Pintado - Speckled Catfish of the Pantanal

At least once a week I'm going to talk a little about some of the fish we go after on our excursions into the Pantanal. One of my favorites is the Pintado or Speckled Catfish.

This is not your ordinary river cat. The Pintado, or pseudoplatystoma corruscans, is a real fighter and is known for putting up hour or more long fights. It is only found in the Prata and São Francisco Basins and is a favorite of Brazilian sport fishermen.

It is also one of the tastiest fish I've ever eaten. And the people of Mato Grosso are very creative in finding different ways to fix this versatile fish. One of the most traditional is called Peixe na Telha or Fish in a Roof Tile. The fish is literally cooked in a modified ceramic roof tile, similar to the ones that adorn most Brazilian houses.

Large fillets, together with tomatoes, onions, potatoes and a lot of seasoning, are slow cooked for hours creating a culinary sensation like you've never had before.

Now these are big fish so you are going to have to get out the heavy equipment to pull one of these in. You should use a medium to heavy rod, 20 - 30 lb test line and hooks between 6/0 and 10/0.

Most pintados are caught using live bait including river and swamp eels, minnows and the snake-like worm minhocuçu. They also hit lures, especially jigs in mid to deep water levels.

Pintados get up to over 100 lbs and in the Pantanal it is normal to catch the 40-60 pounders. I've leave you with this photo. This 110 lb pintado was caught by Johnny Hoffman in February of 2003 using an artificial lure.