# Holiday Fishing



## tornasol (Nov 8, 2006)

I`b been on holydays with the family from 25 dec to 10 jan in Punta del Este, a nice resort here in Uruguay. and a very good place to go fishing.. in the times my family allowed me.. :roll: 

My main targets were Black Drum and Flounder and really nothing else... 
Here its relatively easy to catch Corvina Rubia o Blanca (Micropogonias furnieri) or Whitemouth Croaker, a member of the Drum family... in the smaller sizes... from 0.2 to 1 kg ... only you need some rocky place with moving water or moving dark water and some shrimp or mussels in the hook.

So *first day *went to a river bar, La Barra, for Drum with the long rods, 6/0 hooks with a peeler crab each, the Kompressor S and the Abu Suveran XP with the Daiwas X 20 SHA with 0.4 and 0.37 mm line, 0.70 mm leader and 150 to 200 gs lead over the banks and into the gullets..... and nothing... as allways.. 





















*2nd fishing*, early morning for flounder in Portezuelo, a nice sandy beach, slowly bait-casting 2 big baits whole Pejerrey, _Odontestes platensis_, Silversides? fillets maybe 12 to 20 cm long in 6/0 hooks, with 80 cm 0.60 mm traces in a flapper rig and a long 40 to 80 gs lead, a 2.4 to 2.7 rod, 0.30 mm line and short casting not more than 40 mt over the bank and retrieving and playing them slowly up to the shore... riding a sandy beach looking for good places and nothing until I meet with a 3 friends that one had a 8.5 kg and a 3 kg Flounder, Paralichtys brasiliensis or Brasilian flounder, a wonderful catch!!! 




















One of the finest fish you can eat here... so I kept fishing until I get a 0.5 kg one!! :? that at least get me some cooking one to take home....


3rd try, Went to the bar of Garzón lagoon with some non-fishing friends to camP at night...
Drums where nowere in the fishing spot, a deep oceanic beach with some soft rocks full of mussels that and a lagoon bar that sometimes opens so fish go to freeze and eat crabs...










I moved a km up the beach up to a sunken boat very near the beach and got to the same habit.. long rods with crabs one inside the bank and other past it :roll: ... and again beguin the flounder search ...
Suddenly with the bait in the final breaker I felt a bite, :x ... loosen the line and waited for the expected flounder to eat his catch, sometimes it takes 20 to 60 secs of very nervous seconds as it first catchs the pray with its big protruding mouth and teeth and then proceeds parsimoniusly to eat it... is can reject it or simple open his mouth and you get nothing.. Then I hit the rod and it began to fight very nicely with powerful head blows... that was not the acostumed fight and after some minutes aided by the waves and a gaff I ended with a beautiful Corvina Rubia of 4 Kg, a very nice size and fight in the light gear...












Soon it followed another, same lenght but 2 kg and catched with a 2.4 mt 40 lb rod instead of the first in a 2.35 30 lb boat rod .. 

It is not common to catch Corvina with big fish fillets but I had our camp asado (barbecue) safe and as it came a storm and began raining strongly we went to the camp site...










Then I caught some Siri Crabs (Blue one) and cooked fish and a Siri Risotto and ate, drink and chatted a lot with my good old friends and lots of red Tannat wine... 





























After that I went to sleep very well maybe at 2 AM thinking if I needed to go have a look at the beach as Drum feeds better at night or also Sharks come closer and I havn`t ever tryed them... but the wine won the battle :roll: :roll: :? 

I made a terrible mistake that night that way... and that I learnt in the morning.... :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:  

Next morning... an early wake up and again in the beach, the weater was very fine... no people in the sites... and again waiting for the drums till 11 AM as the water was not good to search for the flounders... 










No bites ... so time to move to other fishing place, La Barra again ... some few fishermen... I install, cast my rods and waiting again...

Suddenly comes another fishermen... he tell me, yesterday night there was a very big *pique* (fish run)... they took out maybe 100 fish from 20 to 35 kg... all big an they loose lots of fish as the fish run out after biting and they couldn´t stop them before spooling up the reels or cutting the line with the rocks.... :?   :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: 

Imagine I was sleeping maybe 1500 mt from there... it completely ruined my life....

So after a couple of hours in La Barra I went again to Garzón (30 km..) to wait for the sure pique of the evening-night..

Of course at the evening we had maybe 150 rods in the water in a 300 mt strip of beach and 100 more ready in the stakes... and up till I left at 10 PM there where no bites.. only a Chucho , Southern Cownose Ray of maybe 15 kg, that put all people anxious.... that night only 3 drums bited later... 





















A couple if La Barra fisheries, more family and other time in Garzón waiting for the Drums and I get no one... beautiful conditions and no Drums... 

A nice Lenguado, Paralichtys brasiliensis or Brasilian flounder of 5 kg tht gave an interesting bite an a good figh in the light gear, the fishing size here is between 0.2 to 10 kg with the record in 13 kg, I had inly get a 7 kg ones previously spearfishing time ago.. They are excellent in for cooking!!! :mrgreen: 



















It did really good in the pan with butter, pepper and alcaparras!!!  

A couple of fisheries more for drum and flounder and no fish at all...

The last I went by La Barra and they had already 3 Drums out (4 to 12 kg, Criolls size we call them..) and there where nice conditions but I preferred to go to Garzon again to wait for the very bigs ones .... and that was a bad choice... :evil: as usual the Drum did not show... only I get a maybe 15 kg Chucho , here with my nephew very frightened...



















It was the first big fish i get in The Kompressor S and It worked very good.. after the photo it was releasd... it is also good for the pan, but not one of the bests fish here... and not the thing you expect when a crab baited rod in a Corvina place get the tip down...


and someone a 3 kg Corvina Rubia...

I lost maybe 8 rigs in the bottom or casting that time... :evil: 

In La Barra they caught maybe some 6 to 8 Criollas more that time, between maybe 30 rods...  

But it´s nice to be fishing and I will continue waiting and searching for a Gigantic Drum and a Gigantic Flounder in the weekends and years to come... :ugeek: the search will be a pleasure...











I should improve my records of the 5 kg flounder (easy) also you can fish for it October to March and Drum 22.5 Kg from November to February (hard)... :roll: 

Otherwise beguin training the new generation hoping they will have some good fish when they grow...












Regards and a good 2010 fishing time to all :mrgreen: 

Nico / Torna


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## Hudak (Sep 10, 2007)

Looks like a great time!!

Robert


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## Fishinbuddy (Mar 11, 2009)

Nice report. I am jealous of the nice weather. I am tired of being cold.


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## AL_N_VB (Apr 3, 2002)

That flounder looks like a mini halibut! A lot of boaters would have been jealous of that catch from the beach! Nice work!


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## bstarling (Apr 24, 2005)

That looks like paradise to me! Very nice report, thanks.

Bill:fishing:


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## Hooked Up (Feb 6, 2009)

im intrested in your second to last pic of the staked rod............whats the distance from the center of the reel seat to the first guide...........thank you


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## tornasol (Nov 8, 2006)

Thanks all!!

The rod in the stake is a Century Kompressor Sport, factory built, I use the reel maybe 35 cm from the butt and use the reducer to reel in (in fact cast with the reel down and dont take it out for casting) It comes with a century sliding reel seat but I havn´t tryed it yet, use 1 coaster down and rubber bands on top.
The one in my hand is the Abu Suveran XP also factory built and I use it in the same manner. It comes with a sliding Abu grip lock that works but needs to be supplemented so that it doesn´t slides..

If you want I can measure the distance


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## billr87 (Jan 13, 2008)

mr. T. read your post, looked at pictures, got up looked outside. 27deg., snow is almost gone, went back to computer, looked at pics again and cried. what a way to start the day.


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## tornasol (Nov 8, 2006)

Sorry Bill, not intended to harm anyone....

Otherwise, you go drumming when us here are inside infront of the fire.....

The problems of globalisation...



From what I read in your forums halibuts are really bigger than ours lenguados??

Also we don´t fish for them from boats, they are in the beaches in the first gullet or over yhe banks and in the mouth of rivers and lagoons..


Regards


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## billr87 (Jan 13, 2008)

mr.T. here in delaware we are sort of in between. the red drum rarely stray this far north, and halibut are a much colder water fish.we do get[my favorite] striped bass, blues, trout, flounder, and tautog. but from mid dec. til late march we are in a very slow, almost dead period. but, keep it up and enjoy yourself. good fishing. bill


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## billr87 (Jan 13, 2008)

mr.T. those flounder are whatwe dream about. here in delaware they had to be 18.5in. to keep.before i left for texas last sept., in a three week period using fresh mullet i caught over 300 flounder. i didn't get one keeper. i think i should get some kind of booby prise for that. but, i had the pleasure of catching and releasing them.


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