Golden Dream

Beautiful Curuzú Chalí The City of La Paz is situated in front of one of the most important fish reservations in the entire Paraná River basin, known as the Curuzú Chalí Ichthyic Reserve. This endless network of lagoons, creeks, rivers and streams spreading across more than 15 thousand hectares is the habitat chosen by hunting fish to lie in wait for their prey. Clear and quiet waters or rapid streams with much oxygenation, with shallow as well as very deep areas, make up a real paradise for sport fishermen who come along to enjoy such varied techniques as spinning or fly-casting. Any of them is useful to tempt the dorado, one of the largest carnivorous and fighting fish that dwells in the Paraná River. Famous for its colors and shades, this is one of the most beautiful fish living in the Paraná and its islands.

As Mystic As Gold The first primitive peoples that dwelled in the area used it as food, though they would pay tribute to the god of gold first, as they believed its existence was the result of a divine favor. Even the Spanish conquerors were fascinated by its beauty and voracity, something unusual in the European fish. As time went by, literature was in charge of documenting its existence. Horacio Quiroga made a perfect description of it in his book “Juntle Tales”. Brilliant and unforgettable Haroldo Conti brightly told the difference between the two existing kinds of dorados in his book “Southeast” and, finally, Roberto Zapico Antuña, maybe the first fishermen writer in the 1960s and 70s, dedicated an entire book to this fish, which unfortunately was never edited again: “El dorado”. A Paradise for the Angler Just like all the cities that have developed on the banks of the Paraná River, La Paz has marvelous urban legends and myths about huge dorados which have never been caught and which have left track of their existence. The cliffs, the flumes and the thousands of water hyacinths wandering downstream contribute with an appropriate atmosphere in which fishing is part of an adventure that not only consists in catching a fish but also in surrendering oneself to the landscape with absolute peacefulness. The courtesy of releasing the fish back into the water is carried out by the anglers in order to enjoy their favorite sport without putting an end to the life of their partner of adventures, one of the most beautiful fish on the planet which, along with the surubí, dwells in the Plata basin.