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Published: March 3rd 2010
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Barry, being Barry, had some contacts with 2 world-class fly fishing guides. These are the guys who took out George Bush Sr when he visited Argentina. We set up a 2 day drift boat trip in the small town of San Martin. To get to this out-of the-way little town, we had to drive 5 hours up the famous 7 Lakes Road. This drive takes my number one for best drives in the world. Green lake after green lake, mountains, flowers and perfect evening lighting giving a soothing feel to the landscape. We were able to score front seats on the top of our double decker bus so we had a great panoramic view.
When we arrived, we were greeted at the bus station by our guide who gave us a ride to our apartment where we would be staying for the next 3 days. We went out for a quick dinner of Argentina’s famous empanadas (meat filled pastries), and went to bed to rest before our early 7am start.
The next morning, we had a 2 hour drive through an indigenous reserve. Again, like everywhere in Argentina, the landscape was beautiful, this time reminding me of the Albertan badlands;
lots of shrubs and wind-shaped cliffs.
Only 2 people could fish in each boat so Dana and I were in one, and Barry in the other. We had about 8 hours of fishing ahead of us. Since Dana and I have only fished on our own, our guide gave us quite a few tips and helped us perfect our casting techniques. After 2 hours I thought my arm might fall off… I had quite a few bits but it was Dana who brought 5 big rainbows in! We stopped for lunch just when I was starting to consider falling out of the boat to give my arm a rest. Phew! We had a lovely little picnic consisting of a roast of tenderloin, 2 liters of Patagonian red wine, crisp dark Argentinean beer, fresh salad, and prosciutto and cheese as appetizers. Delicious!
In the afternoon my arm was already getting stronger and I was starting to get the hang of things. Floating down this river with the warm sun on my face and beautiful landscapes wherever I looked, is now what I think of when I have those moments where I need to close my eyes and think of
my happy place. Sigh.
Huge white cliff faces, hawks searching for prey, fish jumping for my hook, a army of pink parrots nesting in the cliffs bordering the river, endless forests of green and absolute silence and solitude is what I remember.
On the second day, I wanted Dana and Barry to have a father and son day so I volunteered to go alone in the second boat. The new, cute young Argentinean guide that day had nothing to do with this! My new guide quickly whipped me into shape and I was soon catching more fish than I could handle. When lunch came around Dana and I had both caught 5 fish, so with my competitive nature I made a competition to see who could catch the most that afternoon.
I made sure not to overdose on food and wine as I had the day before to keep my senses sharp, although this was a quite a challenge considering the amazing presentation they set out before us.
I was on fire that afternoon!! I even caught a fish as I was taking a picture of the scenery and letting my line drag through the water as
we crossed the river! My favorite fly was the one that made the fish angry so they attacked it just out of spite. In the end, I had to brag to Dana about the 9 fish I caught, and no, I don’t mean total, but just that afternoon. Muaw ha ha. Barry was the champion for the largest fish. He caught the elusive big brown.
And so our fishing trip came to an end. I will never forget it.
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