Dorado: The Golden Salmon
by Kdu Magalhaes

About the author: Capt. Kdu Magalhaes is the only IGFA Certified Captain in Brazil. During Brazil´s summer period (November/March) he fishes in his 32' Sportfisherman for billfish at Rio de Janeiro and Cabo Frio. In the colder months he goes to the Amazon for new adventures.
His site is: http://www.fishing-in-rio.com/
Xingu`s Ranch site is: http://www.ranchoxingu.com.br/

     There are two fish I love: The marlin in the sea, and the dorado in the rivers. The biggest marlin I ever caught was 821 pounds. The biggest dorado weighted only 31. But pound for pound, I think it is a fiercer fighter.

The toothy head of the mighty dorado

Kdu's pal, Diego, with another beautiful specimen

     The best places to catch dorado in Brazil are in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, near the border with Paraguay, and in the state of Parana, near the border with Argentina. The IGFA world record now is a 51-lb. 5-oz, caught at Corrientes, Argentina.

     The Salminus maximilosus looks like a salmon, but his color is yellow. When it jumps out the water, and the sunlight hits, it really looks as it's made of pure gold. And he is really mean. In the last four years I had an average of catching only one marlin for every four strikes.

Kdu displays a nice dorado

With the dorado my ratio is 1 to 5. But in slow waters my ratio improves a lot. There is a big difference between fishing in slow rivers and fishing in the rapids. The dorado knows how to use the strength of the river at his favor very well. But I never fish for dorado in slow water. The reason is that in the last years, I discovered a fast moving river 100 miles away from the city of Rio de Janeiro, where the fish are smaller but more plentiful. It is the river Paraiba do Sul, near the border with the State of Minas Gerais; a three hour drive from my home at Rio.

     It is interesting to know the Dorado is not a native fish of this river. It was introduced in 1946, and as he was the strongest fish in its new ecosystem, he prospered, and today the natives call him the River King. He almost exterminated the natives piabanhas, the native Piabanhas and the Pintados (catfish that reach 50 pounds). Now his only competitors are the snook, that travels 200 miles from the sea, to spawn up river.

The native Piabanhas

Snook make their way up the river to spawn.

A cousin of the Piranha, the Tambacu.

Rapids del Rio Paraiba

New species like the peacock bass and the tambacu, a cousin of the piranha, the tambacu also were introduced in the paraiba with great success. Even though tambacu can reach 60 pounds, it is not a match to the mean dorado.      The Paraiba River is full of rapids, Rapids del Rio Paraiba and you need to know they very well to be able to navigate on it. But in some areas it spreads almost to 500 yards and becomes very slow. You do not find dorado in those places. These are peacock bass, piabanha, and tambacu hideaways. And by the way: The local peacock bass are small, never reaching more than 6 pounds. There is another fish that I love to fish for with bait casting gear and Mepps spinners. It is the jacundá.

The colorful Jacunda.

A beautiful fish that jumps a lot. Another interesting fish is the prehistoric cascudo An ancient catfish, the cascudo and the piau. Not because they are difficult to catch. But because they are delicious.

     The local people have three ways for fishing dorado. One using a kind of eel as a live bait, going slowly down river. Another is using the same eel strongly tied to a # 9 hook, casting at the rapids. Trolling with Countdown Rapalas from 11 RH Magnum up to 18 RH give the best results. I think that a good fly fisherman would be able to catch a lot of them. As I am a lousy one, the only time I tried, I lost a lot of fish and equipment.

Bait!

An ancient catfish, the Cascudo.

The river is beautiful. In the last century there was a lot of sugar cane mills at its margins. Today almost all are deactived. But their long chimneys can be seen everywhere. There is an eighteenth century sugar farm that is worth seeing. Even if you don't fish, the river is so interesting it is worth a visit. It's margins are full of many kinds of birds and animals. The capybaras (a very big guinea pig) The world's largest rodent, the capybara can be easily found in big herds. The hunting of this animal is strictly forbidden. A local farmer furious with the mess that she and her friends did at his cornfield killed the one in the photo. I saw him shoot her on the other side of the river, at least 300 yards up stream. She jumped into the river, swam to where I was, and only then died. As the meat is very good, I skinned her, and to my surprise, I found a .44 caliber bullet in her heart. A very strong animal. The best season goes from August to April. But between December and February, the fishing is not allowed. In the last years the fish stock has improved a lot. Local authorities are financing new fish farms to repopulate the river. The nets are banned, and their former owners are being trained and financed to become fishing guides. The best place to stay is the city of Itaocara . Local guides charge 100 dollars a full day trip. The boats they use are 17-foot aluminum with 15hp outboards.

One of the ancient sugar mills that line the river The world's largest rodent, the capybara