PPS Destinations Report
La Zona, Argentina
Date: January, 2008
Reported by Dr. Brian Griffith, DDS, New Jersey, USA
After
last year’s trip to La Zona ,Argentina, with Pete Esposito I figured that it
was a one-time trip but when Mark Cowan offered me a spot this year I just could
not pass it up. This
trip was very similar to last year’s except that I was able to spend an
additional three days fishing the upper Parana river.
The travel is arduous.
I left Newark at 11 AM on January 26 and arrived in Buenos Aires at 9:45
AM on the 27th.
There were a few hours to rest in BA then a 1 ½ hour flight to
Resitencia followed by a two hour ride to the Estancia Atalaya.
We arrived at 1:30 AM on the 28th for a light dinner and fell into our
rooms.
The fishing schedule was the same as the previous years.
Up at 6, breakfast at 6:30, on the river between 7 and 7:30.
The weather the first day was overcast and I was actually a little chilly
that morning, but by 10 the temperature was in the low 80’s.
For the remainder of the trip, the
temperatures during the day were in the mid 80’st to the low 90’s and sunny.
We experienced one short shower on the Parana.
Truly it was beautiful summertime weather.
Last year, the Parana was extremely high which made fishing difficult.
This year, the river was easily 10 feet lower and the water clarity was
drastically improved with visibility of 6-8 feet.
This allowed for sight casting to dorado, pira pita, and pacu.
The structure along the riverbank was also much more apparent and even if
you did not see the fish you could cast to likely looking lairs.
All fishing was done with 8 weight rods and floating lines, 7-9 foot
leaders, 20-30 pound wire, and primarily 2/0 muddler type flies.
This year saw significantly more dorado being caught with an average size
of 5-7 pounds. I
did hook two much larger dorado of 15 to 20 pounds but there are so many trees
in the river it was easy enough for them to wrap me up and break off.
The average for the week was about 10 dorado per day.
Every day I caught pira pita but they were not as numerous as last year
nor quite as large, averaging 5 pounds.
Our boat had at least 20 pacu follow our flies, I got one to the boat and
my partner got two.
These are called the permit of South America and we considered ourselves
very lucky to land three pacu in one week.
They are not particularly attractive fish nor as acrobatic or fast as
dorado but they are very difficult to hook and once hooked do tend to look for
logs in deep water to break you off.
It was the highlight of my fishing on the Parana.
We stayed at the Estancia Atalaya, which is lovely.
The Moncadas are exemplary hosts and the food and wine were excellent and
plentiful. Just
like last year I again consider my stay as one of my favorite memories of this
trip. The
guides are knowledgeable, speak good English, and in general could not do enough
for you while on the boats.
On the river wildlife was abundant.
We saw otters, caiman, monkeys, and even a capybara.
The birds were extraordinary.
The only place I have ever seen that kind of diversity was in Costa Rica.
At La Zona the water was significantly lower for most of our stay.
Argentina is in the midst of some type of hydroelectric crisis and they
were holding back as much water in Salto Grandes Lake as possible.
Gone were the four-foot high standing waves.
They were generating but at a much lower volume however there were enough
rips and seams to keep two boats busy.
The guides said the differing water levels had put the fish off a bit and
I found the fishing was a bit tougher than last year with slightly lower
numbers. The
size of the fish, however is still remarkable.
The first fish I hooked was 44 pounds.
I also got a 36 pounder, plus a half dozen between 12 and 18 pounds.
Our group of four landed a 40, 6 x 30s, and numerous 20s.
I did all my fishing with a 10 weight with a 350-grain tropic sink tip.
Forty-pound tippet and thirty pound wire were tied to 4/0 flies that were
6-12 inches in length.
The water was quite cloudy so dark (black/red or black/blue) were the
colors of choice.
I did beak off a dorado that was over 50 pounds and on the last day I had
a fish take off with my fly line and pop it off 5 feet into the backing.
We all assumed it was a surubi catfish but since we never saw it we will
never know. It
is kind of strange watching your entire line vanish into the murky water.
There is talk of the Uruguayans putting in another two boats and I can
see this might produce some problems with low water periods and a reduction in
fishing area available.
The permits for 2009 have been withdrawn but they are likely to be
resubmitted for 2010.
This potential increase in the number of boats was one of my primary
reasons for going again so soon.
I am not sure four boats would not have a significant effect on this
place.
As always Mark Cowan did a great job at handling all the details that go into making a fishing trip great. From the time we landed in BA until we took off, everything went like clockwork and for those who have fished in South America you will realize what an accomplishment that is. Mark can be reached at www.remoteflyfishing.com
I
have always loved trout fishing more than any other kind I have ever done but
fishing for golden dorado is certainly a very close second.
They are astounding game fish and I will definitely be looking for other
destinations that include them.
If anyone has any questions regarding this destination please feel free
to contact me at traydog@enter.net.
For more photos of this trip, please click on the thumbnails below. To return to this page and to select another photo, hit the back arrow on your browser.
