The weather was cool and partly cloudy with light wind. The water was fairly high and an off-colored orange/brown from substantial rains upstream in southern Brazil. According to Enzo, the fishing had slowed, but some large fish had still been caught recently. The water quality made me nervous, but I was anxious to see what this place was all about.
In terms of fishing, La Zona is exceptional! Even though our group had "slow" fishing by La Zona standards, we still managed to put up respectable numbers each day. My boat had Steve Townson, Gene Scott and our awesome guide, Elvis. We fished together all four days and had a blast, with much joking and overall good chemistry betweeen us. Gene started the trophy quest, by landing a healthy 42 lber below the dam on a Rapala X-Rap Mag 20! Steve and I were envious, made worse by the loads of fish busting the surface below the dam all around us! I can't remember if Gene caught the fish on day 1 or 2, but he was the first of our group to break the 40 pound mark. On day 3, I lost a 50lb plus fish in the exposed rocks during a low water discharge period. I was casting a 6 1/2" orange Sebile Stick Shad near the rocks and the large fish was hooked, jumped out of the water and headed upstream, only to break my line off in the rocks! Steve Townson landed a nice 40lber on a lighter weight spinning outfit in the shallow rocks near the far downstream edge of La Zona. He fought the fish beautifully, his angling skills evident in how he played the fish. Finally during the morning session of day 4, I landed a nice 42 pounder on a Rapala Shad Rap in the shallow rocks, not far from where Steve had caught his. The largest fish of the trip was caught in rather dramatic fashion, since our boat was making the last run below the dam before heading back to the lodge on our last day. It was about 5:45 pm and the sun was setting as we cast our plugs into the current immediately below the dam, letting the current carry the lures downstream before we began our retrieve. Steve hooked up with a nice fish moments before I hooked a 48 pound monster on my Rapala CD 18 in yellow/gold. I fought the fish roughly 15 minutes as our boat drifted downstream, this fish wouldn't stop! It was the best fight I've ever experienced from a freshwater fish, I loved every minute of it. When the fish was landed, only one tine of each treble hook was embedded in the fishes' cheek! If it wasn't an Owner hook, I probably wouldn't have landed that fish. More on the awesome lodge and staff of La Zona later.....
