It was the fall of 1991. My fishing buddy, Bill, and I were floating the Wenatchee River in search of Steelhead, when we approached the Division Street bridge in Cashmere. We noticed an elderly gentleman playing a nice Steelhead, using a fly rod. We pulled the boat out of the river and watched as he played, landed and gently released a beautiful fish. We congratulated him and continued on our way down the river, discussing the possibility of chasing fish with a fly rod. I decided to give it a try right then and there. Little did I know then the wonderful places fly fishing would take me—several great Steelhead rivers in Canada, the Yucatan Peninsula for Tarpon, Christmas Island for Bonefish, Belize for Permit, and Argentina for sea-run Brown trout in January of 2008.

Walt Wittgow, Gordi Northrup, John Cunningham and I flew out of Wenatchee on January 9, 2008, and joined Bill Marts (former owner of the Blue Dun Fly Shop in East Wenatchee and who arranged this trip through The Fly Shop in Redding, California) for two weeks of fly fishing. We spent a night in Buenos Aires, taking in a wonderful dinner/tango show, and left the next day for Bariloche, where we met Raul San Martin, our guide for the first week.

WEEK 1

Raul drove us to Argentina’s Parque Nacional Los Alerces, where we were to stay the first three days, fishing a number of lakes and the rivers between these lakes. This area  reminded me of the state of Washington (probably 60 years ago), with it’s beautiful lakes and rivers surrounded by snow-capped peaks and forests. We caught mostly Rainbow trout, with a few Brown trout thrown in. Most of the fish ranged from 14-20 inches..

Our next destination was the town of Esquel (pop. 30,000). Cumbres Blancas Hosteria was our home for the next three days.

Day 1 found us fishing a private spring creek, Arroyo Pescado, where one of the Butch Cassidy gang (any relation Mike?) had killed the owner in the early 1900’s. The fish, mostly Rainbows, ranged from 14-24 inches and there were plenty of them. Great fish!

Day 2 was spent on a private lake that held some huge Rainbows. The largest we encountered were about 8 lbs. Lunch here was a special treat, as we enjoyed an Argentine  barbeque, or “Asado”. The barbequed beef, lamb and sausage took a second place only to the wine, a red Malbec. It is said the Argentine beef is so good, the natives consume one third pound of beef PER DAY!

On Day 3, we fished the Rio Futaleufu for big Brown trout and Rainbows. Fishing this day was “spotty”, but we did manage several Brown trout to 5 lbs. and a number of smaller Rainbows.

That evening we shared dinner with the guides. One of them, Geronimo, is a young man in his early 20’s. Geronimo had recently suffered some major setbacks: several months
prior to our visit, he had lost his father to cancer. Additionally, his family had personally built a fishing lodge on a nearby lake—on property leased from the Argentine government. Unfortunately, the lease from Argentina was written in only his father’s name,  and the lodge was about to be taken back. In spite of this he was an enthusiastic, friendly and very capable guide. During our stay, he admired the Winston fly rod I was using and mentioned his father had promised him a Winston. John and I decided to present him with a gift of the Winston. In a small way this gesture might fulfill a young man’s dream of owning one of these special rods. We may never see him again, but are comforted in knowing he is thinking of his Dad (and maybe us) every day he fishes.

WEEK 2

A six hour drive and two hour flight across the Straight of Magellan put us in the city of Ushuaia (pop. 90,000). This beautiful city, the southern-most city in the world, rests at the base of the snow capped Andes Mountains to the north, and the ocean to the south (the jumping off place for those who wish to cruise to Antarctica). It is a cruise ship destination with, understandably, nice shops and good restaurants.

After a night in Ushuaia, we were picked up and transported by van to a lodge on an 80,000 acre sheep and cattle ranch named Despedida Lodge. Although we were only  three hours  from Ushuaia, the landscape had changed from mountains, rivers and lakes, to a rather stark, flat grassland terrain—with no trees whatsoever. Wind is a challenge here, and although there were times we had very little wind, we also encountered gusts of over 50 m.p.h. Surprisingly, we managed to catch fish in these challenging conditions.

Despedida Lodge is located only a 10 minute drive from the Rio Grande River, a world-class fishery for sea-run Brown trout. These fish are similar to our Steelhead, in that they are born and raised in fresh water, travel out to the ocean for a year or two, and return to their birth place to spawn. The size of  these fish can be enormous, by trout standards. The largest fish recorded by a Despedida Lodge guest was 35 lbs. Needless to say, we were excited!

A typical day of fishing on the Rio Grande went like this:  The alarm went off at 6:30 AM, with a wonderful breakfast at 7:00. At approximately 8:00 AM we would depart for the river, where we fished until 1:00 PM. Back to the lodge for a LARGE lunch. Following lunch, it was siesta time until 6:00 in the evening, when we returned to the river to fish until 11:00 PM  (darkness came at 11:30 PM). Back to the lodge for a gourmet dinner, followed by a glass or two of Malbec. Crawl into bed around 1:30-2:00 AM, ready to go at 6:30 the next morning. The siestas were certainly a blessing! This routine continued for six days. Each day we would pair up with one guide to fish the different runs (beats as they call them). Over the 6 days of fishing, each of us would fish each beat twice. The fishing was spectacular at times and very challenging at other times. Each of us caught large fish, with the gold medal winner going to Bill Marts and his beautiful 27 lb. fish caught on the last day.  Walt’s biggest was 22 lbs., Gordi’s 17 lbs. John and I each landed 20 pounders. Most of the fish ran from 7-11 lbs. Each of us lost fish  we will say were larger—and they will certainly  grow with the passing of time.

All too soon, the trip was over. Our lengthy 35 hours of travel home gave us ample time to reflect on our trip. My feeling about our journey--it met and exceeded our expectations:  fishing was both spectacular and challenging; we had visited a number of lakes and rivers, some with breathtaking scenery; the food was probably the best I have ever eaten—certainly 4-5 star; accommodations were very nice and the guides were friendly and helpful. The  most rewarding aspect of the trip was our group of fine friends—we enjoyed each other and found great humor each and every day. If given the chance, I would not hesitate to do this again.  

ADIOS AMIGOS!