BROOK TROUT - Day 1 of officially fishing in Patagonia and it was amazing! The beauty, size and the fight of these Brookies are astounding. @valkyrie821 and I caught about 40 of them, despite some choppy waters.
Just a note to say thanks to everyone at El Encuentro for another fine fishing adventure. Friends here ask us why we travel so far to fish when we have rivers like the Henry’s Fork, the Madison, and the Yellowstone in our backyard. Part of it lies with the lodge itself, which substitutes comfort and sociability for architectural pretension. It’s sort of like home, with bedrooms off the living and dining rooms, except of course here you look out over the Futaleufu River and the stunning Throne of the Clouds Mountain.
Here goes the Step by Step instruction to tye the Hot Spotted Pheasant Tail fly pattern. We are filling up our boxes for this upcoming Spring fishing season and this pattern is one of the must have!! Feel free to reach out to us if you need any further information.
Step 1: Wrap thread along the entire hook shank.
Step 2: Select between 6 and 8 fibers of a natural pheasant tail and place them creating the tail of the fly, same lenght as the hook shank.
Here goes a brief description of how to tie the CDC / Elk Hair Comparadun. We hope you find it helpful! Please feel free to contact us if you would like to receive more infomration about this pattern!
Step 1: wrap thread along the hook shank.
Step 2: select a piece of elk hair and use the hair stacker to stack the equivalent in lenght of a hook shanck.
We at El Encuentro share your goal of having a healthy and sustainable fishery. Here are the practices that we will be following when we are together on our waters in Patagonia.
Fly Fishing Tackle
As with most of the world, my plans for March and April were rapidly thrown out the window with the oncoming threat of Coronavirus. On a crisp Patagonian morning a few weeks ago I awoke early to begin planning my post-El Encuentro travels. As the season began to wind down I was looking forward to fishing and seeing more of this beautiful country with some of my new friends before returning home. By evening that same day, however, it became clear that I would have to leave the country before quarantine orders and airline suspensions left me stranded.
Patagonia 2020
After we finished our fishing trip in San Martin de Los Andes area, we drove south for 6.5 hours, mostly on the famous Argentine highway called Route 40 to a city called Esquel in Chubut Province. This is Chubut area is famous for uncountable fishing venues. We took a couple rest days in Esquel before drivers from El Encuentro Lodge picked us up. Taking rest days shows our age, but it’s not ALL about fishing, its where the fish take you.
One unique facet of the El Encuentro experience is our close proximity to the water. As I mentioned in my last post, the lodge sits atop a large stretch of back eddy, providing a spectacular view of the Futaleufú River. But it’s not just picturesque — more importantly, it gives us a 24/7 barometer of fishing conditions. There’s a lot fewer mornings spent waking up early to check CFS flow data online, reading wind charts, or looking at forecasts.
My name’s Patrick – a native of Tacoma, Washington, and current employee of Big Sky Anglers in West Yellowstone, Montana. After my inaugural season learning the ropes of a fly shop this past Spring and Summer, I hoped to continue my education in fishing during the off-season somewhere that I wouldn’t have to worry about losing fingers to the cold.
Happy New Year from Patagonia! The heart of our summer season is upon us. We’ve enjoyed long warm days, wonderful guests, and exciting dry fly fishing for feisty trout.
Heavy rains and early season snow storms in November produced higher than normal flows on our home river, the Rio Futaleufú during December.
Big water meant big hatches of March Brown mayflies, and exceptional dry fly fishing. We found great fish rising in foam lines, back eddies, and flooded willows.
Another fishing season is under way in Patagonia, and we couldn’t be more excited about the conditions, the fish, and the prospects for a great year at El Encuentro Fly Fishing.
Much like the Rockies in North America, Patagonia’s Spring can be cool and wet. As we get deeper into November, temperatures warm, and we see some drop-dead gorgeous days. The remnants of a robust winter snowpack continue to coat our rugged mountain peaks. The countryside is lush, green. And, the trout? Well, they’re as spectacular as always here in Patagonia.
OK, it’s winter in the northern hemisphere and the fish are rising in Patagonia. What could be better? Warm days, plenty of hatches from early mornings into long evenings, crystal clear waters, and wild and active browns, rainbows and brookies.
Think of summer in Patagonia as running more or less from mid-December through the end of February and beginning of March.