PPS Destinations Report
Jurassic (Estrobel) Lake, Santa Cruz, Argentina
Date: January 2010
Reported by Dr. Chris Travis,
California, USA
Jurassic
Lake, Argentina 1-2010
We flew into El Calafate near the Chilean border, in Patagonia. It is a high Pampas
city near the Santa Cruz River and the glaciers and lakes in which the
river originates. It is a nice, clean tourist city, not unlike Bariloche. The
restaurants are very nice with the best beef steaks you can imagine.
We went to Los Glacieres National Park and the Perita Moreno Glacier and we
were lucky to see it calving about every fifteen minutes into Lago Argentino. What
noise. It is one of the few glaciers in the world not retreating from
Global Warming. It's snowing all the time in the mountians which feed the
glacier. We saw condors galore gliding in the wind uplifts from
the Andes. Of course Guanaco, Cara-Cara, Geese, Ibis, Flamingos, foxes,
Gouchos and their sheep, and other animals were everywhere.
We drove north to Lago Estrobel, and for those of us who went to
Torres del Paine can attest, a short drive in Patagonia is 10 hours, and this
was a short drive. The last 30 Km took 4 hours and wearing a helmet would not be
out of the question. Jurassic Lake is about 10 miles long and 8 miles wide in a
wind swept catch basin with little or no trees. The wind is a constant 30-40 MPH
(higher in the afternoons) except in the early morning and dusk.
The only river entering the lake is The Barrancosa River. There is no outlet
as the water evaporates rapidly from the wind and the aquifers. The rainbow
trout were planted 20 years ago from the McCloud River in California which
are relatives of the California steelhead that became non anadromous over the
millennia. They are incredibly strong and have no limit to their size, if given
the appropriate environment to thrive. Enter Jurassic Lake!
The lake has an incredible amount of scud, leech, and insect population. It
is well oxygenated from the constant wind waves, and it has a perfect river to
spawn YEAR-ROUND. The main spawning period is Feb and March (don't go then), but
they do it all year. The shore line is conducive to wading and stalking these
huge trout. The Loop
Camp is at the mouth of the Barrancosa River, and that is
where the fish are at all the time, and where the huge ones surf the wind waves
into the river. It is something to see.
The camp is very clean, Has nice sleeping quarters, big dome tents where food is
served and the well known Malbec wines are flowing. The views are spectacular
overseeing the river and the lake. Wildlife is everywhere and tame foxes will
follow you around to each pool on the river.
The Barrancosa River (50km long) has huge rainbows (20+) in it at all
times and fly fishing with dries, nymphs, and streamers can be had all day long.
The best times are in the morning and afternoon, especially in the late
afternoon. It seems thousands of trout stage at the mouth of the river waiting
for dark to ascend before going up river.
Everything you have heard about Jurassic Lake is true and then some. It is not
for the faint hearted, but it is worth the struggle to get there (the road from
hell) and fish in the so called wind....more like Tornados. Why?
Every cast to to a fish that will be the biggest trout you have ever hooked and
landed. Alaska has nothing on Jurassic Lake. To give you an example and not to belabour
the point, I hooked and landed a 24 lb rainbow on a dry fly, created by Ken
Morrish called the Pompador, that he uses for steelhead in BC. I landed 200+
more rainbows most over 10 lbs, some going over 20 lbs. You just stop
counting after a couple of days. In fact, 4 days is enough to quench your thirst
and it is wise to have another venue to go to like Rio Gallegos, another short
drive (you guessed it, 10 hours) for sea-run browns. That is another story.
The Loop
Adventure people are tremendous in every way. They do everything
for you at the camp and make sure things are clean and the food wonderful. We
were guests of Christer Sjoberg, the owner of Loop, and he is the real deal. He
has the most infectious personality and a very kind heart. It was he who
discovered Jurassic Lake and found through tough fishing, that the camp at the
Barrancosa River was the only place to go. There are two other camps at
different spots on the lake.
Those of you who like adventure, action, and rough conditions will revel in
this unusual fishing destination. We are fortunate indeed to have Loop and the
other two camps oversee the lake to keep it sustainable with the help of the
three estancias that surround the lake. Research is being considered to help the
biology, the health of the lake, and its rainbows. And, don't worry about
the food source, I have never seen so many scud and leeches in my life. However,
the camps are taking trout out of the lake to keep the balance so these
beasts will keep getting larger and larger. We saw much larger trout
than the 20 pounders I landed, much larger.
Bring 8 wt rods, 20 lb test leaders, and big flies.
Chris
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