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Information Central (c) Larry Larsen
Outfitter Selection Process
 Booking agents in this country can provide areas with the absolute best fishing, the worst, or something in between, depending on a lot of factors. The best booking
agents will postpone a trip for good cause rather than send clients on a very questionable and costly experience.
No one consciously offers bad trips, but some outfitters let marketing zealousness overrule their abilities to produce every
time they book a group. Quite a few agents will book trips without intimate knowledge of the best timing for the particular
trip and in some cases without any first-hand experience with the fishery or the lodge, camp or boat.
Fortunately, a few agents will not send anyone to an area that they have not personally checked out. That diligent
investigation is what separates the good booking agents from the rest. Some travel throughout the year extensively on
"check-out" trips to verify camp owner's claims about their facility or operation "offering the very best fishing over the course of many months."
Some have researched the peacock bass exhaustively and can tell you which 22 tributaries of the western Amazon are
"white water rivers" with poor fishing and which 45 are the much better "black water" tributaries. The top booking agents
can generally tell you where the rainy season has affected a fishery and where it has not, based on their knowledge of
runoffs and time of the year. Fishing a tributary just 100 miles north of Manaus, Brazil, may be great in January, but another
fishery that was far better just two months earlier may provide lousy fishing at this time.
Most booking agents will present the highlights of their offering, and a few could even be termed "promoters". They
will give you the strengths of the particular trip and avoid any mention of weaknesses. You'll have to ask in some
cases, but a professional will take the time to explain any concerns.
 The most reliable booking agent will try to determine your interests and goals and match you with the optimal trip
that minimizes the potential problem areas. He certainly doesn't want you to have unrealistic expectations and a
reason to complain and not re-book, or worse yet, scare others away with tales of horror.
It has been my experience that the most efficient and reliable outfitters in South America have an English-speaking
owner or manager who is involved in the day-to-day operation of the camp, boat or lodge. The most efficient operations have
guides who are natives of the areas you will be fishing.
It is wise to obtain thorough answers to all your specific questions prior to booking the trip. Prepare a list of precise
questions before you call. You have a lot to do with the success of your trip, and it all starts with good and necessary
communications. When it's decision time, the traveling angler has to decide what he wants to do and how much money he is prepared to spend.
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