Fly Fishing Central Patagonia

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Sweet pic you got there Dave... that photographer is very talented!!! lol


Nice little write up. It seems every year I fly fish, I tend to seek after more of those little trickles of water that are full of wild fish!
 
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salmo
I love to fish those little streams others think to small or remote to bother with.

Salmo
 
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DaveKile
ryguyfi,

It is a super photograph!!

I think the fun in so many of these wild trout streams is the exploration.
 
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sholgate
PFBC,

Please don't label them. Let the streams be a mystery. I know we need to have license sales to support fishery management but is it necessary for so many to be labeled? The best discovery of a wild trout stream is no one else there. :) I guess I am selfish.

Ps - great article!
 
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Marv_Levy
well said sholgate. I agree with you 100% i just started hitting the wild streams 2years ago and nothing is better than getting out and fishing them. You never run into anyone you don't run into garbage all over the banks. Its like you go back in time and your in the woods by yourself. Labeling them will just bring attention to them attention to them that will only hurt the trout in the streams. The people that do pass the knowledge on to those close to them and the cycle continues. Most people don't know how to fish and it really irks me. I hate seeing people show up to the creek with a 7foot spinning pole with a giant reel and 12lb test fishing, dont even get me started on the size of the hooks they use...

Lets keep it in the hands of the die hard knowledgeable fishermen. Not the people that show up after the stocking truck pulls out and think once they stop stocking trout they are all caught thus no more reason to fish. Keep them in the public known streams please.
 
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scottrum
I suggest that all these streams should be posted as wild trout enhancement and no fish should be harvested. Once someone knows about it they be there fishing and filling up their creel.
 
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S
I agree, scottrum. I enjoy those streams where the terrain is too rough or remote for others to venture off to. I do enjoy the untouched outdoors and the solitude that goes with it. I also enjoy the challenge involved in 'sneaking-up' on and enticing a wild trout. Having them 'not named' seems a little harsh, but allowing no harvest or little harvest would definitely deter most, if not all, 'less serious' sportsman. Heck, I'm almost positive that the 'less serious' sportsman wouldn't have the skill to catch these wild trout! Also, I don't even think that the stream I fish the most is even managed by the PBFC (it's seen some AMD in the far past, but's nearly pristine now).
 
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B
Absolutly. I am headed out to some wild places this weekend to catch some wild fish...One reason I do it...No one is out there.
 
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DaveKile
castingpatagonia.jpg
by Brian McGeehan
from Montana Angler Fly Fishing
As a youth growing up in Pennsylvania I enjoyed reading about many of the world’s famous wild trout destinations including Alaska, Kamchatka, Montana, Patagonia and New Zealand. As an avid trout fisherman I have been very fortunate to travel to many of the world’s destination wild trout locations and eventually moved to Montana. One of my favorite destination locations to visit is central Patagonia. Most of the other famous international destinations offer incredible fly fishing but there is often one style of fishing that you experience there: think sight fishing for huge browns in New Zealand or catching huge rainbows in Alaska. Patagonia is very similar in many ways to the American Northwest and resembles a blend of coastal Washington, Montana, Wyoming. My favorite characteristic of fishing Central Patagonia is the same thing that I love most about Montana: diversity. Just like my home waters in the Big Sky state you can fish a different river or stream every day including a sampling of spring creeks, trophy stillwaters, tailwaters and freestone rivers of all shapes and sizes. Although many aspects of Central Patagonia resemble the Rockies or Pacific Northwest - the lack of pressure from anglers is dramatically less than found in the Western US. I lead hosted trips to Patagonia most years in the off season and have several friends and guides that either run lodges or guide down south. Although I feel competent to speak to my experiences in Patagonia I don’t consider myself an expert on the region and there are still many fisheries in Argentina and Chile that I personally haven’t fished so this post is not designed to be an authoritative guide but just my own personal advice and notes on my travels to the area.

Where is Patagonia?
Patagonia simply refers to the southern Andes and includes both Chile and Western Argentina. Most of the classic trout fishing that you read about occurs in Northern and Central Patagonia. The far southern reaches of Patagonia are better known for sea run fisheries of huge brown trout like in Tierra del Fuego or the Rio Gallegos in Santa Cruz district. In general the Chilean side of Patagonia is much wetter and is home to some very large volume rivers. Chile looks a lot like the Cascades or Olympics in coastal Washington. Most of Argentine Patagonia is in the rain shadow of the Southern Andes and is much dryer. The scenery in Argentine Patagonia looks a lot like Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. Some of the regions like Los Alerces National Park are densely forested and others offer near desert climate depending on how close to the mountains you are. In general Chile is less developed and more remote, but it also is harder to get from river to river since each valley is essentially in a rugged fjord.

bigpatagoniabrown.jpg
Northern Patagonia on the Argentine side is the most famous for fly fishing. This region is roughly north of Bariloche and south of San Junin de los Andes and includes legendary waters like the Malleo, Traful, Limay and Chimehuin to name a few. When visiting Northern Patagonia you typically stay on one or two of the massive estancias and wade or float fish on the estancia or float one of the local rivers using public access at bridges.

Central Patagonia fishing is centered around the Argentine town of Esquel. Esquel is about a 5 hour drive south of the larger tourist town of Bariloche. The good fishing extends to the north in Los Alerces National Park, to the east with the classic multi day float on the Rio Chubut or the spring creek fishing on Arroya Pescado, The massive Rio Grande and Futaleufu (on the Chilean side) and the remote Rio Pico region about three hours south of Esquel.

Getting to Central Patagonia
If you are planning on fishing the Argentine side of Central Patagonia or the Futaleufu in Chile you should plan on flying to Esquel. Plan on spending one night in Buenos Aires upon arrival. Most flights to the capital city leave the states in the evening and arrive in Argentina in the morning. I sleep well on flights and feel pretty good upon arrival after getting 6 or 7 hours of sleeping on the plane. There is generally only one flight to Esquel each day and they only are offered 4 days a week. There are usually around 7 flights a day into Bariloche every day which is to the north but if you can design your trip around the flight schedule into Esquel it is much more convenient. Although it is sometimes possible to get to Esquel on the same day you arrive in BA I don’t recommend it. The domestic flights are at a different airport and the connections are pretty tight if you are trying to catch a cab across the city. Buenos Aires is an amazing city and is often referred to as the Paris of South America. Enjoying one or two nights in BA is always a very enjoyable part of travelling to Argentina.

If you are fishing Chile (with the exception of the Futaleufu river which is just across the border from Esquel) you generally fly into Santiago and then connect the same day to Puerto Mount. Usually the lodge that you are travelling to arranges a charter flight from that point. There aren’t really many independent guides in this area and fishing on your own isn’t realistic due to the terrain so the lodge you team up with should handle all of your logistics. Farther south in Coique there are independent guides but the public waters in that area also receive more pressure.

I have visited every country from Mexico to Columbia and both Chile and Argentina. In my travels in both Chile and Argentina I have always felt very safe. My level of “safety radar” is about the same as when travelling in Europe which is a nice perk compared to some of the Central American countries that I have travelled in where you have to be much more alert to safety concerns.

More after the break here

 
MKern
They have 2 weeks off before the game and it would be nice seeing as how it is a socializing, entertainment event.

I would be in favor of moving it up time-wise on Sunday though. Something like 3:00 or 4:00. Puts optimum snack time around the half.
 
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Swattie87
My vote's Saturday in prime time. 8:00ish kickoff. Honestly, the only objective reason I can think to not do it Saturday evening is there will likely be a bump in drunk driving incidents.

I know I'd enjoy it more if it was Saturday night though. I'd love to know the NFL's actual reason for keeping it on Sunday...Can't be tradition, as they've added many more games to the regular season schedules that aren't played on Sundays. Most weeks there's NFL games on 3 nights a week, sometimes 4. 4 of the 10 other playoff games before the Super Bowl are already played on Saturdays...I love the setup for Wild Card and Divisional Weekends. 4:00/8:00 games Saturday, 1:00/4:00 games Sunday.

It's either waste a day off on Monday so you can stay up and enjoy the game (and regret burning it later when the weather's nice), or deal with Monday/work hanging over your head. Unless the Steelers are in it, I typically do the latter.
 
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