Tuna, drums, flounder, Pacific croaker, grunt, sea bass and even black marlin are some of the attractions for deep sea fishermen. Peru still features the world record for the largest black marlin, weighing 702 kg (1,560 lb) caught by US fisherman Alfred Glossell Jr. Writer Ernest Hemingway was a frequent visitor to Peruvian waters, and it was here that he was inspired to write The Old Man and the Sea.
Like the author, Peruvians know that Peru is synonymous of adventure and above all good fishing. Fishing is one of the most important industries in Peru due to the variety of species in Peru's rich fishing grounds. Here fishermen will always find an ideal beach for the kind of fishing they are looking for: rocky bluffs and cliffs, sweeping sandy beaches, cold waters teeming with plankton and warm, clear currents.
Saltwater Fishing
This is done all along Peru's vast Pacific coastline, and is broken down into two types: shoreline fishing, whether from the beach or from clifftops, and in a boat. Fishing on beaches is the most common form in Peru. Species like flounder, croaker and grunt are the best catches along the sandy beaches of Peru's central and south coast. To the north, fishermen along the beach tends to reel in drums and pompano. Fishing from the bluffs, meanwhile, is done all along the coast, and fishermen just need rocky crags to have a cast. Species caught include grunt, rock bass and local species such as cherlo, tramboyo and pintadilla. In both areas, fishermen tend to use as bait the tiny crustaceans called muy muys that live in the sand, wedge clams and snails.
Fishing from the back of boats is also divided into two kinds: pinteo, or fishing from an anchored boat, and trolling from a moving launch. Pinteo fishing along the central and south coast usually catches the same varieties as clifftop fishing, adding cuskeel, sea bass and smoothhounds in the north. Trolling, meanwhile, is usually done off the north coast using artificial bait, reeling in tuna, black marlin and local species such as cherela, agujilla, sierra, pluma and perico.
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Freshwater Fishing
There is freshwater fishing to be had in rivers and lakes in the highlands, generally above 2,500 meters, as well as in the Amazon jungle. Highland fishing is basically limited to trout and silversides, both of which were introduced into Peru in the nineteenth century. These varieties are plentiful in clean and well-oxygenated waters. At altitudes over 3,000 meters, one tends to catch trout (white and pink or rainbow).
Sports fishing in the jungle, while less developed than along the coast, is concentrated in a few rivers and lakes in the northern Amazon (Iquitos and environs), where local species such as the tucunare, gamitana and araguana are the most common catches. There is also fishing to be had in some parts of the southern jungle (Madre de Dios), which teem with zungaro, chambira, paco and doncella.
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