Spring Season at El Encuentro
Spring fishing with El Encuentro is an amazing adventure. Come prepared for big and hungry trout, and fickle weather that can range from warm and dry to wet and chilly, which is always beautiful and dramatic.
At this time of the year, we will find fish feeding in small waters such as springs and tributaries of lakes and other major rivers as well as big rivers and shorelines of big lakes.
Streamer fishing is typical, but you can also find yourself fishing dry flies on a warm afternoon. It’s a very rewarding time of year to fish with us. These months are often marked by high water, which gradually recedes in late December. Due to the high levels of the rivers, most fishing is done from the boat, and less wading is done on the big rivers. Fish are normally more active and looking for food after a long winter, and they are more willing to take a fly since they are rested from the off-season. Furthermore, at this time of the season, we will find some small trout hatching as well as lots of different types of bugs hatching and nymphs drifting along the current, which is the main food resource for this hungry fish!
Fishing at the Brook Trout Base Camp (BTBC) it is a unique experience! Fishing the main river around the camp will let us target for huge Rainbow Trout which are migrating back to the main lake and are feeding constantly along the shores and resting in certain spots which the guides will show you. Usually, we target this fish using dry/droppers as well as streamers. We also target big Brook trout in the river. If we want to target some brookies from sizes of 12/14 inches up to 25 inches, yes you read well 25 inches we have to drive out of the BTBC area for 45-50 minutes to reach one of the purest and most beautiful areas in Patagonia... three lakes and two small rivers populated only with Brook Trout and which we fish in many different ways... it could be a lot of fun!
In addition to all the games we have around the BTBC, we even have more! We can try for some true dry fly action for Rainbows, Browns, and Brookies at some of the most peaceful places around the area. This will drive us southern from the camp to find some small waters mainly spring creeks and small rivers... we also have a chance to fish for massive trout at some lakes as well... in this case, we target them using nymphs and streamers mainly but always guides are going to be sure to have a dry/dropper rod ready to cast!
Once we move north from the Brook Trout Base Camp to El Encuentro Lodge during springtime, we fish a wide variety of water as well, like small rivers which are tributaries to lakes and rivers, big rivers, and lakes.
It is a great time of the season to fish these small tributaries where we can find some trophy trout which are normally feeding in this type of waters feeding on drifting nymphs, small fingerlings, and other fish as well. Streamers are normally the best option as well as some nymph rigs.
Fishing our backyard... the Futaleufu River could be a lot of fun using dry flies, finding normally some really nice March Brown hatches along the back eddies and some foam lines of the river. Usually, the fish that are feeding on these bugs are well-fed and extremely strong! On the other hand, fishing streamers at this time of the season is a lot of fun too, making this kind of game very dynamic and a lot of fun!
Heading north from El Encuentro we enter the Los Alerces National Park where we fish some big lakes and rivers mainly for Rainbow and Brown trout...this time of the year could be a lot of fun, sight fishing shallow waters along the shoreline-looking for feeding fish.
Besides the suggested fly list included in our Pre-Trip document, our Guides recommend the following flies specifically for Spring Season fishing in Patagonia:
Sparkle Minow: size 4, brownie, sculping, rusty cooper
Bead Head or Cone Head Thin Mint Bugger: size 6
Slump Buster: size 6, olive and natural
Come join us this upcoming Spring fishing season!
— The EEFF Team
