Fall is officially here in Southern Chile.  Last week we had the pleasure of fishing with a few boys from Colorado and a fellow guide from Minnesota.  As our week started things were looking a little wet, and the rain started early in our raft trip on the first day.  Spirits were high however, as we began to find some smaller rainbows.  After lunch the weather began to clear, and the fishing began to heat up.  We fished a spot now known as el Pozon de Suenos Rotos, or hole of broken dreams.  Kevin hooked into a monster rainbow, probably in the 6-8lb range, but after a short fight the fish unbuttoned himself from Kevin’s line.  We let out a sigh of discontent, but the fact that we were able to see the monster rainbow kept our hopes high.  Less than five minutes later, I looked downstream to see Sam’s rod bent over, and by the time I got to him, his fish was well into the backing.  I ran to get the boat, as he could wade no farther downstream for the depth.  Luckily he was able to horse the fish up a little bit, and after a short fight close to shore, he landed what turned out to be a 23-24” Rainbow of around 4 lbs. 

            The rain of the first day blew the rivers out for the next day, but we went fishing anyways.  As they say, the worst day fishing is better than the best day at work.  Fortunately for me, they are one and the same.  Our third day out we took our Fjord boat, La Orca, to the south in order to fish a freshwater river.  It was a beautiful day, and in our first hole, Adam hooked a fish skating a dry.  I asked him what it was, and he said he thought it was a rainbow.  As the fish came in however, I saw the telltale spots, and informed him he’d just caught an Atlantic Salmon on a dry.  The fish wasn’t huge, especially for a salmon, but at around 20”, was plenty fun on a dry.  We continued on up the river.  In our next spot, the guys were fishing around with dries, while I had my rod set up with a sinking line and a streamer pattern.  Adam had waded out to a log in the middle of the river, and was fishing with a dry, until he noticed a very large fish in the bottom of the pool nearly directly beneath him.  I made my way through chest deep water until I got to the log, and clambering up, found the fish he was talking about.  She was laying about 15’ down in a very slow moving hole.  The water was so clear and moving so slowly we had no problem seeing exactly where the fish was.  The problem was the depth and the amount of trees in the water.  It was so difficult we didn’t even discuss possible techniques of catching her.  I flipped my fly out into the hole more out of curiosity than anything else.  I discovered two things; one, that the hole was moving slowly enough to theoretically get a fly somewhat near the fish, and two, my fly wasn’t heavy enough.  I put two split shots on the fly (I know, not the purest of actions) and cast it out again.  This time the fly sank like a rock, and to our amazement, the fish saw it, and began it’s ascent.  I lost sight of it due to glare on the water, but Adam could still see her.  “Here she comes”, he said.  I stripped the fly a couple times, thinking to incite a bite, but that turned her away and she returned to her spot.  I repeated the process once again, and once again she came up to the fly.  “She’s coming for it again,” Adam repeated incredulously.  This time I didn’t move the fly.  “She’s got it!” I stripped the line and lifted the rod quickly, and she was hooked.  Now the fun begins.  The following ten minutes was a chaotic mess of pulling the fish out of wood, somehow making it off the log (which was in the middle of the river) without drowning, and landing the fish.  The stars were aligned for me this day however, and I was glad to have a fellow guide with me to help land the fish, because it turned out to be a rather nice sized Atlantic Salmon.  What I could not believe was how eager the fish was to take a fly.  She must have moved eight feet.  After this adrenaline pumping experience, we decided to go have some lunch, and fish the afternoon in the lower river.  We finished the day with our client/pro photog Cory hooking into and landing a hefty Rainbow during the last few minutes of the day.  It was an unforgettable experience, and on the boat ride home, I was relaxing in the feeling of coming down from my adrenaline high, and the happiness and gratification that can only come from a special experience with a big fish. The rest of the week held consistently good fishing for big rainbows, but we saw no more Atlantics.  Looking forward to the adventures this week brings us!

Rio Salvaje Lodge Blog 2/20/2012

            The 2012 Season has started with a bang here in Southern Chile!  Fishing for Rainbow Trout has been consistent, with fish up to 8 lbs. being caught regularly.  The weather has been mas o menos as they say, but we’ve seen our share of sun.  We have been also enjoying the new addition of ocean kayaks this year, enabling us to explore the fjords more intimately.  

             As we were arriving to our fishing destination one day last week, our guests, and guides as well were amazed to see swimming in the ocean heading for shore a Southern Pudú.  This is the world’s smallest deer, and is native to Southern Chile and Southwestern Argentina.  It was a very special moment as we were able to observe the Pudú while he rested on the shore and caught his breath.