PESCAMAPA
Practical guide

When to fish surubí: there is no single season, it follows the water

Autumn and spring on the middle Paraná, the cold months on the Upper Paraná, and October at Concordia.

By Equipo Pescamapa · · Updated

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Short answer. Surubí has no single season: it changes with the stretch of river. On the middle Paraná (Goya, Esquina, La Paz) activity comes together in autumn and spring; on the Upper Paraná (Itá Ibaté, Paso de la Patria) trolling anglers look for it in deep holes in cold water; on the Uruguay River, below the Salto Grande dam, guides talk about a run from late September to mid-November. You can fish it in other months: these are the windows where conditions tend to line up.

Which months are best?

StretchWindowWhat the sources say
Uruguay River (Concordia, below Salto Grande)Late September to mid-November; peak in OctoberGuide Martín: “It is a shoal of surubí that moved in; every year around this date we always catch them”. Guide Ezequiel, asked what the season is: “in October and mid next month; it also started a few days earlier, in late September” (MDS channel video, in Spanish, our translation)
Middle Paraná (Goya, Esquina, La Paz)Autumn and springMatías Jalil, a professional guide in Esquina, explains that at certain times of year you should check whether the surubí’s belly is brown, a sign it is settling on the bottom and not feeding; if it is swimming, it is active (video). Fishing World Guide gives March to June as the best season (page)
Upper Paraná (Itá Ibaté, Paso de la Patria, Yahapé)Cold months and the end of winterPablo and Valentín Di Santi (Tiempo de Pesca) show a surubí of about 70 kg at Itá Ibaté, caught trolling at first light (video), and another of 1.52 m at Paso de la Patria with guide Monchi (video)

Only the Concordia window is stated in months by the sources we checked; the other two are our reading of what the videos and pages show, and we offer them as guidance.

Why each source says a different month

Because surubí changes behaviour with temperature, and technique changes with it. Our reading, with what the sources say:

  • In cold water it drops into the deep holes. It is a bottom fish: when the river cools it piles into deep pools. The documentary Giant Surubi Catfish – Chasing Monsters places holes of about 15 metres at Ituzaingó where the biggest fish rest. For trolling with lures that scrape the bottom, that means a lot of fish in little space.
  • In mild water it patrols. In autumn and spring it comes out to the floating vegetation and creek mouths to hunt baitfish. That is the window for the drift and anchored fishing with live morena that the Esquina guides show.
  • Near a dam, the river rules. At Concordia guides say that with the gates open the river rose to 11 metres, against the usual 5, and the shoals were squeezed against the ledges.

In other words: the best months are not a rule but the point where conditions tend to come together, and that window shifts with the stretch.

When can you fish and when not?

In the Litoral some rules change over time: spawning closures, extraordinary closures to protect a shoal, and different rules in each province. In Corrientes, surubí is catch and release only, under Disposición 853/22 of Recursos Naturales (Boletín Oficial de Corrientes, 26 December 2022).

If you fish with a local guide you do not need to worry about this: they know which stretches are open at any time and help you move around. If you go on your own, check before you leave with the local authority (Prefectura or the province’s Dirección de Recursos Naturales).

Up to date · closures and news, 26 October 2026

  • Since 29 May 2026 an extraordinary closure applies to the Paraná between km 1232 and 1238, ordered by Corrientes (Disposición 618) and Chaco (Disposición 023) to protect a concentration of surubí. It has no end date (ABC, Perfil, in Spanish).
  • Fiesta Nacional del Surubí, in Goya: 50th edition from 28 April to 2 May 2027, with a catch-and-release tournament (according to our Goya guide). It is the busiest time for lodging: book early.
  • There is no consolidated official calendar of closures by province. Your local guide is always up to date.

This box is updated once a year; the rest of the article does not change.

How do the river and the weather matter?

  • Rising water sets things moving. Monchi, a local guide at Paso de la Patria, while fishing: “These fish are moving because the river is rising” (Tiempo de Pesca video, our translation).
  • Water edges. Matías Jalil teaches you to look for the line where the brown water of the main channel meets the filtered water coming off the floating vegetation, and to anchor over the ledge, a step of about 7 metres (video).
  • Floating islands and creeks. “It always has to be lying against the camalote”, says a guide in Esquina (Naturaltube video); Jalil calls it “the surubí’s home”: creeks with floating vegetation and reed beds.
  • Deep holes. Pools of about 15 metres, nearly dark and with violent current, according to Cyril Chauquet’s documentary. Our reading: that concentration of fish in a few holes is why authorities have closed specific stretches.
  • Time of day. Jalil recommends persisting in the dead of night, at 2 or 3 in the morning, with anchored fishing (video); the Di Santis fished trolling at first light.
  • Morena. The documentary explains that the morena (Gymnotus, a knifefish) gives off an electric field that big predators pick up with their barbels, which is why it is the most used bait.

How does it change by place?

  • Upper Paraná (Itá Ibaté, Paso de la Patria): rock and deep holes; mid-depth trolling brushing the rocks. At Itá Ibaté, Punta Gallino, the Di Santis saw a fish estimated at 70 kg. See the Paso de la Patria guide.
  • Middle Paraná (Goya, Esquina, La Paz): floating vegetation, creeks and channel mouths; drift or anchored fishing with live morena, with 40 to 60 gram sinkers. See the guides to Goya, Esquina and La Paz.
  • Uruguay River (Concordia): rocky bottoms and ledges of 7 to 12 metres; trolling with deep-diving lures dragged 20 or 30 metres behind the boat.

Travelling from abroad: when should you go?

  • Pintado and atigrado. There are two surubí: the pintado (Pseudoplatystoma corruscans) and the atigrado (P. reticulatum). The pintado is the giant: 1.52 m measured at Paso de la Patria, and a guide at Ituzaingó puts the biggest at nearly 1.80 m and 70 to 90 kg. In the fight it does not jump like a dorado: it heads for the bottom and forces a slow battle.
  • On fly it is a rare surprise, according to Chris Dorsey in the Corrientes wetlands (video); trolling or live bait is the norm.
  • Anchor date: the Fiesta Nacional del Surubí in Goya concentrates demand for lodging; the year’s dates are in the box in the section on rules.
  • Release. Pablo Di Santi and Matías Jalil insist on releasing big fish: they are breeders. Jalil: hold the fish by the tail in the water, without moving it back and forth, until it swims off on its own.

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Our take

If you keep one idea: surubí moves with the water. Autumn and spring on the middle Paraná, the cold months in the Upper Paraná holes and October at Concordia are where conditions tend to come together. For more on the species, see the surubí page.

We have not spoken with the people cited, nor fished with them. This article summarises public information and what guides and anglers say in videos; the interpretation is ours and may contain errors.

Guides who fish for surubí, with prices

Public listings by town; the price is the one each guide publishes, with the date we checked it. Inquiries go through the Pescamapa form.

  • 1 in Goya: From ARS 300,000 per fishing outing + ARS 150,000 lodging (Ogaraity Apart Hotel, checked within the last 30 days) · See guides →
  • 3 in Esquina: From ARS 480,000 per boat, full day (Rebo Pesca, checked within the last 30 days) · See guides →
  • 3 in Paso de la Patria: no published rate · See guides →

Sources