PPS Destinations Report 

Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Argentina

Date:        January 2010

 Reported by Dr. Chris Travis, California, USA

In the Argentine Patagonian Pampas, one hundred miles north of the Straits of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego, runs a clear shallow river originating from the Andes Mountains and its glaciers, and flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. Huge Sea-run Brown Trout migrate up the Rio Gallegos from the ocean to spawn in the summer.

The Las Buitreras Lodge is situated in the most favorable area of the river to fish for these trout. It is a classic Estancia lodge, extremely clean and comfortable with all the amenities including great food and wines. (ahhhh the Malbecs) The staff and guides are world class and so is the fishing. Being that the river is so clean and skinny, technical fly fishing is the norm with stealth and stalking, a must.

One can use two handed rods, but in many of the pools, the guides will recommend single handed rods to keep quiet the presentation. If you spray with the spey, the browns will not stay. When I used the two handed rod in the larger pools, single spey, snake rolls, and overhead casts had to be made. One waded very gingerly and very often, we stayed out of the water. Thinner leaders and smaller flies were employed until the very last light of the evening. Then, the monster flies came out with the trout less spooky.

We drove from Jurassic Lake, a short 10 hour drive however, one can fly into Rio Gallegos from Buenos Aires, and the drive to the Estancia is about 45 minutes. President Kirschner is a neighbor of the estancia, so things are very nice in this neck of the country.  Loop Adventures owns the lodge and the access to 40 miles of the river.  All the estancias are protecting the habitat and the sea-runs by combining their efforts to keep netting to a minimum, control the fishing, catch and release, and keep the river clean.

The very best time of year to fish for these Sea-runs is in February. They pool up in their spawning ritual, but can be colored up and lethargic. However, there are those who prefer fresh, silver, stronger Sea-runs, and January is the time to swing your flies to them. We went for the silver torpedoes. They are moving fish, thus harder to hook. Also, the angler fishes very fast through the pools and onto other pools, because, the trout may be in one pool in the morning, and another pool in the afternoon. So, the strategy is to cover lots of water.

There are so many pools on the estancia, the owner, Christer Sjoberg, has not fished all the pools. You fish one beat of pools in the morning from about 8:30 AM to 1 PM, head in for the gigantic lunch and wines, take a nap, then head out in the afternoon at about 5:30 PM and fish another set of pools until dark. Dinner is late.  One can get used to this very easily and you do it for 7 days.

There are other anglers from all over the world who fish with you. It can be a little intimidating when you fish with an Englishman, Swede, and Norwegan who can cast a country mile and fish with incredible stealth. They are used to fresh migrating sea-runs in their countries. However, one of the perks is they all seem to want to give tips, and before long, you are fishing the river like a pro.

I highly recommend fishing the Rio Gallegos to those who love to stalk big trout with light gear and smaller flies. It is a challenge with a tremendous reward when you fool one into taking your fly. The grab may be the best in fresh water. It is vicious, and sea-run teeth are bigger than the land-locked browns. They will jump with abandon and take you into your backing using the flow of the river to help them escape.

One thing I noticed, because we were fishing for moving fish, no one foul hooked one of these beasts. I cannot say that when  fishing for sea-runs on the Rio Grande, when I fished in late February. They were pooled up and snagging was easier. Also, the fresh silver fish were incredibly strong and took the fly on the move. Less fish were hooked, but the quality far outweighed the quantity.

All the typical animal were about, Guanaco, geese, flamingos, cara-cara, sheep, cattle, condors, and foxes. The estancia is a working ranch, so gouchos with their dogs were working while we fished. The people are very jovial in Patagonia. They do not have the odd affects that a big city can lay on their souls.

Chris

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