Pacú fishing in Paraguay: fruit baits, technique and where

The pacú is the fish you catch with fruit. That is not a figure of speech: the classic bait is a palm nut, a segment of orange or whatever fruit grows on the bank, dropped where the tree drops it. It is a deep-bodied, short fish with a very keen sense of smell, and a fight the fishing press describes as energetic. The species page calls it the fruit eater, and there is no better name.

It is listed in 9 areas of the guide: Pilar, Paso de Patria, Cerrito, Ayolas and the Paraná Corridor, Ciudad del Este, Encarnación and San Cosme, Concepción, Vallemí and San Lázaro and Bahía Negra and the Pantanal. That is, on the Paraguay river and the Paraná. The lodges, guides and fishing spots that work it appear, area by area, at Pacú.

What fish the pacú is

Its scientific name is Piaractus mesopotamicus, family Serrasalmidae, with molar-like teeth built for crushing fruit and seeds. It is a freshwater fish of the Paraguay-Paraná basin, a bottom dweller (demersal) and a migrant within the river. The maximum scientific record is 50 centimetres standard length, measured without the tail, and 20 kilos in weight. The IUCN Red List has classed it as Near Threatened since 2020: that is why the minimum size and releasing fish are not a detail.

What sets it apart is its diet. Biologists put it this way: the adults move into the flooded forest to eat the nuts and seeds that fall from the trees. It also eats leaves, roots of floating plants, molluscs and small fish, but fruit is its thing.

Bait: whatever falls from the tree

The fishing press agrees on the list: palm nuts, grapes, orange, aguaí and, in general, the fruit and seeds found on the bank where you are fishing. That last part is what matters: the articles insist on local fruit.

The pacú has a very keen sense of smell, and old Paraná anglers say even the smell of animal fat draws it. It is a fast, wary fish, hard to fool. Besides fruit, the articles mention corn (better still with honey), dough balls, cheese, salami and even worms, but the first choice, above all, is fruit. It is what the species page sums up as fruit baits, fly with fruit imitations. For fly anglers, there are patterns that imitate fruit and seeds.

Technique: the splash on the water

The pacú is sought along banks sheltered by trees and bushes, where ripe fruit falls into the river. It is an opportunist, alert to ripe fruit falling (ingá fruit is one of its favourites), and the technique is to imitate that moment: the cast has to mimic the fruit hitting the water.

The hook is small, so the fish does not notice it, and the pacú has a small mouth: the articles talk about hooks from size 8 to 14. It bites mostly early in the morning and does not usually bite at night, generally about ten metres from the bank, in backwaters with good depth. It is strong, and the sources recommend line of at least 8 to 10 pounds and sturdy tackle. In Paraguay the general rule of Law No. 3556/08 also applies: a lure may not carry more than one treble hook (art. 36, sec. k). What the law says about gear, limits and fines is at licence, closed season and sizes.

Where to look for it

Along banks with trees or bushes, where the fruit falls, and in backwaters with good depth close to the bank. The articles warn that it is not easy to find, even with a guide: you have to work specific spots. Each area page, with its listed places, is reached from Pilar, Paso de Patria, Cerrito, Ayolas and the Paraná Corridor, Ciudad del Este, Encarnación and San Cosme, Concepción, Vallemí and San Lázaro and Bahía Negra and the Pantanal.

With high water, the adults move into the flooded forest to eat what falls from the trees: the river level changes where it is. Before planning the trip, check the day's level at today's river levels.

When the pacú is caught in Paraguay

The species page gives it stretch by stretch: on the Paraná, summer (December to March); on the Pantanal and the upper Paraguay, low water from July to October. And this has to be said plainly, because the Paraná summer overlaps with the closed season: in Paraguay the closed season starts in the first days of November, runs until December 20 on waters shared with Argentina and on inland rivers, streams and lagoons, and until January 31 of the following year on waters shared with Brazil. The closure covers sport and commercial fishing alike, and its only exception, subsistence fishing by riverside fishers, leaves the pacú out. The month-by-month picture, with the closure marked, is at the month-by-month calendar, and each year's exact dates are published by MADES.

A detail from the latest closed-season resolution: the pacú is listed among the farmed species that may be sold during the closure when they come from aquaculture. The river one, no.

Minimum size and licence

The minimum size for pacú in Paraguay is 45 cm total length, from the snout with the mouth closed to the tip of the tail, under Law No. 3556/08 on Fishing and Aquaculture (arts. 34 and 35), enforced by MADES across the whole country. Below that, it goes back in the water. Since it is a Near Threatened species, releasing the big ones too is a good idea. The full size table is at licence, closed season and sizes.

To fish for it you need the MADES sport fishing licence, Paraguayan or foreigner alike, and you get it before the trip: the licence step by step. Fine of 30 to 500 minimum daily wages (Law 3556/08, art. 50), today Gs. 3.5–58.5 million.

Who to go with

Pacú fishing is about the spot: where the fruit is falling is something the local guide knows, not the map. The lodges, guides and fishing spots in the pacú areas are at Pacú; each listing shows how to contact them.

Frequently asked questions