Rancho Minha Tralha

Rancho Minha Tralha is a fishing lodge on the banks of the Mutuca River in Autazes, Amazonas, just downstream from the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. The operation runs fixed 7-day, 6-night packages (Sunday-to-Saturday turnaround out of Manaus), with five full days of fishing aboard two-angler platform boats fitted with bow-mount trolling motors, 15 HP outboards and 20 liters of gasoline allocated per boat per day. Stay is all-inclusive, covering breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, water, soft drinks and beer.

The headline species is the speckled peacock bass (Cichla temensis); the same fish cycles between its paca color phase (non-spawning, dark body with horizontal white speckles) and its açu / three-bar phase (spawning, bold black vertical bars and vivid yellow-gold body), and both turn up on this trip. Popoca peacock bass (Cichla monoculus), a smaller, distinct species, also shows up, along with arowana, wolf fish and arapaima between bites. The lodge enforces strict catch-and-release for every peacock bass and bans live bait: this is strictly sport fishing. Each boat goes out with a local native guide who helps anglers dial in their gear before each session.

The lodge sits on stilts with chalets facing the river: vivid orange façades, double and triple rooms with single beds, air conditioning, hot showers, satellite TV (SKY) and Starlink internet. Power runs from the grid with a generator as backup. The dining hall serves buffet meals built around riverine Amazonian cooking, and the final fishing day closes with a barbecue and a biggest-fish-of-the-week award.

The Manaus–Autazes ground transfer is part of the package: an air-conditioned shuttle with a stocked cooler departs Hotel Express Vieira Alves at 1pm on Sunday for the ~4-hour drive (timing depends on the Negro/Solimões river ferry). Return leaves the lodge at 7am Saturday; outbound flights should be booked after 3pm. Hard liquor, laundry, personal tackle, fishing license and medication are on the angler.

The 2026/2027 season rate is R$ 6,299 per person, with installment options up to 10 months. For anglers chasing trophy peacock bass from a settled base closer to Manaus, without the longer haul to upper Rio Negro or Barcelos, Rancho Minha Tralha is one of the more developed lodge options in the Autazes corridor.