Hanna and I got our first taste of South American exotics when we fished the Miami Airport canals in 2010 with guide Alan Zaremba and that’s what inspired us to make multiple trips to Brazil. If for any reason – cost, fear, logistics – you can’t make it to Brazil, Florida remains an amazing option for all kinds of illegally-introduced-but-fun-to-catch-species.

For most American anglers peacock bass are a logical stepping-off point into the Amazon. They’re certainly a worthy adversary, but the WWF estimates that there are 3,000+ species of fish in the Amazon region, so if peacocks are the only thing you catch you are not even scratching the surface of the region’s potential. As demonstrated by the “Fishes of Amazonia” poster by Ray Troll, there are all sorts of exotic creatures to catch.