La Zona News

Being a United States representative for La Zona Lodge, I get numerous phone calls weekly regarding the fishery.  The main question I still get asked is that they have heard the fishing is poor since fisherman are no longer allowed to fish next to the El Salto Grande Dam.  This statement is far from the TRUTH!  Catches of trophy golden dorado exceeding 50 lbs have seen a drastic increase since fisherman have not spent wasted time near the dam.  Yes, numbers caught will be down, but who wants to catch 30 lbs dorado all day long?  Everyone spends hard earned money to catch a 50+ lbs monster of which La Zona is famous for.  30lbs dorado are trophies elsewhere but are on the lower end size at La Zona.  A few years ago, Joe "Sparky" Bullock and Dr. Gary Clark developed super strong spinnerbaits to fool the giants.  These hyped up spinnerbaits are dragged across the boulders AWAY from the dam where the giants swim.  They have most likely accounted for more 50lbs+ dorado than all other lures combined in the last 2 seasons.
Lodge manager, Giuliana Bradanini, reports that new for the 2019 season, clients will be housed in a newly constructed hotel.  Fishing hours will be 8am to noon then 3pm to dark.  Lunch time fishing is available at a nominal fee.  The fishing days inside the zone remain the same, Friday through Monday.  As of last week 1 boat opened up for the first week in January and 2 boats are open for the week of March 28.

New for 2019 there will be a low budget option which is different than the regular booking mentioned above.  Clients will arrive on Tuesday and stay in the new hotel.  They will fish outside the zone on Wednesday and Thursday.  On Friday they will have breakfast early and fish inside the zone from 6am to 8am and from noon to 3pm while fishing outside the zone during the other hours.  This will be repeated on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
This combined with the regular option will allow only 2 boats to be inside the zone!

As I am writing this, lodge owner, Hector Bradanini, is in the final stages of renewing permits for fishing inside the zone which are granted by the Government of Argentina.  This would be in effect for April 2019 when the current contract expires.
So, get into this magical fishery as soon as possible to catch the golden dorado of your dreams!

Perito Moreno

Normally, when I go on a "fishing" adventure there is much more than just fishing.  I also like to see the sights.  Whether it be heading to Brooks Falls in Alaska to view the brown bears feeding on leaping salmon, touring the temples in Thailand, dining at the best restaurants in Buenos Aires,  or going on an African Safari, there is always something to add on to the fishing portion of the trip.
On my recent trip to Jurassic Lake Lodge which is located in Argentina's Patagonia Region, I toured the Glacier Perito Moreno which is located in El Calafate. 

The glacier is considered by many to be the 8th natural wonder of the world.  The Glacier Perito Moreno was named after Francisco Moreno, a 19th century explorer who played an important role in protecting and defending Argentina's territory in the border conflict with Chile. 
The Perito Moreno is one of only three glaciers in the world that grows rather than retreat.  The glacier is said to grow about 7 feet per day, but also loses a proportional amount of mass, ensuring that the equilibrium of the glacier's mass and size remains consistent year round.
The Moreno is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water.  It is over 3 miles in width and boasts a height of 240 feet above the surface of Argentino Lake and reaches a total depth of 558 feet below the water's surface.

It covers an area of 97 square miles across a 19-mile stretch of vast expanse, with the greatest depth measured at 2,297 feet.  About every 5 years, the glacier advances enough to reach Argentino Lake, damming the southern portion arm of the lake against the huge wall of ice.  The water level can rise as much as 200 feet above the surface on Argentino Lake.  The pressure created by the dammed water eventually breaks the wall of ice, causing a massive rupture and sending huge shards of glacier into the lake. 
We toured the glacier for about 5 hours.  We took a Park Boat tour to the walls of the glacier.  It was simply amazing!  I highly recommend putting this on your to do list!  So on your next fishing adventure, do your homework and look for options to add on to the fishing portion!

Monster Bass on Lake Toho, Florida

Avid fisherman, Dr. Gary Clark reports great bass action on Lake Toho.  Toho is the largest lake in Osccola County, Florida located southwest of the city of Kissimmee.  Dr. Clark fished with guide Durwood Day who has years of experienced in landing huge bass out of Toho.  Gary, who lives in Kissimmee, says the lake is very healthy and has a large bass population according to the Florida Fish and Game.  Dr. Clark says bookings go fast so if a trophy largemouth is on your wish list give Captain Day a call at 407-719-0215

Fishing Talk Shows

Had the privilege this morning of talking about International Fishing on Midwest Outdoors Sports Radio 810 WB out of Overland Park, Kansas.  The show is held on Saturday mornings and hosted by Fred Ramsay and Mark Tobin.  Each week they give valuable information on hunting and fishing.  During my talk we discussed places such as La Zona for golden dorado,
Jurassic Lake Lodge in Argentina for giant rainbow trout, huge catfish in Suriname, tigerfish in Tanzania, Papua New Guinea bass and Giant Trevally in Papua New Guinea,
Alaska Peninsula silvers, Nile Perch in Uganda, Yellow CheekCarp in China,  and many more top destinations.  One can listen in each week on their webcast.  Talk radio offers valuable information.  I highly recommend you listen as much as possible.  Some talk radios also allow listeners to call in with questions.  Check out your local radio channels also to see if

talk radio on the outdoors is available and make it a habit to listen weekly!

Jurassic Lake Lodge, Argentina Patagonia October 2018

Had the pleasure of returning to my favorite country, Argentina, for a chance of landing massive rainbow trout at Jurassic Lake Lodge during the week of October 7. This was the 4th time I had the opportunity to fish this magical place.   A few friends and I flew into the town of Calafate and decided to take a tour of the Perito Moreno in Los Glaciares National Park.  The scenery is stunning and I highly recommend this destination to all.  Representatives of Jurassic Lake Lodge picked us up the following day at the Quijote Hotel in Calafate for a 6 hour drive to the lodge.  The ride took us through very strenuous paths as we had to cross over a through rivers to get to the lodge.  Along the way we saw numerous Guanaco and Lessar Rheas. 
The lodge sits on Lago Strobel and is near the mouth of the Barrancosco River where thousands of huge rainbows swim.  The weather was cold in the upper 30s with water temperatures around 38deg.

Strong winds are the norm at Jurassic and exceeded speeds of over 60mph during our stay.  However, it seems the stronger the wind blows the better the bite!  There are 3 beats which clients rotate before and after lunch.  The top flies were flo. green black, and olive balanced leech.  Others in the group had great success using mice and hopper flies.  We fished for 4 1/2 days.  I estimated I landed over 350 rainbows averaging 10 lbs with my largest at 19,2 lbs which measured 33 inches.  Everybody should fish this magical fishery.  If trophy rainbow trout are on your fish wish, look no further than Jurassic Lake Lodge. 
One of the only destinations on earth where you have a realistic chance at a rainbow exceeding 20lbs!