The Middle Parana is the section between the confluence of the Paraguay River and the surrounding area of Diamante, where the river changes its shore erosion from east to west and begins the Predelta. For some people, the Parana starts in “Empedrado”, at the end of the big stones (a typical structure of “Alto Parana”), although most are inclined towards the Paraguay meeting, which dramatically changes the water quality with its sediment load.

On the side of Corrientes, the main features are the ravine, the proximity of the male channel and permanent drainages from the interior of the province. These last ones, in form of rivers and streams that bring sewage (tea-colored) from the estuaries fed by rain.

On the Santa Fe side, the Delta is much larger, flat and rambling, with a smaller proportion of black water because of lack of estuaries.

As a geographical example, while in “Esquina” the Parana channel is 2 linear km (as the crow flies), in San Javier the distance exceeds 25 km of Delta. This is the fishing area, and is not usual to fly-fish in the main channel of the Parana.

For a while, I wanted to fly fish in San Javier, one of the most promising sites in the Middle section. We settled in at the lodge, located 20 km north of San Javier town. With an infrastructure of a small farm, this lodge is an extremely beautiful and quiet place, ideal for a fisherman with his family. We have a swimming pool, horse riding at sunset and guided tours in charge of our experts.

A powerful attraction of San Javier lodge is that we practically fish everything from firm land or wading. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy fishing from a boat, but doing it on foot, like the old Patagonian style is much more fun. As a precaution from rays, we must always drag our feet on the bottom. Another advantage is the short navigation time (25-30 minutes from the lodge).

At this point, the action was divided into two groups: an abundant catch of small dorados with light equipment and the search of much bigger dorados. While fishes of 2-4 pounds were easy to find, larger fishes of 8-14 pounds demanded approaches in very specific places. After catching dozens of little dorados, Martin and I decided to try something different. What if we throw a fly on the surface? Would the fishes come up? On what way..?

San Javier has excellent dorados, but requires a trained eye to locate them. Luckily, Fabian Boxler and Martin Ruiz, our guides, have a unique sense that connects them with the best fishes of the place.

And this is how Martin and Fabian took us to their hidden spots, where the biggest dorados can be found. One of the spot was a ravine where Paul caught three beautiful specimens. Then it was my turn, in a wide fast flowing stream, a huge dorado took the bait. I felt like the nylon runner of 0,5 mm was about to break. It was an excellent experience.

After a long day of pure fun, we return to the lodge with the sunset in front of our eyes. When we arrived, an exquisite Argentinian appetizer and a wonderful dinner were waiting for us.

On the next day we had planned to take our customers Daniel and Damian to the field for some dove combo.

Doves were flying in large volumes as our customers expected. I still remember the incredible amount of doves flying around cultivated fields and around wells and wet areas in search of food and water.

One of the things we believed allow us to have such a great time was the weather. It is spring and we had some days in the field with 25°C to 32° C at noon.

It is always a great pleasure for all of us at Pointer Wingshooting to have a large number of guests and to be able to offer such a high quality in accommodation and hunting.

Our lodges are having high occupancy and this make us feel very proud. We will be waiting for you in the next months for some more fun.

FOR MORE INFO VISIT SAN JAVIER LODGE

Pablo Aguiló

Pointer Wingshooting