Clients comments

 

Draft article on fishing with Patricio Graziosi, especially the Chubut float
Bob McMeekin. August 8, 2002

 

The great fishing areas north of Bariloche in Argentina - San Martin de los Andes, Junin de los Andes, the Chimehuin, Malleo, Alumine and all the rest - are well known to fishermen knowledgeable about fly fishing in Patagonia. The areas south of Bariloche are less well known, however, and the lakes and streams there hold some superlative fishing. This is a note about a trip my friends and I made in March of 2001 with Patricio Graziosi who is based a small farming town in El Hoyo, in the Province of Chubut. We were picked up in Bariloche itself, which has frequent air service from Buenos Aires, but the Argentine airlines fly into Esquel as well (although there are fewer flights per day) and we returned to Buenos Aires from there.

 

Probably the best known destination in this area is the Parque los Alerces de Argentina, a protected area with a complex of large lakes joined by streams - the most famous is the Rio Rivadavia - of varying length and character. Casting to the lake banks from boats is the means of fishing most catch-and-release fly fishermen practice in the lakes, while fishing in the rivers is by drifting and, if water conditions permit, stopping and wading at attractive spots along the way. There is a lot of water and some very fine trout. The great majority of fish are browns and rainbows, but some lakes hold brook trout. Lago Menendez, the largest of the lakes, is about XX kilometers long and has two major branches. The park operates a jeep-and-trailer portage to get to Menendez from an access point on (a smaller lake?) The weather can be a factor fishing Lago Menendez, as it was during our trip, because winds on this big body of water can make it unpleasant and even dangerous to fish the more distant parts of it. In the warmer months of January and February the fishing in big bays and around islands can be very rewarding.

 

We experienced a lot of rain and wind on our trip, but there are so many diverse places to fish - for example a spring creek that feeds the Rio Rivadavia - that able guides can provide good fishing under almost any conditions.

 

Patagonia outfitters operates through the whole area between Bariloche and Esquel, as well as areas outside this range in Chile. The senior guide and outfitter on our trip was Patricio Graziosi (brother of Jorge Graziosi but operating completely separately), who is based in El Bolsón near another prime fishery: Lago Puelo and nearby lakes and streams. These senior guide and the younger guides working with him have the experience and skill to put clients onto outstanding fishing.

 

As noted, we experienced rainy weather and high water on this trip, but these guides were still able to put us on water such as the spectacular Lago 3 south of Esquel, which is fly fishing only and carefully patrolled, and holds some very fine browns and rainbows.

 

The part of our outing that I really want to mention is a float trip that Patricio Graziosi provided for us that was spectacular. I won’t mention the stream, except to say that it can only be accessed at widely separated points (which of course means that very few people fish it in any season). On our four day and three night float trip we had days of fishing that you dream about. Periods in which you had fish if not on every cast at least once every two or three casts, often casting to sighted fish. Again and again you’d have the experience of casting to a spot the guide indicated and receiving a gratifying strike. I’d lose track of the number of fish after a while but do remember that there were often three or four in the over-twenty-inch range during the mornings and afternoons of the two best days in the middle of the trip. It was like I imagine the fishing was in Argentina 50 years ago and the west of the US a hundred years ago. Except for a few local bait-fishermen we passed during the last hours of the trip when we were close to a town, we did not see another fisherman the whole trip.

 

The stream is not large. In fact the guides carried machetes and a chain saw (!) in case a downed trunk or large branch blocked the float. In places the river twists through narrow passages that oarsmen who didn’t know the water well would have trouble getting through. We traveled with three rafts: two with a senior guide and two fishermen each plus a supply raft carrying the tents, food and non-fishing gear. The camps we set up each night were well organized and well equipped with tents, cots, tables and chairs, and the food was excellent. We experienced fairly high wind one night but had no rain. In the summer months of January and February the threat of rain would be minimal. This float was one of the best fishing experiences I’ve had in my life.

 

I recommend to readers of The Angling Report. Check him out on the website www.Rivers in Patagonia.com - Direct contacts: for Patricio Graziosi: patflyfishing@gmail.com. Their English, as well as that of the guides who work with him, is good to excellent.