THE GIANTS OF LA ZONA/ SHALLOW WATER POPPERS

 

La Zona which is located in Concordia, Argentina on the Rio Uruguay boasts the largest freshwater dorado on earth!  However, the giants exceeding 50lbs are not easily fooled.  I recently had the opportunity to fish in the "zone" for two weeks this April.  The water conditions were extremely low, less than 1 meter, so topwater action would be the game plan.  

Recently, the governments of Argentina and Uruguay signed an agreement allowing anglers with permits to fish again next to the Salto Grande Dam walls.  Here, thousands of dorado swim.

  However, after numerous years of fishing in La Zona, I have found the true giants are very difficult to land next to the dam, as too many smaller dorado swim here.

So, I have found the giants sit behind huge boulders away from the dam ready to ambush anything the current pushed toward them.  These giants can be caught on poppers with retrieves as fast as possible with very precise long casts next to the rocks.  

There are hundreds of poppers in different styles available on the market.  Kermett Adams of klures.com in the USA makes shallow cup dorado poppers specifically designed for La Zona.  These are wired through and have swivels on the hook harnesses so the hooks can rotate during jumps by the monsters.  The shallow cup design pushes just enough water during rapid retrieves to fool the beasts.  

After losing the majority of Kermett's poppers the first week , I was introduced to locally made CANO poppers made by friend, Juan Vaccaneo.  These poppers again have a shallow cupped mouth and are extremely lightweight.  They come in 3 sizes with the La Zona guides preferring the medium and small sizes.  These poppers are wired through with the swivels on the hook harness.  They come in a variety of colors.  Friend, Javi Koller, owner of ZonaPesca in Buenos Aires is the main distributor of CANO poppers and gliders.  For Americans heading to La Zona, Javi can hire a motorcycle driver to delivery poppers to you at the EZE airport.  

I have made a few suggestions to both Kermett and Juan for future La Zona topwater lures which both will be creating soon!  

When popping I can make further casts with a long spinning rod.  I use a 8ft 2in TFO TFD P2 2 piece spinning rod teamed with a Daiwa 5000BG reel spooled with 65lbs Diamond Braid.  I attach to the braid a 3 ft 80lbs fluorocarbon leader attached to a 12 inch 300 lbs mono leader.  The long leader really prevents cutoffs in the razor-sharp rocks!  

Topwater action is perhaps the ultimate bite!  It is extremely exciting seeing a 50lbs+ dorado jumping in an attempt to toss your popper.  So, during your next visit to La Zona, make sure to give Kermett Adams a call or let me know if I can be of any help with getting the poppers made by CANO!