Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Argentina/Chile trip 2008

Collapse
X
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Argentina/Chile trip 2008

    I thought I’d share some photos from the 2008 trip to Argentina and Chile with you. There are a lot, so my apologies if they take ages to load on your computer!

    My trip began in Central Patagonia; this was wild brown and rainbow trout paradise! More rivers and lakes than you could cover in a lifetime, and that was just in the small area that I got to see. The weather was hot, 20 Celsius + every day, bliss having come from our winter, and the waters crystal clear.

    I did manage to visit some of the Welsh areas, which was totally surreal. I was there on St.David’s day and got invited to a party that evening where a large group of locals had gathered at the ‘Welsh School of the Andes’. It was amazing to be able to speak Welsh so far from home, and great to see the language still strong in the area. I even had a Welsh speaking fishing guide one day!

    For those who love their trout fishing I can certainly see the attraction of the area, especially when their peak fishing season fits in-line with our peak winter months. Also, it doesn’t suffer the strong winds experienced down in Tierra Del Fuego, which was definitely a plus. The closest I've come to this type of fishing was in Slovenia, but this was Slovenia on steroids!

    As per usual I did get a bit click-happy! Managing to rack up some 30gb in photos! Here’s a few shots from the first leg of the journey (sorry if they look slightly pixelated; they have been resized to allow easier loading):
    Ready to go afloat



    Drift fishing with my guide who spoke Welsh, with a mountain called ‘Gorsedd-y-cymylau’ (resting place of the clouds) in the background.









    A fish on a ‘fat-albert’, something which I thought a fish would never be stupid enough to take!






    Some local scenery:






    Wild Parrots:



    Then on to a different area in search of yet more ravenous trout:






    On the feed:



    The river:















    A small tributary:



    A random lake:









    A small stream where sight-fishing with small nymphs and light leaders was just the ticket:












    With very acrobatic fish!!!









    An even smaller stream! Deep water, heavy nymphs, light leaders and a catapult cast:









    It was then time to get back to Buenos Aires and meet the gang for the Rio Grande leg of the trip! The following week was a right laugh! With some extremely comic moments. We had some good sport on the lakes and the rivers, even though the Grande was down to her bones, having very little water over the previous 2 months, which made for very challenging fishing – if the wind was up then the fishing was good, but if the sun was out with little or now wind then the river fishing was confined to the early mornings and late evenings/night-time. The following should give you a flavour from that week and a couple from the following week:


















    A nice resident:









    The Grande showing her bones:



    Some scenic shots from the lodge:






    Down river



    A couple from the lakes:





















    A double header of Pacific Sea-trout:












    Some local ‘wildlife’; a condor and a cara-cara or something similar!









    Sorry for the amount of photos! But I hope that you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

    TT.

  • #2
    More photos welcome TT as I'm heading to Chile in 2010......~:.

    Comment


    • #3
      Absolutely Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Comment


      • #4
        amazing pics, thanks. |\

        Comment


        • #5
          Volcanic worries

          Fantastic photos and scenery. I hope the area escapes the worst of the Chaiten volcanic eruption.

          Is there any news from the Welsh Patagonia region that you also visited?

          http://this-is-sparta.blogspot.com/2...n-pompeii.html

          The prognosis seemed rather bleak, but the link's 2 weeks old and I haven't been able to find out much more.

          I understand that many villages have suffered flooding where the ash has set like concerete.
          It's a very worrying time. Viewing the photos reminded me. I hope the situation has improved - "no news and all that".


          PB

          Comment


          • #6
            Very nice pics

            Keep them coming

            regards

            john

            Comment


            • #7
              Stunning photos...just stunning...places which most of us never dare to dream could even exist..

              Many thanks for sharing them..

              Wm.

              Comment


              • #8
                TT: i have been told many good thinhg about argentina and its huge trout but i was also told that a lot of the fishing on the rio grande and others that it is all heavy, heavy sinking lines and huge flies, also that most of the fish come in broadside if you know what i mean. Have you heard anything similar because me and my dad want to go some day.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Yes, 100%, unfortunately UgieFisher. Where I/We fish/ed is on the middle reaches, and virtually all the fish come to the floating line - I've never had to go below and intermediate on these stretches. This is on the Chilean side of the Rio Grande, where we are also allowed to night-fish.

                  However, on the lower beats - closer to the estuary - the wind catches the river a lot more, and the banks and riverbed are a lot more silty. When the wind really blows you get waves in the river, which churns up the riverbed and puts a colour in the river. At such times they tend to opt for quicker sinking lines. However, I have heard reports, and the locals are quite open and quick to tell you this fact, that one of the main reasons for using the sinking lines is to guarantee fish. {;

                  For me there are no guarantees in fishing, especially when fishing for wild fish. I could go for a week up to the Spey tomorrow and catch bugger all, not even seeing a fish. However, understanding that they are wild fish, I could appreciate this, and understand that one week can be good with the next being bad. Any person who expects guarantees when pursuing a wild fish is nothing short of a fool. To resort to such tactics to guarantee a wild fish, words fail me. I've never been to or fished these waters, so can only go on what the locals and the guides on the other beats tell me, but I certainly hope that this isn's a practice that's readily adopted.

                  The 2009 trip will be organised in the very near future, but I'm not going to take over the group size I had in 2008, limiting this one to 6 people, rather than the 12 I took this year. In addition, I have got access to Maria Behety and Despedida this season, which are great to have on the books.

                  All the best,

                  TT.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Ugie Fisher View Post
                    TT: i have been told many good thinhg about argentina and its huge trout but i was also told that a lot of the fishing on the rio grande and others that it is all heavy, heavy sinking lines and huge flies, also that most of the fish come in broadside if you know what i mean. Have you heard anything similar because me and my dad want to go some day.
                    I was told the same by a guide in Patagonia who used to work on the Grande. apparently the guides are very quick to net ( quite downstream of the angler ) the fish and "swiftly" unhook the fish so they can present them as cleanly caught to their smiling American.

                    I'm heading down that way again next year to the Rio Gallegos, a bit smaller much more 'Towy like' fishing - but it is not easy.
                    Last edited by SJF, Simon; 17-06-2008, 20:14.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      wow imressive photos,fish and scenery -keep them coming steffan i never get tired. Maybe one day i will have a chance to visit-goldhead

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Thanks guys. I know that if i went down i would take a floater and a slow intermediate because i think that what they are doing is shocking and if i saw someone doing this when i was there then i would be gone.

                        TT: i didn't think that you were allowed to fish at night in argentina because i have never heard anyone say otherwise. I think it would be amazing to take some of these monsters at 1 and 2 in the morning. Who do you book through? How did you get on? how much is it for a week? Sorry about all the questions but i would need to know if i was going down.
                        Last edited by Ugie Fisher; 31-12-2008, 21:55.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Hi UgieFisher,

                          no, you are not allowed to night-fish on the Argentinian side. However, more than half of the Rio Grande flows through Chile - from its source through to the middle reaches. Laws are different on the Chilean side, which does allow for night-fishing, if viable, given decent conditions.

                          I will be organising a group through my business; angling-worldwide.com. I won't make too much reference here to the prices etc. but will do in the near future under the packages section, if that's ok, rather than detracting from this thread. The week that I am going to reserve for 2009 is the 21-28th February, or something close to that.

                          Thanks,

                          TT.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Teifi-Terrorist
                            Down river



                            Fantastic photos TT. |\ |\

                            I hope you don't mind me repeating this one - but would the damage showing on the Patagonian beech trees be down to beavers?
                            Did you see any? I'd heard they were rife on southern TDF.


                            Ella

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Hi Ella,

                              sorry, missed your original post. Yes, the damage would be down the industrious beaver! they are rife in the area, and you do spot them most days you are fishing. They are also an absolute pain when fishing, as their defence or warning mechanism is to slap their tails on the water' surface, which is extremely loud, and does catch you off-guard.

                              The damage they cause is extensive, and rarely do they concentrate on one tree i.e. when one has fallen they will move on to the next. They are being hunted, but the levels do remain high. They're bloody big too, much bigger than what I expected.

                              I have seen them on TDF (Chilean side, as the Argentinean side of the Grande has little/no trees), but not on the mainland.

                              Best wishes,

                              TT.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X