What to pack for a day of fishing in Paraguay: gear, lures, documents and what the lodge does not give you

Paraguay has rivers that anglers from Argentina and Brazil know by name and rarely up close: the Paraná at Ayolas, the Paraguay river at Concepción and Pilar, the Tebicuary at Villa Florida. You arrive by car or by plane to Asunción, and the usual question comes up the night before: what goes in the bag and what does the lodge give me. This list answers both, plus the part worth sorting out before you go: the paperwork.

The paperwork: the licence and your ID

In Paraguay you fish with a MADES licence, from the Ministry of the Environment, in rivers, lagoons and ponds alike. The procedure asks for a photocopy of your ID card, or of your passport or entry document if you are a foreigner, and two passport photos; it costs two minimum daily wages and is issued online through SIAM or at the regional offices. The current amount and the step by step are in the licence step by step. Fishing without it is not a minor offence: Fine of 30 to 500 minimum daily wages (Law 3556/08, art. 50), today Gs. 3.5–58.5 million.

The lodge or guide can arrange it when you book, but that is a service, not a rule: if yours does not include it, get it before you step on the boat. Also carry the document you entered the country with. Paraguay does not require a visa for a tourist stay from most countries in the region, the United States or the European Union, and personal fishing gear enters as sporting luggage. What is worth asking your airline is how it handles rods and knives: each one has its own rule.

Rod, reel and line, depending on what you are after

There is no single setup for Paraguay: there is one per species. What follows comes from what a tackle shop in Asunción publishes for dorado on the Paraná, from the fishing articles cited in each species article and from the techniques the guide has loaded on each species page; the local guide fine-tunes it.

• Golden dorado. Season: year round outside the closed season; best from March to May and from August to October. Most used technique in the guide: spinning with lures, fly and trolling. A spinning or baitcasting rod, 1.80 to 2.10 m, medium to fast action; a high-retrieve reel; 30 to 50 lb braid and a wire or fluorocarbon leader of at least 40 lb. Gloves and pliers, because dorado have sharp teeth. Minimum size: 70 cm.
• Surubí catfish. Season: year round (outside the closed season); from June to September it holds in the deep pools. Technique: live bait in deep pools, night drifting. Bait and line for surubí are for the local guide to decide: this guide has no published source that specifies them. Minimum size: 85 cm.
• Pacú. Season: on the Paraná, summer (December to March); on the Pantanal and the upper Paraguay, low water from July to October. Technique: fruit baits, fly with fruit imitations. Sturdy tackle, line of at least 8 to 10 lb and small hooks, size 8 to 14. Minimum size: 45 cm.
• Boga. Season: year round (outside the closed season). Technique: corn and dough baits, light tackle. Light tackle: a tip-action rod of up to 2.50 m, 0.25 to 0.30 mm nylon and Maruseigo hooks size 10 or 12. Minimum size: 45 cm.

The sizes above are those of Law 3556/08, and on the stretch shared with Argentina dorado must be 75 cm: on the border, the higher limit rules.

Lures and bait: the treble-hook rule

For dorado, what the tackle shop recommends: minnows, crankbaits, topwater lures (poppers and prop baits) and spoons, in yellow, orange, red and white. Among natural baits, live morena (a swamp eel) is the favourite, followed by fresh sábalo and catfish fillet. For pacú, fruit; for boga, corn and dough. If the operator provides the bait, confirm it when booking.

What is worth knowing before you come: Law 3556/08, in its article 36, bans lures with more than one treble hook. A factory minnow comes with two or three. Before the trip, remove trebles until one is left, or swap them for single hooks. Dragging a bare hook and artificial light as a fishing aid are banned too. Sport fishing gear, according to MADES, is hooks and handlines or a rod, with or without a reel. The detail is in licence, closed season and sizes.

Clothing, sun and what is not fished

For sun and heat: sunscreen, a cap, a light long-sleeved shirt, polarised glasses, shoes or boots that can get wet, a windbreaker for the early start and repellent. Water and something to eat on the boat, unless the operator includes it, which is what comes next.

What the lodge or the guide gives you, and what it does not

There is no standard: each operator puts together its own package, and what goes in and what is left out is covered in what a fishing package in Paraguay includes. The rule of this guide is not to guess: before booking, ask in writing what the rate includes, whether there is gear to lend and of what kind, whether bait is provided, whether there are drinks on board and whether they arrange the licence.

To choose who to go out with, the guide lists fishing lodges, fishing guides, boats and accommodation, with what each one declared and how to contact them. What the listing says was written by the operator; what it does not say, you ask them.

What to leave at home: the closed season

What you do not bring to Paraguay is a fishing plan in the closed season. MADES decrees it every year during spawning and it starts in the first days of November; in waters shared with Argentina it runs until December 20, and in those shared with Brazil, until January 31 of the following year. The closure covers sport and commercial fishing alike, and it carries its own fine: Fine of 3,001 to 20,000 minimum daily wages, today Gs. 351–2,342 million. The exact dates change with each resolution: check the month-by-month calendar and licence, closed season and sizes before buying the ticket.

Frequently asked questions