Magic Waters Lodge Trip Report: January 2025
For many anglers, myself included, fly fishing serves more dynamic purposes than the simple–and sometimes not so simple–act of catching a fish. Fly fishing is a conduit to explore some of the most gorgeous locations on Earth, a medium to create memories with family and friends, a means to experience different cultures with the justification of dropping a not-so-insignificant chunk of change to catch the same species of fish that can be caught much closer to home. My career in the fly fishing industry allows me to use the activity as a mechanism to scratch the proverbial travel itch. As much as I love exploring new destinations, I find as much fulfillment, if not more, returning to locations I have been to before, especially when it is a time of year that I have not yet experienced at said location.
Such is the case with Magic Waters Lodge in Chilean Patagonia. I have fished here every month of the fishing season, most recently in early January. Like our fishing calendar here in Montana, the month-to-month differences in Chilean Patagonia are stark. From the snow laden peaks, lush valleys, and dragon flies of January to the grasses permeating with hoppers and Cantaria beetles of March, it can feel like fishing different fisheries. January delivered a fresh perspective on Patagonian fishing and another memorable trip to these legendary Chilean waters. Similar to Eduardo and Consuelo Barrueto's other operations, River of Dreams Basecamp and Patagonia Baker Lodge, Magic Waters Lodge is top-notch in all facets.
Most Chilean fly fishing trips begin by arriving on an international flight to Santiago. On our Montana Angler hosted trips we often suggest adding a night in Santiago as a buffer in case of travel issues. I discuss the Santiago options at the end of this report.
Arrival to Magic Waters Lodge
Magic Waters Lodge is located in the Simpson Valley, near Coyhaique. The area is served by the small municipal airport of Balmaceda, about an hour’s drive from the lodge. No matter how many times I have made the scenic drive from the airport to the lodge, I always do several double takes. Being roughly the same latitude south of the equator as we are north of it at our home base in Bozeman, Montana, the geography is incredibly similar. Driving through the Simpson Valley en route to the lodge feels remarkably like driving through the Madison Valley of Montana, though the mountains have nearly twice the vertical relief and there are definitely a few less drift boats at the local watering holes. Upon our early afternoon arrival to the lodge we were greeted by lodge owners and long-time friends, Eduardo and Consuelo Barrueto. All of the spacious lodge rooms have incredible views overlooking the private laguna. We then enjoyed a fantastic and hearty lunch after a few days of travel.
After lunch, the aforementioned private laguna was calling our name. With a loaner raft beached on the bank ready to go, I offered to row guests Ryan and John around for a bit to make a few casts. I knew that this was the first full lodge of the young season and the laguna had not yet been fished, so I figured we were going to have some pretty agreeable fish to duel with. Agreeable was an understatement. Not more than three or four casts with a size four beetle (not representative of the actual bugs on the water, I think they were eating it as a dragon fly, but it really didn’t matter) we witnessed a fat brown of no less than 20” launch a full meter out of the water in an impressively acrobatic display. Though we didn’t hook this particular fish, we all just kind of looked at each other with a “no way” kind of expression. About one hour and roughly twenty fish in the 17”-20” range later, we rowed back to the bank high-fiving and laughing about the ridiculous dry fly session we just had. As we made the short walk up to the expansive deck where other lodge guests were enjoying some empanadas and pisco sours, several comments were made about the frequency of hoots and hollers coming from the lake as we netted beautiful brown after beautiful brown. If the fishing on the home lake was any indication of what was to come for the remainder of the week, we were in for a treat.
Lago Zenteno: A Trophy Brown Trout Lake
One characteristic that always impresses me at Magic Waters Lodge is the organization. With such a variety of fisheries to choose from, deciding who goes where each day is a feat in itself. Eduardo and his guides work hard behind the scenes to arrange each day’s itineraries to both provide a varied experience for each guest while catering to individual preferences, abilities, and limitations. Each morning, guide pairings and fishing destinations are displayed in the wader room so guests can anticipate who they are fishing with and where they are going. Today Larry, my fishing partner for the week, and I were going with Jose to the trophy lake of Zenteno.
I had fished previously with Jose several times over the years and have cultivated a pretty good rapport. By that I mean he knows that he can yell at me and criticize my casting with no fear of retaliation or sore feelings. Some of my favorite one liners of Jose’s are “Respect the fish and make a better cast” and “Why the **** did you cast it there?” It’s all in good fun and a day of fishing with Jose always, at the very least, is entertaining.
Zenteno Lake was a new fishery for me. Even though I have spent several weeks fishing this area of Patagonia I still visit new water every trip. On the drive Jose diligently went over his expectations for the day. He discussed how this particular lake held a lot of big fish and typically wasn’t a high numbers type of fishery. Something along the lines of “If we get four or five good ones before lunch, I’d be happy.” We would at least double that goal.
Arriving at the lake the weather was incredibly pleasant: calm wind, temperatures reaching the mid seventies, and a brilliant cobalt blue sky offering a beautiful contrast to the towering peaks and their hanging snowfields. We spent the morning skating massive dry flies, a custom tie by Jose that resembled what I would call a dragon fly/mouse hybrid, named the “Camilla” fly after a former lodge masseuse and a story that I probably shouldn’t elaborate on. We skated flies over logs and structure, allowed the breeze to gently drift them across weed beds and shallow flats, and cast into pockets in the dense reeds along the banks, all the while being treated to explosive strikes from plump browns never less than 17 inches. The action stayed consistent throughout the afternoon, and the roughly one hour drive back to the lodge felt much shorter as we recalled the memorable specimens from the day and soaked in the gorgeous Patagonian scenery through the windows of Jose’s Toyota Hilux. With day one under our belts we enjoyed a delicious and plentiful meal with the company of the other Montana Angler guests then retired relatively early to rest up for tomorrow’s adventure.
Wade Fishing the Santa Elena Canyon of the Simpson River
The next morning, awaking with anticipation, I went through my usual pre-breakfast routine of grabbing a cup of strong coffee and visiting the wader room to review the plan for the day. Larry and I were to head to the Simpson River with guide Ives. Ives is one of my favorite Magic Waters Lodge guides to fish with. He is an incredibly versatile guide; as comfortable running a jet cataraft up river as he is stalking spooky fish on a spring creek; and always does so with a big smile and positive attitude. Though I had fished the Simpson many times over the years, the Santa Elena canyon where we were headed today would be a new section for me. This section can be floated or waded, depending on flows and wind, with the former option requiring the lowering of a raft via rope a couple of hundred feet down the steep canyon walls. Today we decided to wade due to some significant wind forecast. Larry and I were happy and able to do some wading after being on a boat the day before on Zenteno Lake.
The Simpson River is a primary fishery in the area, and along with the Coyhaique River, forms the basis for the town’s name, translated loosely to “village between two rivers.” The Simpson provides an enormous amount of fishable water with over well over 100 miles from its upper reach above the confluence with the Blanco River forming a portion of the border with Argentina to the east, to its intersection with the Maniguales, forming the Aysen river ultimately terminating in the fjords of the Pacific Ocean.
Accessing this particular section of river via a private estancia, Larry, Ives, and I took turns opening the gates to several paddocks as we made our way to the canyon rim. A 20 minute hike to the river provided incredible views and a nice warm up in preparation for fishing. Dry dropper rigs were the name of the game, transition between small Water Walkers, hoppers, and mayfly patterns as our point flies and a variety of small flashy nymphs for droppers. Ives relayed his strategy for the day, essentially saying “There is so much good water to fish in this section, don’t waste your time fishing the same run for 20 or 30 minutes. Make a handful of casts to the best-looking water then keep moving.” This strategy proved effective. We spent the morning covering a couple miles of water, hooking up on a nice mix of rainbows and browns, eating both on top and subservice fairly equally.
We found a nice beach sheltered from the wind to enjoy a quick lunch and discuss the plan for the afternoon. It seemed that the fish were getting progressively more active on the surface as water temperatures began to creep up. Always a fan of sight-casting, we decided to take turns stalking and casting to feeding fish that Ives was able to spot in nearly every run as we worked our way upriver. The gusty canyon winds added a variable as they shifted directions and intensity by the minute, presenting a fun challenge to lay an accurate cast in the nearly gin clear water without spooking actively feeding rainbows. A stark contrast to the day before of casually launching gigantic dry flies and twitching them around haphazardly, I found myself on one knee under the cover of a massive boulder, throwing curve casts with a size 18 Parachute Adams upstream of a sipping rainbow. Over the next couple of hours we enjoyed some success and some even more memorable failures, providing fodder for some jovial banter over the evening meal at Magic Waters Lodge.
Whitewater Floating on the Lower Simpson:
On Tuesday morning, with my cup of coffee in hand, I noted that I would be fishing yet another new section of the Simpson; the deep Simpson Canyon about an hour downstream of where I had fished the previous day. Our guide would be Jaime, an experienced whitewater oarsman who I had fished with several days on past trips. Jaime’s whitewater prowess was essential on this day, with the first several miles of the float consisting of busy pocket water and a steep gradient scattered with class III rapids.
The Simpson canyon is mouthwatering streamer water with deep runs formed against the cliff walls and massive eddies swirling behind pour-overs of bus-sized boulders. The incredibly visual streamer fishing is one of my favorite aspects of fishing in this region of Patagonia. The clear water and aggressive fish allow an angler to see fish chasing their streamer many feet below the surface and from great distances. The white dungeon pattern at the end of my sink tip got clobbered time and time again. User error prevented some hookups, but some takes were so aggressive that the fly more or less self-set and I could just hold on and enjoy the ride, taking full advantage of the 15 lb. test leader.
Even with over three decades of fly fishing experience, the big fish of the Simpson aren’t pushovers and I got absolutely schooled by the biggest fish of the day. Coming up from the depths behind a big mid-river boulder, I saw the big brown eat my streamer with no hesitation. With a heavy strip, I knew I had a good hookset and proceeded to play the fish. Jamie knew it was a good one, anchored the boat on a shallow gravel bar, and hopped out net in hand. Three consecutive attempts to net the fish resulted in the beast tapping into its energy reserves, turning and running again. The third run involved circling the boat twice, swimming under the deployed anchor rope twice and ultimately breaking off with one last violent shake of the head. All the normal “What-If’s” flooded into my defeated brain: I should have changed my leader before that cast…I should have hopped out of the boat before it had a chance to wrap the anchor rope…and on and on. The drive back to the lodge felt a little bit longer that day as I replayed the events over and over, but with four more days of fishing ahead, my medicine was a touch easier to swallow.
La Posa Stillwater and River Combo Day
Wednesday was the only day of our trip that could be considered any sort of “weather day” by Patagonia standards. With a forecast calling for some spitting rain and temps in the upper 50s, some of the more fair-weather anglers opted to take the day off from fishing for a visit to Coyhaique or some R&R at the lodge. My fishing partner, Larry, was fighting off a cold and thought this was a good day to recuperate, so I had the opportunity to fish with another Montana Angler guest, Joe, whose wife was also taking a rest day. Joe and I hopped in with Jose and headed to the “La Posa” area. This is one of my favorite beats to fish out of Magic Waters Lodge and offers a very diverse fishing experience. The day starts by jetting or floating down river on the Paloma River, then motoring up the Desague (outlet), before arriving at the Majestic Lago Elizalde and its productive weed bed laden flats.
I have fished this section with several different guides and each guide approaches it slightly different; spotting feeding or suspended fish and sight casting with dries or nymphs, patrolling the perimeter for cruising fish, or in this case, motoring upwind, allowing the breeze to gently push us across the flats with the wind to our back. As we were motoring upriver with the cold rain pelting our faces, both Joe and I were having second thoughts about our decision to brave the weather forecast. Our dedication was rewarded almost immediately as Joe landed two impressive browns, both of which ate the big “Camilla” dry fly, on our first drift over the flats. We repeated this circuit a few times, landing several fish each pass, all big browns 18-22 inches.
We broke for lunch as the clouds began to disperse and the sun began to poke through, further rewarding our self-proclaimed heartiness with some unpredicted beautiful afternoon weather. The bite on the Elizalde seemed to peter out after lunch, so we motored back to the outlet where Jose began floating us down the Desague. Though this is a short section of river between the outlet of Elizalde and the confluence with the Paloma, perhaps 3/4 of a mile, it is tailor made trout habitat with structure all over the place and high trout numbers. Joe was casting a big dry fly from the back as I fished a streamer from the front of Jose’s cataraft. The action was fast and furious, sometimes chaotic, at both ends of the boat. Jose’s rapid fire commands of “Zach cast over that log! Joe, throw it under that bush!” kept us on our tows and we had too many follows, eats, and hookups to count. We hit the confluence with the Paloma grinning ear to ear, and viewed a gaucho fording the river on his horse as Jose motored us back to the truck. Another classic Patagonian fishing day in the books.
Lower Paloma River Float
Thursday morning, Larry was back on his feet and he joined me and Jamie to the lower Paloma River. This is another one of my favorites. Somewhat by request, Jamie agreed to float this section with us. There hadn’t been many trips operated on this section of river yet this season as flows and temps hadn’t been quite right but we were all up to give it a shot. What I like about this section of river is of course its unique aquamarine colored water and large trout, but also that it terminates at Laga Carro, allowing for some really unique sight fishing while wading around the mouth.
On this day we were committed to fishing streamers. The dry fly fishing had been lights-out on the lakes all week but had been a little more hit or miss on the larger rivers. Also, because this section of the Paloma is known to have some big fish and we were approaching the end of our fishing week, we were happy to swing for the fences. The streamer fishing was consistent throughout the day. We had too many follows to count, not all of which resulted in a strike and some resulting in short strikes with no hookup. I fished a big Drunk and Disorderly for a good part of the day; an articulated streamer with lots of flash and a shovel head that creates some great diving action when being stripped. This seemed to be the pattern of the day with everything from 8”rainbows to 20” browns chasing it down as we floated through the absolutely gorgeous Paloma Valley. The day culminated with stalking rising and cruising trout on the flats of Lago Carro by boat, and crystal-clear backchannels on foot. Another day with a variety of water types and fishing both on foot and by boat made for a really fulfilling experience. We returned back to the lodge and enjoyed another fantastic meal and reveled in our success of fishing streamers all day with great results. It was exciting to fish Lago Carro as another of Eduardo's lodges, Patagonia Baker Lodge lies at the outlet of another massive lake further south.
Magote River Horseback Assited Wade Fishing
The last day of fishing was upon us all too soon. Larry and I had discussed the option for some horse-assisted fishing earlier in the week and the opportunity was available for our final fishing day. I had heard a lot about the Mogote River and the unique experience of riding horses to access the fishery, but had never had the opportunity to experience it until now. Larry, fellow Montanan and Montana Angler guest Paul, and I would accompany guides Colin and Bam for the adventure.
A sporty drive to the trailhead and quick orientation with the gauchos had me riding a horse while wearing waders; I guess I can cross that one off the list. The hour or so ride up the Magote River was enjoyable and scenic; just enough riding to get the experience but not so much that I was dreading saddling back up at the end of the day. The Magote is a classic small freestone wade fishing river with a mix of browns and rainbows. While not known for large fish, it is chock-full of trout in the 6-14” range with a few larger fish in the deeper runs.
I didn’t plan on fishing much this day and was prepared to take some photos and let the other anglers fish 1:1 with the two guides. Bam finally talked me into making a few casts and handed me her 5 weight Sage R8 with a dry dropper rig ready to go. I walked a couple hundred yards and stumbled upon a deep run below a riffle that looked too perfect not to fish. After two casts and two eats on the dry fly, I took the dropper off and proceeded to fish a single dry. At one point, I hooked up on six casts in a row, never moving the placement of my feet as I hauled in one 10”-12” feisty trout after another. The clear fast water of the Magote provides for hard fighting fish boasting gorgeous colors. These fish are incredibly fun to catch on light tackle. I slowly made my way up the run catching fish on more casts than not, landing around thirty fish in an hour of fishing. The only reason I knew I wasn’t dreaming was the occasional nip of a horsefly on the back of my hand or buzz in my ear.
The horseback ride into the Magote reminded me of the exciting adventure to Eduardo's River of Dreams Basecamp. The River of Dreams basecamp is one of the most unique fishing programs in all of Patagonia. This is one of the most remote fisheries in Chile and offers guests incredible exclusive access to one of Patagonia's best big trout fisheries as well as 2 of its tributaries. Anglers can add this to a week at Magic Waters to create an epic two-week Patagonia fly fishing adventure.
Having caught more than my fair share, it was time to gather around the fire where the gauchos had prepared an asado. As the horses grazed around camp we indulged in the tasty local lamb and Chilean wine and shared our stories from the excellent pre-lunch fishing session. A couple more casts were made as the horses were rounded up. It was time to head back to Magic Waters Lodge for a farewell dinner, one more opportunity to share stories from the day, and an evening of traditional Chilean music from local musicians Eduardo had booked for a private performance.
My takeaway from this trip to Magic Waters Lodge was a corroboration of what I already knew; there is no bad time to fish in this area. Whether December or April, or any month in between, each part of the season has its unique attributes, and all have the potential for excellent fishing. While there are many changes that occur throughout the season, from water levels to bug life to flora, there are just as many consistencies. The beautiful lodge setting, helpful and accommodating lodge staff, knowledgeable and patient guides, and wonderful cuisine are all as solid as it gets. The hands-on owners and their staff and guides can be relied upon to help facilitate a memorable trip month after month and season after season.
Additional Travel and Cultural Information for Layovers in Santiago
Upon arriving in Santiago just a few days into the new year I immediately noticed significant differences from my previous trips. Being early summer in South America the urban aqueducts fed by the still present snowfields slowly melting on the alpine peaks of the surrounding Andes were flowing swiftly, a variety of flowers were in full bloom infusing the warm summer air with pleasant aromas, and locals who had not yet headed south for late summer holidays were present in droves enjoying the pleasant summer air.
Though a sprawling metropolis of over six million people, Santiago is home to several safe and walkable neighborhoods offering numerous opportunities to enjoy a day or two in the city before or after fishing in Patagonia. On our Montana Angler hosted trips, we choose to build in a layover day in Santiago upon arrival to build in a buffer it the case of rare but always possible travel interruptions, acclimate, catch up on some sleep at our preferred Castillo Rojo partner hotel, and enjoy the beautiful neighborhood of Bella Vista; an easy 20 minute cab ride from the international airport. Some of our group enjoyed the nearby funicular up San Cristobal hill to visit the impressive architecture of the Capilla La Maternidad de Maria Catholic Church, and the iconic Virgin of the Immaculate Conception statue. Sampling a variety of ancestral foods at our favorite award winning local restaurant, Peumayen, a few doors down from the hotel is a nice way to end the evening, followed by a good night’s rest before heading back to the airport for the final leg of the journey south the following morning.
