couldn’t get the rod down. The Dorado has a strong mouth and big teeth, so if you don’t set the hook properly; the chances of landing a Dorado are small.
The right way of setting the hook is let the rod down, pointing to the fish, and pull hard the line with the hand that you use for stripping. I had fished for trout my entire life, so this was the opposite from what I had done since I was a kid.
As soon as they feel the tension of the line, they jump and split the fly in your face. One of these times a Dorado took my fly and I finally left the rod down and hooked him. It wasn´t huge but it was my first Dorado on a fly, I was very excited.
When you see a big log and fast water hitting it, there are lots of chances of finding a Dorado in front. It was almost the end of the day, we were casting to the bank and a perfect spot was getting close. The risk of losing the fly was big because the branches were almost touching the water. My friend, who was at the front of the boat had the first shot with no success. I had many more flies in my box than Dorado I had ever caught, so I tried to do a better cast and put the fly right in front of the log. With some luck it went under the branches and landed in the fast water, 2 feet in front of the log. As soon as it hit the water, a brave Dorado takes it, jumps, and swims toward the boat. That´s what they do when they are larger, they swim fast to the middle of the river. I left the rod down and set the hook properly when he took it, but then I lost the tension when he swam to the boat, and you know what happens then.
That time I was the one who had been caught; the light, the weather, the spot, my cast, the Dorado jumping. Everything was so perfect that I couldn´t wait till the next winter to come back. I went again that winter and many other times to chase the river tiger.