Fishing boats in Paraguay: hiring one with a guide or buying your own

There are two ways to fish from a boat in Paraguay. The simplest is to hire one by the day with a baqueano, the local guide who goes out with you: the boat belongs to the operator, and you bring your fishing licence. The other is to own one, which lets you go out whenever you like and adds the Prefectura registration, the navigation permit, the MADES registration and somewhere to keep it. This note gathers what each operator in the guide publishes and what the authorities ask for, without generalising: what one boat includes does not apply to the next.

Hiring a boat with a guide: what each operator publishes

The guide's boats page lists the boat hires, and several of the fishing guides go out in their own boat. Each one charges in its own way (per boat, per boat with everything included, or the boat and the guide separately), so every detail comes with the name of whoever publishes it.

• In Concepción, Wilson Huerta, alquiler de lanchas: Gs. 900.000 per day, per boat and not per person. According to its listing, the price includes the guide, 25 litres of fuel and life jackets; bait, drinks and ice are extra, and fishing tackle is not included, but they can provide it. The 6-metre boat takes up to six people, though four fish more comfortably, and with three guides up to three boats can go out together, from the old port of Concepción, from Belén down the Ypané or from Paso Horqueta down the Aquidabán.
• Pira'i Pesca y Carnadas, also in Concepción, charges Gs. 1.200.000 per boat per day, from 7:30 to 19:00, for three anglers plus the guide, all included according to its listing: the guide, a tank of fuel and the bait. The boats are 6-metre aluminium hulls, and the same premises has a tackle shop with live bait.
• In Villa Florida, on the Tebicuary, Alquiler de Embarcación Axel Benítez lists Gs. 550.000 per day with a guide, from 7:00 to 17:00, in an aluminium boat with a 15 HP engine for five people including the guide. Fuel and oil are paid by the client, though they also agree an all-inclusive flat price. The area in detail: fishing in Villa Florida and the Tebicuary.
• In Asunción and Chaco'i, Lancheros Unidos de Chaco'i crosses the bay from the port, at Playa Montevideo; Renta Tu Yate hires out boats with captain and crew for fishing or cruising, by day, afternoon and night, all year round; Rio Rental hires from Lambaré and is open 24 hours. None of the three publishes a price: ask. The bay and Chaco'i in detail: fishing in Asunción.
• In Pilar, the municipality lists the boat that several guides of the Asociación de Guías Turismo de Pesca de Pilar go out in: Aldo Pérez, 115 HP for four people; Luis Martínez, 90 HP for four; Jorge Manuel Cáceres, two boats of 115 and 70 HP, for four and for three; David Vargas, two of 100 and 115 HP. Ask each one for the price.
• In Ayolas and the Paraná Corridor, the Club de Pesca Yacyretá hires out boats with a fishing guide, fuel and bait, price on request, and Hotel Ayolas hires a boat with a guide without the fishing package, with fuel and bait charged separately.

Whatever boat you go out in, to fish you need the MADES licence: the licence step by step. If the operator arranges it, ask for the receipt before heading out.

What to ask before hiring the boat

• Is the price per boat or per person? How many anglers fit comfortably?
• Is the guide included or paid separately?
• How much fuel is included? If there is a quota, how far does it go and what does the extra cost?
• Are bait, ice and drinks included?
• Are there life jackets for everyone?
• Do you lend or rent tackle, or do I bring mine?
• Where do we leave from, at what time, and when do we get back?
• Do you arrange the fishing licence, or do I get it myself?

What to bring for the day, from tackle to documents: what to pack for fishing in Paraguay.

Buying a fishing boat in Paraguay

If you fish often, the other option is your own. In Asunción the guide lists a boatyard and a boat dealer, both under tackle shops:

• AlumiCavel, a boatyard on Avenida Perón, in Itá Enramada, 200 metres from the Asociación Paraguaya de Caza y Pesca. On Instagram they say they build aluminium and fibreglass boats and sell accessories and outboard engines; several of their models are named Pira. According to their listing they also sell used boats and do repairs, and their Facebook page advertises a five-year warranty.
• Aquay, a boat dealer at Avenida Artigas 3015, in Tablada Nueva: on their Facebook page they describe themselves as representatives of boat brands and accessories. It is not a tackle shop.

Before paying, it is worth asking about what the Prefectura will later require to register the boat:

• Do you issue a legal invoice (factura legal)? Is the dealer or builder approved by the PGN?
• If it was built in Paraguay, will you hand over the construction certificate?
• Does the engine come with an invoice and serial number? If it is an outboard, with the import clearance or the import certificate from the brand representative?
• What does the warranty cover, and for how long?
• If it is used: is it registered, and in the seller's name?

Paperwork for your own boat: registration, navigation permit and MADES

Registration is issued by the Prefectura General Naval (PGN), part of the Paraguayan Navy, which publishes the requirements (PGN Resolution 98/2019 and its addendum) and the forms on its website. For a boat bought with a legal invoice, it asks for:

• the legal invoice from the dealer or builder approved by the PGN;
• a photocopy of your ID certified by a notary (if a company is buying, its deed of incorporation);
• the legal invoice for the engine with its serial number, and photos of the boat and the engine showing the serial number;
• if it was built in Paraguay, the construction certificate from a company registered and approved by the PGN;
• if it was imported, a certified copy of the completed customs clearance and the nationalisation certificates, with the certificate recorded by public deed;
• if the engine is an outboard, a copy of the import clearance or the import certificate issued by the brand representative;
• and the fee, paid after the PGN has checked the papers and its legal department has given a favourable opinion.

The registration form is a sworn statement: it asks for length (eslora), beam (manga), depth (puntal) and hull material, where the boat will operate, its purpose (fishing, sport competition, transport, leisure or other uses) and the engine details, with make, model, power and year.

If it is used, the transfer is done by public deed before a notary, after requesting the boat's ownership status (condiciones de dominio) from the PGN. Then you file your certified ID, a certified photo of the registration certificate (Certificado de Matrícula) and the deed, and the fee is paid once the PGN has checked everything. Both the ownership status request and the transfer registration are in the PGN's online procedures menu.

The navigation permit. On top of the registration there is the patente de navegación, requested from the PGN with the registration number; if it falls behind, it is paid with a fine for each year overdue. The registration and permit fees are set in minimum daily wages in the PGN fee resolution and vary by type of boat: check them before buying.

To fish from your own boat, MADES asks you to register it, separately from the fishing licence, attaching a photocopy of the boat's title, the document issued by the Prefectura General Naval. It has its own fee: see the licence step by step.

To drive it, before your first trip ask the Prefectura whether any qualification is required. And before any long trip, check the circulars the PGN publishes on its website: they announce channel closures for dredging and navigation restrictions, area by area.

Where to launch it and where to keep it

Where to put the boat in and where to moor it, area by area (ports, clubs and landings): river access. To keep it near the water, Cabañas del Litoral, at Ypeka'e, has covered boat storage.

Frequently asked questions