bwillroll
03-11-2006, 09:45 AM
The months of November and December my wife and I spent time mostly in Argentina, and a few weeks in Bolivia. The purpose of the trip was not to go fishing, but we did schedule in a week or so to visit northern Patagonia to fish the Chimeuin and other surrounding rivers between Bariloche and Junin de los Andes.
After a nine hour bus ride from Cordoba to Buenos Aires, a flight from BA to Bariloche, and then renting a car and driving the seven lakes route we finally made it to Junin. My plan was to use William Leech's book on fishing in Patagonia as my guide and to explore the local rivers on my own. Did I check to see if the rivers were evern fishable before making my way all the way down there? Of course not. I did notice on the drive in to the town of Junin that the rivers seemed to running really high. Come to find out it had been the worst spring in 30 years for that part of the Andes. All the rivers were blown. A local guide directed me to fish the Malleo in hopes that it might yield something, so the next morning I was standing on the shores of this river in Argenitina fishing! How lucky was I. Then tragedy struck. On my third cast I snagged a willow branch, so I gave it a quick tug hoping to release my fly but instead my rod broke! What!? My wife says she's never seen my so depressed. I look back on it now and our trip would have been great without the fishing, but to be so close and yet to be left standing holding a broken rod in some of the most famous trout waters of the world was not what I had in my mind.
Fortunately I ran into Carlos who has been guiding in Junin for the past thirty years. Hetold me that not all was lost. He would take me up into the source of the chimieun...Lago Huechalafquen (sp?) sight casting to cruising rainbows, browns, and brook. The nest two days I had the best fishing of my life hands down. Close to fifty trout in the those two days. Mostly rainbows, several browns, and a few brookies. Shared mate and an asado with carlos and his family who were more then generous and hospitable. Got caught in a gaucho cattle drive, saw a circling condor and experienced the weird Andean forests. Someday I'll be back.
After a nine hour bus ride from Cordoba to Buenos Aires, a flight from BA to Bariloche, and then renting a car and driving the seven lakes route we finally made it to Junin. My plan was to use William Leech's book on fishing in Patagonia as my guide and to explore the local rivers on my own. Did I check to see if the rivers were evern fishable before making my way all the way down there? Of course not. I did notice on the drive in to the town of Junin that the rivers seemed to running really high. Come to find out it had been the worst spring in 30 years for that part of the Andes. All the rivers were blown. A local guide directed me to fish the Malleo in hopes that it might yield something, so the next morning I was standing on the shores of this river in Argenitina fishing! How lucky was I. Then tragedy struck. On my third cast I snagged a willow branch, so I gave it a quick tug hoping to release my fly but instead my rod broke! What!? My wife says she's never seen my so depressed. I look back on it now and our trip would have been great without the fishing, but to be so close and yet to be left standing holding a broken rod in some of the most famous trout waters of the world was not what I had in my mind.
Fortunately I ran into Carlos who has been guiding in Junin for the past thirty years. Hetold me that not all was lost. He would take me up into the source of the chimieun...Lago Huechalafquen (sp?) sight casting to cruising rainbows, browns, and brook. The nest two days I had the best fishing of my life hands down. Close to fifty trout in the those two days. Mostly rainbows, several browns, and a few brookies. Shared mate and an asado with carlos and his family who were more then generous and hospitable. Got caught in a gaucho cattle drive, saw a circling condor and experienced the weird Andean forests. Someday I'll be back.