(EL) Dorado, In Search of the Gilded One

“Over the Mountains of the Moon, down the Valley of the Shadow,ride, boldly ride... if you seek El Dorado” (From an 1847 poem by Edgar Allan Poe) El Dorado, Spanish for “the Gilded One” was originally used to describe a mythical tribal chief, who, as an initiation ritual, covered himself in gold dust and submerged in Lake Guatavita in then Spanish colonial Columbia. Over time the legend surrounding El Dorado changed from being a man, to a city, to a kingdom, to an empire and finally to an elusive bejewelled golden fish. Murray Raw with a magnificent Dorado caught with a live Sugar Mackerel on a circle hook. Spanish conquistadores, German adventurers and English explorers all searched for this mythical city of gold and precious jewels and source of untold riches. Their searches led to war, wasted countless lives, drove some to madness and suicide and put others under the executioner’s axe. Today the term ‘El Dorado’ is sometimes used to represent an ultimate prize or “Holy Grail” that one might spend one’s lifetime seeking. It is also used to refer to an elusive fish coated in gold and blue sapphire that arrives in our waters during October of each year only to disappear again in January. Named after the mythical chief it resembles, it is simply called Dorado! Rumours of the Dorado’s arrival at Cape Vidal quickly spread and, as the explorers of bygone years, we went in search of treasure. At first light, after a cold and rainy night we, without mishap, launched through a big surf. I was searching for live bait when I met four other adventurers, brothers Jason, Murray, Angus and Donovan Raw, who had also heard the rumours. Bait was plentiful and soon we were all pulling live Maasbanker and Sugar Mackerel behind our kayaks – the favourite prey fish of the Dorado. I headed out to water of between 30 and 40m deep as this is where Dorado prefer to hunt. All of a sudden, a reel screamed, and behind me a large golden fish flashed out of the water into the sky. But then the taught line went slack, and the fish was gone. No amount of cursing could bring it back. A few minutes later a reel called me to action again. This time the hook-up was solid and after a short intensive battle, a smallish Dorado, my first of the season, was in the hatch. Author with his biggest fish of the day – a Dorado of around 13kg. Whales were playing and breaching close to us. Without warning a whale surfaced between two of the brothers. They paddled frantically to get away from it. They were still paddling when there was a bend in Donald’s rod. A large Dorado was doing aerial gymnastics behind his kayak! Greed got the better of him as he forced the fish to his kayak and put the gaff into it. Big mistake! Never, ever gaff a green Dorado! Next moment Donald’s gaff was cartwheeling 3m into the sky as the Dorado jumped back into the water. Donald was frantically trying to pull the Dorado back to his kayak while his gaff was drifting just out of reach. Without a gaff he had no hope of landing the fish. I paddled up to him, gave him my gaff and set off after his still floating gaff. As I retrieved his gaff, Donald boated a magnificent bull Dorado. Brothers Jason, Murray, Angus and Donovan Raw with their catch of the day – 6 fish between four anglers. Donovan is holding the Dorado that had his gaff cartwheeling 3m into the sky. Jason Raw with two gilded fish. Brother Angus was not to be left out of the action. “Something” took the Sugar Mackerel swimming behind his kayak and after a few minutes he could see the fish’s shine under the water but could still not make out what was on the end of the line. Then without notice a large sailfish jumped next to his kayak and landed on top of him with the bill over his right shoulder! The fish went crazy and for a moment the sail wrapped around his head, but he was able to shrug it off. It fell back into the water and screamed off and when it jumped again was on the wrong side of the kayak. The line chafed on something underneath and sadly parted, but fortunately Angus was unscathed. Another reel screamed! This time it was mine. A decent Dorado was jumping behind me and my rod was bending like crazy. After witnessing the Donald spectacle, I took my time in playing the fish. After what felt like an eternity, worrying about the hook pulling or a shark taking it, I could see an astonishingly beautiful creature in the clear water under me. There are no words to describe the fish’s fluorescent gold, yellow and blue colours. I coaxed it to the gaff and soon it was safely in the hatch. As the fish lost its struggle to live, the sea gods claimed the gold and jewels as the amazing colours faded to a dull green. Kyle Spires with a 12kg Dorado caught on a live Maasbanker. We came in search of the mythical (El) Dorado. It is the ultimate prize, the “Holy Grail”. Some spend a lifetime seeking it. We found it but then lost the gold and jewels to the fabled sea gods. We will continue our search.