Hola from Patagonia!
Here in San Martín de los Andes, we’re coming to the end of a lengthy and chilly Patagonian winter and we have some great news for our upcoming fly fishing season: it looks like we are going to have plenty of water. In fact, water levels in our many local rivers and lakes are higher going into spring than they have been for the past 10 years. The stage is set for a spectacular season to come.
Our season for fly fishing in Patagonia runs from November until May, aligning with the Southern Hemisphere’s spring all the way through until early autumn / fall. With 6 weeks until the season opens, bountiful rainfall has left our rivers and lakes full to bursting. As the spring sunshine begins to melt away the last of the winter snowfall, followed by the warmer weather coming in summer, all our fly fishing guides are looking forward to a bumper fly fishing season in Patagonia as water levels begin to drop during the season and the fishing gets better and better.
Being as spoilt for choice as we are with the incredible variety of rivers and lakes we have access to, it’s hard to pick where we’re most excited to get back to first.
Among the myriad rivers, the Malleo, with its clear waters and volcano views, and the Limay, known for its trophy-sized trout, are sure to provide lifelong memories as well as extraordinary fish. The Chimehuín, unabashedly beautiful and teeming with aquatic life, offers both novice and experienced anglers thrilling opportunities to engage with the sport in uniquely scenic settings.
The Quemquemtreu Creek offers thrilling wading and sight fishing early on in the season, where you’re unlikely to encounter another soul on the water aside from your fishing companions and guide. The Traful, the home of the only landlocked salmon in the area in its extraordinary gin clear waters, is sure to make many more fly fishing dreams come true, while the ever reliable Collón Curá provides some excellent willow worm hatches.
The remarkable canyons of the Aluminé are likely to delight just as much as the top class fishing, while the small but perfectly formed Quilquihue is an unexpected treasure to enjoy directly from the garden of Casa Quilquihue.
We can’t wait to get back to Filo Hua Hum for our favourite sight fishing in the area in the foothills of the Andes and to the neighbouring Caleufu to enjoy one of the best minnow runs around, not to mention the spectacular scenery.
And that’s just the rivers: guests who experience a day on one of our local lakes will discover a completely unique experience fishing for huge rainbow, brown and brook trout on some of the most remote and peaceful water Northern Patagonia offers.
Off the water, guests will discover a luxury, private lodge experience at our very own Casa Quilquihue. Exclusively available to Fish Patagonia guests, this tastefully finished modern home on the banks of the river Quilquihue offers a completely unique addition to the Patagonian fly fishing world.
Our partner lodges bring years of excellence and experience in showing guests the true essence of Patagonia to the table. Arroyo Verde provides guests with the sole access to fish the extraordinary Traful river while also enjoying five star service in a private estancia setting, while Tipiliuke provides guests with a huge range of unforgettable experiences both on and off the water. River House is a refreshingly modern, spacious lodge on the banks of the Chimehuín with an extraordinary culinary offering and a brand new spa, while Tres Rios is as classy and elegant an estancia fishing experience comes.
Quemquemtreu and Filo Hua Hum provide guests with the unique opportunity to lodge in centuries old, remote family estancias to enjoy private water, while San Huberto is an institution synonymous with the majestic Malleo river. Mamuil Malal also offers unbelievable access to the Malleo, in as authentic an estancia experience as they come under the same roof as the owners. Collón Curá lodge, meanwhile, offers wonderful lodgings from which to exploit unparalleled access to its namesake, the Collón Curá river.
As we gear up for this season, we invite you to join us in exploring these magnificent waters. This season promises to be an unforgettable journey into the heart of Patagonia’s fly-fishing paradise.
See you on the water.
