"His eyes were like radar"

I have been a professional guide and running guide services/fish camps for the past 21 years, so that qualifies me better than anyone to judge my peers.

On my recent Amazon Peacock Bass fishing trip, my guide, Benny, on the Jufari River, is head and shoulders above any guide/fisherman I have ever met. He was not only proficient in bait casting, but fly fishing and spin casting. Benny could do anything. He could get out impossible backlashes, especially for my partner, mend reels, fix and tune woodchoppers to his specs, and his eyesight was incredible. I would give all I own for his eyesight. His eyes were like radar, they never stopped moving. He would look and point and say, “Big fish,” and troll over as fast as he could. Then he would direct our casts. Usually it produced a big peacock bass, sometimes more than one. I did not see a thing. Not a ripple on the water, swirl, or anything.

Not to take away from the other guides because by talking and comparing notes with fellow fishermen, they all were equally proficient. The main thing was the professionalism of the camp. The camp manager, Alexandro, was invaluable. The entire camp staff was highly proficient, gracious, and it wasn’t faked. I firmly believe they enjoyed what they were doing. The meals were exquisitely prepared and I should have married Ruth, our cook, and brought her back with me. Bottom line—I have never felt so pampered in my life. The tour Alex took us of the native village was very impressive. I felt like I was on the Discovery Channel. I think we made a hit with the kids when we passed out the hard candy. The entire trip was an experience that awed me to the core and exceeded my wildest expectation.

- Ron Smith

"This was a fantastic trip."

January 16, 2004

J. W. Smith and Melissa Roberts did an excellent job of getting us to and from Manaus. They provided us with all the information and assistance we need to obtain passports, visas, tackle and personal items we needed and all the appropriate contacts names and numbers for the USA and Brazil. Melissa really had a difficult job considering our return flight to Miami was canceled and rescheduled for the next day by LAB. She rebooked our flight to the USA, all domestic flights, hotels in Miami, negotiated refunds from LAB and called our wives to inform them we were delayed.

River Plate Anglers has the best operation I have ever booked with. I have fished ad hunted the USA, Canada, Alaska and Brazil and this is the best. Their handler in Brazil, Brahma and his wife Meg, took care of all transportation and accommodations in Manaus.

The ground transportation in Manaus was excellent. Brahma met us upon arrival in Manaus from the USA and upon arrival in Manaus from the Jufari River. He handled our transportation completely. I was very pleased with the 208 Caravan float plane that flew us to the Jufari River. The pilots seemed to be very competent. The fishing boats were 20 foot aluminum skiffs with 25HP outboard motors and electric trolling motors – perfect for the job.

The camp consisted of eight floating barges with one vinyl coated canvas cabin on each barge. The cabins were docked on beautiful white sandbars.

The camp staff was outstanding. Each day, when we arrived from fishing, we were met by the camp steward with drinks and snacks. Entering the cabin, the first thing you noticed was that it was freshly cleaned and your laundry was folded neatly on the bed.

The food was all outstanding.

Six fishermen fished seven days, caught 500 peacocks with 30 weighing from 10- to 20-pounds. My partner and I caught 11 from 10 pounds to 19 pounds and could have caught 100 smaller fish per day but we targeted the larger fish. Everyone caught a wide variety of species of fish.

While we were fishing each day the camp was moved up river to new fishing areas. This practice exposed us to new fishing and great scenery. We also got to fish two more, smaller rivers.

This was a fantastic trip. The camp and staff were outstanding. I would book and fish with operation again in a heart beat.

- Gene Locke