South American Chinook fishing I been seeing some toads down there daily on fly fishing chinook Rio Puelo check it out on facebook. Makes me want to book a trip down there. I also herd they have killer steelhead and 20# searun browns down there to boot
I've trout fished a few streams down there that have both salmon and steelhead in them. I was there outside of the typical run timing for each though.
The Rio Del Las Vueltas near town of Chalten and the Fitzroy-Cerro Torre gets a pretty good run of Chinook. Most of the locals I spoke with and the pictures I saw were of pretty dark fish, which made sense seeing as how they are pretty far from the salt by the time they get that far into the system.
The rio Santa Cruz is the only river with a run of steelhead that uses the Atlantic ocean in the world, or so I've read and been told. I spoke with a few shops in Calafate (near the Santa Cruz) that said the fishing can be awesome at times. It's big water and fairly nondescript and my general impression was that it would be a tough nut to crack. Seems like most of the guides worked out of boats from bars mid-river. Most of the gear, flies, and methods I saw being employed I saw being used were very low tech. Beautiful country. Very windy.
The picture Doc posted shows the Torres Del Paine in the background and there are several glacier fed systems which come out of the park outside of Puerto Natales. Not sure which one that fish might have come from but it should be easy to figure out.
The sea run browns were a bigger attraction for me and I never got to see one in the handful of days I had to fish. I was on the early end of the season for them. I'll give it another try one day for sure.
Sorry Todd; all the best sea run brown trout waters run through private estancias in the Tierra del Fuego area. You'll need to sell a whole lotta' RVRFSHR tackle to afford a week at one of them. And then - wait for it . . . - you'll most likely need your fly gear. I've never heard nor read of any of those owners permitting any spoon chucking.
Sorry Todd; all the best sea run brown trout waters run through private estancias in the Tierra del Fuego area. You'll need to sell a whole lotta' RVRFSHR tackle to afford a week at one of them. And then - wait for it . . . - you'll most likely need your fly gear. I've never heard nor read of any of those owners permitting any spoon chucking.
Not sure if you are being serious or not...but I have heard otherwise, both the DIY opportunities and the "you can use whatever you want to use" standards.
There are lots of rivers north of the Cape with public access, and they have good numbers of chinook and steelhead in some of them. All gear types are used there. Harry Lemire and another friend went down checking it out about 10-12 years ago. I've not heard of many sea run browns there, however, but there might be. But there is very little public access on decent water, from what I've heard, down in the Rio Grande area, which is where the good sea run brown populations are. Rio Grande population itself is estimated at 70 - 80k fish. Some of the private waters might let paying guests use whatever gear they want to bring, but all the ones I looked into only discuss fly fishing.
I've looked pretty hard into DIY trips to Strobel (Jurassic) and the Barancoso. From what I've been able to find it is doesn't really seem to be a practical possibility. Access is via private land and many hours of 4wd HC travel. No real infrastructure minus the two lodges, not that you need it to camp, but it is pretty lonely country. Very, very remote. It would be a pretty involved expedition bringing all of your gear, food, and fuel with you from either the US or big city down there then making your way to the lake, that's if you could secure access and transportation.
I fished the Gallegos which doesn't have nearly the populations of searun brown that the Grande and the rivers farther south in Tierra del Fuego.
"You may practice flyfishing or regular fishing...We suggest bringing a wide variety of lures".
Besides encouraging you to bring lures, it's clear that they, too, consider flyfishing "irregular"...since you both do that or "regular fishing"
Fish on...
Todd
P.S. That's an expensive trip there, of course...a ten day tour of ten cities and something like eight rivers...but this one especially seems interesting
We camped a few nights at the "lodge" mentioned in that article, the Bella Vista. It's little more than a rundown house really. We camped in their lawn for a few bucks a night and had a few meals with the owners who were very nice. Its located right on the Gallego Chico was is super tiny but has a healthy population of resident browns. Its a five minute walk to the Gallegos from the camp spot.
Lots of locals chucking hardware, in fact I cleaned a few spoons from the river and meant to give them to you for a chuckle Todd. I thought I had but maybe they are still floating around in a box somewhere. Most of their spoons more closely resemble a pipe jig than a real spoon.
Lots of great DIY trips to be had down there, but the logistics and access of Stroble might be too much to overcome from a practical standpoint.
Do yourself a favor and watch Trout Bum Diaries volume 1 Patagonia..they have been instrumental in the fishing video genre...some members have moved to MOTIVE FISHING / GEOBASS. not yur I just got a go pro upload to utube..there's a reason why Yvon Chouinard founder of Patagonia apparel fishes so much there..LOOP everywhere.
Good to know that not all of the estancias are high falutin' irregular elitist enclaves. So there's a place for those RVRFSHR spoons on the private water after all. I never looked for any non-fly fishing options, but noticed that regular fishing does occur on popularly accessible waters. The lodge options I looked into are too rich for my blood, so I've considered other trout fishing farther north, where there are B&Bs and small hotels, and water you can get to with a rental car.
I have to admit a drooling desire to chase those South American searun browns myself, but only after I've had a chance to land a few of these bad boys down that way first.......
I have to admit a drooling desire to chase those South American searun browns myself, but only after I've had a chance to land a few of these bad boys down that way first.......
Golden Dorado! I have a customer who bought some spoons to use for them and managed to catch a few on them...but looking at those fish I can't imagine there's much they wouldn't eat if they could see it and if it fit in their mouth!
We used to catch giant lake-run browns (high teeners). They look pretty cool, but they're not much good for anything else. . .fight like a chunk of bull kelp,
Has there been any discussion about these "invasive" chinook?
What native populations have been adversely affected by non-native chinook plants. If the chinook are doing well, what species are being replaced. ????????
On the other hand. I really really really want to go there.
I have to admit a drooling desire to chase those South American searun browns myself, but only after I've had a chance to land a few of these bad boys down that way first.......
Mingo,
My brother in law is from Argentina. He has some family that guides for Dorado. Bialet Masse area out of Cordoba
Been reading a little more about Strobel (Jurassic) Lake. Very little info. out there as far as the biology of it's success. Just that trout were introduced 15 yrs. ago in the pristine lake, along with a food supply...scuds, and it took off. Curious what strain of trout were planted? Would any trout get that big based on it's environment and food supply? Anyone know where to find any history? Looks like something to add to the bucket list.
Little to no predation or harvest, pristine spawning habitat and conditions, and abundant food. The perfect recipe for trout to grow plentiful and large.
There are several other lakes close by with very similar conditions in which trout were planted as well, but for some reason none have exploded the way Strobel has. The locals say it is all due to the food source, but I think the recipe is a little more complex than that. I've heard some say water temps and mineral/nutrient content play a role.
I've read a number of places that the rainbows transported to Argentina, Strobel included, came from the McCloud in, CA.
This book has some good background in addition to the usual where, when, what info:
Coley, Do you know anything about the size of the nearby lakes compared to Strobel? It is hard to tell from the videos I've seen, but Strobel looks like a pretty good size lake. I wonder what the acreage is on it? Perhaps a bigger lake would spread out the fish more and offer less competition for food, thus the increased growth rate.
Strobel also looks like it goes through some pretty good fluctuations in the water levels based on the high water marks. The dry white rocks look similar to some of our eastern Washington lakes with higher alkaline water contents. SF
There are lakes equal to, larger, and smaller than Strobel in fairly close proximity, most of which have had plants. Strobel is very large and nearly all of the fishing takes place on the south side near where the Barancoso comes in. The smaller lodge, Trophy Rainbow Fishing Camp is on the north side and closer to Ruta 40.
I have to admit a drooling desire to chase those South American searun browns myself, but only after I've had a chance to land a few of these bad boys down that way first.......
Mingo,
My brother in law is from Argentina. He has some family that guides for Dorado. Bialet Masse area out of Cordoba
Little to no predation or harvest, pristine spawning habitat and conditions, and abundant food. The perfect recipe for trout to grow plentiful and large.
There are several other lakes close by with very similar conditions in which trout were planted as well, but for some reason none have exploded the way Strobel has. The locals say it is all due to the food source, but I think the recipe is a little more complex than that. I've heard some say water temps and mineral/nutrient content play a role.
I've read a number of places that the rainbows transported to Argentina, Strobel included, came from the McCloud in, CA.
This book has some good background in addition to the usual where, when, what info:
Steelhead eggs were shipped down at eyed stage from the hatchery I work at too.
Little to no predation or harvest, pristine spawning habitat and conditions, and abundant food. The perfect recipe for trout to grow plentiful and large.
There are several other lakes close by with very similar conditions in which trout were planted as well, but for some reason none have exploded the way Strobel has. The locals say it is all due to the food source, but I think the recipe is a little more complex than that. I've heard some say water temps and mineral/nutrient content play a role.
I've read a number of places that the rainbows transported to Argentina, Strobel included, came from the McCloud in, CA.
This book has some good background in addition to the usual where, when, what info:
I would love to swing some flies on the Rio Santa Cruz for those Atlantic ocean run rainbows!!!!!!!! Insanely windy like the rest of the area down there. Huge river(makes the skagit look like a crick) glaceir feed so has some color most of the time, some day.
I have to admit a drooling desire to chase those South American searun browns myself, but only after I've had a chance to land a few of these bad boys down that way first.......
I have to admit a drooling desire to chase those South American searun browns myself, but only after I've had a chance to land a few of these bad boys down that way first.......
Headed after them in April.; Cant wait.
Can't wait to see a report and photos as I looked at a trip down there years ago along with a Kamchatka Peninsula trip for large Chinook (50-60 #) at the same time too! Still on the back burner but must make it someday soon! Not getting any younger
--------- 
.jpg)
