Want to do something fun and different? Ask the guys at Marlin Yacht for a planned trip around “baia de guanabara”. The guys are the a great crew, and they give you everything you need for you enjoy the lil’ trip. Lots of drinks and some pretty cool gadgets for fishing too!

 

The Baia de Guanabara is one of the worlds largest natural harbors; it extends northward from Sugarloaf for tens of miles.  The visitor will quickly realize that it is a very busy place.  The ferries between Rio and Niteroi shuttle back and forth constantly, hundreds of wooden fishermen's boats - from row boats to 40 ft cabined craft are scattered across its expanse.  The commercial traffic range from oil tankers, cruise ships, military battleships to deep sea oil riggs can all be seen in a 360* scan from the bridge joining the east and west sides.  Much of the bay, the "back part" is fairly shallow and it is not hard to run aground in a sailboar or cabin cruiser.  Because of its shallow depth and narrow outlet to the ocean , the tides here cause strong tidal surges like those in San Fransisco Bay.

To the person looking to fish in the bay - the options are limited.  Near the bridge and mouth of the bay you'll see the largest concentration of fishermen.  They are typically fishing for squid, small snappers and saberfish (5ft long silver ribbons with pointed mouths and nasty teeth).  This fishing is market fishing by locals - the water visibility is 4 feet or less- and you have to keep your eyes open for the large oceangoing ships that have right of way in the main channels.  If you are by yourself it would be best to buy a chart at the Navegante store downtown; the bay is a main port for the Brazilian Navy and many areas are military restricted zones - your day may turn ugly if you trespass.

Recommendations for the tourist wanting to fish:

  1. ask the hotel to get you a ride on  a party boat that goes to the nearby offshore islands.  You leave early in the morning and return by 5.  The fishing will be for bottom fish snappers, grouper, yellowtail, and when bait runs out a quick depoloyment of the squid jigs will quickly fill a 5 gal bucket.  These outings leave from three points; downtown, the Marina da Gloria and the small docks at Urca.
  2. contact the gate ("portaria") at the Iate Clube de Rio Janeiro, the main yacht club in the region.  There are a few members that charter their sportfishing battle wagons for the day - crew, fuel, bait and tackle being provided.  The boats here range from 25ft center consoles to 54ft deep sea  craft. If the weather permits you can go out for dorado, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, sailfish, white marlin, and in season Blue Marlin.  Going for a trophy?  Between November and March the big female marlin congregate between Rio and Cabo Frio to the East -  these are BIG fish.  The Iate Club has an annual tournament in four stages and fish under 500lbs are peanuts, yearly fish of 700-1,000+ lbs are taken - the tournament is also an offical stage of the IGFA Rolex Qualifying Tournament.
    For more information the reader may want to look up Capt. Kdu Magalhaes with a search engine.  Kdu is the only IGFA certified captain in all Brazil and can point you to saltwater, freshwater and Amazon fishing opportunities.