Tsimane – Bolivia Golden Dorado Fly Fishing: Golden Dorado. Need we say more? A target species and angling experience that has captured the imaginations and hearts of anglers across the world. A beautiful, predatory freshwater fish that inhabits some of the most unique fisheries in South America and enlists thousands of years of evolutionary instinct to hunt as an apex individual or as a synchronized “pack”, working as one. It is a fish that would attract the attention of sportsman regardless of where they lived simply based on their violent, aggressive temperament and stunning visual appearance, however; when inhabiting the small, intimate waters of the Tsimane Indigineous Territory of Bolivia, this is quite simply one of the most special fishing experiences and trips WorldCast has ever experienced.
Fly Fishing and Cultural Experience
Nestled into the Sub-Andean strip of the tropical Andes between Peru and Bolivia, the Tsimane Lodges are located in a native community National Park and jungle ecosystem that has essentially remained untouched by the modern world. The first of its kind, this joint venture between a private company and a group of indigenous tribes in the world of sport fishing, has produced a highly successful service that positively impacts the economic standing of the native community while also providing a highly unique and sought after fishing adventure to international tourists. One of the highlights of the Tsimane program is the hands-on involvement by members of the native tribes in the day to day operations of the business. The Tsimane natives participate actively in the guiding, sharing their ancestral knowledge for the ecosystem and fish, creating an amazing cultural learning experience that is regarded as memorable as the fishing. It has been over 500 years since these tribes were first exposed to European settlers, yet they maintain a genuine, intact lifestyle as nomads, hunters and fishermen, living in tune with their local ecosystem and continuing the cultivation and practice of a mythology that is directly tied to their local environment. This is a cultural experience seamlessly blended into a fishing trip that is relatively incomparable in the destination travel realm.
Famous Golden Dorado
The Dorado fishing offered at the Tsimane Lodges is one of the pinnacles of freshwater sport fishing. The Dorado itself is a fish designed for the modern angler. Their immaculate beauty, unique shape and coloring are only matched by their aggressiveness and predatory instincts. They are a highly migratory fish that inhabit the Tsimane waters on a seasonal basis as they pursue the migrating bait fish called Sabalo. The Dorado behave in many ways like a predatory Brown Trout would in the small stream environment but they also have moments and tendencies to instinctually work as a school or pack to hunt the Sabalo in a series of epic blitzes, chasing the baitfish into the shallows and exploding on them as only a Tuna on a bait ball could. This unbelievable fishing spectacle is played out in a jungle environment on wild, freestone streams with clear water and ample fish holding structure varying from small, steep gradient pocket water featuring large rounded boulders and small pools to bigger, slower moving sections of sandy bottom riverbed where tailouts, log jams and other downed timber provide the perfect ambush structure for these voracious predators. Over 90% of the fishing is done by foot, wet wading these various river sections, highlighting the intimate angling environment that we travel the world for and covet so very much.
Diversity in Lodge Options
Tsimane offers three different lodges and areas in their fishing program: The Pluma, The Secure and The Agua Negra. Each lodge offers a different experience in a different portion of the river system that the Tsimane program calls home. Depending on each angler’s interests and expectations from a fishing stand point, the size of the group and their keenness for adventure, Tsimane has the right lodge for everyone. Each lodge is built with sustainable sourced wood from the nearby jungle and operated as a very comfortable “camp” built with fully furnished double occupancy cabins or tents and a main dining, social space. There is hot water, wifi and laundry available at all operations and a very modern, elegant international cuisine and full bar to sublimely round out this wild, remote experience.
A Truly Special Place
WCA Head Guide Vance Freed has been fishing and traveling to fish for quite some time. When he returned from his first trip to Tsimane in the fall of 2021, he glowed about the experience: “We witnessed some remarkable encounters with nature that defy description and only take place in foreign, far away lands like the Bolivian jungle. This was the most remarkable fishery we had ever seen and made immediate plans to go back.” What started as a “bucket list” trip idea quickly evolved into an every year rebooking. Simply put, it was that special.
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