The dorado, a real bullion
The "Salminus brasiliensis" in Latin, is one of the most beautiful freshwater species to catch for all sport fishing aficionados. It has an incredible defense, with spectacular acrobatic fighting. What's more, it can reach impressive sizes (over 20 kg). Its sublime golden colors and salmonid appearance make it an exceptionally beautiful fish.
The dorado, a powerful fish
Despite its spindle-shaped "salmonid" appearance and adipose fin, this fish is not a salmonid. Rather, it belongs to the piranha order: the "characiformes". Indeed, this is due to its jaw, since its teeth are actually bone extensions. This gives it impressive pressure to crush anything in its mouth. As for its location, to add a little spice, it's in the river's fastest-flowing veins!
Fishing for dorado on a lure boat on the Rio Uruguay
A short hour's navigation in the middle of unspoilt nature and an impressive stretch of water with very little human pressure, and we're off in pursuit. On the great "rio Uruguay", the idea is to locate the eddies, signs of submerged rock and accelerating current. Then it's time to drift and cast! Use hard bib lures, scraping them across the font and hitting the rocks to trigger attacks. This type of fishing is similar to pike or perch fishing, but in XXL format. It's power-fishing with a cranck and slightly more powerful tackle than usual.
Fly-fishing the dorado on foot in the middle of the fishes
The dorado can also be fished with a fly. This is the sport technique par excellence that is the dream of anglers the world over. It provides even more thrills! Streamer fishing is similar to pike fishing in terms of equipment, and to salmon fishing in terms of drifting.
The ideal equipment is a powerful 9/10 floating silk rod with 10 to 20 cm streamers preceded by a 40 lb steel leader. Cast perpendicular to the bank upstream of the rapids. Then it's ¾ downstream fishing with very fast animations to get our streamer moving in the middle of the current. The bites are violent and the fights very aerial! It's an incredible feeling to be in the water alongside fish that can easily exceed 10 kg.
