Golden Dorado Seasons – When are the best times to go?

This question used to be a simple one to answer. Now, with the 3 separate destinations available in the Golden Dorado Experience it’s a bit more complex, but worth studying because of the variety of conditions where you can target the most famous and sought-after species of South American game fish.

Our three unique lodges, Jetu’u Cabañas de Esteros, Itati, and La Alondra’i, are all connected to the Parana River in various ways. This river basin is a huge area composed of a broad and diverse geography (explained in more detail at Home of the Largest Golden Dorado the Parana River). While the Upper Parana (Itati Lodge) is affected by the summer rains in southern Brazil, the Middle Parana section, by way of the Paraguay River, is influenced by the rainfall in the Andes Mountain jungles of Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. These two different headwaters of the Parana river are separated by 1,500 miles, and combined with local precipitation on each river section of the Parana, will determine the current fishing conditions.

These seasonal fluctuations of the level and temperature of the water have a direct relationship to the migrations and spawning of Golden Dorados.

In order to help our guests make the best decision about when to book their Dorado Experience, we created a graphic to simplify and understand the seasons for each of the lodges. On the chart you’ll find: time of the year, average air temperature, and normal fishing activity.