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Branch of Corriente River
(click image for detail)
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DORADOS IN ESQUINA
The last week of July 2006 I had a call from two clients who fished in Patagonia with us the previous year and told me they wanted to go and catch Golden Dorado (Salminus Maxillosus) or Dorado as we call this magnificent fish. They gave me a two week notice and I urgently called Gustavo, my main guide who was already guiding there to ask him how the conditions were. He told me that the temperature was in the low 60’s (cold weather is the worst enemy to the angler in pursuit of Dorado) but if the anglers were experienced enough to handle a fly rod and had patience, it was worth trying it. Just in case, I told Gustavo to have some bait in case we needed to chum or just use spinning rods if fly fishing failed, but, my clients said, either fly or dry…. The night before my clients arrived Gustavo called me with great news. He had found a stretch of super clear water and that during their short fishing trip to the spot, they had a few strikes. He said it was some 45 minutes by boat away, but, we should go there. We drove from Buenos Aires to Esquina some 6 hrs and arrived around 4 pm. We unpacked, did a few casts in front of the Lodge to keep the rust away and after a great dinner we went to bed. We woke up around 7 am to a beautiful winter day, no wind, no clouds and a warming sun. After we rigged our 9’ # 7/8 rods with floating and intermediate lines and # 2 to 2/0 flies, we jumped in the Carolina Skiffs to go fishing. It took us an hour to get to the hot spot. We tried casting flies on several of our regular spots (closet to the lodge) and we just had a couple of strikes and no fish landed until we saw why. These were not Dorados, they were Chafalotes (Payara) but we couldn’t land any.
Around noon, and after crossing hundreds of small creeks in the labyrinth that is the Corriente River, we arrived at the hot spot, a football size lagoon with an open channel that drained to the main branch of Corriente River. The water was very clear due to low water conditions and lack of rain in the are for about a month.
We caught around 20 + small Dorado from 2 to 6 lbs. It was really easy fishing with no wind to bother our casts. With such calm conditions it was easy to see the fish and follow their movements while chasing our flies. My two anglers were really fascinated with their experience despite the small size of the Dorado. Some of these sported chewed tails. When water is really low and Dorado and other fish concentrate in small pools and food is scarce, Piranha feed on nutrient rich tails and fins from the other fish.
We moved to the channel and cast our flies in the riffle and we caught a few more fish about the same size until the strikes ended and we decided to go back to the Lodge. The next morning was another perfect day, no winds, no waves, and a beautiful sun. It was an easy ride on the flat Corriente River. We stopped at the place were we had the strikes from Chafalote the day before and Eddie caught a nice Palometa (Piranha) of around 2 lbs. We caught one Chafalote and one small Dorado and after the “de rigeur” photos, we sped to a creek we could barely fished the previous afternoon. The water was low and we went upstream really slowly. The water was so clear that it looked like an acuarium. We could spot every single fish in this creek. We saw two large Surubi (leopard catfish) that swam away when they spotted us. We did around 200 yds until we spotted a school of Sabalos and then a bunch of small Dorado of 3 to 5 lbs. Every cast produced a strike and every other strike produced a fish. You could see the Dorado coming out of the pack to chase and take our flies. Some of them followed but left annoyed.I t was truly spectacular. This was sight fishing at its best. We also caught a few Tarariras. They were on the shallows, taking advantage of the baking sun over their backs. We threw poppers at them and they reacted as predicted, with a short chase that ended up in a hooked fish.At the end of the creek the water was really deep and darker with lots of underwater vegetation. We poled over this area but we only saw a school of Sabalos until the water exploded and we saw a large Dorado of around 12 lbs chasing the sabalos (avg. 1 lb). We threw a bunch of large flies but he never took one. We were caught in the moment, just contemplating the beautiful place with beautiful fish in it, the flock of Storks and Chajas, Water buffaloes on the banks, and all the lush vegetation when we realized it was getting dark and we needed to go back to the Lodge.I took us 1 hr to get back from our Paradise found and even though my clients didn’t catch a fish over 6 lbs their smiles revealed an expression of joy. They were happy and so was I.Back at the Lodge and after a great Asado, Vino Tinto and Cigar, my clients asked me:
Martin, when can we come back?
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