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Published: January 13th 2008
Living Vicariously through Matt 1
For those of you who wish you were out fishing right now here´s how the fight with a 16¨Rio Percey Bow Looks!Ah yes, where to begin. Let´s start with a general overview……..
Trout were brought to Argentina in the early 1900´s and stocked all over Patagonia and the Lake District. Prior to that time South America was salmonoid free and native species including small perch and catfish were the dominate fish in the regions aquatic systems. The salmonoid species found in the regions fresh water lakes and streams today include: Rainbows, Browns, brookies, and Lake Trout. In addition, some of the larger rivers that flow to the sea hold Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, and Sea-Run Browns.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century and up until the 1960´s the trout population boomed. The lakes and large rivers produced large quantities of truly massive trout - we are talking 30# and bigger - as these highly carnivorous species took advantage of feeding on the abundant native species (primarily perch). Since the 60´s and 70´s the size, and to some extent the number of trout in the regions large rivers and streams has declined as their predecessors exhausted the abundant food supply. (That is not to say that the lakes and streams here do not hold large trout up to
Fishing vicariously through Matt 2
Still fighting - tough to get him in with the camera in one hand! 20#+, they do, just not the boat loads of 30# fish they used to.)
In recent years the Argentenian government has taken steps to protect these fisheries, including mandating catch and release on many rivers, outlawing bait, limiting trolling from boats to a few areas, and coming up with a host of other rules which they pack into a publication that makes the Oregon Regs look about as complex as a Curious George Book. They also have a host of different licenses depending on where you want to fish, what you want to fish for, and the method by which you choose to fish. - That said - I picked up a general license that set me back $100 US for the season.
Here is a quick run-down of my fishing exploits in Argentina thus far. Unfortunately, having had both of our cameras stolen has limited my fishing pictures to those already published and a few taken from our time in El Bolson on, but I think I have taken enough to keep it interesting!
My fishing adventure down here began outside of Villa Angostura on Largo Naheul Huapi, a Giant (45+ mi long & 20+ mi
Fishing Vicariously through Matt 3
And up on the bank with you fish! I miss my dip net! wide) crystal clear lake , where I spent a total of 14+ hours over 3 days chunking spoons, spinners, and flies into 20+ mph winds to no avail. I even dropped by the local fly shop to get advice. Talk about discouraging.
Anyway, from there, as you may recall, we ended up attempting to hitch hike back around the lake and wound up walking forever before stopping at a campground along a stream next to the lake. There were several other fishermen camped there and all were doing just as I had been - endlessly chunking flies and hardware at the lakes clear depths to no avail. I struck up a conversation with the camp host about fishing and advised him that I had been trying to catch one for dinner for the past few days. He got all excided and, in broken Spanish/English, told me to meet him in one hour to go catch some fish. I agreed and showed up at his cabin with my fly rod at the designated time. He then advised me that this was ¨No Bueno¨ and escorted me back to my camp site where he pointed to my spinning rod. I handed
it to him and he looked at the panther marten attached to the line and again stated ¨No Bueno.¨ With my Fly Rod in one hand my spinning rod in the other he indicated that the fly rod was best used in the lake and that my spinning rod was best used in the river, but not with the spinner that I had been using.
It was at that point that I thought, ¨No wonder I have been striking out, this guy knows his stuff!¨ He then asked to see my bag of gear, which he then dug through and exclaimed ¨Muy Bien¨ upon pulling out a single split shot and a giant hook that I had been using for catfish in Texas. With my new rig intact he then advised me that he had to meet the guy that was coming to fix the showers but he would take me to the place of ¨mucho truche¨ and show me how to catch them. He then escorted me up the river….. the name of which I cant recall at this point in time, to a nice little run where he pointed to a spot on the bank and indicated that
Landing a Bow on the RIo Quemquemtrue
Unfortunately this one got the quick release! this was the place to catch fish. He then produced a coke bottle from his pocket filled with - you guessed it - worms and baited my hook.
Now I have to admit that I had not read the regulations in there entirety as I should have, but this seemed a bit off given the nature of the ones that I had looked over. So I asked my host if it was ok to fish with the spinning rod and worms in this river. He assured me that this is the way to fish here and the fish in the river are delicious.
After a couple of casts and no bites he indicated that the water was to high for that hole and there was a better place to go just around the bend. When we arrived at the new spot he let me know that he had to go meet the shower man and advised me he would be back to check on me in an hour. I said ok, and put another hunk of worm on my hook. I made a couple of casts to no avail and then snagged bottom…… or at least it felt
Rio Azul
The Rio Azul up above Elbolson like bottom until I felt two head shakes and the hook popped out.
I promptly re-loaded a worm and casted back out - sure enough the bottom came up, grabbed my worm, and took off down stream. The fish put up a great 5+ min fight making several hard runs & taking to the air multiple times. It was quite a strain on my gear - especially with the 6 lb line I had on at the time. Once I got the fish in it was clear to me that it was a spawner, so I snapped a quick photo (as seen in the Dec 19th post) and let go.
I was now convinced that this was a bit outside the bounds of the regulations for the area, and I had no interest in whacking a fish en route to its spawning grounds, so I then returned to camp, advising my host that my line had broken, but not before I had caught a beautiful fish. He did not understand why I did not keep it for dinner & the only thing that I could tell him was that it was much too big for all of us
Rio Azul Rainbow
Not a big fish but a nice little fighter! to eat in one night and we had to leave in the morning. Though he was a bit dismayed that I had not kept it for dinner, he was glad that I was able to catch a fish.
I later looked through the regs and found out that I had been fishing in closed waters, one again proving the old adage - If it´s too good to be true…..It probably is.
The next river I was able to fish was the Rio Azul. Elyse and I had rented bikes for two days and we took a ride out to the national park where the Rio Azul empties into Largo Puelo - a fly fishing only/catch and release zone. As always, knowing that we were going to be in the vicinity of a river I brought my fly rod along on the ride. Upon reaching a picnic area in the park I hit the bank with my fly rod. The wind was quite fierce & I spent most of my time untangling my gear but I did manage 1 nice little 13¨fish.
The next day I had planned to ride out to one of the upper stretches of
the Azul to look for same larger fish. On my way to the Azul I crossed over the Rio Quemquemtrue (Pronounced Kemkemtrue), a smaller stream that flows right through the middle of El Bolson. Though I had been advised by both the campground host in El Bolson, and the folks at the local fishing store that the Quemquemtrue wasn’t worth fishing I figured I´d give it a whirl as you are allowed to keep two fish a day and use spinning gear.
I rode down to a spot on the edge of town and tossed out a #6 panther martin, which was immediately greeted by an 8¨ rainbow. The next cast produced another similar fish…. For those of you who know me it is needless to say that I ended up wading and dragging that mountain bike down that river for about 3 or 4 miles convinced that there was a big fish right around the bend. The locals, who were doing their laundry along shore all looked on with some amazement at the crazy gringo dragging the bicycle down the river. None the less I managed to catch about 30 or so dinks that day before getting a
Fighting a bow on the Rio Percey Near Trevilin
This was a good fighting fish that leaped several times! nice 14¨ rainbow for dinner and calling it quits (Along with numerous t-shirts, plastic bags, and other assorted garbage the locals had tossed in the river.)
Though it wasn´t the most scenic place to fish, that first day´s experience only encouraged me to further explore the river. I soon found that every kid in town with a hook and line fishes that stream within a mile of the city limits …… All I had to do was out walk the crowds & I was into some great fishing.
The second day I hit the Quemquemtrue I started where I had left off the previous day and was rewarded with numerous fish in the 14¨+ range. After I had been at it for a few hours I came to a nice pool that looked perfect to drift a fly through. I put my spinning gear away and pulled out my fly rod. I tied on a large olive wolly bugger with a small grey beaded hares ear on a 20” 6x dropper and hung them below an indicator with a small split shot to keep them down on the bottom. I then approached the pool and casted them out.
Rio Percey Bow hits the bank
Great fight and no quick release! This is the one making the swirl in the previous photo! It was a chubby football shaped fish that went 19¨or so! Sure enough……. Whammo! First cast a nice 17¨brown came up and hammered the bugger on the retrieve.
Needles to say I have not turned back to my spinning gear since, though I have modified my technique. I have quit using the indicator as have gone to fishing the bugger like a streamer. I have found that the browns really go for the bugger while the bows prefer the beaded hares ear - which I have also switched to olive.
The Quemquemtrue became sort of my ¨home river¨ while in El Bolson - while the largest fish I landed was in the 20¨range I always could count on tying into 3 or 4 in the 15¨range and several more foot long fish. The browns hit with ferocious sneak attack strikes and the bows were always acrobatic fighters. In addition I had several large fish hit with such ferocity that they just snapped my leader right off.
While in El Bolson Elyse and I got to be pretty good friends with the couple that ran the camp ground, Vincente & Marta. Aside from running the campground Vincente was the local surgeon in town and an avid fly fisherman. He
Typica 16¨Brown on the Rio Percey
The browns on this river averaged between 16¨and 17¨ invited me to go fishing on a couple of occasions and had Elyse and I over for margaritas and taught me hot to tie flies prior to our excursions.
His invite was quite exciting and extremely appreciated by yours truly. Up until this point and in the time since my fishing exploits have been bound by the local mass transit systems of each town we are in, my ability hitch hike, and the distance my sheer will to fish will drive my legs on any given afternoon. Needless to say, this opportunity to hit the stream with a fishing buddy, that knows the water and go more than 30 km from town had me jumping up and down!!! Even better - he let me borrow a pair of waders, so I didn´t have to freeze my you-know-what off!!!!!!!!!!!
The first river we hit was the Rio Chubut. This was a large, slower moving stream than the rapids of the quemquemtrue - similar in nature to the Deschutes near sun river but about 1/3 to ½ the size. Upon arriving Vincente informed me that the watter was really high & it would be difficult casting …… He was right,
Hooked up again!
This one was a nice 20¨+ bow, unfortunately it jumped out of my hands just prior to the photography session. At least I have elyse to vouch for me! it was a roll cast show & we had to walk quite a ways to find a suitable fishing spot. In addition the wind was blowing at about 20 mph making things even more difficult.
We had been fishing for about 2 hours and neither of us had hooked into anything when we came upon a deep cut bank and I noticed a nice bow hanging just below us. I dipped my hares ear in and the bow lunged at it. It was a great fight, vinente grabbed my camera out of my chest pocket and documented the whole thing. When it was all said and done I had a really nice 22¨bow.
We continued up river from there and I tied into 3 or 4 more fish in the 12¨to 14¨ range.. including my first brookie of the trip. As the sun crept lower in the sky the wind died down which made casting much easier. About 2 hours or so before sunset we came upon a long run about a half mile long and about hip deep - on me. I stopped to fish Vincente continued up stream. As I made my way out through the
And another one on 1
Elyse was present to doccument this one on the Rio Percey! brush along the bank I saw a large fish roll & my heart skipped a beat. I flung my offering - still the bugger& hares ear combo - and had an immediate strike, head shake and then the line went limp as the fish spit it. I stripped the line in and gave it one more shot, though I didn´t really believe the fish would go for it again. Boy was I wrong!!!!!
That fish hauled off from shore side and slammed my nymph on the tail end of the drift doing about mach 2 then continued at lightning speed to mid stream where it breached, pulled a double back flip and landed with a giant splash. It was at this point that I yelled something to the extent of ¨Holey Firecrackers Batman¨ and then began hollering ¨Vincente! Muy Grande!!!! Muy Grande!!!!!!!!!!!!!.¨
I was 5 yds into the backing by the time Vincente made it there and the fish wass still making runs and going airborne. Once I got the fish under control and some line back on the reel Vincente came out and got the camera to photograph the event & the resulting 24¨ bow.
We continued
And Another One 2
Good fighter that kept running for the trees - bad news on 6x to fish the drift for another hour and Vencenti and I each connected with a couple more nice fish in the 12¨-15” range. As the sun dipped lower I could see trout leaping clear out of the water 2 - 3 feet both up and down stream. As I looked closer I could see what they were after. There was some kind of bug, similar to a mayfly - but larger, hovering about a foot above the water & the fish were plucking them out of mid air. I tied on a dry, but was met will little success - a couple of strikes & no hookups.
In addition to the Rio Chubut, Vincente and I hit the Rio Foyel (Foshel) but this was more of a wild goose chase. We got access to private property & things were looking up, but it turned out to be a giant nature hike. The river was in a deep canyon full of biting horse flies & when we finally reached stream side it turned out to be blown out from the snow melt during a recent hot spell. We fished for about an hour, during which I managed to catch 2
And Another One 3
Not huge - but a typical 16¨bow 6¨minnows, and then headed back up to the car.
From El Bolson we headed to Esquel for a couple of days. I picked out the closest river on the map, hopped on the city bus, and then used foot power to hike out to some suitable water. The river, named Rio Percey, was similar to the Quemquemtrue as it is a smaller stream that flows through a small town. I fished above town and had a great time on this creek. The fish averaged larger in size than those on the Quemquemtrue and really held tight to deep pockets and brushy spots. It was like noodeling with a fly rod.
Fish in the 15¨ to 17¨ range were so numerous I got brave and took some shots while fighting the fish so those of you who like to fish could do so vicariously through me!
Sine leaving Esquel I have not fished much - though not for lack of trying. Here in El Califate I have made a few casts in Largo Argentino but have had no luck. & then yesterday I got a bit bull headed and ended up on a death march out to
Largo Argentino
This is a huge lake fed by the monroe glacier, giving it the color of a blue raspberry slurpee. There have been raimbows caught in it up to 22 lbs..... But I haven´t had so much as a bite. Rio Santa Cruz…..
Basically I looked at the map - which I now know is not to scale - and found the closest major river and set off to get there. Long story short: I started walking with my thumb out at noon & arrived at the river, 50 KM later, at 4:30 - though I did get picked up by some nice folks along the way they both turned off after a bout 6 km so I ended up walking 38 km to get there…… That’s about 22 mi. I arrived at the river exhausted, the last 2 hrs of walking had been into a 35mph head wind. Not only that, but I was out of water and the river was huge & the color of a blue raspberry slurpee! It was like the size of the lower snake or the Willamette up by Canby!!!!
The wind was to high to fly fish so I chunked a spinner for an hour or so & managed to hook one small trout that flopped off at the bank. I then started walking back & made it about 5km before a nice family took pity on the crazy gringo hitching
Rio Santa Cruz
Big, Blue, and tough to fish! P.S. Do not attempt to walk here! it out in the middle of no where and gave me a ride back to town.
Well I know it was long, but It has been a while & I am too sore to walk today anyway. Elyse and I are renting a car in rio grand to explore tierre de fuego - so I will be sure to post a few more fishing pics and stories after that.
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mike
non-member comment
aw son.