Tambaqui Diet
The natural diet of the Tambaqui is terrestrial plants, fruits, insects, snails, crustaceans & seeds. In captivity where the natural food source may be diminished the Tambaqui will predate on small live or dead fish. Introduced to Thailand.
Tambaqui Identification
Members of the sub-family Colossoma of the Characidae, tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) are oval-shaped, physically built like a stocky permit or jack. They have a golden to olive green back and an inky purple to black ventral area. An omnivorous characid relative of the piranha, tambaqui have dazzling teeth that look eerily like a set of human dentures. These fish have amazing jaw strength as they often feed on rock hard jungle seeds. They can crush a 4/0 saltwater hook as if it were made of baling wire.
Telling Tambaqui and Pacu Pirapitinga apart
Tambaqui are often confused with Pirapitinga. Pirapitinga are more deeply rhomboidal than their evenly oval cousins, the Tambaqui. Their colouring of the Pirapitinga is more muted, typically a light blue-grey to steely grey above and a darker grey to brownish grey below. Whereas the Tambaqui have a golden to olive green back and an inky purple to black ventral area. The Pirapitinga's dentition is different as well, sporting a second row of molars in the upper jaw as opposed to the Tambaqui's single row.
Tambaqui Flyfishing in Thailand
Thailand Flyfishing Season: All Year
The Tambaqui is native to South America, inhabiting the Amazon and Orinoco basins. They are a solitary fish, the adults stay in the flooded forests during the rainy season, feeding on nuts fruit and grains along with insects snails and decaying plants. The fry live in flood plain backwaters feeding on zoo plankton until they reach maturity. The tambaqui is the largest member of the characin family which includes pacu and piranha. The Tambaqui is the world's second largest freshwater scaled fish after the Arapaima.
Tambaqui are similar in shape and looks to the piranha. They are a laterally compressed fish, plate like in shape with large eyes and a slightly arched back. There upper back is a mottled green with lower flanks in black leading to a grey belly. They have very small pectoral fins plus an adipose fin as in the trout and salmon family. In the wild they live in rivers also river or stream fed lakes; they live under trees and weed beds seeking out shade and cover.
Tambaqui can get huge. Specimens of 3 feet in length and weighing in at over 70 pounds are not exceptional. Unfortunately for the sport fisherman, these highly prized (and pricey) food fish are heavily harvested by commercial fishermen in their native environment, especially during their spawning migrations when they are at their most vulnerable. There is a greater chance of catching a Tambaqui in Thailand than in it's native waters.
The tambaqui is superb fly fishing quarry. Presenting poppers and hopper patterns on floating lines often entices a take. When the Tambaqui strikes a surface lure do not tighten immediately but wait until you feel the weight of the fish or you will miss the fish. It is important to allow the fly to get past their teeth before tightening onto the fish. Tambaqui fight as if they are burrowing into the ground; they point their heads down and keep diving, constantly changing direction during the fight. When they approach the net they use there body mass to turn in hard circles, they will often shed the hook at the net, this is when most tambaqui are lost.