LA ZONA OCTOBER 9 TO 12, 2023

 During my first week at La Zona Lodge, the water was high, but the fishing was outstanding. 

Numerous trophy dorado weighing up to 50 lbs were landed on the doradokiller spinnerbaits by www.klures.com.  I advised 4 friends from the USA to come for week 2.  Since fishing is only allowed on Monday through Thursday, I went back to Buenos Aires on Friday and stayed at the Grand King Hotel.  The Grand King is located in the shopping center district near Florida Street.  Each day I walked down to Puerto Madero. 

Puerto Madero is located in the city on Rio de la Plata.  There are miles of boardwalk on each side of the Rio filled with restaurants, bars, and clubs.  The Argentina peso was extremely low during my stay so I could get a beer during Happy Hour for 0.75 cents and a ribeye steak for around $9USD.  On Sunday, my friend, Oscar, picked up my friend and I for the drive back to La Zona Lodge while the three others went back in a different taxi.  The drive to the lodge takes about 6 hours.  Once at the lodge we are greeted by Giuliana Brabanini and friend, Santiago, who previously worked as lodge chef, but now acts as manager.  Since I kept all my tackle in my hotel room which I stayed in the previous week I was all set to battle the dorado.  The others in the group had to unpack and set tackle up. On Monday, the first fishing day, I fished with Elbio. The spinnerbaits were red-hot last week, so we started with them.

The fishing was again good.  I landed a 46 and 44 lbs trophy.  The three friends in the other boat fished with guide Alejandro.  Since the water was rising, I advised them to use live marianas which are knifefish.  They are casted on a size 8/0 with a small egg sinker a few feet above the hook.  They are like candy to dorado!  The guys report great success and land a 50, 48, 46, 44, and 42 lbs trophies.  On day two the water levels again rose.  Since the others had great catches using marianas, my partner and I bought 3 dozen for the morning session.  I have never used live bait in all my years fishing La Zona, but the conditions were getting worse with the high water.  The dam Police would not allow us to fish into the turbines, so we had to cast starting roughly 40 yards away from the dam.  The fishing drastically decreased away from the turbines.  I however got lucky with a 48 lbs while other boat did not catch any decent size dorado.

  The police chased us off the water around 5pm saying the water exceeded 13 meters. The next day, Wednesday, the police said no problem fishing.  In the first 15 minutes the group of three landed tripleheaders twice.  My partner lands a giant 48 lbs while I hooked into one which felt huge but unfortunately tossed the hook.  So, some unknown reason the Police blew their whistle signing us to the Police Station stairs.  They said a strong storm with high winds was approaching so we had to stop fishing.  I argued with the policewoman, who I knew, but could not convince her to let us to continue.  I am convinced this would have been a red-letter day as over 10 dorado were landed in the very short time.  The session at La Zona Lodge is roughly 8am to noon, lunch, the back on the water around 3pm till dark.  Around 2pm the winds got very strong out the south which blows directly into the dam.  

Fishing was cancelled so we sat around repairing tackle and drinking beer.  Hector Bradanini, La Zona Lodge owner, call the dam police.  They gave us permission to fish on Thursday, but not into the turbines.  When we got to the boats, the water looked like chocolate milk.  The strong winds plus incoming water did us no favor.  I have fished in this coloration before here at La Zona and once on the Alaska Peninsula and caught practically nothing.  I put my lure into the water and could not see it. The visibility was terrible!  We made a few drifts away from the dam and caught nothing.  The guides decide to cast poppers or Super Shad Raps toward the rocks and bushes on the Argentina and Uruguay shorelines.  This produced lots of strikes by small dorado weighing under 30 lbs.  The big dorado would not be around as these "bambinos" could be eaten by the giants.  

That evening we took apart tackle and stored much of it at the hotel for future use.  In all the trip was good.  In roughly 2 days for clear water, we landed the following.

1 at 50

2 at 48

3 at 46

2 at 44

2 at 42

1 at 40

2 at 38

5 at 36

1 at 34

3 at 30

So, October can be a great month for giants exceeding 40 lbs.  The La Zona guides, Elbio and Alejandro, know where these giants are year-round.  They know the locations of huge boulders where the brutes sit getting out of the current waiting for the flow to push feed to them.  They are masters at boat handling in the rough waters near the dam.  The La Zona Lodge guides MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE in catching giants compared to small dorado.  The food and accommodations at La Zona Lodge are 5 stars.  We dined on steaks, chicken, pasta, pizza, ribs, and even dorado for the stay.  This was the first time I tasted golden dorado and it was delicious.  

As mentioned, La Zona Lodge, fills rapidly.  There is no place better to catch huge dorado in the world.  The top-notch guides will put you onto them.  There are a few openings through 2026 but filling quickly.  There is a special rate discount for October 2025 so get in quickly to experience a golden dorado experience of a lifetime!