2024 Argentina with SET Fly Fishing - Part 2

After lunch we headed to the southern area of the marsh, El Disparo, to switch locations for night two. It’s about an hour boat ride. We ended up meeting the other crew about 1/2 way and learned that the fishing was a bit slower than what we had encountered but they had found some much larger fish in the 15-20 pound range. Definitely large for the marsh. We ended up working the water and getting several fish up to the same size as we’d been seeing. No monsters for us!

We headed into the El Disparo camp only to find that the entrance “creek” had changed due to the ever-moving vegetation islands. We needed to move some floating islands to get in.

This camp is on an island and has mature forest on it. Thus it is full of different bird species and camp-friendly capybara and marsh deer. It can be somewhat unnerving to walk to your tent in the dark only to hear rustling in the bush/grass mere feet away from you and see glowing capybara eyes staring back at you. It’s all part of the experience which is why we go on these trips. The tents were extremely comfortable and the sounds of the night with the owls, insects, frogs, etc were amazing to hear. We also saw a couple of downed trees from the intense storm the night before and were reminded how thankful we were to be in the house.

Fishing Day 3 - We continued to fish the southern portion of the marsh which is much more open with larger lagoons. Obviously some fish are around due to the number of Caiman we saw. The caiman were everywhere! They apparently like poppers. A full-on charge to the popper was for sure exciting to watch. Our guides comment “Dave that’s not a good idea!” He was right - these things are 6-8 feet long so I happily pulled my popper out of it’s way!

We worked the edges of the marsh and caught fish and had a great time. In the late afternoon is was time to head back to the dock for the transfer to La Alondra to prepare for our final move to the Jetu'u lodge on the Ysoro Marsh. We heard the other crew’s stories and enjoyed a good visit.

Day 4 - We headed to Jetu'u and the other crew headed to the “big” water of the Upper Parana at Itati. They were going trophy hunting and we were going to find some more action. We were supposed to fly to expedite the transfer but the ground was still too wet from the big storm so we ended up driving. It took about 2.5 hours.

Once at Jetu'u we settled in for the next 3 nights. We re-rigged fishing gear and prepared to hit the Ysoro Wetlands. These Wetlands are formed from the “spill over” from the Parana so the water is definitely coloured unlike the much clearer Iberia wetland.

The Dorado don’t care about dirty water. They have completely adapted to kill things in dirty water. Very quickly from the start of our fishing we noticed that the fish were larger on average. The first afternoon we saw multiple fish in the 5-8 pound range.Those are good dorado.

The fishing was overall excellent in Ysoro. We did try a day on the Parana for “the big one” and Nancy landed a couple in the 8-10 pound range while I got blanked! Lunch was a huge highlight. Wine, great food, and a siesta make a great combo before getting back to casting! Working the big water of the Parana just requires work. But if you want a chance at a 20+ pounder you need to put in the work.

Rod headed back into the wetland to finish off the day and had excellent fishing, a good plan. I personally prefer the more technical casting in the smaller water to hit “the spots” within the wetland proper with a much higher chance of success. It was actually astonishing how close you needed to be, in places, to “the spot”. I’m talking within 1-2 inches from the bank. If your fly was 6” from the bank the fish would NOT come to it. This level of accuracy made for some fun fishing! Other area’s we would “swing flies” for fish holding in mid river riffles. The variety of casting situations we encountered was rewarding. With the average size of the fish being 5-8 pounds and the constant casting your “burnt” fingers and sore arms let you know you’ve been fishing hard. Dorado are spectacular fish and they definitely have “moods” so you just have to keep putting the fly where they are and you will be successful. Ysoro was a truly enjoyable place to spend time. The lodge staff were exceptional, the meals out of this world, and the relaxed atmosphere of being on the edge of the wetland is everything I look for in a fishing operation.

To have seen the two very different wetlands made for an exceptional trip.

Thanks to Andy, Carlos, Tete and Juan for guiding us. An excellent guide team who know what they are doing. SET is first class fishing operation in all regards.

The charter flight back to BA was uneventful after having to wait an extra hour due to very strong winds that delayed our pick up. For anyone heading home you can leave Saturday evening as the flights leave around 10 pm for the overnight flight back to North America.