Piraiba/Dourada Fishing Suriname 2019

[amazonfishman]

I'm planning to head back to Suriname in late July/early August 2019 and was going to see if any fellow members would have interest in tagging along.

I will be fishing with the same company as last trip, Andree's Expeditions and the price is 2,199 Euro or about $2,550 USD for the trip at today's exchange rate.

This is not a trip for the faint of heart but for the true fishing enthusiast. Accommodations are more or less camping on a floating structure in bunk bed cot setups. There is no air conditioning or proper shower, you bath in there river. There are very few if any bugs on the floating camp, if you step foot into the jungle however there are plenty, hence part of the benefit of the floating camp.

This is a 10 day trip from start to finish with about 7-8 days fishing, most people arrive late evening then over night in the hotel in Paramaribo, depart early AM the following day to the local tackle shop Tomahawk, then we hit the road for about a 2.5hr bus ride to the dock followed by a 2.5hr boat ride to the primary floating camp.

You supply your own fishing tackle, rods, and reels
You supply own airfare from wherever you're coming from to Paramaribo, Suriname
All ground transportation is included from airport to hotel and onward to the floating camp both ways.
All meals and water/soft drinks are provided. I highly recommend bringing/buying additional snacks/beer at the grocery store on the way if you have specific food preferences.

Fish Species available:

Piraiba to world record sizes, last trip I caught one that went 2.15M and est 275lbs, there have been fish to 2.25M caught in this location and who knows what sort of behemoths await below in the depths. I've seen rods/reels/heavy saltwater hooks/100lb+ braid broken. Even had one fish pull off 300yds of line against 50lbs of drag without slowing down before throwing the hook.

Dourada to world record sizes, last trip I caught one that would have shattered the world record at 1.67M and est 125lbs. It was the biggest any of the locals had seen in their 40+ years of fishing and would have crushed the current record by more than 20lbs and more than 1ft. (pics attached)

TSN are in the area in small numbers, if there was interest in going deeper towards Wonotobo Falls they are more prevalent there to 25lbs

RTC are in the area in small numbers, if there was interest in going deeper towards Wonotobo Falls they have them to gigantic 150lbs sizes

Pirahna species to at least 8lbs, I caught about 5 different species last time the biggest being the Black Pirahna to steering wheel sized!

Tarpon to 150lbs+, since we are about 50 miles inland from the coast you get some sizeable Tarpon, we only caught about 4-5 of them last trip but the biggest was over 100lbs.

Cichla (Peacock Bass) to 5lbs, can take day trips further up river to target these with higher chances compared to the normal fishing location

Tons of other species, I caught paradise threadfin catfish, at least 3 types of armored catfish, cuvie (covina), various silver dollar species, etc. We also "caught" several "small" 6-9ft Green Anaconda in our bait nets which was super cool to see them up close. River Otters and Amazonian Manatees inhabit this section of the river as well and we were able to observe both from within 100ft. Macaws and massive eagles are other frequent sightings as well as tons of Monkeys.

More information can be found on their website and I will post some photos of my previous trip so people can get a better idea. Feel free to PM me any questions. I know it's a long way off but for some people they need more time to prepare for a trip like this so wanted to get it out there early. Custom trips are available if we have the group for it to go deeper to Wonotobo Falls. This may be something I'd be interested in since it offers a chance at huge RTC and to see the falls. There is a more legitimate lodge there with all the usual amenities for those that care. It is about 10hrs further up river by boat or we could negotiate to have a small plane fly the group up but that adds significantly to the price.

https://www.andrees-expeditions.de/index.php/en/suriname-piraiba

Trailer from our last trip

Full Video from our last trip

 

[Dloks]

Possibly interested Troy1015 wassup bro

 

[piranhaman00]

This is like a dream of mine. Good luck to those involved. Would you say the trip is dangerous at all?

 

[amazonfishman]

Would you say the trip is dangerous at all?

There are some inherent risks but they are completely avoidable if you're using common sense. Examples would be don't go walking through the jungle alone at night without a guide, break Piranha jaws before putting them in the bait box so no one runs the risk of getting bit when retrieving live bait, be careful when handling armored catfish in general their spikes/fins hurt if you get tagged, etc.

I was a bit apprehensive myself on my first trip not knowing what to expect and my first trip to the jungle. Even though it seemed remote to me and we saw almost no one other than our group for the entire week and some parrot trappers you're around locals that grew up near there and are VERY familiar with the entire area. We had a group of 8 fisherman plus 4 dedicated guides one per boat, plus another 2-3 people that watched over the camp and ran back and forth during the week to "town" for additional supplies. Those guys had cell service if you climbed up a tree a bit, no joke I saw some guides 20ft up in a tree a few times using their phones; I didn't have service but it wasn't a big deal. Honestly that made the trip so much more enjoyable for me being completely disconnected from technology apart from digital cameras.

I brought tons of bug protection like a Thermacell (the best mosquito defense product ever made IMO), mosquito net, jungle grade bug repellent with lots of DEET, and almost exclusively long sleeve shirts and long safari style Columbia pants to keep me from getting bit by anything and to protect from the sun. That said I felt a bit silly because most of the other guys (all had been previously) fished everyday in short sleeves and shorts and it definitely would have been more comfortable doing that. The bugs were non-existent for the most part on the floating camp with the occasional larger one here and there and they do have giant bumble bees that are annoying but appeared to be harmless, they fly around you in the middle of the day on the river sometimes usually no more than 1 or 2 where we were. It was pretty funny because the veteran fisherman had brought badminton rackets to smoke the bumble bees while fishing which can be quite challenging, those suckers are quick and after the first missed swat they seem to speed up lol. The only real thing you need to worry about is protecting yourself from the sun because equatorial sunburn happens quick if you're not protected.

 

[piranhaman00]

There are some inherent risks but they are completely avoidable if you're using common sense. Examples would be don't go walking through the jungle alone at night without a guide, break Piranha jaws before putting them in the bait box so no one runs the risk of getting bit when retrieving live bait, be careful when handling armored catfish in general their spikes/fins hurt if you get tagged, etc.

I was a bit apprehensive myself on my first trip not knowing what to expect and my first trip to the jungle. Even though it seemed remote to me and we saw almost no one other than our group for the entire week and some parrot trappers you're around locals that grew up near there and are VERY familiar with the entire area. We had a group of 8 fisherman plus 4 dedicated guides one per boat, plus another 2-3 people that watched over the camp and ran back and forth during the week to "town" for additional supplies. Those guys had cell service if you climbed up a tree a bit, no joke I saw some guides 20ft up in a tree a few times using their phones; I didn't have service but it wasn't a big deal. Honestly that made the trip so much more enjoyable for me being completely disconnected from technology apart from digital cameras.

I brought tons of bug protection like a Thermacell (the best mosquito defense product ever made IMO), mosquito net, jungle grade bug repellent with lots of DEET, and almost exclusively long sleeve shirts and long safari style Columbia pants to keep me from getting bit by anything and to protect from the sun. That said I felt a bit silly because most of the other guys (all had been previously) fished everyday in short sleeves and shorts and it definitely would have been more comfortable doing that. The bugs were non-existent for the most part on the floating camp with the occasional larger one here and there and they do have giant bumble bees that are annoying but appeared to be harmless, they fly around you in the middle of the day on the river sometimes usually no more than 1 or 2 where we were. It was pretty funny because the veteran fisherman had brought badminton rackets to smoke the bumble bees while fishing which can be quite challenging, those suckers are quick and after the first missed swat they seem to speed up lol. The only real thing you need to worry about is protecting yourself from the sun because equatorial sunburn happens quick if you're not protected.

Very cool. I was more curious about danger involving other people. Thieves or kidnapping type deal.

 

[amazonfishman]

Very cool. I was more curious about danger involving other people. Thieves or kidnapping type deal.

Oh lol wasn't a concern. You're picked up at the airport by the company and taken to the hotel which is in downtown Paramaribo about an hour car ride and then the next morning the entire group leaves to head to the camp, 2hrs by bus then 2hrs by boat. During the day in Paramaribo there are tourists walking around and was told it's safe in the downtown area; I didn't have much time to explore at night after getting in so late. Once you leave Paramaribo you're not around anyone other than people in our group and are 50 miles from the nearest town in the jungle.

 

[piranhaman00]

Oh lol wasn't a concern. You're picked up at the airport by the company and taken to the hotel which is in downtown Paramaribo about an hour car ride and then the next morning the entire group leaves to head to the camp, 2hrs by bus then 2hrs by boat. During the day in Paramaribo there are tourists walking around and was told it's safe in the downtown area; I didn't have much time to explore at night after getting in so late. Once you leave Paramaribo you're not around anyone other than people in our group and are 50 miles from the nearest town in the jungle.

I see, thanks for all the info. I was also curious about the bug/environment danger so thanks for that long post as well! Sounds incredible, hopefully some day

 

[amazonfishman]

Update: The Wonotobo Falls trip has been added to the schedule after several friends and I pushed for it and is what I would likely be more interested in instead of fishing the same location as before. Trip is 2,999 Euro which is around $3,400 USD and has the same general specs as the trip mentioned earlier except this is a 15 day trip due to being far more remote. The trip date is in mid September instead of July/August.

https://www.andrees-expeditions.de/index.php/de/suriname-catfish-expedition

This is the trip primarily focused for those who want to target huge RTC and has them to the largest sizes I've seen anywhere rivaling the monsters in the even more remote area's of Guyana. I have no doubt there are world record size RTC near Wonotobo Falls. Piraiba and Dourada are available here to massive sizes as well. There is also a great opportunity on this trip to target Giant Wolf fish and the unique Suriname Peacock Bass which look very similar to those found in Brokopondo Reservoir or to some of the 2 spot Guyanan varieties. Lots of diversity on this trip for fish species compared to the other locations and very different looking terrain with beaches and large boulders as opposed to open river straight up to the forest. Any questions feel free to PM me.

I'm going to be putting together a trip for Pintado (Pseudoplatystoma Corruscans) near Corrientes, Argentina and Vundu (Heterobranchus Longifilis) off the grid in Tanzania, Africa in 2019/2020 if anyone might be interested in those as well.

Tight lines! ~Trent

 

[dogofwar]

Very cool! I think most folks in the US cannot take that much time off - at least at one time.