Fishing in Brazil

One federal licença de pesca amadora covers the whole country for a year. The piracema spawning closure restricts fishing over the southern summer.

2 researched spots — 2 Freshwater.

Licences and permits in Brazil

Brazil is the simplest licensing country on this list: one federal amateur fishing licence, applied for electronically, valid for a year throughout the national territory. It is issued in two categories — shore-based and vessel-based — so choose to match how you will actually fish, and everyone including fee-exempt applicants receives a provisional licence valid while the definitive document is produced. Older Brazilian applicants are exempt from the fee under long-standing law. Because the licence is national, the complexity in Brazil is not the permit but everything layered on top of it: states set their own additional restrictions, some species are protected in some states and not others, and access to indigenous territories requires separate permission entirely, which is why the remote fisheries are fished through licensed operators. Confirm the state rules alongside the federal licence.

When to fish in Brazil

Brazilian fishing is organised around water level and the spawning closure. Both spots we publish are dry-season fisheries: the Pantanal fishes best from June to October when water drops and clears, and the Rio Negro from September to March when the lagoons fall and topwater fishing comes into its own at first light. The reason the calendar looks like that is the piracema — the spawning migration — during which fishing is banned or heavily restricted. State environment agencies publish the dates and they have commonly run from 1 November to the end of February, but they are set per state and per basin rather than nationally, so the closure that applies to your trip is the state's. Fishing during it also carries licence-suspension consequences.

What the fishing is like

The two published Brazilian spots are both freshwater and both are properly remote. The Pantanal in Mato Grosso do Sul is the world's largest tropical wetland — a seasonal floodplain fished for golden dorado, pacú and pintado catfish as the water falls. The Rio Negro in Amazonas is blackwater river and lagoon fishing for peacock bass, with arowana and piranha alongside, and it is advanced water reached by liveaboard or lodge rather than by road. Both reward going in the dry season and both are fished with guides, which is as much about navigation and permissions as it is about finding fish.

Species you can target

• arowana
• golden dorado
• pacú
• peacock bass
• pintado catfish
• piranha

Fishing spots in Brazil

• Rio Negro — Amazonas. Freshwater, Advanced. Target species: peacock bass, arowana, piranha.
• Pantanal Wetlands — Mato Grosso do Sul. Freshwater, Intermediate. Target species: golden dorado, pacú, pintado catfish.

Official sources

• Governo Federal — solicitar licença de pescador amador
• Ministério da Pesca e Aquicultura — amateur and sport fisher registration
• IEF Minas Gerais — piracema

Licence requirements and closed seasons change regularly. Always confirm with the relevant fisheries authority before you fish — each spot page links to its source.

Fishing regulations and licences by country · View the fishing map