Fly Fishing in Argentina

 We have some more photos from our big break last December and January that never make it to the blog.  A good part of that trip was spent camping and fly fishing in Northern Patagonia.

Kristi and I started our vacation by traveling south along the Paraña River in Argentina.  The highlight of this part of the trip  for me was getting into a couple dorado one day.  I landed two smaller fish like the one pictured below.  One larger fish grabbed my fly and broke the 20lb bite wire on the take.

On our journey south I also was hoping to catch an Argentinian carp.  I tried a few different lakes near Cordoba, Mendoza, and one urban lake in Santiago.  Unfortunately I went totally carpless.  Low water clarity, and bad weather resulted in getting very few good shots at carp working  the extreme shallows or top of the water column. 

Traveling and fishing in Patagonia was a dream come true.  The scenery we encountered every day camping and fishing along the large lake and river systems was unbelievably beautiful. Some of the lakes high up in the drainages had a Pacific Northwest rain forest feel.  The vegetation and animal life was different but the unpredictable weather felt very familiar.  At times the humidity was so high, precipitation  would materialized out of the air and fall from a virtually cloudless sky.  Fishing these large lake systems sometimes required an 8wt with a fast sinking line and aggressive streamer presentation to beat the wind and waves. At calmer times a lighter rod with an intermediate sinking line and a nymph or streamer was very effective.  

Lower in the river valleys the landscape was more reminiscent of arid areas of the American west.

My brother was my fishing companion for much of the trip.  Both Kristi and Ben's girlfriend were very patient of our desire to go fishing while we were traveling together.  We spent several weeks in Chile and Argentina.  Then Ben and his girlfriend left for southern Patagonia, Kristi went back to work, and I struck out on my own.

Pancoras are a crustacean found in many Patagonian waters.  We bought some pancora flies at a local fly shop, but for me, more traditional trout streamers caught a lot more fish.

River scene near Lago Rivadavia in the Chubut Provence

Rental boat, 7 lakes loop Neuquén Province

Mystery fish, urban lake in Santiago

Ben changing his fly on one of our favorite rivers.

Rainbow

Hiking into a boca, Rio Negro province.  River mouths that connect large lakes to their rivers are a common place to seasonally target really large trout.

The aftermath of hooking into a toothy dorado.  This fly was a four inch clouser style fly before the dorado got a hold of it.

The Perca, one of Patagonia's native fish species.

Enjoying a cup of tea in Trevelin

Ben bundled up on a Chilean river.

Monkey puzzle tree.

Brown trout that went after a streamer.

Sunset on a Neuquén river.

Volcán Lanín

Rainbow trout.

My last week I spent camped mostly along a river that had awesome mid-morning mayfly hatch and corresponding  fly action.

Firewood and vino storage area.

Molting pancora and it's imitation

Badly in need of a shower and a shave.

Brook trout from a Neuquén province lake.

The sunset on my last evening of Patagonian fishing before returning to civilization.