Our recent January hosted fly fishing trip to Argentina and the Carrileufu River Lodge marks my fifth to Patagonia and my third to Argentina. I feel very fortunate to be able to share these trips with our guests and I have really grown fond of Patagonia. The culture that I grew up with in New Mexico has a lot of similarities with the rural cultures of Argentina and Chile, so in a way it feels like going home. While preparing for this trip Montana was experiencing an unseasonably warm and dry winter, but the day I departed a cold front moved through that I was more than happy to avoid. Temps got down into the minus 30’s F while I was gone and even saw some wind chills that approached -70 F. No thank you. Carrileufu has six guest rooms designed for a maximum of 12 guests. Including myself, Montana Angler had eight guests and there were two other pairs that we joined at the lodge. Below I have included some details on what to expect, how to pack and prepare, and of course some stories about my fishing experiences broken down by waters I fished.
Trip prep and packing
In preparation for Carrileufu River Lodge, I checked local weather forecasts carefully and exchanged messages with lodge owner Pancho Panzer about fishing conditions, need for waders, etc. Fishing conditions looked great, but pinning down the weather and how to pack was a little harder to do. Temperatures were forecast to drop as low as the mid 40s at night and some days were forecast to get into the mid to high 80s with some rain. I used the town of Cholila, which is a short distance from the lodge, as my location for weather forecasting sites. Considering the forecast we needed to pack a variety of layers and plan for days both with and without waders. The lodge was willing to provide waders and boots, so some of our guests opted to rely on borrowed waders to lighten their load. I was going to check a bag regardless, so I opted to pack my own waders, boots, rods and reels. I also grabbed a few of my Montana fly boxes that I felt would overlap well in Patagonia.
Weather and fishing conditions are an important consideration when planning any fishing trip, but here are some general recommendations for a future trip to Carrileufu River Lodge, which will apply to most Patagonian fishing trips. Most of my trips to Patagonia I have worn waders all or most of the days, but in the end I only wore waders one of the days on this particular trip. Having some wet wading gear is also worth considering, such as wet wading shoes, sandals or neoprene socks for your wading boots. Also, consider that you will likely have to fly home with some wet gear, so having some trash bags or something comparable is highly recommended. A good rain jacket is a must have. The weather along the Andes can be a bit unpredictable, so better to be safe than sorry. Rain jackets can also serve as an extra layer when it’s chilly or if you have a splashy boat ride, which isn’t uncommon in this part of the world. It is critical to protect yourself from the sun as the UV index is intense down there. Consider a high-quality sunscreen, lip balm with UV protection and whatever appropriate clothing that will protect your skin. For this trip, I opted for quick-drying long pants for wet wading days and a sun hoodie. I’m stubborn and tend to stick to my baseball caps, but I would highly recommend a wide brim hat and maybe even some sun gloves. The lodge washed laundry daily for guests, so it was not critical to pack as many changes of clothes as you would normally need for a trip of this length.
Although most fly fishing lodges in Argentina include the use of rods, reels, waders, boots, flies and tackle, I have always found that bringing as much of your own gear as possible is helpful when traveling to Patagonia. Gear is much harder to get in Patagonia, is more expensive and is hard to replace or have repaired. For rods I packed a 5-, 6- and 7-weight rods. In the end I didn’t get much use out of the 5 weight, but I also didn’t have the opportunity to fish some of the smaller waters the lodge offers. I fished the 6 weight with a floating line and a 7 weight with a streamer line every day. The standard dry fly leader I used was a 9-foot 3X mono leader. For streamers I threw a 9-foot 2X fluorocarbon leader. I can imagine that as the season progresses fish could potentially get leader shy, so there could be a need for leader or tippet down to 4X. I found having my own pliers, nippers and floatant to be helpful as well. They mostly use larger dry flies, so a liquid floatant is what I would recommend. (Note: Fly Agra is a popular liquid floatant, but is flammable and therefore forbidden as carry-on or checked luggage.) You definitely want to have some sort of waterproof bag for items you would like to keep dry while fishing. I have relied both on waterproof backpacks and waterproof sling packs, depending on how much stuff you are packing.
Packing flies for a trip to Patagonia can be a bit challenging, but there are some patterns that regularly prove successful. Fishing guides in Patagonia generally do not spend much time nymphing, but I have noticed that most of them rely on a small variety of European style tungsten-headed patterns such as Perdigons, etc. Patagonian guides don’t typically put much energy into learning about the aquatic entomology of their rivers, so don’t expect to find boxes full of various flies tied in various stages of emergence. What you can expect to see are boxes full of a variety of streamers and larger dry flies with a few Perdigons or other basic nymph sprinkled in. If you are the type that likes to match the hatch, you might want to consider bringing some of your own boxes. I have not witnessed any large hatches in Patagonia, but have instead witnessed occasional hatches of small- to medium-sized mayflies and caddis, a handful of stoneflies comparable to the Nocturnal Stonefly in Montana, midges and a good number of dragonflies. For larger dry flies, the Fat Albert is a very popular pattern in Patagonia, but for some reason the guides at CRL prefer Chubby Chernobyls in a variety of colors and sizes. The two streamer patterns that I will never travel to Patagonia without now are Kreelex and Sparkle Minnows. On this particular trip we fished a larger Kreelex (size 4-6) in both silver/gold and copper/gold color combinations. I’m sure fish would eat the smaller Kreelex patterns as well, but the larger Kreelex sinks fast, which I believe is also part of its effectiveness. For the Sparkle Minnow most of our success came from the smaller size 8 in the sculpin color, but I’ve had great success in a variety of sizes and colors in Patagonia over the years. From there, streamers are kind of all over the map, but maybe having some heavily weighted slender patterns, such as Woolly Buggers or tungsten-head leeches in colors such as black, white and olive. Larger articulated patterns can have a place as well, but they don’t tend to be the go-to’s in my experience.
Other things to consider are appropriate adapters for charging devices. The most applicable adapter is a two-prong Type 1 plug that is also used in China, Australia and New Zealand. Each room in the lodge had some adapters for use, but you might find that you need one while traveling to and from the lodge. There always seems to be a need for a wide variety of medications as well, so take some time to consider what items you might not want to be without. Pain killers, sleep aids, acid reflux relief and something for diarrhea tend to be the items that are most helpful, in addition to prescription medications. Headphones have become an essential part of my packing list for flights and time spent in airports. Earplugs might be helpful if you are sharing a room with a snorer or if you are a light sleeper in general. Cash tips in US dollars are almost always recommended. Although it is much easier to pack larger bills the guides and lodge staff generally appreciate smaller bills, which are easier for them to spend, in general. Smaller bills will also be helpful for occasions when you may need to tip a shuttle driver, etc. Most of your spending can be done with a card while traveling in country to and from the lodge.
Buenos Aires and getting to the lodge
For most travelers from the US, a red-eye flight to Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) is required and then a regional flight from Buenos Aires’ Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP) to Esquel (EQS). From Esquel a shuttle will transport you to the lodge, which is about a two-hour drive. We always recommend flying in at least a day before the regional flight and overnighting at the hotel Loi Suites Recoleta, which is about 20 minutes from AEP. This allows you a day to tour around the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires, recover from the overnight flight and allow some room for error in case flights are delayed or canceled departing the US. For this particular trip, our group either arrived one or two days before the lodge check-in day.
I arrived a day in advance and met part of the group at the airport upon arrival in Buenos Aires. The other group members had already checked into the hotel. The group I met at the airport organized a shuttle together to Loi Suites Recoleta, which is about a 50-minute drive, depending on traffic. The cost per shuttle/taxi has historically been around $30 per vehicle, which can typically accommodate two to three people depending on how much luggage you have. We were able to get a larger vehicle that fit four of us and our luggage comfortably for about the same price. If you organize the shuttle within the airport at one of the official shuttle kiosks you will be able to pay with a credit card. We recommend against flagging down a taxi outside of the airport as you are at risk of hiring an unofficial driver, being overcharged and required to pay in Argentine pesos. Most red-eye flights arrive in Buenos Aires between 8:00am and 10:00am and you often can arrive at the hotel between 10:00am and 1:00pm, which is well before the typical check in time of 3:00pm. They are as accommodating as they can be and will get people checked into their rooms as quickly as possible, but sometimes there is a wait. Loi Suites Recoleta has a very comfortable lounge area, a nice restaurant and a bar. The restaurant inside the hotel is called Jardin de Invierno and does a great job with breakfast (included), lunch and dinner. I stuck with the original itinerary of visiting La Biela for lunch, walking off our lunch at the Recoleta Cemetery and having a late dinner at El Fervor. La Biela is well located near the entrance to the cemetery, next to the historical Gomero de la Recoleta (rubber tree) that is 200-300 years old and a beautiful old Spanish colonial church named Basilica Nuestra Senora de Pilar. After lunch there is usually enough time to enjoy some of the sites and take some time at the hotel to shower and take a nap before a late dinner. Dinner reservation at Fervor can be made between 7:30pm and 10:00pm. You’ll find that you will likely be sharing dinner with quite a few Americans if you book early or with locals if you opt for a later reservation.
For the 20-minute ride to AEP the hotel helped organize a few vehicles ranging in size that ended up costing about $6-8 per person, not including gratuity. On this particular day, the line for flights going to the southern part of Patagonia was especially long, likely taking us about 30-45 minutes to get through. After that, security was a buzz and we had time on the other end for our flight. We organized our shuttle for 8:00am with a 10:50am departure, which was more time than we needed, but traffic was also very light as many of the locals were out of town on summer vacation. It’s important to watch for gate changes at AEP. I feel like the original gate assignment is typically a placeholder. The flight to EQS is a little over two hours and can be a bit bumpy on the descent as Esquel tends to be windy. The airport in Esquel is tiny with a baggage carousel to match. Once luggage is secured you should easily be able to track down one or more representatives from the lodge. In our case we were welcomed by long time guide Juancho and lodge host Fran. At this point we also met up with a couple of other guests that were to join us at the lodge, we loaded a 15-passenger van and were off to the lodge, which is about a two-hour drive on a mix of paved and gravel roads. The lodge had some snacks and drinks ready for the ride and guests mostly took this opportunity to get to know each other. The scenery for most of the drive is similar to the high desert of the US, but with the Andes in the background. You will also see planted evergreen trees in various stages of maturity planted in the middle of nowhere and if you keep your eyes peeled you should be able to spot some rhea (aka South American ostriches).
Once at the lodge we were welcomed by our second lodge host, Oli. We were shown to our rooms and offered beer, wine, cocktails and water. We took some time to get settled in and enjoy the beautiful lodge and scenery.
Lodge meals
The breakfast spread at the lodge was nearly identical every morning and there was a large carafe of coffee ready every morning. The only coffee creamer available tended to be whole milk and they had regular sugar available. The table always had toast made from homemade bread, a fruit platter, granola, a type of cereal and drinkable yogurt. The hosts would then take our egg order and always offered bacon on the side. Hosts would also walk around and offer freshly squeezed orange juice.
Lunches were almost always shore lunches and each guide packed with them a foldable table, foldable chairs, table cloth and other necessary utensils. In advance of the day guides would typically ask what sort of drinks you wanted for the trip, such as sodas, wine, beer, etc. Of course, they always had water as well. Lunch always began with a charcuterie board and some fresh bread. Metal utensils and glassware were also always present. This is also the point when the wine bottle would come out, which it did more often than not. After the charcuterie board was about done it was usually followed up by an already prepared salad. The guides would then add the dressing into the salad and the container would be passed around. The main course quickly followed and tended to be a variety of beef or chicken dishes. There was always a desert to finish it off, which was typically some sort of cookie, brownie or other pastry.
Hor’dourves were always available after folks started to return from fishing and the lodge hosts would offer to pour glasses of wine or make cocktails. Local beers were available as well. There was not an abundance of bourbon or whiskey available at the lodge, which I believe is due to its lack of popularity in this part of the world. Dinner was typically served at the same time every night and we were given a choice between 8:00pm and 8:30pm at the beginning of our stay. Like breakfast all the lodge, guests shared the same table for dinner. We were served a three-course meal every night that consisted of a starter, main course and dessert. Most of us ate the same meal every night, but the kitchen crew was good about finding alternatives for guests that had shared their allergies or preferences in advance. Most meals had an Argentinian flare, but the chef had studied abroad, so brought some of his own creativity to the table. Over the course of the week we were served many traditional Argentine dishes including, but not limited to empanadas, milanesa, mixed meat asado, choripan, pizza and lamb asado.
Rio Rivadavia
The Rio Rivadavia is a relatively short section of river totaling less than six miles that flows out of Lago Rivadavia and into Lago Verde within Los Alerces National Park. The park is named after the Alerce trees the park is established to protect. They are one of the longest living trees in the world with some today that are around 3,600 years old. The tree is comparable to the sequoia in looks and is part of the cypress family. This part of the park is located within a temperate forest and formed over years by glaciers. The waters are clear with a bluish-green tint common in glacier fed waters. The movie Jurassic Park is often referenced when people try to describe this section of river. It’s a beautiful and magical slice of the world.
The boat launch is located in a small campground area on Lago Rivadavia a short distance from the headwaters of Rio Rivadavia. Most of the guides are running drift boats to float the local rivers and for this particular section they also take advantage of a small outboard motor to get us to the head of the river. Motors are only allowed in the lake and aren’t even allowed to be submerged in the river. On some days you are able to chase rising fish in the lake before heading to the river. On the first day fishing with guide Juancho we opted to start our day with a dry/dropper rig, tying on smaller Chubby Chernobyls with Perdigon droppers. We started fishing as soon as the boat pushed out from the launch and we mostly cast towards the bank as Juancho oared us within casting distance of the shore. We had noticed a few small risers earlier while launching the boat and setting up our rods. The lake was glass smooth. After just a few minutes of fishing on the first morning Scott was hooked up on the first fish of the trip! It was a hard fighting rainbow. We weren’t seeing much for risers, so I switched spots with Juancho and we motored to the river. We did have to beach the boat briefly to dismount the boat motor and throw it in the back of the boat. There is a photo prominently displayed above the fireplace in the lodge of a retired fishing guide and Pancho’s daughter with a massive brown trout caught in this exact location a few years ago. I’m not sure how big the fish was, but after some questioning and lots of guessing it was decided that the brown must have been well over 30” and was very girthy. If I’m retelling the story correctly this brown was caught the season after a major mouse infestation. Trout were able to take advantage of the abundance of furry protein snacks that made their way into the water, which led to some major gains for the trout that were able to take advantage. This photo provided fuel to fish hard all week.
We were now in the tailout of the lake, which is deep and wide at this point. I noticed another fishing boat out on the first day from a different lodge and they were obviously chasing the few random risers that were out and about, but the number of fish on top was minimal, so we switched to the streamer rigs. In this section it is good to cast as far as you can and allow your flies to sink for several seconds before stripping back. We were told multiple times by various guides that browns prefer a very fast strip and rainbows like it a little slower. I’m unsure if this is accurate or if this is used as a tool to motivate anglers to strip faster! It wasn’t long before we were getting some feedback from fish, but I was mostly getting short strikes and wasn’t able to hook up. Scott on the other hand pretty consistently hooked up all day long. His technique was a bit unique and was best suited for the front of the boat. He would cast perpendicular to the boat, allow his flies to sink, and waited for his flies to swing before he started stripping across the bow of the boat. He wasn’t stripping especially fast either, but it proved successful. In the back of the boat I experienced a lot of short strikes and follows on the streamer, which kept it fun and entertaining, but my hook-up rate was lacking.
As we moved out of the tailout of the lake and the river really started to take shape. It is a medium-fast river with lots of structure along the banks due to an abundance of large mature trees and willows. Although we were able to see the bottom of the river in most cast places it is quite deep and powerful. You can spot fish hanging out, generally in the slower water. One of the most common places to cast was downstream of downed trees as far to the bank and as close to the structure as possible. Alternately, there were times when we focused on shallow flats and riffles where some larger fish tended to be hanging out. It is very helpful to be able to cast a good distance with accuracy for this river. The distance is constantly changing and if you cast too far you will find yourself in the trees and if you don’t cast far enough your odds of catching a fish are reduced. In preparation for this trip I would highly recommend spending as much time as possible stripping streamers and throwing big dry flies from a boat, preferably in a faster moving river. Being able to see fish is also extremely valuable. Most of my fly-fishing experience is in Montana where you don’t often see the fish you are casting to, at least not in most of the larger rivers around Bozeman. I recommend having at least one really high-quality pair of polarized sunglasses and would even suggest two pairs, one for low-light situations and the other for average trout fishing scenarios. I have never been the best at spotting fish and this can be a real disadvantage in this part of the world as opportunities can expire quickly.
On the first day with Juancho, I recall him calling out a couple of larger browns early in the day at the head of a riffle. He tried to point them out to me, but I just didn’t see them. We anchored up at the bottom of the run and Scott and Juancho fished upstream in search of those fish. Scott was fishing a dry-dropper rig. It wasn’t long before Scott was hooked up into a nice rainbow. Scott and Juancho worked the riffle for a bit and were able to pull out a couple of fish, but the browns seemed uninterested in his rig. Juancho wanted me to take a swing at the browns too, so Scott moved downstream and I moved up into position to drift into the pair of nice browns. I had noticed a few caddis bopping around, so I switched my dropper to a caddis pupa. I started with some drifts below the fish to give them some time and to catch fish on the bottom of the riffle before potentially messing up those opportunities by hooking a fish bigger than them. In short order I landed one or two rainbows and missed a couple more. It was time to try for the browns. On my first pass they didn’t budge. On the second pass they started to move away and further upstream. It was obvious they didn’t want what we had to offer. While I worked on those fish, Scott decided to grab his streamer rod and he hadn’t given up. I felt like I did what I could, so I gave the spot back up to Scott. I noticed a little side channel with good depth, so I decided to wade over to it and see what I could find. I peaked over some willows and quickly spotted a couple risers. I made a short cast and was quickly hooked into a medium-sized fish when suddenly Juancho and Scott shouted out, “big brown.” I realized I needed to quickly release my fish and get to them with the camera. I had landed a beautiful brook trout, which turned out to be my only one of the trip. I quickly released my fish, threw my rod in the bushes and ran for the camera while Scott played a nice fish. It was a big, beautiful brown and a great start to the day. On that note, we knew it was time to move on.
In my two days of fishing the Rivadavia most fish were caught on streamers and the most productive streamer for us was a size 4 or 6 Kreelex. We had a couple of different colors, with the silver and gold being the best color. The Kreelex is a very flashy streamer that sinks really well due to its prominent dumbbell eyes. I’m guessing both the flash and sink rate were important factors in its success. We also had good success on a size 8 Sparkle Minnow in the sculpin color. We fished some of the larger sizes with less success. A Tungsten Thin Mint also fished very well in a part of the river where there were prominent weed beds, which were likely home to damsel and dragonfly nymphs. Although we did catch some fish on a medium-fast strip, I feel like the fast strip was far more successful, both for browns and rainbows. According to the guides the river flows had peaked a few weeks before and were dropping quickly at this point. A 250 grain line was the preferred streamer line for these levels, but they explained that 300 grain lines were more productive earlier in the season when flows were higher and by the end of summer they would be throwing 200 grain lines.
Scott and I were lucky enough to get to fish the Rivadavia a second time with another long time guide, Negro. He prepared us for a challenging day by telling us he is the worst guide and that if we catch one or two fish we will have had a great day. On this day the lake was a bit choppier and we didn’t see as much surface activity at the boat launch. We didn’t spend as much time fishing the lake, so we moved more quickly to the river. Scott and I had already learned that the Kreelex was one of the top producers for the week, so we didn’t waste any time. Also, we had a better sense of what we were getting ourselves into this day. We started out with better action right out of the gate on streamers, so we stuck to it. The beginning of the day focused on much of the same water as we had previously, but before lunch I noticed that on the opposite side of the boat than we had been fishing was some shallower water with little structure. I asked Negro if I should cast in there and he said “yes” with enthusiasm. It wasn’t long before he spotted a fish downstream that he called out. I cast to the bank upstream of the fish and stripped the fly in front of it and sure enough, it chased it down. I don’t recall the results of that first fish exactly, but this is when the day started to get interesting. We were seeing big fish sitting in the shallows and moving fish out of structure and undercut banks. We didn’t land or even hook most of the fish that we cast to, but most of them at least chased the fly and many of them ate it, but didn’t get hooked. There were fish that would chase either my fly or Scott’s, refuse it near the boat, then the other would cast in front of it and the fish would then chase their fly. I think there was one fish that chased out flies multiple times and finally ate just a few feet from the boat. I also recall one big shadow moving out towards my fly from under a submerged tree limb. I immediately froze and the fish just stopped and returned back to its home never to be seen again. In the end, I don’t know that we landed any more fish than some of the other better days, but it was full of action and heartbreak and adrenaline. This day will go down as one of the most enjoyable streamer days of my life.
Carrileufu River
The Carrileufu River Lodge is located near the middle of the Carrileufu River, which is broken up into the upper, middle and lower sections. The take-out for the upper section and put-in for the middle are one in the same and the closest access point to the lodge. The Crrileufu begins at Cholila Lake and ends in Lago Rivadavia. This river being the namesake of the lodge and the closest fishable river makes it one of the favorites amongst the guides. Despite being further upstream of the Rivadavia it travels through slightly more arid terrain, but is very comparable in every other way.
Scott and I floated the middle section with longtime guide Facu on what was probably the warmest and windiest days of the week. By this point, Scott and I had hung up the waders and traded them out for some wet wading gear. Because it was a warm and windy day and there was an abundance of hoppers in this section of river, we really pushed hoppers quite a bit. Unfortunately, the number of fish looking up wasn’t as good as we’d hoped. We of course leaned on the Kreelex, which had treated us well the day before. Fishing up until lunch was pretty challenging with several streamer chases, but not a lot of hookups. Facu was also made to work a bit harder by the upstream wind gusts and having to backrow to unhook my flies out of trees fairly consistently throughout the day. By the end of the day he started calling me monkey because of my fondness for being in the trees!
At one point before lunch we did spot a nice brown hanging out in a precarious location occasionally sipping something from the surface. In an effort to increase our hookup rate and maybe find out what fish were keying in on, Facu opted to anchor the boat so that Scott and later myself could take some shots at this fish. We must have anchored up on this brown for 30 minutes and tried a dozen different flies and so many drifts. The brown continued to eat naturals occasionally and never really spooked. On a couple of occasions it moved in to inspect our flies, but never ate. We eventually moved on, defeated. This was a frustrating experience that I would not normally walk away from if fishing on my own. I would have kept trying new ways to get that fish until it either ate or I spooked it off. I did not however have my technical spring creek fly boxes, which I think is what it would have taken. Facu did have some small flies in his box, but it was obvious that he was also not completely prepared for this level of selectivity. I will continue to wonder what that fish was eating, but my sense is that it was feeding on emerging midges or mayflies. I was only able to spot one insect at a distance while we watched the fish and my guess is it was a newly emerged mayfly. After lunch we primarily focused on stripping streamers, but we were getting more refusals and chases than anything, so Facu dug into his boxes to see if he could change our luck. At one point he tied on a white Woolly Bugger with a flashy red collar. I started to get more fish to eat and connect! It wasn’t long after he tied on this fly that I cast into a pocket just below a downed willow and something immediately grabbed it. This wasn’t the average eat, it felt like a football player had just tackled my fly and started running with it with powerful head shakes. Facu could tell it was something big as well, and he knew we were going to move towards it. He started back rowing to the bank and I started to question if I still had a fish. It stopped moving, but there was still pressure on my line. As Facu approached the willow I quickly realized that my fly was under the willow and upstream of where I had originally cast. It was lost. I was able to stick the full length of my rod straight down into the river and couldn’t reach where my fly had ended up. The fish dived straight down under a tree limb and then swam upstream. I had to break off my rig, losing part of the leader. That is my story of the one that got away. I couldn’t help but wonder if I had hooked into a salmon or a brown that could compare to the one above the fireplace. It was a challenging day, but not without opportunities and stories to tell.
The following day I was guided by Teo, the son of the lodge owner Pancho. Teo is only 18 years old and just graduated high school. He grew up fishing from the lodge and started guiding at a very young age. He is one of the most impressive young guides I have ever met. We floated the upper section of the Carrileufu. The boat launch is located right at the head of the river and we were required to ford a small stream to get there. There was a young boy fly fishing just below the boat launch and you could see several fish feeding heavily under the surface and a few eating on top. While Teo prepared the boat and rigged up I witnessed midges, a small baetis like mayfly and some medium sized caddis. Before we launched the boat Teo took a few minutes to chat with the boy, offer him some flies and tips to improve his success. I regret not taking more time to make sure the kid caught some fish before we took off, but Teo later mentioned that the kid spends his summers there and is fishing every day. Teo had me set up a double nymph rig with a bobber for these feeding fish. He provided me with an Air-lock indicator and two Euro-style nymphs that would compare to a black and silver Zebra Midge. The point fly had a heavy bead, so these flies got down to the fish quickly. The water was still relatively slow, so Teo was able to continually backrow to keep me in this tailout where the fish were. In no time I landed and lost several fish, so we pushed on downstream. I had been told by one of the other lodge guests to cast behind “the willow” and that Teo knew where it was. Apparently they had hooked into a salmon in this particular spot the day before, but did not get it to the net. The willow wasn’t very far downstream, so I plopped my nymph rig in there and hoped for the best. A few seconds later my indicator paused and I set the hook, but it was a submerged tree limb. We were in faster water now, so I pointed my rod and I lost both of the nymphs. Teo pulled over as quickly as possible and we switched to a hopper-dropper rig. We fished the dry-dropper rig for a bit with a mix of eats on both the dry and dropper. At some point Teo decided it was time to switch to the streamer, but instead of going to the Kreelex he pulled out a plain brown leech tied with a very heavy tungsten head. I’m not a stranger to fishing leech patterns, but I am a stranger to stripping them quickly, which is exactly what Teo instructed me to do and it worked.
After a successful morning we pulled over to Pancho’s favorite lunch spot, which was tucked in the shade. It was another warm day, but without much wind. On this day we encountered a good number of horseflies and yellow jackets at lunch. Eventually, Scott and guide Javi caught up to have lunch with us. Javi had all the food, and today’s lunch was going to be a little different. Most lunches have been completely prepared in advance, but today Javi started a fire close to our table and prepared some meat and vegetables for us over the fire with the help of a cast iron pan. We certainly didn’t need the fire to warm up, but I believe the smoke was helpful in keeping the biting bugs a little more in check. After lunch was prepared and we were all at the table we could hear some rustling and yelling in the distance. It was a few cows and a calf, a couple of cow dogs and a female gaucho, also known as a chinita on her horse. It quickly became obvious that the chinita had her hands full with this lot as they came bumbling through our lunch spot. At one point the lead cow came right up to our table and managed to snag a piece of cheese and while distracted by her shenanigans one of the cow dogs was helping themselves to some of the meat still in the cast iron pan sitting by the fire. We were somehow able to get the cows back to the trail where the dogs took over and got them back on their way. We continued to enjoy our lunch, but not 10 minutes later our cheese-eating friend was back and she was determined to get another taste. She was hooked! This time it was just the cows and calf and between myself, Teo and Javi. It must have taken 15 minutes to finally lure them away. We discovered the lead cow also had a taste for bread, so I used that to my advantage and lured her away. She didn’t skip a beat and followed me away with drool dripping from her mouth. Eventually I found another gaucho near a fence line and we were able to get them on the other side. It made for some laughs and a great story at the dinner table later in the day.
In the afternoon we continued our hunt. At one point during the day Teo mentioned that I was working too hard and forcing my cast. I was already tired at this point of the trip from all the casting and stripping, especially after the wind the day before. As soon as he told me this I slowed down my cast and allowed the rod to do its job. He nailed it. For the rest of the trip I put half as much energy into my casts and they were just as long and likely more accurate. He also told me that fish are never on the upstream side of the willows on this section of river, because the water is too fast. He told me this after watching me try to sneak my flies in under the limbs a few times. I mostly listened, but I love hitting targets with my flies. At one point I got one of his flies stuck in the willow after casting into one of those spots and just shrugged his head and told me that I was never going to catch a fish in there. After that I listened!
We fished two notable spots after lunch. The first one was a giant recirculating eddy that very much reminded me of the runs I fished on the Baker River in Chile last year. The eddy was so deep you couldn’t see the bottom and there were fish following the foam lines eating off the surface. We switched to a Micro Chubby Chernobyl, which was maybe the most popular dry of the week. He would push me around the eddy until we spotted fish and I would cast upstream and try to get a dead drift. We worked the eddy for about 20-30 minutes and picked up and lost a handful of fish. The second spot was found towards the end of the float. He mentioned that there would be an eroded bank on river right. As soon as we cleared the willow he stood up to see if he could spot the fish he wanted to target. He started to point almost immediately and I could see a big rainbow. I think it took me a couple of tries, but I eventually caught it. Teo was able to anchor up close to the bank where we snapped some pics. He already had another fish in his sights directly downstream of us along the cliff bank. I couldn’t see it, but he explained that it was moving in and out of the shade and was deep. Because it was deep he decided to tie a longer and heavier dropper to my dry fly. I made a few attempts to where I thought the fish was, but because of the long dropper rig I wasn’t getting it as tight to the bank as I needed to. Finally after a few drifts I was able to spot the fish as it had moved into the sun. Even with that information it required a few more attempts before I was able to get the fly in front of them, but we got it to eat. This was a short downstream fight that ended with the fish spitting the fly. We were satiated and it was time to head back.
Lago Rivadavia
I had the opportunity to fish Lago Rivadavia with another long-time guide, Pablo. Pablo is the owner of a larger lake boat that is better suited than drift boats to navigate large waves. It was a fun change of pace. Pablo and I share some mutual friends back in Bozeman, so we had a lot of stories to share. We originally had planned to fish Cholila Lake, but due to the wind forecast, Pablo decided to change up the plans at the last minute. We started the day off with dries per usual and had a little action, but quickly switched over to streamers, which proved to be more productive overall. His boat was set up with a trolling motor, so we would just slowly cruise casting distance from shore and I would target the fishiest looking spots, such as shade, structure or deep drop offs. If the lake was shallower, I would strip as soon as the fly hit the water. If it was deep, I would let the fly sink for 5, 10, 15 seconds before retrieving. The Kreelex continued to fish pretty well, but I decided to whip out a Sculpzilla just for fun. It was productive as well. I recall one fish that was sipping on the surface in a little cove. I could have reeled in and switched to the dry rod, but I decided to stick with the leech. I lobbed a crappy cast out that landed about 10 feet to the left of where the fish was. I had assumed I would strip in and recast, but as soon as my fly hit the water that rainbow went for my fly like a freight train. Scott and I had joked quite a bit earlier in the trip that nice casts don’t catch fish and this was a perfect example.
At lunchtime, Pablo found a beautiful sandy beach that was tucked under some giant mature trees, which was a beautiful shady oasis from what was a relatively hot and calm day. Twenty feet from our lunch spot was a small spring and waterfall. It was such a perfect spot that I had assumed this was a regular spot of his that he often brought clients to, but I noticed that the area was pristine. I asked him about it and he admitted that he had never stopped there before, but wanted to make sure to bring his young son to this spot in the future. I know that we aren’t the first people to hang out on that particular beach, but I don’t imagine many have come before us. Pretty cool to hang out in such a pristine environment. I imagined him leaving me there to camp and fend for myself. I hope I can take my family to such a place someday.
At this point in the trip I was content just being there and enjoying the scenery, so any more fish were just a bonus. It was a hot enough day that my streamer line became gummy and tangled easily after lunch, which was something that repeated itself a few times on this trip. I caught a few fish, let Pablo catch a fish and we headed back. The wind had picked up so Pablo had to gingerly navigate the waves on the return ride. The ride back gave me time to take in the scenery.
Lago Menendez
On the last day of fishing, Scott and I did something a little outside of the typical day trip. Our destination was Lago Menendez and all we really knew was that this was a unique trip offered inside the national park. We had to be shuttled to the park where we would meet the guide Marcelo. Marcelo isn’t part of the normal guide staff at CRL and is possibly the only fishing outfitter allowed to offer trips on Lago Menendez. After a 45-minute ride to Marcelo’s home, which I believe was located within the park, we dropped off our fishing gear at his house and were then shuttled to a trailhead. The instructions were to follow the trail to a small port, which was about a 25-minute walk along a nature trail. Marcelo was going to load all of the gear on a 4-wheeler with a small trailer and meet us there. Scott and I were a little unsure about all this, especially since our shuttle driver and Marcelo both spoke very little English and my Spanish is rough, at best. But we were both pleasantly surprised by the hike as it took us over a beautiful suspension bridge across a river that we then followed to the port. We shared the trail with plenty of other park visitors and stopped a few times along the way to take some pics of the gorgeous scenery. Eventually Marcelo motored over to the dock and we boarded his Carolina Skiff. Marcelo wears a traditional boina, which is a beret type hat typical of Argentine gauchos. After getting to know Marcelo a little better we learned that his family had been in that area for generations and that he and his family are still gauchos and that he currently owns a herd of about 60 cattle. One of the named peaks in the park is Cerro Coronado, which Marcelo explained is named after his family.
Marcelo isn’t a man of many words, so we jumped in the boat and started across the lake. It wasn’t long before we realized we were motoring towards a large glacier called Glacier Torrecillas. It was magnificent. He explained that we would get close to the glacier later and would have opportunities to take pictures. On the upper end of the lake there is a southern and northern arm. Marcelo first motored to the southern arm, but realized quickly that the wind was a bit too strong in that arm, so we instead headed to the northern arm where there was hardly any wind at all. Marcello cut the motor and mounted his oars in the oarlocks. Unlike other guides, Marcelo was a bit more hands off and kind of left us to handle our own rigging and supply our own flies. Of course Scott and I opted for the Kreelex. At this point of the trip I think we each only had one or two left, so we were careful not to get too crazy with our casts. Fortunately, in the lake you can typically recover any stuck flies. One of my first fish of the day was a perch, which is one of the few native fish species in Patagonia. Pancho and the guides at the lodge spoke very fondly of Lago Menendez and were excited about our prospects of catching larger brown trout. Unfortunately, the fish were a bit shy on this day. We had some good chases once again, but quite a few refusals as our flies got closer to the boat. On a couple of occasions we were able to re-cast to the same fish multiple times and were finally able to get them to eat. We also found a couple of fish that seemed to be jumping out of the water to chase dragonflies, so I decided to switch to a Sculpzilla, which is much closer to a dragonfly nymph imitation than a Kreelex. I was able to get some eats on the Sculpzilla, but I still felt like we were missing something. The fish that we did catch seemed to be a bit sluggish.
Unlike the shore lunches we had gotten accustomed to earlier in the week Marcelo handed each of us a sandwich, which we were to eat while he motored back to the south arm in hopes that the wind had calmed down. Once again we found that arm of the lake to be too choppy for us. It was obvious that he really wanted to fish that arm of the lake, but the stars just didn’t align for us on this day. Scott and I were tired after a big week of casting, stripping and landing fish, but we fished hard to the bitter end. Eventually it was time to head back. Marcelo motored back to the port where Scott and I would walk the trail back to the start of the trailhead and meet him and our shuttle driver with all our gear. Scott and I each grabbed a beer for the walk back.
El Final
In the end I met a lot of great people that all share a love of fishing and being outdoors. We ate delicious food, we enjoyed some nice wine, we appreciated some magnificent Patagonian scenery and we caught some beautiful fish. All the guides and staff at Carrileufu River Lodge were wonderful and worked hard to create a great experience for all of us. A big thank you to everyone that made this trip a success, especially the guests of Montana Angler that made this trip possible.