Patagonia, Argentina fly fishing report

I arrived in the Los Alerces National Park area in early December and spent two weeks fishing out of the El Aura Lodge and in the Esquel area. I love the early season here, as the fish are a bit off their game after a long winter with no anglers to contend with. The waters were very high in December due to the huge amount of rainfall in the Spring. Throughout the Park, the fish seemed to be fatter than normal and present in large numbers. I had excellent days on the Rivadavia, El Canal Spring Creek, the Arrayanes, Colehuay, Rio Grande, Corrintos and Nant Y Fall. The Rivadavia was amazing early as fish were concentrated anywhere the water slowed down. These are powerful Rainbows and landing over 25% of the fish that you hook is considered doing well. Caddis, Midge and large Hexagenia hatches brought the fish up and dry fly fishing was also consistently good on the lakes as well. One of the most memorable afternoons was on the Rio Grande, throwing #18 Rusty Spinners into giant pods of Rainbows that looked like schools of Bluefish slashing the surface.

My good friend, fellow guide and associate, Rolo Pradere is a long time fishing guide in the area and he introduced me to some excellent smaller waters that hold big fish. I am looking forward to guiding on some of these “secret’ spots with Rolo next season.

After almost three months in Tierra del Fuego, I returned to the park and the Esquel area for the end of the season in late March. The rivers and lakes were completely empty and I enjoyed some banner days on the Carrielufu, Rivadavia and Rio Grande in particular. There were many days with epic Mayfly hatches and with lower water than earlier in the year, it was easy to get around and have lots of success. On both the Carrielufu and Rivadavia, there were so many Rainbow and landlocked Atlantic Salmon stacked in the runs it was impressive. In the crystal clear water, you could see 20 -30 fish in each spot, eating midges non stop and occasionally coming to the surface for one of our dries. After 2 days on the Carrielufu, I caught so many fish, that my old CFO reel was shreiking in pain with each one, as the grease had all worn out and the spindle was dry. Not wanting to stop fishing and miles away from the nearest grease, I pulled out my sunscreen, lubed up the reel and fished another day in paradise.

As on the Rivadavia, the fish here at this time of year average about 17 inches but are some of the most powerful fresh water fish on the planet. Hooking them is one thing, landing them is definitely another.

This area around Esquel and the Los Alerces Park is a perfect place to combine excellent dry fly fishing, great lodging and spectacular scenery. The large amount of Rivers, Lakes and Streams makes it possible to create several different fishing itineraries in this area. Give me a call or drop a line and I can suggest the right one for you.

Contact Luwarner@mac.com 970-946-4370 in Colorado

May 2010 - End of season report

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Argentina fished amazingly well this year throughout the province of Chubut. Early season in Los Alerces park was phenomenal with many Rainbows in the 20 inch class falling to well presented dries and nymphs. As the season progressed, the fish got a bit tougher but small dries and stealthy presentations were almost always rewarded with nice fish. The Rivadavia was full of feisty, hard to catch Rainbows but they had there weak moments and on one day we had two clients put 17 big ones in the net.

The Carrileufu River was slow during the mid-summer months but in mid-March the migrationbegan in earnest. We had clients hook 30-50, 16 inch to 23 inch Rainbows and Landlocked Atlantic Salmon before lunch on some days. These fish are hot and everyone who fished there saw their backing screaming out through the guides. The best part is that this is walk and wade fishing and it was possible to view over 100 feeding fish within short casting range.

Arroyo Pescado fished really well again this year. With low water levels, the fish became very selective but some good fly choices from our guides insured success in this beautiful venue.

The Rio Grande was awesome. Yes, it had it’s tough and windy days but the quantity of 17-22inch rainbows was amazing. There were times in front of El Encuentro Lodge where I saw over 100 fish rising simultaneously for small spinners. In fact this happened almost every calm evening. If Browns are your thing, fishing a Zonker in the right places yielded high rewards. Some of our clients hooked over 20 browns in a short time in these sweet spots. Mayfly and Caddis hatches were huge in the early season and brought up many big fish. Towards the end of the season the rising fish concentrated mainly on very small mayfly spinners and provided a good challenge to all who fished there.

The Rio Pico area is one of my all time favorites. All of the Lakes fished well and some trout over 3 kilos were caught and released. Additionally, the Neilson and Pico Rivers were literally on fire and one day on the Neilson we had 3 guys hook over 125 fish. Windy conditions made it a challenge here and we were able to find some new places to run to when the wind came up to much to fish the Lakes.

All in all it was a great season here with lots of numbers and good, strong, healthy fish.

May 2011 - End of season report

Argentina Fly Fishing Report