At the beginning of 2024, we travelled to Argentina to pursue a very special species of fish – Golden Dorado.
Although Argentina feels like it’s on the other side of the world, the journey is relatively relaxed and easy. A direct flight takes you directly to Buenos Aires via Frankfurt am Main. You fly overnight and arrive the next morning well-rested and relaxed. A taxi transfer then takes you from Buenos Aires to Concordia to the LA ZONA Fishing Lodge.
The lodge is only a 5-minute drive from the river and is cosily furnished. Spacious rooms with comfortable beds, air conditioning and private bathroom, shower and toilet. Free WIFI makes keeping in touch with the loved ones at home easy and uncomplicated.
The fishing area is the Rio Uruguay, the border river between Argentina and Uruguay. A dam, the Salto Grande, dams the river here for the purpose of generating electricity and only 4 boats are allowed to fish on the first kilometre of the river below the wall. Depending on the water level and the opening of the turbines and floodgates, the current can be brutal, but that’s exactly what the Golden Dorado love. There is plenty of food here, so the fish grow into real monsters and more than 30 current IGFA records testify to the quality of the destination.
A fishery from another planet
Fishing is only permitted four days a week (currently: Monday to Thursday), but that’s usually enough to make your arms long from the many drills. To be honest, our arms were quite sore after these four days. This is otherwise only known from fishing for giant trevally. Depending on the water level, fishing for Golden Dorados can even resemble GT fishing, as the fish react particularly well to conventional GT poppers on the surface at low water. You can hear the bite before you feel it in the rod. 😉
Speaking of water levels, you are not dependent on them here and can concentrate fully on your journey without having to worry about whether there is too much or too little water in the river…
150 Golden Dorado within 4 days
It was truly incredible what we were able to experience and now we can understand why the dates for this area are so popular. Our biggest fish was a whopping 48 lbs (approx. 21.8 kg) and we had a few over the magic 40 mark.
On our days off, we also spent a day on the water downstream with a local guide, as we couldn’t believe that things were only going so well at the dam. However, the fishing wasn’t worth mentioning and the specimens caught were quite small at a maximum of 3kg, so we only took one of the originally planned two “days out”.
In the current issue of the GLOBAL GAME ANGLER magazine you will find a complete article about the trip and the fishing in LA ZONA, Argentina. GLOBAL GAME ANGLER is the only German-language fishing travel magazine to offer lots of other interesting information about fishing around the world and exciting destinations. A subscription is well worth it!
Not for vegans
However, one thing should be clear before travelling.In the motherland of good meat, salad is only served as a sparing side dish. Really good meat takes up most of the space on the plate and the Argentinians know exactly how to prepare it to perfection. We felt like we were on cloud nine, although towards the end of the trip we were admittedly craving a mixed salad without a side dish of meat. 😅
You can get a small insight into the culinary delights from the kitchen in the following gallery.
Videos on YouTube
Of course, we captured the trip on video for you in wild BLOG style and you can now find some footage of ourselves in the playlist alongside other videos from this destination. Have fun watching!
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You can find more video material and all the playlists for our destinations on our YOUTUBE channel.
Fishing holiday in Argentina
Do you fancy a juicy steak and colourful fish now?
You can find more information and available dates for our fishing trips to Argentina on our website.
We are also happy to organise individual tours for you. The ideal number of anglers for a boat is 2 to 3. Please contact us for a personal consultation and a detailed offer.
See you soon!