Name: Red Bellied Pacu
Species: P. Brachypomus
Thai name: Pla Jaramet
Biggest known fish: 42lb
Lake rod caught record: 42lb
Average weight: 20lbs
Diet: Boilies, Pop ups, Fruit, Seeds & Nuts.
To fish for our red bellied pacu try to fish on top of the plateaus over a bed of boilie and pellet with a fruit pop-up, especially pineapple. The pacu is often called a vegetarian piranha, but although they prefer fruit, nuts and vegetables they will eat almost anything as they are opportunist feeders. They never eat live fish, but will sometimes take fish chunks. They have blunt teeth like a human, and they use them in the wild to crush hard nuts. You do not need wire, but strong braided hook links are recommended due to the added risk of them biting through the braid. When hooked the pacu will go on short, sharp runs, constantly changing direction and spinning in circles. Once they spot the landing net they will dive and turn using their body mass to shed the hook, and most pacu are lost at the landing net stage of the fight.
Species Info
The red bellied pacu is a relative of the piranha group of fish found in South America and is a member of the Characiformes (characins) family of fish.
The wild pacu feed on fruits, small fish and seeds that fall into the river. You can definitely tell they are from the piranha family due to the visual similarities. Looks wise the red bellied pacu has an awesome set of teeth very similar to those of a human, these teeth are seriously strong and can easily crush seeds and nuts with one jaw motion.
This pacu is a highly sort after target fish from its original base of origin the Amazon, to the lakes that they are stocked around the globe. The fish is known to jump once being hooked and can make excellent sport on the end of a fishing rod.
