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ARGENTINA, 2009
By Pudge Kleinkauf
The January, 2009 trip to Andes Outfitters & Chime Lodge in Neuquen, Argentina was a smashing success! “It seemed like there was at least one rainbow under every single willow,” said one of the gals, and she was right. The fun of fishing rainbows on dry flies just can’t be beat, and these are fish that don’t get much pressure, so that made things even better.
We started off the trip in Buenos Aires where three of us enjoyed seeing the 6-million dollar opening flower that is considered one of the art world’s most unique installations, as well as boating on the Tigre River, one of Argentina’s most famous resort areas.
Once we were all assembled in Barilouche, (one of us from GA, one from LA, one from WA, and two from AK) we got our Argentinean fishing licenses and headed out on the three-hour shuttle to the lodge. The trip proceeded along a famous rafting river into a canyon with unbelievable rock formations and through rolling hills reminiscent of the high desert in New Mexico or Arizona. As we came around a bend, the driver pointed out the lodge to us, perched above the lovely Chimeuin River (pronounced chim-oo-ween) and lit by the warm glow of the evening sun.
We were supposed to have fished that afternoon, but numerous flight problems made it impossible, so we oohed & ahhhed over the views from every side, including Lanin Volcano, that iconic symbol of this South American country, which we could see from the front porch, and settled down in the comfortable lodge with some of the legendary wines that we’d heard so much about. Gustavo & Willie, made us welcome and set out the plan for the next day’s fishing before we ate the first of many of Pato’s delicious dinners and then quickly crashed.
We were up early and Pato spoiled us (as she did every single meal) with a hearty breakfast and we were off to the beautiful Malleo (pronounced ma-jay-ho) river for what the guys referred to as “fishing the worm.” Wading the banks we could easily see the rises tight up against the bank and right off the ends of the over-hanging willow bushes. The temperature was over 90º and the water was warm, but that didn’t seem to slow down the fishing.
In January( the equivalent of June in North America) the chartreuse worms (actually a small caterpillar) fall into the water from the willows that line the banks of the area’s rivers. The trout take full advantage of the bounty. “Cast right there,” the guides would say as they pointed to a small opening in the over-hanging willow branches. Rise after rise after rise indicated quite clearly where the fish were.
Dampening down our excitement at actually being there, we settled down and started catching fish. Yes, we missed some takes, and yes, we lost some flies in the trees, but it was fabulous, nevertheless. After a great, river-side lunch and a glass of wine, we moved to different spots on the river. For a change of pace, I chose to nymph-fish with a rubber-leg hare’s ear and stonefly rig, which was working fabulously, while Julie ended up standing in front of a deep hole containing some of the largest rainbows she had ever seen in her whole life. That evening we all heard the story about the one she finally hooked that managed to disconnect. Willie was still talking about it three days later!
Willie’s sense of humor kept us all hooting with laughter the entire trip. We loved practicing our Argentinean pronunciations on him as much as he enjoyed practicing his American pronunciations on us.
The next day we met up with the rafts to fish the Collan Cura river. (pronounced cojon-cura), and Roy, a veterinarian, joined us to row one of them. We drew straws to see who would take the first stint in the single raft and did quick work of setting up a leader with the same large dry fly and a green-worm dropper from the day before. Of course, we got hung up, and of course, we lost flies, but it was exciting, challenging fishing that everyone was definitely up for. Tracy was really getting the hang of dropper and dry fly fishing after having fished mostly streamers in Washington state where she lives, and she hooked fish after fish.
It was Chrys’ first day ever in a raft or drift boat, and she quickly got the hang of the one-shot cast that didn’t hit the guide, and managing her line in tandem with the other angler. She liked it so much she vowed to do more drift boat or raft fishing in the future.
Each day at lunch, we drew straws again and shifted fishing partners for the afternoon session. This river is one of the longest in Argentina and we only fished part of the lower section, reserving a float on the upper section for the next day. Both parts were incredible. It was hard to choose which rise to cast to because there were so many.
Our float on the lovely Rio Alumine (pronounced Aluminé) was full of surprises. We had a few rapids to run, and some awesome mid-river rocks to admire, photograph and fish, and a wonderful lunch setting with a long back-water lagoon behind it where we could see and cast to some very spooky fish. Brush on both sides required a side-arm cast with a back-handed flip to present a fly. We’d run out of the standard green worms that day and were using not-quite-right substitutes. The fish certainly knew the difference. Roy had us fishing large streamers and big nymphs, which resulted in some large rainbows for Sandy as well as some of Argentina’s famed perca (perch) for several of us. He even stood arm-pit deep in one pool to extract a trophy perca of mine from under a submerged bush where it had run to hide out. Naturally, his waders filled up with water. What a guy!
We also put the rafts in at a campground in the town of Junin de los Andes and fished the lower Chimeuin, and went back a second time when it was too windy to fish the lake. It quickly became several people’s favorite float, in spite of the section where the smell from the local dump was over-powering. We quickly rowed on by that. Chris, one of the lodge’s other guides joined us for those two days, and his exceptional rowing skills held the raft in the current an amazingly long time to give us ample opportunity to target the fish. The first day we ended up doing quite a bit of nymph fishing. When we stopped to get out and wade, we were in an absolutely perfect drop-off situation for nymphing. After I had caught several fish in a row, some of the others abandoned their dry flies and worms and switched to nymphs. Both Julie and Tracy caught double-digit numbers of fish at the tail-out of that rocky ledge.
It was on this river that Julie and I, on two different days, landed the two largest brown trout of the trip. Julie’s was a 26-inch hog that had everyone talking. She was still shaking with excitement when we met up with her and Gus at the take-out on the last day. Gus was so excited that he had to bring his make-shift measurements over to the ruler that I had on my rod to actually confirm the size of the fish.
All of the guides were absolutely terrific! Their expertise and professionalism were outstanding. They put us on fish, they entertained us, they picked perfect, shady spots each day for lunch, they poured the wine, they told us fish stories, and they helped make sure we caught many, many fish. A toast to them!!
Our days were filled with lots of action and laughter and camaraderie, marvelous fishing, scrumptious food and wine, a beautiful and peaceful lodge, and, also some expected and unexpected wild-life. First and foremost were the pancora crab that we’d read so much about as a staple of the rainbows diet. We searched and searched for them along the rivers, and Willie made it his mission to find them for us. First he spotted a very large specimen that we saved in the hopes of having it dried out and un-smelly enough to bring home, but something took it away during the night when we laid it out for the ants to clean out. He later found a bright orange one (a male in breeding color) and a couple of small ones that we tried to photograph but ultimately turned loose. I have a much better image of them now to copy with flies than I did before.
Different species of birds were everywhere, and the first thing I did when I got back to the US was buy an Argentinean bird book! We also had a female deer run right beside our truck, and then, just a few seconds later, her white-speckled fawn darted by to catch up with her. Another morning as we left the lodge a mother fox and her single offspring crossed the road and posed briefly before heading into the brush where they instantly because invisible.
While in Buenos Aires on the return trip, Chrys, Sandie and I headed out on an Estancia (ranch) tour that focused on the history of the gaucho. It was absolutely fascinating. We also visited the exquisite Japanese garden. It’s a leafy oasis in the hustle and bustle of the huge city.
There is simply too much of our adventure for me to capture it all for you in this report. You’ll just have to join us next year to see for yourself what a fantastic trip this is. A week was all too short, but we’re going back. We’re already booking for 2010, so don’t wait. Dates are January 9-16, 2010. Price is TBA. Get a friend, or a group from your club, or just decide to join us on your own. You won’t regret it.
“Definitely, a 5-star trip!”
Tracy Beville, Snoqualmie, WA
Saltwater Fly fishing the Baja
2009
Beach fishing on the Baja with a fly rod is always a blast. This year was no exception. We started out the first morning right in front of the lovely Buena Vista Beach Resort Hotel where the bait fish gather in the warm water springs that emerge from the sand.
Bait was busting everywhere in front of us as we tied on the stripping baskets, had a quick lesson in how to use them and practiced the strip-strike to make sure we didn’t pull the fly right out of the fish’s mouth. Then we spread out along the beach to cast to pod after pod of “nervous water.”
Penny hooked up first on a coronet fish near a rocky stretch of beach. A second fish followed quickly. Alison, who was nursing a sore shoulder, set the hook on another cooperative fish, which departed before we could determine what it was. Suddenly thousands of bait fish were skimming the surface of the water fleeing from something big underneath. Jack cravalle, lady fish, and sierra mackerel were all present. Even though the “ladies” would follow the fly but not take, it was exciting to see them flash silver in very shallow water.
That afternoon we got our equipment ready for the following day on the boat, and then enjoyed some margaritas and wine before a dinner of fresh dorado. The boats departed just as dawn was breaking the next morning. We quickly bought sardinia bait from one of the local bait-boats waiting just off shore. When we were ready one boat headed out to the area where dorado had been caught the previous day. Unfortunately, we encountered the old “you should have been here yesterday” phenomena and struck out. The other boat was having much better luck bringing pargo, cabrilla, sierra mackerel, jack cravele, and rooster fish to the boat.
Just as soon as we arrived at the same area, the first boat’s anglers joined in the fun. Birds were diving, fish were boiling, and hit after hit occurred as we trolled through the area. Penny hooked into what turned out to be the largest rooster fish of the trip on a sparkly red & white fly. We had a fun night comparing fish stories on the patio while eating delicious sierra ceviche on chips still warm from the oven, thanks to Lori’s great catch.
The next day we rotated boats and headed out again. One boat headed out for dorado but encountered black skipjack tuna, and marlin instead. No matter what they tried, they couldn’t entice the marlin to hit the flies, but felt a little better when the captain reported that none of the other boats was hooking up either.
Our second boat found itself absolutely surrounded by leaping dolphins and yellow fin tuna. It was an amazing site and we hung over the side of the boat trying to touch the dolphins swimming right beside us. The tuna were very stubborn, however, and we briefly turned our attention to the small pods of marlin that we encountered on the way back toward shore. All of a sudden our captain slowed the boat and told us to get the flies out. A huge school of white bonita produced nearly twenty fish, one right after the other, in just a short period of time. They were beautiful, “silver bullets” between ten and twenty pounds that bent our 12-wt rods nearly double. Just as soon as we released a fish and put the fly out again, we’d have a fish on. “Double” after “double” occurred until the school of fish disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
The wind came up on our third day, but we didn’t let that stop us from going out. (It did result in our coming in a little early, but we caught fish regardless.) One boat got into a huge school of black skipjack tuna and bonito and repeated the great success that we always have when fishing them. The other boat, fishing closer to shore, encountered large schools of red snapper right on the surface. Using both fast sink and intermediate lines we took advantage of the bounty.
Lori caught a beautiful yellow snapper, and then Dan hooked into what turned out to be the fish of the trip, a large red snapper.
Mexican red snapper is a real delicacy so we sacrificed the fish to the fish gods and brought it back for dinner. The hotel kitchen absolutely out-did itself in preparing a huge platter of sautéed snapper for us to have for dinner. The hotel was offering a Mexican buffet that night, and we just added the other delights that were available to our large platter of snapper.
On Easter Sunday, the hotel again produced a magnificent brunch buffet complete with champagne. We were absolutely wowed! Afterwards we wandered into the village, but found nearly everything closed for the day. Thank goodness the ice cream store was open so that we could have a treat while we walked around. So, instead of shopping, we napped, we swam, we had massages, we swapped pictures, and walked the beach.
Just as happens every year, we were very reluctant to leave. This is one heck of a great vacation and fishing experience. If you want to try out saltwater fly fishing on the beach and encounter some fish species that are completely new to you, come on along next April for our next annual Baja Blast.
~Pudge
Next year's Baja trip April 13 - 18, 2010.
Spring Float Tubing 2009
The rainbow trout fishing on our early float tubing trips this year was fantastic. The conditions were good (although we had quite hot weather for so early in the season), and the fish were plentiful, so everyone had a good view of their prey. And, they definitely took advantage of it.
Tanya started off the series of fishing days with an introduction to float tubing that had her smiling with delight after just ten minutes in the tube. “This is incredible,” she said. “I’m paddling along on the surface of the water with ease.” It wasn’t very long until she was also extolling the virtues of tubing to get you to the fish. She pulled into a shallow cove and saw fish cruising around right in front of her. And, in short order she had her first fish on. “This is great,” she said over and over as the fish ran and she learned to paddle to keep it tight. She was hooked.
The next day Rene joined Tanya and me at another lake and the fishing really took off. The two of them had fish after fish on and took turns netting for each other. These were large fish 19- inches in length and over. Finally Rene hooked the huge cruiser that we’d seen from time to time throughout the morning. The little 4-wt rod she had recently built was really put to the test as she play and landed it. It was so large it wouldn’t fit in the landing net, so I had to tail it to get it into position to photograph and then carefully release. With brilliant red and golden colors, it was a real prize of a fish.
On day three Carmen and Betsey joined Tanya and now the three of them went after the fish with gusto. Carmen had tried tubing once before and now was back for another go with her friend, who had never been tubing. “I can see the fish,” they cried to each other as they practiced casting into shore and retrieving back towards the tube. Over and over they did it. Sometimes the fish would turn and look at their fly, and once in awhile they even had a hit. Betsey connected first, but lost the fish because she held it too tight. She didn’t make the same mistake the second time, and soon we all saw a bright, shiny rainbow leaping into the air. It was a silvery prize with just a bit of flush on the gill plate and lateral line. Carmen landed another fish that was equally lovely.
Day four found Lisa, Mike, and Jill on the lake withTanya and me. Lisa had taken the beginning fly fishing class and had tried fly fishing once. Mike had also tried fly fishing once, but neither had ever been tubing. Jill was a novice at the whole thing. Nevertheless, they were ready for anything. Just like everyone who gets into a float tube, they were amazed and delighted at how much fun it is. They paddled around like pros, and had no trouble at all casting from a sitting down position.
When we reached the “hot spot, they were ready. Mike proved to be an excellent fish-spotter, and kept all three of the gals apprised of where the fish were concentrated. Lisa hooked, played and landed her gorgeous fish like a pro. Then, persistence really paid off for Mike when he finally hooked a fish. But, like Betsey the day before, he too lost it from holding it too tight. The next time he got it right and experienced the thrill of playing a good rainbow on a 5-wt fly rod. He was absolutely beaming when he posed for a picture with his fish. He and Jill will definitely be back for more.
The loons accompanied us all four days and provided endless entertainment for everyone. They surfaced and inspected us from very close range as well as dove for fish right under the water in front of us. They always make spring float tubing something special. We take the tubes out every spring, and on other occasions during the summer. If you haven’t tried it yet, you’re missing a really great fishing experience. Give us a call if you’d like to book a day on the lake in a tube. You’ll absolutely love it!!
~Pudge
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