When you are 200 miles from the nearest paved road that connects one town to another, you are remote. In fact, you may very well be in the far reaches of the Amazon Jungle. On a recent trip, I was there.
There were no river boats, yachts, barges or even village-to-village water taxis that move about most of the hundreds of tributaries of the Rio Negro, a major river forming the Amazon River in Brazil. Fishing guides greeted our small plane as we landed on a dirt runway near a small Indian village, and we soon boarded small fishing boats for a 90-minute ride through a maze of twisting rivers to our permitted camp base in Indian Territory.
We were met on one of the few river sandbars by our camp host Billy Chapman Jr., a long-time outfitter in Mexico and Brazil. He explained that our party of five had permission from the tribal Chief to fish the exclusive area and presented each of us with a fishing shirt bearing the logo, “Amazon Tough”. Then two minutes later, he toured us through his newly constructed Anglers Inn Amazon Floating Suites.
All I could think of was, “Amazon Comfort.” In over 55 fishing trips to the Amazon jungle in the past 20 years, I have not seen such comfortable accommodations in a base-camp situation. I’ve been in small tents, large tents, boat tents, floating tents, and floating cabins before, but these facilities are better thought-out for Amazon jungle fishing adventures than any I’ve seen to date. With over-sized beds, clean roomy, well-insulated interiors, closets, personal desks and large showers, hanging hooks, rod holders, 110-volt electricity and both front and rear porches, they truly are a step above all other riverside “camps” and deserve the moniker “suites”.
Two anglers share each suite, and the four suites plus an over-size dining room cabin are all pulled up to and anchored to a sandbar. The entire “camp” can be moved daily, if needed, to re-position the suites on another sandbar several miles further up or down the river being fished. They may also stay put for a few days if the peacock bass are biting. The real advantage to the shallow floating suites with a draft of 8 inches are that they can be moved with just a small fishing boat and 25 hp outboard far upstream into smaller, very isolated areas that no other fishing operation can access.
“This operation is going to revolutionize the way a remote lodge is built for the comfort of the client and the outfitter,” says Billy. “We have ample room space for everything and super insulated rooms with air conditioning that will do the job mid-day in the jungle heat. The Anglers Inn way is not to beat you up during your trip because 6 1/2 days of fishing is a lot of fishing.”
“We can break down in less than 30 minutes and go beyond natural barriers to different waters daily, depending on fishery,” he continued. “We can move 10 to 20 miles per day and go where we want to go with no other boat traffic. With daily maid service, your choice of 2 or 3 cooked meals per day and your favorite drink and a hot appetizer waiting for you at the end of your fishing day when you step off the boat, what more could you ask for?”
How was our fishing in this remote area? On my last day, fishing by myself, I caught and released 88 peacock bass up to 9 pounds. During the week, I had all the action on 3 species of peacocks and 5 or 6 other Amazon species that anyone could want. I caught 3 double-digit peacock bass including one just shy of 13 pounds … all in Amazon Comfort!
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