Fly Fishing Dish » Argentina

Oh The Dry Season

CtScribe — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:02:34 +0000

This past Saturday I finally made time to head to the local fishing lake to cast my new 6 piece, hoping to hook into a nice one as well. What I forgot to take into account was that we are currently in the dry season, and the once deep, tidal waters, have now diminished to a shallow puddle. Despite the circumstances, I rolled my jeans up and waded into the murky water and began fishing. Three hours, and a horrible sunburn later, I gave up in search of some aid from the locals who had gathered to watch this mysterious method of fishing. What I learned I wish I had known before I entered the mud. Apparently, as the lake begins to lose water, the majority of the fish move out, and swim into the outlet of the lake, where they remain in a deep hole that has formed over the years.
Excited about the possibility of heading there to try my luck, I learned also that it is only permitted for young children to fish that area, leaving me back where I started.
As I was about to pack up, I ran into an older man who was carrying three large bottom-feeders; I was Interested. sure they weren’t cut-throats or Rainbows, but they were fish. The man informed me that while the other fish find their way into deeper water, the bottom feeders flourish. At this I tied on a large, olive woolly-bugger, and headed back to the mud-hole. After about only a half hour, I found it was lunchtime and began to pack up. Unfortunately, as I was retrieving my line, a large sucker took my line and snapped the bugger clean off at the tippet. Although he had the opportunity to live victorious for another week, I will be back out there tomorrow, armed with another bugger, and a bit stronger tippet.

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Another Way

CtScribe — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:03:39 +0000

While here, I have seen many interesting things in relationship to recycling fishing materials; everything from eyelets being re-taped to poles, to nets mended with shoe-laces and pieces of plastic bags. Apart from these things, while walking along the edge of the Mar, I recently saw a interesting substitution for a bobber.

I stopped for a moment to talk to an elderly man that was sitting along a bridge just outside our compound here in Argentina. The man had gotten there just prior to my arrival and was still setting up his gear; he was using an old aluminum pole with a small, open-bail reel, that, although well-kept, was really showing its age. While talking to him, I noticed something that truly amazed me. The man reached into his tackle box and pulled out a handful of small splints of wood. After carefully fingering through them, he selected about six of them and pinched them to his line about 16 inches above his hook. He then took a piece of kite string and wrapped the splints securely to the line.

It was a really interesting method that, although it caught me off guard, taught me something very interesting about the fishing culture down here: that although the people here may not have even the most simplistic gear that we tend to take for granted in the US, they are perfectly content finding other ways to effectively fish.

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The Argentine Way

CtScribe — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:20:57 +0000

The past weekend I had the opportunity to tour Rio de Plata, the largest river in the world. While there I had the opportunity to meet a number of men fishing along the dikes that ran along the waters edge. After speaking with there fishermen, I found that the general method of fishing was very simple, using a double-jig unit. Due to the fact that the land surrounding the river is highly developed, there is not a lot of room for unnecessary casting, thereby ruling out the use of spoons or other types of spinning bait.

Furthermore, the targeted fish is a large bottom-feeder in the carp family, making bottom-fishing very effective. The setup that is used by most fishermen is very simple, it consists of a steel leader attached to a heavy lead weight. Along the steel leader there are two tag leaders that each hold a large hook.

On each of the two hooks there are two typical baits that are used by that Argentine fishermen, white rubber jigs, or live minnows, typically two or three minnows per hook.

To fish such a unit, the fisherman casts the line as far as possible, places the rod in a holder along the waters edge, and just waits. Although it seems like such a simplistic means by which to feed your family, it was very interesting to see the talent that it took to reel a fish in the air from a dike that is twenty feet in the air.

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Way Down South

CtScribe — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:45:59 +0000

I’m currently located in the beautiful South American country of Argentina. After having been here for about two weeks, I have finally been able to access a ‘reliable’ internet source. In the short time of being here, I have been able learn much from the natives here about the local fishing.

Behind the compound at which I am staying, there is a large saltwater inlet, in which, there is a large number of big game saltwater fish. While walking back to the compound from a local town, I spoke with an older man who bait-casting small minnows along the coast of the inlet, and seemed to be reaping the benefits of many years of wisdom.

Furthermore, I have learned from a local missionary, that one of the largest international saltwater fishing companies is located in a nearby city. I will be headed into Buenos Aires this coming Saturday, and will be searching for a distributor, hoping to get a bargain on fishing gear. Furthermore, this coming weekend we will most likely be heading farther north to attempt to reel in some big ones!

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