Patagonia Jan 24 - Feb 3

[Woolly Bugger]

Heading out of town in front of Snowmageddon Redux was challanging, I had moved our evening flight to Atlanta to the moring in hopes of getting out of town befoe things got bad, but when we arrived at the aiport at 6:30 we got notice that our flight out of Atlanta to Buenos Aires was cancelled and there wasn't a good option to fly with delta to make any of their other flights to Argentina. We had to scramble and switch arilines, fly to LGA, uber to JFK to get a flight on American to B.A. I was a long day but we finally arrived Sunday morning. We met up with Bob, Lisa, and Mac and rode to the Hotel. We explored the area and had lunch and dinner out on the town.

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Tomorrow we fly out to San Martin De Los Andes and then ride off to San Huberto Lodge, a 24,000 acre cattle ranch in northern Patagonia for fishing on the Malleo River.

[driver]

I had to do the LGA to JFK run once. At 4pm an a weekday. I had 1 hour to do it to catch my flight, pre Uber.

[Big J]

Keith, can you adopt me as your son?

[Woolly Bugger]

Sunny and Hot!

We were up early to catch the hotel breakfast—or feast, really—as it offered a plethora of foods to choose from. There were fresh fruits, baked goods, eggs, and meats, all served buffet‑style. After checking out, we were whisked away in a van to the domestic airport.

I'll backtrack a bit and talk about our Migraciones process. Argentina has invested heavily in new technology, with small stations where a machine scans your passport, takes a photo, and captures a thumbprint. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. The automated process didn't work for me, so I had to stand in another line for manual processing. My officer was indifferent, though others in our group were asked several questions. From there it was on to baggage claim and customs. We were all waved through the Green Line, bypassing any inspections or further questioning. All told, it took a little over an hour from deplaning to getting into the van to the hotel.

Back to Sunday's travel: we arrived at a chaotic scene at the airport, with many travelers waiting in line to check in. Fortunately, the line moved quickly, and soon enough our bags were checked, our passports and boarding passes verified, and we made our way to the departure gate.

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The flight distance from Buenos Aires (EZE) to San Martín de los Andes (CPC) is about 800 miles and takes roughly two and a half hours. JetSmart is a no‑frills airline, and only paid refreshments were available, but the flight attendants—young, attractive, and exuberant—made the flight enjoyable.

Deplaning in San Martín, our bags had to pass through security before we could leave the airport. Once outside, we were greeted by Juan and Eduardo from the lodge, and after they took care of our luggage, we were offered beers for the 40‑minute ride to San Huberto.

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Arriving at the lodge, we were greeted by the staff and after getting settled into our rooms, lunch was served.

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After lunch there was a brief siesta before meeting up with Jaun to fish the river and perhas an evening hatch.

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There weren't any bugs, but I was promised that there would be some activity at dusk. I caufght a couple of decent rainbows and many more small browns.

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As the sun set we moved to a pool down stream where the trout began to rise and the fish were much more willing to hit the dry fly. I can't recall how many but I'd say 6-8 good sized rainbows in the last 20 minutes of light. We headed back to the ranch for dinner at 9:45...

[Onslow]

Texas hill country vibes.

[greg]

Is Bob as nice as he seems? I have never met him but talked with him on the phone several times. Have a a few of his prints. He cones across as the kind of guy you would love to fish with. Looks. Like a wonderful trip.

[Woolly Bugger]

Is Bob as nice as he seems? I have never met him but talked with him on the phone several times. Have a a few of his prints. He cones across as the kind of guy you would love to fish with. Looks. Like a wonderful trip.

Bob is a great guy and fun to be around, we didn't fish together, he goes along for the ride and takes some photos, and then wonders off to fish by himeself on these trips. Lisa, his wife, is also a lot of fun!

[Woolly Bugger]

So I must admit that between all the fishing, siestas, food, wine, and company, I didn't take a lot of pictures, and the trip has blurred into a gigantic fiesta.

After catching the last fish in the last light of the day, as we waded out to Juan's SW4 (South American name for a 4Runner), he asked if I was ready for a cerveza. He plucked an ice‑cold one from his Yeti and opened one for himself for the short drive back to the ranch.

The bar with appetizers was open, drinks were served, and tales of the day's fishing were told. Then it was off to dinner: salad, entrée, dessert, and more wine. It was midnight before we were off to bed.

Breakfast was at 8, and we were off to fish by 9. We'd be heading up to the lake today because of favorable winds.

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Lago Tromen, part of Parque Nacional Lanín, is located near the border with Chile and is the headwater of the Malleo River, which flows through the ranch. Juan drove Ronda and me, and Eduardo took Mac and Bob, on the drive up to a private launch on the lake where they had boats stashed.

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We were looking for cruising trout along the cliffs of the lake and in among the fallen trees. We found some here and there, but in reality it was just a beautiful boat ride in an exotic location punctuated by catching a few nice trout, missing a few more, and enjoying a shore lunch of beef, rabbit, quiche, and a few other items—including wine, of course.

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After lunch we headed out for round two. I caught a couple more, and all I have to say is that we did better than Bob and Mac.

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Of course, there was beer for the ride back to the lodge

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After a shower, the bar was opened and a smoked‑trout appetizer was served. Dinner followed, and then it was time for bed. Tomorrow we fish the river.

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Tomorrow we fish the river.

[Woolly Bugger]

A dry and hot spell hit the area, and the day was calling for temps in the 90s, so the plan was to start early and get back for lunch before the heat set in. That meant an early breakfast — but not to worry, the black‑faced ibis (Theristicus melanopis) would wake us at first light. A bit too early for my liking, but after several days we began to sleep through most of their loud trumpeting cries.

We drove up to the river, and I cast a dry‑dropper rig and caught muchas pequeñas truchas marrones and a few mejores arcoíris.

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Back at the lodge for a bit of lunch...

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Eduardo, Mac, Juan, Bob, Lisa, Ronda, and me. For the first few days we were the only group at the lodge.

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Here is Juan tying on the bug of the day.This pic seams out of order but the time stamp indicates otherwise.

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'Cause were having some drinks on the veranda before heading out for the evening session.

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Caught a few fish --  this one was the last of the day and the only one we snapped a pic of. Take at 9:30, about 25 minutes past sunset. It's blurred and backlit, but it still is a memeory.

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After that fish it was a short wade out to a cerveza fría.

Main Course -- Rabbit on polenta. Very tasty indeed.

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[Woolly Bugger]

With the very warm days we started early again the on a lower section of the river, clear cool water with tons of weeds or weedo as Jaun called the fly fowling algea.


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Despite the conditions I brough a few good fish to hand and many many smaller ones.

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Get a grip, I can's hold fish very well and a few slipped away before they could be photographed.

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This spot yeilded a number of browns. And we saw a few very large brown trout, one chased after my fly, but didn't connect, later I had a couple blowup on the fly and later we saw one crashing bait in the shallows it was an awesome sight, but it was gone by the time we waded down to the commotion.

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As you can see, while you were dealing with ice and snow, it was damn hot down here.

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But a cold beer on the way to lunch was always welcome, as was the wine with lunch.

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Then a nice siesta before the evening fishing session and then dinner. Don't know why there aren't any pics of fish. I know I caught some, probabley nothing really note worthy.

This is a special dish that took all afternoon to prepair, Bob, took these photos. While we were on the river, the crew cooked a pan of paella criolla over the fire. We came back at dusk and ate it for dinner.

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Dinner is served.

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[Fishbug]

Looks epic.
Food 10/10

Add to bucket list.

[Woolly Bugger]

With rain, a rairity during the summer, coming in in the afternoon we headed down to some public water to fish the inchworm "hatch"

Mosts of the 10s of thouusands of lupins had gone to seed, but I found this solo late bloomer, it must be quite a spectical druing the spring when the multi-colored flowed lind the fields and riverbanks.

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on the drive to the river we dropped off Mac and Eduardo on one stretch, while we headed down a bit further.

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Rain coming in the afternoon.

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On the river we looked for overhanging trees with leaves stripped off by the green inchworms and hoped for a little wind to knock them into the water.

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Many fish were caught, all about average size with a couple that pushed 20"

Juan communicated with Eduardo about a pick-up time and we headed out to get them and head back for lunch.

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I can't remember if we went back out, but I think not, as the rain setteled in. It poured for quite some time and the river turned to creamed coffee.

Dinner was served early and we got a good long nights sleep, with a late breakfast call for the morning with plans to visit the town on San Martin in the morning while we waited for the river to clear.

[Woolly Bugger]

Shopping in San Martin.

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Belts and blankets and a search for hojas de coca which an expat we ran into said was a great addition to his morning mate. This information got Eduardo on a quest to fine some for me. Not good to chew, but okay as an additive to the tea. We searched over half the town to no avail. But did end up at a chocolate store and we all purchased pounds of the delicacies. Then it was time to head back for lunch, of course there was a beer to help with the drive.

After lunch we headed up to one of the spring creeks, although low and clear, it offered up some nice fish.

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When Juan and I finished this section we head back to find Bob back at the truck taking a break.

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A few more fish were caught and then it was fria cerveza for the ride back to the ranch and dinner.

The crepe for desert was delicious.

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[Woolly Bugger]

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Last day fishing, back to the spring creek after tossing streamers on the main stem, which was milky, I had a couple of fish blowup on the fly, but didn't connect. We moved on to the clear waters of the spring creek.

We hit a spot and I caught four fish in four cast!

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There were some wildflowers out too.

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More fish were caught at the head of a run and it was a pretty good outing.

Other spots not so productive but there is always beer.

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After siesta we headed out to the pool that I fished on the first evening, we stayed until way past reason as the fish were really active and hitting the dry fly with gusto.

Back at the ranch were they were prepairing asado. This feast is built around lamb, beef, pork, sausages, plus empanadas, salad, and vegetables.

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I was a great way to wrap up the trip.

The next day we had a hearty breakfast and took off for the airport around 11. Travel it a bit hetic, with the flight from San Martin to B.A., then a transfer to the international airpor EZE. Many security lines and in the hall of Migraciones, it took over an hour before we finally made it through all the checks. Fortunaly there was a nice sandwhich bar with chilled wine for us to enjoy before boarding our flight to Atlanta. Entering the US was a breeze in comparison to entering and leaving Argentina. Our next flight had several gate changes during the 2 hour wait, but once it arrived on time we were finally on the last leg to home. I all it was 24 hours from door to door. That was a long day.

~Fin

[driver]

The food looks amazing. Looks like central valley NoCal there. On a scale of one to ten how would you rate the fishing? Would you do it again?