Argentina's backcountry offers an unmatched fly-fishing experience
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Argentina’s backcountry offers an
unmatched fly-fishing experience
BY
BY ADAM
ADAM VAN
VAN BRIMMER
BRIMMER
PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
BY ISAIAS
ISAIAS MICIU
MICIU NICOLAEVICI
NICOLAEVICI
42 gulfstream.com
Rainbow trout are large and plentiful in
Patagonia’s rivers, streams, creeks and lakes.
Nonstop 43
he
Rio
Gualjaina
trickles
eastward
through a
jagged gash in
Patagonia’s
desert steppe. Fed
by melting snow at its
source high in the Andes
Mountains and sustained by springs that
stubbornly puncture the hard, dry
landscape, the river is narrow and shallow.
Accessing it requires four-wheel drive and
a chiropractor on retainer. The Gualjaina is
no place for boater or beachcomber.
The river teems with other forms of life.
Rheas, large yet fleet birds that resemble
ostriches, drink from its banks. So do the
llama-like guanacos, hares and beef lakes that make up Argentina’s Parque the top of every fisherman’s creel list. The
cattle that pepper Patagonia’s Nacional Los Alerces. The Rio Rivadavia region sits at the same latitudes as other
expansive ranches, known as estancias. meanders for seven miles through green global fly-fishing hot spots like Montana in
Scores of pancora crabs scurry across the pastures and narrow canyons cut by the United States, Austria in Europe and
rocky riverbed. nature millennia ago. New Zealand’s South Island. But Patagonia’s
The bounty of the Gualjaina, though, Yet Smith’s attention is not on the majesty geography, with desert steppe
is trout. Scores of rainbows and browns, around him. He stares down, not up, his intersecting with the longest mountain
many of them 20 inches/51 centimeters or focus on the dozen or so large trout resting range in the world within 50 miles/80
longer, swim lazily through water cooled in a deep pool at a bend in the Rivadavia. kilometers of the Pacific Ocean, produces
by the nearby Arroyo Pescado, a spring Coaxing them from the river’s depths is microclimates within the region.
creek. The river is so clear proving difficult. Just as Smith and his “I have been privileged enough to fish
and so slow-moving a rod-wielding charges can see the fish, the around the world, and there is no place
fisherman can track fish can see them. A well-cast fly hits the like this,” says Nicola Carusi, an Italian who
his quarry without water and gently sinks below the surface. makes his home in Belgium and is an
getting his feet wet. Several of the finned annual visitor to Patagonia. “The scenery,
“To a fly fisherman, Patagonia, unlike behemoths flinch. One the fishing, the hospitality of the people …
there’s nothing more even swims up to it is unmatched.”
desirable than to be able anywhere else in the investigate, only to retreat.
to spot the fish underwater,” “As big as they are, you’d FISHING TIME WARP
muses local fly-fishing guide world, is a special think they eat everything Rathie is uncannily accurate, be it with a
Rance Rathie as he follows they see,” Smith says. “Just fly rod, a pool cue or his memory. He can
a forearm-length rainbow’s place to fish. another day in Patagonia.” hook a trout in a sheltered hole, sink a cut
darts and dives. “Patagonia, Every day in Patagonia shot into a side pocket and recall the day
unlike anywhere else in the world, is a special holds the potential for a new experience he subconsciously made plans to
place to fish.” for the fly-fishing enthusiast. Smith and abandon Montana’s Ruby River in favor of
Sixty miles/97 kilometers to the west, Rathie operate Patagonia River Guides, Patagonia’s Rio Gualjaina.
Travis Smith pulls the oars of a raft on based outside the village of Trevelin. They It was October 9, 1992.
another Patagonia river, the Rivadavia. fish rivers, creeks, streams and lakes across “The day they released the movie ‘A
ILLUSTRATION: BRITTANY PORTER
Like the Gualjaina, the Rio Rivadavia is a 425-mile/684-kilometer swath of the River Runs Through It’ was the beginning of
clear, quiet and bursting with trout. The Argentine wilderness. No two areas are the end in Montana,” says Rathie, a
similarities end there. The Rivadavia sits to alike. And the remoteness of the locale third-generation fishing guide whose
the west of the continental divide and ensures the fish-to-man ratio is decidedly mother operates a fly shop. “The next
slices through the Andes toward the in the fish’s favor. day, the rivers seemed more crowded.”
Pacific Ocean, connecting two of the 13 This diversity is what puts Patagonia at Hollywood legend Robert Redford’s
44 gulfstream.com
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estia dem dolore ni beatem. Aque dolorecusam sequass “I wasn’t here long before I realized I’d of Mendoza to the north and the
ustissequam, ommos magnitiamus istia aute lis explaut found a place that felt like Montana had country’s main international tourism
75 years earlier, at the time ‘A River Runs draw, Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, to
period drama, which chronicles the Through It’ was set,” Rathie says. the south. Esquel is served by only four
coming of age of fly-fishing, came out “And given the remote location, my direct flights per week from Buenos Aires.
during Rathie’s senior year of high school. sense was it would remain unspoiled.” The famed Ruto 40 is one of the area’s
He was busy playing eight-man football Patagonia’s prime fishing destinations few paved roads.
during the week and fishing, camping and remain as isolated today as when Rathie Modern conveniences have yet to
“skimming stones” with his buddy Smith on first visited 15 years ago. But then time has modernize Patagonia. The desert steppe is
the weekends. An unnavigable and often forgotten this backcountry. Welsh arid and barren and not conducive to
private stretch of the Ruby ran through immigrants settled the region in the 1860s growing crops or raising large herds of
Smith’s backyard, so the duo could still and shared the area almost exclusively livestock. Property owners measure their
enjoy a quiet afternoon fishing together. with the indigenous people and the wildlife estancias in the tens of thousands of acres,
Guiding, on the other hand, required a for close to a century. Argentines from marking boundaries with waist-high strands
traffic control whistle along with a rod, reel, other provinces began to migrate to central of barbed wire.
net and tackle box. The interest translated Patagonia in the mid-20th century, drawn “Patagonia has a Wild West feel to it,”
to good wages, though. Guiding proved by construction jobs tied to public works says Sam Nay, a Texan who has visited
ILLUSTRATION: BRITTANY PORTER
so lucrative Smith attended college only projects, specifically hydroelectric plants. other exotic fly-fishing locales,
one semester a year. Rathie stuck to a slightly Esquel and Bariloche, the air such as Botswana and
more traditional schedule and finished gateways to the region, are 1,000 New Zealand. “It’s so
school five-and-a-half years after enrolling. miles/1,609 kilometers from everywhere— undiscovered.”
Rathie left for Patagonia the day after his Argentina’s capital of Buenos Aires to Fly-fishing enthusiasts
last final, followed by Smith a year later. the northeast, the nation’s wine mecca are among the few in on
Nonstop 45
Floating and fishing a seven-mile stretch of the Rio Rivadavia.
the secret. Visiting American and “I won’t live to see an explosion in grounds in Los Alerces, these monster
European oilmen started rod-and-reel- fishing-related tourism and neither will my browns and rainbows hover near the
related tourism in the 1950s. They’d son,” Oszust says. “We are too isolated water’s surface, picking off midges and
spend weekdays exploring for oil and here for that. Travel is inconvenient and other insects investigating the swirling
gas and negotiating for drilling rights expensive. And that’s a good thing.” mulch. Rio Grande, like the rest of the
and head to the Andes for weekend area’s waterways, is a catch-and-release
relaxation. The lakes and rivers of Los LIKE FISH IN A BARREL river, but if there were a keeper limit, even
Alerces drew them like trout to a fly. A Oszust watches the logs, stumps and other the first-time angler would be headed
handful of locals offered their wooden detritus swirl slowly like socks home before lunchtime.
knowledge and expertise as guides. spinning in a tired washing machine. The “Set! Set! Set!” Oszust instructs as another
Esteban Oszust remembers first rowing a debris is trapped in the “hole of the trees,” trout gulps at a fly.
raft for one of those guides—his father—as a large pool carved out of an odd crook “We’re getting there,” Oszust says
a 6-year-old boy. The elder Oszust worked in the Rio Grande, the region’s largest river. minutes later as he dips the net into the
as a Los Alerces ranger and the family The “hole of the trees” is home to the water and releases the 22-inch/56-
lived in the national park. More oil strikes trout that will “get you in the club,” centimeter rainbow.
led to more visitors, and the elder Oszust Oszust says. Trophy fish here measure at Oszust professes a love for the Rio
took up guiding full time, working the local least 25 inches/63 centimeters, longer Grande, and not just because the river is
waters into his 70s. Oszust continues the than the arm of most adult men, and wide and calm and therefore easy on the
family tradition and currently serves as the Oszust prides himself on helping clients oarsman. The Rio Grande’s sandy bottom
president of the area’s river guides land the whopper. As a stubborn cloud and variety of depths make it look more
association. That the group’s membership moves from in front of the sun, the like a tropical seashore than a river framed
numbers only in the double digits—and not club-clinchers become visible through by mountains. Clear at the shoreline, teal
every guide on the rolls is active—speaks Oszust’s polarized sunglasses. green in the shallows and deep blue at its
to the slow pace of the industry’s growth. Unlike the trout of Oszust’s old stomping heart, the waters of the Rio Grande are as
46 gulfstream.com
brilliant as those of the Caribbean Sea or Patagonia as the “loco gringos.” everything about every place they fish,
the South Pacific. “The fishing and the scenery are and they make you feel comfortable, even
“Everybody is surprised by the waters enough to keep clients coming back,” in bad conditions.”
here, but I remember the first time I visited Rathie says, “but it’s the guides who Weather is the tricky variable to fishing in
the Bahamas, I was just as surprised at how complete the experience.” Patagonia. Temperatures can swing as
much the water there looked like the Rio The guides reflect the region’s mix of much as 40 degrees between sunrise and
Grande,” Oszust says. “The only difference cultures. Argentina was an immigration sunset, even during the heart of summer.
was the fish.” destination throughout the 1800s and Then there is what anglers refer to as “the
Large trout stand out in the “hole of the 1900s, a melting pot second only to the W”—the wind. Wind doesn’t come and go
trees” like bonefish on a saltwater flat. United States. Oszust, the head guide, is of in Patagonia; “it just comes,” jokes Rathie.
Oszust rows gently around its edges, only Polish descent. Roberts’ family was among Rolling waves crease the lakes while
to discover a monster rainbow tracking the the early Welsh settlers, and his son and whitecaps mark the rivers.
boat from beneath a log floating a few nephew work as assistant guides. Other The “W” does add a needed degree of
yards away. Short casts draw interest, guides claim Italian, Portuguese, Lebanese difficulty for anglers. Accomplished fly
but rather than bite at the fly, the trout and Spanish heritage. fishermen can hook as many trout in a day
swims up to the raft, just beyond netting All are Patagonians first. Natives in Patagonia as they do in a week in
distance. develop a love of fishing and nature from Alaska, Scotland or Russia. The frustrated
“If he had eyelids, he’d be winking at an early age. Fishing rods rival soccer balls angler’s old joke about “that’s why they
us,” the guide tells the client. “Today is not for most popular Christmas gift, and the call it fishing and not catching” does not
the day.” locals are protective of their water apply here.
resources. Motor boaters draw cold stares. “People ask me why I fly halfway around
GUIDING THE WAY Displaying a local trout in anything other the world to go fishing,” says Ed Morrison, a
Happy hour at the Patagonia River Guides than a photograph is taboo. The locations Texan making his third trip to Patagonia. “I
lodge starts late, just like everything else in of favorite fishing holes are guarded as used to try and explain it. Now my attitude
Argentina. Clients and guides mix on the closely as the secret ingredient to every is, ‘If you have to ask, you wouldn’t
lodge’s outdoor deck as the summer sun Argentine’s favorite condiment, chimichurri understand.’ All you can do is come down
sinks behind the Andes. They trade fish sauce. and experience it for yourself.”
stories, debate the finer points of “The most fun you can have fishing is
tossing horseshoes and rib one with these guides,” says Barb Peterson, a
another in Spanish and English. Coloradan visiting Patagonia for a week
Rathie observes the scene with her husband, Brian. “They know
with a satisfied smile. He and
Smith started Patagonia River
Guides in 2001 and made
hiring the area’s best guides
a priority. Several of their first
employees, like Adolfo Aloso,
John Roberts and Juany Pereyra, still work
for the business partners known throughout
I have been privileged enough to fish
around the world, and there is no
place like this. The scenery, the
ILLUSTRATION: KIMBERLY WILSON
fishing, the hospitality of the people ...
it is unmatched.
Nonstop 47
48 gulfstream.com
CAST YOUR FLY AT THESE FLY-FISHING HAVENS AROUND THE WORLD.
LEFT TO RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM: ©MATT JEPPSON/SHUTTERSTOC; ©POPPIT01/SHUTTERS; ©CHAMELEONSEYE/SHUTTERSTOCK; ©DUSAN ZIDAR/SHUTTERSTOCK; ©IV MIRIN/SHUTTERSTO;
Where: Bend, Oregon, USA Where: South Island, New Zealand Where: Zambezi River, Zambia
Quarry: Steelhead Quarry: Brown Trout Quarry: Tiger Fish
ALLURE: The flowing waters of Central Oregon’s ALLURE: With 3,000-plus miles of water, New Zealand’s ALLURE: The big game of fly-fishing’s African safari is
Deschutes River attracts sea trout to spawn. The backcountry all but guarantees an undisturbed the combative, razor-toothed monster of southern
steelhead, like its cousin the salmon, is born in day’s fishing for trout’s picky eaters. Mountains, fjords, Africa’s “Great River.” Tiger fish weighing up to 35
freshwater, moves to the ocean as an adult, and forests and plains covered in grasses and wildflowers pounds/15 kilograms run and jump when hooked
returns to freshwater to reproduce. Unlike salmon, provide a stunning backdrop. Accessibility is an issue and can be difficult to land. The Zambezi is also
steelhead live for years after spawning and continue in more remote areas, with many lakes and streams home to hippos and crocodiles and a popular
to grow in freshwater. Notoriously elusive, mature reached only by helicopter. watering hole for elephants. Victoria Falls, one of the
steelhead can weigh in excess of 20 pounds/9 Other top brown trout locales: County Cork, Ireland; wonders of the world, is close by the most productive
kilograms. Chilean Fjords, Chile; Kamchatka, Russia. fishing waters.
Other top steelhead locales: Salmon River, Idaho, Other top locales for exotic species: Mongolia
USA; Great Lakes tributaries, USA; Dean River, British (taimen); Brazil (peacock bass); Australia (black
Columbia, Canada. bass); Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico (snook).
©JEFF FEVERSTON/SHUTTERSTOCK; ILLUSTRATION: BRITTANY PORTER
Where: Andros Island, Bahamas Where: Kola Peninsula, Russia Where: Labrador, Canada
Quarry: Bonefish Quarry: Salmon Quarry: Brook Trout
ALLURE: The Bahamas’ largest yet least developed ALLURE: The fall of the Iron Curtain gave rise to the ALLURE: Canada’s unspoiled eastern wilderness is
island claims itself the “Bonefish Capital of the salmon fishing legend of Arctic Russia. The season home to the largest of these fly-loving beauties. Also
World.” Bonefish in the 7- to 10-pound/3- to is short—bring your thermal waders—but the salmon known as speckled trout with skin layered in red,
4-kilogram range cruise Andros’ white sand and are plentiful and gargantuan: 40-pounders/18- orange and yellow scales with cream-colored spots,
turtle grass flats. Fish the more isolated waters near kilogramers are not unusual. The biggest challenge brook trout are spirited fighters. “Brookies” weighing
the Joulters Cays, off Andros’ northern tip, for to fishing Kola is getting there, as it remains remote in excess of 10 pounds/4 kilograms can be found in
10-plus-pound/3-plus-kilogram bonefish and permit even 25 years after the Cold War’s end. Labrador’s wading streams.
up to 40 pounds/18 kilograms. Other top salmon locales: Nakalilok Bay, Alaska, Other top brook trout locales: Great Smoky Mountains,
Other top bonefish locales: Seychelles Islands; USA; River Laxa, Iceland; River Dee, Scotland. USA; Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA; Western
Christmas Island, Kiribati; Turneffe Flats, Belize. Montana, USA.
Nonstop 49
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