When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Ecuador, they were looking for gold. The Incas found most of their gold in the headwaters of the Amazon. I recently found gold in the Ecuadorian Amazon…golden gold.
I have spent 25 years on the rivers of Ecuador leading kayaking and fishing trips. Three years ago I decided to look for gold. Most of the dorado fishing occurs in Bolivia or northern Argentina. It just didn’t make sense to me that Ecuador, with such similar topography, didn’t also have golden dorado.
As a fly fishing guide, one of the most fun and sometimes challenging aspects of the job is finding new fishing opportunities. It’s not unusual for my friend and co-guide, Bob Gernandt, and I to float a stretch of river we’ve never seen to develop a new fishing destination. Doing this in another country can be a little more complicated, especially when you enter one of the largest jungles in the world.
Golden Golden Help
We depended on local river transportation. Indigenous communities have used canoes for centuries to transport people and goods in the roadless jungle. These canoes are 12 meter long boats carved from the trunk of a tree. We were able to see three different sections of river using these narrow, incredibly tiltable canoes. The advantage is that these boats can navigate white water while moving against the current with a 40 horsepower outboard. They are almost impossible to stand on, so they are not the best platform for casting an 8-weight fly rod. Finally we transported a raft and fishing frame upstream to float a section of the river.
It didn’t take long to catch several Ecuadorian dorado as well as another species of fish called tarpon. Shad fry are the dorado’s favorite food, so they are likely to be found together. If the tarpon survives the dorado, it will become a great sport fish. Their shape is similar to that of a largemouth bass, but they are much more aggressive and fighting. Dorado prefer rapids and fast water in the riffle wash, while shad prefer smooth, fast water between rapids. It presents an ideal situation for fishing because there is no downtime!
Once you catch a golden dorado, you will be hooked for life. These are some of the hardest hitting, fighting and highest jumping fish in the world. I can’t wait to snag more gold.
