We just got back from a "Trip of a Lifetime!"

There are 3 parts and I'll put Part 1 on Today

Part 1 takes place in Argentina below the Salto Grande Dam on the Uruguay River fishing for Golden Dorados.

In 3 days there, we caught 30 between 20 and 40 pounds. We probably hung and lost another 100 due to our inexperience with these fish.

We had a few reasons to celebrate including a significant anniversary. I have never seen my Bride smile and laugh so hard!

https://youtu.be/g0XKNrOd6eY

https://youtu.be/wBUf-txuyC8

We went with Piraquazu Travels. Ezequiel Bueno and Josh Moreno are absolutely the best. There are so many extra things that they did to make our trip so special!

Cool trip.
What were you eating at supper?
Congratulations on a special anniversary!

That picture is the snacks we had on the boat.

We ate a lot of Argentine Beef and fish (a catfish called Surubi)

Looks like some fancy fishin snacks for sure! Sounds like y’all had a great time.
Congrats on the special anniversary.
Walker

What an exciting adventure! Who suggested that Argentine fishing trip? How long was your total travel time and fishing time? Huge fish! Fresh water or brackish? Bait or lures? What was a normal day like?

Pap

Pap:

Last Summer, I was watching “River Monsters” with Jeremy Wade and he was there.

My Bride was at the same time, looking at tours up the fiords in Patagonia. (Part 3)

I started following Pira quazu travels and Ezequiel Bueno on Instagram and he followed me back. We began conversing back and forth. I also studied up on Argentina and the people there. He put together a trip for us and we agreed to go.

A typical day at LaZona was:

8:00 Breakfast

9:00-12:00. Go Fishing until our arms were like rubber.

12:00 Gourmet lunch! Steak, steak, steak, more steak, and fish.

1:00-3:00 collapse and sleep!

3:00-6:00 Go fishing again!

6:00-7:00 Clean up and shower.

8:00 Gourmet Dinner and Entertainment!

10:00 Bedtime in a luxurious top notch lodge. (We slept so hard since we were exhausted)

It was completely all inclusive including laundry.

We don’t drink, but there was some very expensive Argentine wines there for the drinking.

The water was freshwater coming out of the Salto Grande dam into the Uruguay River.

We used live 6-8” eels for bait.

Only 2 boats per day are allowed up near the floodgates and the Border Guards checked our Passports every session. They were very friendly and thanked us for coming to Argentina.

We had approx 95% strike rate with each cast. It took at least 30 min to land a fish!

Coach awesome trip, thanks for sharing. Have a safe and wonderful time together and travels.

Tom Flynn

Many years ago I went to Cardoba, Argintina to dove hunt. The hunt was great but for me, it was the trip. Santiago, Chile was a hoot! We all had Texas flags on our gun cases. The bag handlers were impressed by the simialrity to the Chile flag.

Texas and Chile

Part 2 Esquina

After 4 days in La Zona, we traveled 4 hours through the countryside to the the city of Esquina.

Most of the countryside looked like South Texas, but at the same time different. Real life Gauchos tended the cattle herds and everyday people went about their business and kids attended school.

Gas prices were about the same as here in Texas after you made the conversion from Liters to gallons.

Esquina is a Fishing Resort town where the Corrientes River meets the Parana River. It is a Giant wetlands teeming with wildlife.

Here, we caught some more Dorados plus some Giant Pirhanas and some Surubi catfish. I was hoping to catch a freshwater Sting Ray but was not lucky enough to do so.

On the last night, we were treated with some local talented musicians during a Dinner of some Real Beef Goodies!

We were also presented with a Painting by a local artist. Throughout the trip, CocaCola was provided. It is made with real cane sugar like the old CocaCola from Dublin, Texas.