Double Dorado!
Thursday, October 27th: Santa Elena, Argentina (+Santa Fe, Argentina)
It was day #3 of fishing, but our first out of Santa Elena. We had a light breakfast and drove 100 yards down the hill to meet our new guides on the beach – Juan and Roberto. Similar to Ramon, and unlike Toco, these guides trolled slower, closer to the bank, and re-ran drifts when it was worth it. The surrounding land in Santa Elena was higher along the edge of the river with rocky cliffs towering above in formations that reminded us of the Badlands a bit.
Liz caught a palometa – a carnivorous fish and relative to the Parana with razor-sharp teeth – and a small dorado in the morning. Tim and Matt each caught a few 3-pounders. The dorado seemed smaller here, but more plentiful. We pulled up to a flat grassy spot that backed into the forest and hills for lunch. We had milanesa sandwiches – or tortas.
In the afternoon, Matt and Liz fished together with Roberto. We had several strikes, misses, fights and fish in the boat, including a double header. It seemed unlikely after Liz had lost three fish in a row on the bait caster, but she finally found redemption at the opportune time. Roberto was intrigued by Matt’s Walmart branded Great Value energy packet, so we gave him one to try and he seemed to like it… or at least pretended to.
As the sun started to set, we pulled onto the beach, ran up for a quick dinner – papas fritas that we oily and airy, salad, lasagna and ice cream – and Matt drove Liz all the way 2.5 hours south to Santa Fe, which was the closest city with reasonable WiFi. We arrived around midnight and checked into the Los Silos hotel attached to the casino. Matt drove back to Santa Elena for less than three hours of shut eye.
Accommodations: Bahia Rosales, Santa Elena / Los Silos, Santa Fe, Argentina
