Piau Tres Pintas

Piau Trest Pintas (Three Spotted Piau) at Kendjam Lodge, Brazil

Three-Spotted Piau : Leporinus friderici

Family: Anostomidae

The three-spotted piau is a very skittish fish. Only a few had been caught at the lodge all year, so the guides were quite happy with the catch. I caught this near the banks of the river with some fortunate and attentive hook-setting.

The three-spotted piau (Leporinus friderici) is also known as piau, piau cabe-gorda, aracu-comum, and piava. A good website to learn a bit about the six different species of piau is:

6 Types of piau: origin, characteristics, information and more (blogdopescador.com)

This species of freshwater fish is native to South America, the Amazon Basin, and the Suriname River.

The three-spotted piau is gray in color with three round spots on each side. The first is at the level of the lateral line, the second between the adipose and dorsal fins and the last at the base of the caudal fin.

It is an important subsistence food for the local tribes in the area.

Fishing for them requires some stealth as they are finicky. Light lines and a sensitive touch help a lot. I think I got mine because I was so dialed in that entire day.

You can see how proud the guide was and how happy I am with the catch.