrichment; however, most of the vast
basin consists of upland, well above the inundations and known
as terra firme. The torrential rains are caused, in large part,
by the respiration of the dense Amazon jungle which releases
massive quantities of water vapor into the atmosphere. Some
researchers have measured annual rainfall in some regions as
much as 10 feet. This 10 feet of rainfall, however, may translate
to a raising of certain tributaries in excess of 30 feet. The
adjacent varzeas becomes inundated with thousands of acres
of flooding. Peacock bass and other gamefish can literally
hide anywhere within the maze of roots, trees and flooded forest,
as an abundant food source is readily available for them in
the jungle terrain.
The northern and southern Amazon regions are bisected
by the equator,
creating two distinct seasonal peacock bass fisheries
in the Amazon
Basin. These two fisheries correspond to the contrasting
seasons (rainy or dry) experienced in the Amazon region
north and south of the equator. The fishing season in the Amazon
Basin north of the equator closely corresponds
to the winter season in the states (December-March).
The fishing season of the Amazon Basin south of
the equator corresponds to our late summer and fall time periods
(August-November). There
is not much variation in the temperature of the Amazon Basin north
or south of the equator, but there exits extensive variation in rain-fall
in these two regions.
The prime time to fish for peacock bass and other gamefish north
of the equator is between the months of December and April. In April
or May, seasonal rains begin to swell the rivers, creeks and lagoons
of the northern Amazon Watershed. During August through November,
the rains begin to subside and the rivers, creeks and lagoons shrink
each day from the receding water. This now positions the fish back
into areas where they are accessible to anglers. By mid-November
or December, the levels are usually low enough to provide for prime
fishing opportunities in the northen Amazon Watershed, but nothing
is guaranteed when you are dealing with Mother Nature. Torrential
downpours have and can occur during a fishing trip in the middle
of the dry season and may add unexpected water to the system which
will negatively affect fishing conditions.
Although the winter season in the states is the most popular time
(a reflection of many angler's desire to escape the frosty winter
months) anglers to visit South America in pursuit of a variety of
gamefish species, excellent opportunities await anglers in Brazil and Peru south of the equator during the American summer and fall
seasons (from August through November).
Resource Materials from Brittanica.com
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