The Golden Dorado of Argentina, The Tiger of the water!

For many years , one of Latin America´s most exciting game fish was kept a secret in its heartland. In the last few years, the golden DORADO, or "river tiger" as it is affectionately called in Argentina due to its impressive fighting spirit and jumping characteristics, has rocketed to the top of the hot fish list.

The freshwater Dorado belongs to the Salmon family. It is a hard fighting and acrobatic fish, well known for strong runs and relentless jumps. Throughout much of its range , the Dorado is caught in colored or murky waters and generally with heavy spinning tackle.

The dorado is one of the greatest fighting gamefish in the entire world. This extraordinary jumper combines the swimming habits of a salmon with the ferocity and predatory instincts of a tiger shark. It violently hammers lures and flies, then immediately explodes out of the water in a series of outrageous leaps and line stripping runs.

While the beautiful and powerful freshwater dorado has long been one of the most admired fish in the southern portion of South America, it is almost completely unknown in the rest of the world. The largest species, Salminus maxillosus, is found mainly in Argentina, Bolivia, Southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Ichthyologists have given the beautiful golden dorado an unusually appropriate name; Salminus, meaning salmon-like, and maxillosus, describing the fish's immensely-powerful jaws.

Catching a Argentine golden dorado on a fly is the most exhilarating freshwater fishing you will ever do and we have the most advantageous location and program offered. Be one of the few people in the world to catch a dorado on a flyrod. The region of Mesopotamia, Argentina is a new frontier for fly anglers and unites deluxe accommodations, excellent native guides, fast access to diverse waters and a large population of dorado. These fish are hard core. Their sharp teeth and explosive leaps make them the strongest, meanest and most aggressive Salomonid out there.

The fishing here at Pira Lodge is done on the Iberá Marshlands, one of the most fascinating wetlands in the world. 3,500,000 (that´s three million five hundred thousand) acres of unexplored and uninhabited marshland in the northeastern corner of Argentina will be the setting for some of the most exciting fishing you will ever do. The marsh is a vast system of non-polluted crystal-clear creeks, rivers, shallows, and lakes roughly 2.5 times bigger than the Florida Everglades and you will spend your days here in state-of-the-art Hell´s Bay flats skiffs exploring this enormous expanse.

In the province of Corrientes, Argentina, we fish for this native beauty on the Corrientes and Parana Rivers, Lodge Los Laureles.

The swamps are the home to more than 350 species of birds, 85 mammals and almost 70 reptiles, including major populations of Marsh Deer and South American Cayman.

For further information about fishing in Argentina please contact Árni Baldursson at Lax-á office through e-mail: arnib@lax-a.is