Argentinian Gold
Freshwater fishing in South America for Golden Dorado and other great species.
by Carl Sawyer
When my partner and I were planning a month-long trip to South America, I knew that I had to incorporate some sort of fishing excursion as part of the trip. Golden Dorado immediately came to mind and from my limited knowledge, Argentina is one of the best locations to chase them.
Whilst we weren’t going to be travelling to Argentina, my partner’s parents live in the south of Brazil meaning Argentina wasn’t too far to get to (in South American terms, that is). So, a plan was hatched to get to Rosario in the north eastern corner of Argentina, where I would hook up with the Golden Dorado River Cruiser operation for four days. It was a six-hour drive from my partner’s parents place in Zortea to Porto Alegre where I caught a two hour flight to Rosario. Rosario is the third largest city in Argentina and is located on the banks of the Parana River. The Parana River is an enormous system, second only to the Amazon in terms of length and spans over 4800km in length. From its source in the south of Brazil, it flows on a largely southern course through Paraguay, picking up volume from the numerous large tributaries before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean north of Buenos Aires.
From the marina at Rosario we crossed the Parana River before taking a side branch of the Parana. It would be about an hour’s journey to the Gypsy Pirana mothership that is stationed on the Los Laureles River. As we still had three to four hours of daylight, we fished our way towards the mothership. Malcom Covers, who would be my guide for the week, hadn’t fished this lower stretch before so was keen to see if it had any promise. I quickly rigged up my eight weight Scott Radian which was matched with an Air Flo Bruce Chard floating line, six feet of 30lb trace and a 20cm wire tippet to protect the trace from the Dorado’s razor-sharp teeth.
A size 4 Black and Red Andino Deceiver is one of the go-to flies for chasing Dorado and soon I was working the various snags and structures that lined the river banks. Dorado are voracious predators that generally lie in ambush around structures for unsuspecting baitfish to come within striking distance. The Min Kota electric motor was used to position the boat on the upstream side of the structure, and we would work the water for three to four casts before covering the water behind the structure. The water was very murky, and the flies had to be presented right in front of the Dorado which meant hooking snags was inevitable. We fished for about an hour before I came tight on my first Dorado. The fly landed about two metres in front of a snag and I let the lead eyes drag the fly down before a long slow strip of the fly. Just before the second strip, a Dorado latched onto the fly and a quick strip strike set the hook. At about 3lbs it wasn’t big, but I was happy to be on the board! Dorado have all the hallmarks of being a great species to target on the fly. Their aggressive nature, willingness to take a well-presented fly and aerial antics when hooked, sit them near the top of the echelon of bucket list fly fishing species. We hooked into a few smaller Dorado that evening before calling it a day.
Whilst day two dawned clear there was already quite a steady wind blowing and it was apparent that the river was rising as great clumps of reeds and debris were making their way down the Los Laureles. Before my visit, the river had been low and clear with good sized Dorado present behind a lot of the larger tree stumps and structures. Unfortunately, with the rising river level, the larger Dorado had vacated their usual haunts and all we caught from these main lies were 1-2lb Dorado. With the rising river levels, I experimented with shooting taper sinking lines in order to get the flies deeper. Whilst I got strikes, I sacrificed some accuracy due to the taper configuration and quickly reverted to floating and sink tip lines. With the fishing for Dorado being on the slow side after lunch, we went chasing Tararira or Wolf Fish. These gnarly looking fish sit idle amongst the weeds and lily pads, and ambush any prey that get too close. A popper fly cast right amongst the lilies and blooped back through and over the weeds drew some savage strikes. Whilst not the best sporting fish (they roll over and give up easily), it was fun to add another species to the list.
The weather on day three had deteriorated further with rain and strong winds, a far cry from the hot sunny days that had preceded my trip. Malcom had initially planned on taking a packed lunch and spending the whole day away from the Gypsy Parana, but given the weather and a cooked lunch, it was too good to turn down the day; it was split into two sessions as usual. Again, the fishing was tough but we managed to get into some Dorado, including a 5lb specimen that fell to a small live catfish, which bounced along the bottom, on conventional bait casting gear. The crappy weather dictated that other methods from fly fishing had to be adopted and not many guys can say they have stray lined for Dorado! Whilst we called it a day early, a warm shower followed by a few beers and the best meal I am likely to ever have on a fishing expedition made it not such a tough call in the end.
The weather forecast for the last day was for improving weather and with that in mind, we decided to fish all day and do a massive loop spanning 30 odd kms of river. We got things off to a good start hooking into approximately 20 Dorado over a shallow gravel bar. It was a lot of fun and whilst there were no big fish, the constant action made for a great morning. Still without a decent Dorado in the boat, we set about working some classic looking water and soon had a nice Dorado in the boat. At the next snag, Malcom positioned the boat nice and close and as the fly swung up in the current I had another thumping hit. Unfortunately, for me my trout fishing instincts took over and the trout strike didn’t set the hook on a behemoth of a Dorado that showed itself briefly as I was left ruing what might have been. Another trout strike and another missed opportunity rounded out the rest of my afternoon and trip.
The hospitality I had received from the Gypsy Parana staff from when I first stepped onboard to the day I departed had been top notch. Whilst the fishing and weather didn’t quite live up to the pre-trip anticipation, that is fishing and ensures that we as anglers don’t take things for granted and makes the memorable days that much sweeter.
