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Fly Fishing ArgentinaA Patagonia Adventure with George Anderson January 12-28 2008
On our trip this year, six of us will do the normal 8 day fishing trip that we have done in the past, and four of us will tack on another three float on the Limay Medio at the end of the trip. to insure that we'll experience the finest fishing possible with two anglers per guide and two anglers per boat on the rivers we'll float. Cost per person: $5800.00, which includes everything except your airfare from home to Buenos Aires and gratuities. *Note: The add-on cost for the special Limay River addition, three days fishing, two nights camping on the limay, with two extra nights in Bariloche will be another $2100.00, making the total for these four anglers $7900.00 I have spoken to most of you that are on this trip but don't hesitate to call me if you have any questions on this trip or future Argentina trips. In 2008 we'll be doing two hosted Argentina trips. I'm doing this one in Jan. and my son James will take a group Feb. 16th to March 2nd.
406-222-7130
Don't forget to Read George's letter on Tackle, flies and gear for Argentina! Our total package includes:
Additional Limay Camping Float:
Not included:
Deposits and Refund Policy: Deposits required: We require a 50% deposit upon booking, or $2900.00 for the first 8 day portion of the trip, and $3950.00 if you are doing the whole enchilada including the Limay Medio. Please make your check for the deposit to the Yellowstone Angler Inc. and send this to us at P.O. Box 629, Livingston, Montana 59047. I'm sorry but we cannot accept credit cards for deposits on these Argentina hosted trips. Our refund policy: We will refund your deposit in full if we can fill your spots on this trip with another angler or anglers. These trips are very popular and it has been easy for us to fill cancellations unless it occurs within sixty days or so of the trip. You can be assured that we'll do everything possible to fill your spot if you must cancel. We strongly suggest trip insurance which is available from your travel agent.
George Anderson sight fishing with a nymph in the crystal clear water of the Rivadavia. This river holds land locked Atlantic salmon as well as nice rainbows and browns. The ItineraryJan. 12 - Fly from home to BA. Overnight flight arrive early AM on the 13th, be met at the Intl. airport and driven downtown to our hotel, the Bel Air.
dinner at BA's primo steak house, Las Lilas .
overnight at the El Trebol lodge. We'll stay in Rio Pico the night of the 22nd.
that will fly back to BA that afternoon and on to the US the evening of the 23rd. The rest of the group will then continue on to Bariloche, where we'll stay at the the Edelweiss hotel that night. we'll start our three day float . Camp on river that night.
that double digit brown trout. Camp out again on the river that night.
afternoon we'll drive for two and a half hours back to Bariloche and stay at the Edelweiss hotel again.
Bariloche to BA in early to mid-afternoon. Be transferred to the International airport and catch our evening flight back to the US.
home by early afternoon.
Day 1: Fly from your home to Atlanta or Miami (or other port of entry) and on to Buenos Aires.
We'll have all day to tour around BA, and have a wonderful steak dinner at the famous Las Lilas steak house that night. Day 2: Bariloche to Cholila and El Trebol Lodge
After a leisurely breakfast we'll be transferred to the domestic airport for our mid-day flight over to Bariloche. Our flight to Bariloche will most likely be around 1-2 PM. We'll be flying a jet like a 737 or something similar, and the flight will take about two hours.
On our arrival in Bariloche, we'll be met by Marcos one of his guides and head off on a spectacular three hour drive through the Andes down to the town of Cholila. We'll stop in scenic Bolson, a wonderful little mountain tourist town where we'll gas up and visit the ice cream shop, where we'll pig out on the best ice cream you've ever tasted! On the way into Cholila, we'll make another short stop to see Butch Cassiday's ranch. Minutes later we'll arrive at Marcos' El Trebol Lodge where we'll have a wonderful dinner and spend our first night.
Your rod will be bending and bowing for rainbows, browns, Atlantic Salmon, and brookies as you drift off into an angler's paradise. Read on....
This river is what makes your Argentina trip different from all the rest...... The section we'll float is exclusive to our guides only, which means this stretch of the Chubut we fish is getting fished by only throe boats one day every couple of weeks! Talk about a lack of fishing pressure - this is it. The Chubut, a river with the flow of the Madison, is perhaps your best chance in Argentina for that 100+ fish day you've been dreaming about, and you'll have three days of hot action to get 'er done.
Thick steaks on the grill over the campfire at night One of the guides will take a gear boat ahead of us, set up our tents and warm up the water for our hot water showers. Thick, grass fed beef steaks grilled over hardwood coals and a glass of fine Malbec red wine to wash it down will help you forget all about that snow and cold back home. Man, this is living.
Day 7: The Gualjaina on Estancia La Elvira
George with a fat 21 inch brown on the Gualjaina When you finally get your fill of fishing, you'll get your fill of tender, roast lamb and red wine as well. The ranch gauchos here will prepare a special "asado" style barbeque that you'll long remember.
very few anglers will have fished this wonderful spring creek prior to our arrival. The fish will be fat and stupid. The Arroyo Pescado is famous for the terrific numbers of 18-20 inch rainbows that inhabit the creek but as we found last year, there are also some really huge rainbows and browns in some of the spring fed ponds. I caught a brown that went over 25 inches and Jeff Carder landed a brick solid 26 inch rainbow that nearly took him to the cleaners. Small nymphs were deadly sight fishing to these big fish in the crystal clear spring water. Everyone had excellent dry fly fishing, even in the wind. Rubber leg hoppers and Turk's Tarantulas in sizes 8-12 were deadly. Twitching them along with the breeze got plenty of aggressive takes. This was easy fishing with 3X tippet.
Jeff Carder with 6 lb. rainbow from the Arroyo Pescado The lower section of the creek fishes more like a slough, with patches of reeds, and a size 8 multi-colored wooly bugger or black leech patterns are extremely effective. As an added bonus, there are big "Perch" in this water. They will blast a streamer,and these were some of the BEST EATING FISH I've ever experienced. Even BETTER than walleye. In fact they look more like a walleye than a perch. We'll attempt to score at least one or two for the table again this year. There are insect hatches of mayflies, caddis, and damsel flies to provide some good dry fly fishing on non-windy days. The spring creek is crystal clear so if you have sun the sight fishing is excellent with both nymphs and streamers. If you didn't get your 100 plus day on the Chubut, you'll have another crack at it here! In an effort to preserve the environment for the waterfowl refuge, anglers are allowed to fish on one side of the creek, and are not allowed to wade in water. (well, I've been known to test this rule a little when I needed to). We'll have the stream to ourselves on that day. Still, the fishing is so easy that you'll soon satisfy your desire to catch a lot of nice big fish. Read on...
Jamie with a hefty Lago #3 Brown You might not think much of lake fishing, but this place will change your mind forever! You'll love the mountainous Patagonia setting just miles from the Chilean boarder. You'll also love the way these big rainbows and browns can light up your reel, peeling off backing faster than you ever believed possible. Using tippet lighter than 2X was a big mistake, as some of us found out. Fishing streamers, OX was a better choice, if you really wanted to land the big boys.
There are some enormous trophy fish swimming around this lovely 800+ acre lake. The guides will use boats with motors to take us to the reeds on the far side of the lake where most of the big fish hang out. few, if any kick boat enthusiasts ever make it out to this area, especially if there is any wind. You may experience first hand what the words "Patagonia Wind" really means, but it will be more than worth it. Expect plenty of 23 to 25 inch rainbows to slam your nymphs and streamers, with a very good chance for a rainbow in the 28-30 inch class. You might get the chance to land that 10lb brown on your list as well. Keep your fingers crossed for the big one and whatever you do, don't forget your camera!
Day 10: The Rio Pico River and Spring Creek A trip to the Rio Pico country wouldn't be complete without fishing the Rio Pico river itself and the fabulous spring creek that runs into it. The Rio Pico and the spring creek combine with another river here making the lower Rico Pico a much larger river with big fish. It is not always in perfect shape but when it is, double digit browns and rainbows are possible. The Rio Pico channels are always clear and hold big fish and the spring creek is always crystal clear. You'll enjoy fishing for some of the most beautiful browns in the world, not to mention the view which unmistakenly belongs to Patagonia. After our fishing at Rio Pico, we'll stay in our cabin there again that night and drive up to Bariloche the following morning. The two departing anglers will get dropped off at the airport in Esquel and they will fly back to BA that afternoon to connect with their evening flight back to the US. The final four will continue another couple of hours back up to Bariloche, where we'll stay at the Edelweiss hotel. Day 11-12 (For non-Limay floaters): Drive back to Esquel, Fly to BA, & fly home Days 11-12-13: Limay (additional add on special)
Mike Nelson and a nice 9 lb. brown from the Limay Last February my son Jamie, Mike Nelson and Chad Hill fished the famous Limay Medio and came back with some impressive stories about double digit browns on big streamers. When I saw the photos, it was natural to think about adding on the three day float on the Limay at the end of our normal trip.
Catch browns so big that you don't have to lie about them! The Limay Medio is a big river, several times the size of the Yellowstone. Many of the famous rivers to the north of Bariloche feed this system. Rivers like the Chimehuin, Travul, Caleufu, Colloncura and Malleo feed this giant system which flows through several big hydroelectric dams. We'll fish the middle section of th is huge river, between Lago Chacon and Pichi Picaun Leufu, a fifty mile stretch of river that we'll float for three days. this time no willows, just huge browns. The browns live in the lakes most of the time, but come summer, they head up river to cool off and eat pancoras. The water flow varies from a low of 8000 CFS in their winter up to as much as 40,000 in the summer. The side channels are about the size of the Yellowstone in Livingston! Last year they utilized good inflatable rafts, like we use on the Chubut, but we hear this year we'll be in drift boats.
In addition to the big browns, there are lots of nice rainbows in the 18-20 inch class to keep us busy. This is big water and we'll want to take an 8 weight rod with fast sinking heads like a SA Streamer Express 200 or 250. With a little luck, you can catch that brown of a lifetime!
You'll be sad to say hasta luego to the Andes and exciting waters of Patagonia, but you'll most likely be back some day. Maybe even the following year! We'll arrive early AM in the US, and connect with our flights home, and a little more time to plan on how to slam your fishing buddies with all those hero shots and big fish photos.
Read George's letter on Tackle, flies and gear for Argentina. Check out Jamie's photos from Argentina 2007 Visit our Fly Fishing Travel page to learn about other great destinations and hosted trips. | Please call us with questions... 406-222-7130
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George with a 5 lb. brown from the Arroyo Pescado 
Marcos' El Trebol Lodge in Cholila
George with Rivadavia spring creek brown 
The greatest concentration of rainbows
is found on the first section, so everyone will be worn out after the
first day. It's often a fish on every other cast! By the third
day you will have caught so many fish that you'll be ready to kick back,
smoke that big cigar, and see what flies in your box won't catch fish.
You could catch a monster brown, but for the most part you'll be
catching healthy rainbows in the 16 to 18 inch range with the occasional
22 incher. Jamie had to resort to waterpoof adhesive tape on his fingers on one of those hundred fish days! 
There is 25K of private
water to fish on this Estancia, and our guides know the best spots. The Gualjaina splits into various small channels, all of which hold big fish. This is interesting water where you can use a variety of techniques, from fishing dry flies to chucking yuk bugs and streamers into the deeper holes. 
The Arroyo Pescado opens every year
on January 1st, so
Well if you don't need a vacation to recouperate from your fishing trip, you're one tough hombre. It's rare to see guides who fish such long hours with such intensity. Guiding for 10 hours a day, day after day, consistently with 110% effort? No wonder they drink maté! Lucky for you, sleeping on that evening flight back to the States will be no problema.