Fishing and Hunting Tales

Quest for El Dorado
La Zona vs. Los Gringos

Word spread quickly and the resulting stampede of anglers resembled Christmas shoppers fighting over the latest Elmo doll. With fishing restricted to just two boats, La Zona’s wait-list grew longer and longer. Anglers were even snapping up space during cold months when Dorado are seasonally sluggish With all the size-matters brouhaha, few anglers were paying much attention other great Dorado fishing holes around the country.

In early April, La Zona veteran Drew Gregg visited one of the “sleeper” spots, Los Gringos Adventures in Corrientes Province. Here are Drew’s impressions:

“LA ZONA: Three Sisters Lodge houses four anglers fishing the tailrace of a hydro-electric dam on the Uruguay River. The half-mile square area is restricted to just two boats, fishing with artificial or flies lures from Monday to Thursday only.

The Dorado average 15 pounds and a 50+ pound fish is possible. My best was 30 pounds, along with a 38-pound surubi catfish. You must wear a life-vest at all times due to the turbulent discharge from the dam. Each day is basically the same as the day before. We missed 1-1/2 of the four days of fishing due to violent thunderstorms. I mention this due to the high daily expense and the long wait time to reserve a space to fish. Cold weather can make this a tough trip also.

LOS GRINGOS: The lodge is located about 75 miles northwest of La Zona. Its two owners are English-speaking dual Argentine/US citizens, who are now my friends. They have several roomss for their guests and went to extreme lengths to make us feel at home.

We fished on the Parana and Corrientes Rivers, the Delta, and the “14,” using three different guides and their boats. We fished with mostly live baits due to a severe cold front and muddy water in three of the four places. I caught six different species: Dorado, boga, piranha, ray, surubi and duck-mouthed catfish. The Dorado went to six pounds and the catfish to nine pounds. We would have fished at night for big catfish except for the cold and a full moon.

The food at both lodges was great — gourmet quality. Los Gringos prepared the best steaks I’ve ever had, along with surubi empanadas and fried fillets.

If you have the money and time to wait to go to La Zona, you’ll have the chance to catch a giant Dorado. If you want to catch a variety of species and see rural Argentina with guys that love to fish and have a good time, Los Gringos is far more affordable and probably a lot more fun overall.”

Los Gringos Adventures also provides excursions to the Iberá marshes and Itá Ibaté where much larger trophy Dorado can be found for the fisherman who’s looking for that “big fish” photo opportunity.

Drew Craig
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl

Fabian Saraiva………

Es importante que yo diga que jamás tenia pescado en mi vida y la experiencia de pescar en Cholila y Bariloche en febrero de 2009 para un pescador sin ninguna experiencia como yo, fue demasiado interesante y divertido. Además es necesario decir que antes de llegar a estos lugares tenia la nítida idea que yo no iba a conseguir pescar ningún pez, pero resulta que en dos de los tres ríos que pesque, yo pude sacar mis  truchitas y la sensación es fantástica.

La lucha del pez contra el pescador es una cosa muy singular y demasiado estimulante, pues al final sacamos la foto y el pez vuelve al rio, sin nadie salir perdiendo. Hablando de el lugar, yo puedo decir que entre los inúmeros lugares que conozco en el mundo, Cholila es sin sombra de duda una de los más lindos, si no el más lindo que yo ya eh conocido en mi vida. Similar a esta lugar en términos de contacto con la naturaleza y de la preservación ambiental y natural, en mi opinión, solamente los Fjords de Noruega. La Patagonia Argentina, en particular la Provincia de Rio Negro (Bariloche y San Martin) y Chubut (Cholila) es hermoso y impactantemente natural y preservada. El contraste de los lagos y ríos con las montañas producen vistas y momentos espectaculares. El silencio del rio contrasta con el esfuerzo de la trucha en ganar del pescador.

No puedo dejar de decir de la empresa que me recibió en Argentina, Los Gringos y de sus socios Fernando y Fabio,  juntamente de su coordinador Fabian, pescar con ellos realmente fue además de profesional y conocedores del deporte, un placer pues son personas muy amigas y divertidas que con certeza entraron para el rol de mis amigos personales. El servicio, los hoteles, la organización y acogida es espectacular y hicieron de una desafío para mi, algo emocionante y placentero

Fabian Morandi Saraiva

Porto Alegre – RS – Brasil”