 Argentina
is well known like a trout fishing destination, whatever, for the local
flyfishermans, the subtropical fly fishing have a very important place
too. This alternative fishing have two great advantages: is closer from
the capital ,and have this special taste of adventure that only a tropical
destination can offer. You will wade between Sting Rays and Piranhas (they
are not like in the films), you will see Yacares (kind of crocodile ) and
millions of birds.
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The Parana river, is one of the most important
rivers of the north east of Argentina.
It forms a huge delta in the north of
Buenos Aires ("El Tigre") in the province of Corrientes and Entre Rios
there are many zones of swamps, islands and lagoons, where you can search
the predators. You will need a local guide to move in this extensive and
beatiful region.
February could be a great month, the Carnival
in the region is a great show every night and mixed with some good "asados"
will let you unforgettable memories of this place.
The most important fish for us is the
Dorado. It fights more than any other fish, (I still remember my first
one, 40minutes with a 5kg Dorado on a 0,40 mm tippet). |
They are found in the running waters or where
the streams enter in the lagoons and exits from them.
The big ones use to hunt alone in the
deep pools with big and oxygenate entries of water. In such spots they
are really difficult to approach but sometimes they hunt in the runs too.
The amazing part is that searching Dorados
you will get many others predators like Chafalotes (Cachorras in Brazil),
Piranhas, Pira Pitas, Surubis, Manduvas, Tarariras (Trairas in Brazil),
Cabeza Amarga (cousin of Tucunare) and many others. All of these hunters
will give you a big fight and after some days you will start knowing specific
places where they can be found.
The equipment is , two rods one number
8 and another number 5 , WF floating lines (the bass bugs works good),
and ST sinking II (only for the deep pools or really fast currents I almost
never use it most of the attacks are in the first 0,50cm deep ). It's recommended
to use a standard running line because the first run of a big Dorado can
hurt your fingers if you use mono running lines like Amnesia. If you want
to bring only one rod, a number 7 cover all the situations.
 The
flies for this type of fishing must produce turbulences and must be very
visible in the tinted waters.
The Deceivers, Muddlers and Wool Heads
works good. We use with great results flies specially tied for the region:
Malbran, Muflona,Victoria and Andino .The first two imitates the "Mojarra"
(Malbran) and the"Morena"(Muflona) two bait fish present in the diet of
all the predators of those waters. Try to bring some if you visit the region.
Also bring a lot of poppers: the Trairas love them.
 MALBRAN
- same fly for different destinations
In ' 94 after two years
of testing which flies were more effective with the dorados of the Parana
river
I started tying flies with
Christmas decorations. My goal was to imitate a "Mojarra", tipical bait
fish of South America, (they are flat and have a high profile, with flashy
silver scales at the sides). At that time there were no flies to imitate
them. The biggest problem was to find a material that kept the high profile
in the water and flashy enough to look real.
I found that twisting the
Christmas decorations with my fingers. This made them stiffer and reflect
ligth in all directions. For the tail I started using Flashabou or softer
Christmas decorations (they come in many differents degrees of stiffness).
The high and hard body gives to the fly a particular way of swiming and
produces good vibrations and turbulence in the water.
This fly gave me and my
friends very good results since that year and we took a lot of different
predators with it. That's normal because the fly imitates the "mojarras"
that is part of the diet of almost all hunters of that waters but I had
good results also in other waters and with other gamefish. My profession
give me the possibility to travel a lot and this was one of the reasons
that gave me the chance to test my fly with other predators out of the
area of the Mojarra. First it was with the sea trouts (in south Patagonia),
the pikes and perch (in the Baltic area), black bass (in Spain and
France ) and finally in the Caribbean with tarpons and snooks. I was surprise
of his regularity. I think that his profile can represent many kind of
bait fishes in all waters. Every time I go to an unknown
destination, most of the times my first choice is one Malbran (my
friends started calling it this way). I tie some variations using bucktail
or syntetic hairs for the back and the tail. If I want less flashy flies
I use another version totally made with bucktail.
The Malbran's tying steps
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Pez Limon
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Saltwater Fly Fishing is very new for
Argentina and very few anglers do it even if there are many game fish available
both in and off shore. We have Mullet, Pez Limon (Yellowtail - Seriola
lalandei), Barracuda (Thyrsites atun), Sharks, Robalo (Sea Bass - Eleginops
maclovinus), Lenguado (Flounder - Pseudorhombus isosceles), Palometa (Parona
signata), Mackerel , Caballa (Chub Mackerel), Bonito, Pescadilla (weakfish - Cinocion
striatus and Macrodon ancylodon), Anchoa de Banco (Bluefish) and Pez Sable (Trichiurus lepturus)
with teeth like the Payara. |
Saltwater fly fishing is in the beginnig here
so we have a lot of things to learn. A good example is a kind of Redfish
called Corvina Negra, reaching weight up to 50kg. They go into estuaries
to eat crabs but nobody try to get them on a fly even if surely that should
work.
Pejerrey
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You can find all of this predators not
far from the capital ( 200km going to the south ). Going farther south
cold waters hold less species, mostly Sea Bass, Eperlans (Pejerrey
- Austroatherina smitti ), Mullets and Lachas (an Alosa-like fish - Brevoortia
pectinata) that go deep in the estuary of the Rio de la Plata and up in
the Parana river and the Uruguay river. The Pejerrey is maybe the most
popular fish in the country. |
People take them with live bait. There are
many especies that live both in fresh an salt water but all of them take
flies. The record is close to 3kg but 1kg is considered a good size. They
fight a lot running to the sides and sometimes jumping. We search Flounder
(Lenguado )in the rivers and estuaries where they use to chase Pejerrey.
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Pescadilla
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Palometa
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Corvina
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Lenguado
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The people from Patagonia like to fish for
Sea Bass a very strong fighting species.
If you have the chance to visit Argentina
take three or four days to visit the north, you will not be disappointed,
the options are many and you will have a global vision of the possibilities
of our country.
Feel free to contact me for more information
at ramirogm37@aol.com
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