I recently had an opportunity to fish in Argentina for the Golden Dorado. The experience was quite good and may be of interest to other subscribers.
I became interested in fishing for the Golden Dorado several years ago after reading an account in a fishing publication, listing what were supposedly the ten most exciting and difficult fresh water fish. After considerable research on my own, and aided by booking agent Garrett Vaneklassen of InterAngler (1-888-347-4329), it was decided to book the trip through Rocky Vertone's New Horizons, Inc., Watchung, New Jersey 07060 (1-908-757-1568). Rocky was born in Argentina but has resided in the United States for many years and still has many contacts in Argentina.
My wife and I were, part of a group of five, including Rocky, who traveled to Argentina the second week of 0ctober,1996. We flew Varig Airlines and found them to be exceptional. The service was excellent, and surprisingly, always on time. After arriving at Buenos Aires International Airport, we overnighted at the Sheraton Downtown and then transferred to the Domestic Airport, which is about a 10 minute drive from the Sheraton. We flew Austral Airlines to the city of Corrientes on the Parana River in northern Argentina. We were met by representatives of the outfitter and were transferred to the hotel in Paso de la Patria, a small community about 30 minutes north of the airport. Our accommodations were a small hotel and marina known as Don Julian's. This is a family owned operation. Service and all aspects were excellent. The hotel sits right on the juncture of the Parana and Paraguay Rivers. The river is over two miles wide at this point. We could look across the river and see the country of Paraguay on the opposite side:. The rooms were very nice, comfortable, clean accommodations with-air conditioning, excellent showers, etc. The food at the restaurant was quite good, and we often times enjoyed some of the fish we had caught earlier in the day. The staff does not speak a great deal of English but are eager and helpful and can normally understand what you want.
Fishing is done from 16 foot runabouts. Our boat had a brand new 90 hp Evinrude motor. Depending upon the water conditions and the time of the year, you would fish for the Dorado with live bait, trolling or casting. We attempted some trolling but had little success. We mostly used live bait, an eel-like species called a Morena, which is about 15", long. The technique would be to hook the Morena through the mouth and cast it out to about 50 yards. We would then drift with the current with the reel in free spool. The Dorado would pick up the Morena and run 20-25 yards. As he stopped to turn the Morena in his mouth, we would set the hook. The fish's mouth is quite hard, and it was extremely difficult to get a good hookup. We averaged about one hooked fish in three attempts. Once the fish was hooked, they fought aggressively and jumped frequently. It was quite exciting. Because of adverse weather conditions (a great deal of rain), the water became quite discolored and rose 6-8 feet during the week we were there. Fishing suffered, and our boat only landed 17 Dorado during the seven days we fished. The biggest fish was 8 kilos, which is representative but not large by Argentine standards. A few fish in the 20 kilo range are caught each year. In addition to Dorado, we also fished for Suribi. This fish is in the catfish family and gets quite large. Suribi over 100 kilos have been landed. Again, they are quite difficult to hook. While I had a number of runs, I was unable to land a fish. In a number of instances, the powerful fish took the line into underwater obstructions and broke off. We were able to catch 3-4 smaller variets of catfish ranging from 2-4 kilos. These catfish are unusual in that they ate fruit in particular sections of orange. The guide indicated they referred to one of the small catfish as the "Pollo de Rio" or "Chicken of the River." We enjoyed it immensely for supper that night. The guide, Ghiro, spoke a small amount of English, was very knowledgeable and anxious to please. His knowledge of boat 'Handling and fishing techniques was excellent. After seven days of fishing, we transferred back to Buenos Aires where we spent two days exploring the city. Buenos Aires is called the "Paris of South America" and with good reason. It has much to see and do.. Crime did not seem to be a problem and we walked about the downtown area with no concern.
Varig Airlines returned us back to Miami with one stop in Rio. All in all, the trip was excellent. While the fishing was not as good as expected, everything else was outstanding. I attribute the poor fishing to the rain and high water. I have already made plans to return in 1997, and I recommend this trip without reservation -- something I rarely do.
The price for seven days was $2,560, exclusive of airfare, accommodations in Buenos Aires, the live bait, as well as gasoline consumed while fishing.
