This article was written by Juan Biott, an experienced fly fishing guide down in Patagonia. Himself, Claudio Martin and Pollo make up @tresamigosoutfitters. Juan has guided brook trout for decades and is passionate about getting clients down to experience the beauty of the brook trout of Patagonia. Learn more about the fisheries and opportunities they have for these trophy-sized brook trout.
The word is out, after the epic movie called “finding fontinalis” there has been a lot of attention to the hidden Patagonic waters of Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego provinces.
The monster brook trout swimming around lakes and creeks in these regions are, by all means, not an easy task to hook. There is a ton of water, so finding these trophy fish can take some prior experience. Often these fish have never seen a fly or a person. The fishing guides in the area are lucky enough to share some of these treasures to the fishing world.
The history: It was an odyssey back to 1904-1930’s when efforts brought salmonids to Patagonian waters by the Agriculture Ministry and specialists from EEUU. Mr. Titcomb directed the first projects along with other Argentinean professionals.
A century after this event, brook trout among other kinds of trout and salmon have
found the perfect place to live quite undisturbed. And have been able to grow to their full potential weight due to favorable environmental conditions and sustainable food supply. It is my intention to tell you about some of these places to add to your
bucket list.
Esquel Area
At the heart of Chubut province in Patagonia, there are a few rivers and lakes that hold some trophy brook trout if not the world record. Each year some of my colleagues guide a few groups of fishermen into these waters. They are very careful with keeping these spots safe and under the radar, as it has some truly big fish. The biggest caught to date is 12 pounds and told they have seen bigger fish but did not move from the ground.
The amount of food sources in some of these lakes is amazing and the brook trout grow as fat as long. The main lake called Vintter is famous for its big brookies and also huge rainbows. It’s filled up by the main tributary, the Corcovado river which offers some of the most amazing and huge runs of brook trout that are available in Patagonia. This phenomenon occurs right at the end of the season and is complemented by a few lakes and creeks that only wise guides and locals know and are simply insane.
Southern Santa Cruz:
The province is known for its legendary Strobel Lake (Jurassic Lake) and Gallegos
River. It is home to huge sea trout and also not far in quality for its few brook trout treasures. There is a system known as the Coyle with some brook trout and brown trout that can reach up to 4 pounds and a real treasure called Chico Sur.
This last river/creek flows west to east from Chile and ends up in the sea sharing the estuary with the Gallegos River. It’s delightful to fish with a #4 weight rod and a floating line. Brookies up to 8 pounds in skinny water with slower flows are common. At some of the pools, the big brookies get really picky and demand a lot of effort to hook them. All these creeks are fished inside a boutique-style operation known as The Route of the Spring Creeks run by a local family lodging in three different estancias.
Tierra del Fuego
What else other than the Rio Grande could we find at this island? Well, the amazing Lenga Woods and lake system located at the heart of the island. It has a lot to offer and yet is not fished hard. There are a few lakes and some tributaries with very little information about them. They have an insane late-season run of brookies.
These brookies are really big, they get up to 10 pounds. Some of the guides in TDF after a hard sea trout season end up chasing these colorful big males that get together before the ritual during the beginning of the autumn. Most of this fishing is done with streamers and sinking lines, but when it comes to creeks a 5 weight is the best choice.
Photo’s courtesy of @brooktroutpatagonia, @vicioflyfishing, @bigfishpatagonia, @esquelfishingexpeditions, @miguelangelzangla and Cristian Sanchez – (Pescador).
Check out these other articles from Juan:
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