Chile 2002
This was actually my first fishing trip this year and I can honestly say that it was by far the best trout fishing trip of my entire life!
We were a group of eight, five from the US and three from Chile. Gonzalo Cortes of the Fly Shop in Santiago, Chile organized and put this perfect trip together. This marked my third trip to the Rio Grande River in Chile and by far our best fishing ever.
It was a low water year and the action at times was not to be believed. We had Doubles & Triples on trophy sized Sea Run Brown Trout! Teeny Mini-tips and the T-200 were the lines of choice. Both working extremely well in different type of waters. Our leader length ranged from 4' to 8'. In the slower waters we fished a little longer leader than we did in the moving waters, which required a shorter length leader. Our fly rods were 8 & 9 weights and I fished with my new Jim Teeny Signature Series Rod which Lamiglas let me design. This is as good a Rod as I have ever fished. All of the rods are 9' in length and are a four piece travel rod.
As for flies, the Teeny Nymphs, Leeches and Flash Flies all worked well. I got tipped off that smaller sizes can work well so I fished sizes 4,6,8 & 10's. Mostly 4's though 8's were best. The colors of Ginger, Antique Gold & Insect Green were the best choice. Natural, Black and Purple also worked well along with our Hot Green. For the most part I dead drifted our flies with excellent success. Sometimes I would strip my line in across the current which made my fly move faster and it seemed to excite the fish into taking my fly. We could not see or spot fish in the water so we needed to fish what we felt was good looking waters and also where our guides suggested we fish. We experimented and found new waters that proved to be very productive as well.
Our large trout on the Rio Grande was 21.5 pounds. Four were at 19.8 pounds and another one at over 19 pounds. Large numbers from 13 to over 18 pounds. They were so strong and fought very hard when hooked.
Before we fished the Rio Grande River staying at Cameron Lodge, Gonzalo took us to Victoria Lodge on the Rio Pueblo River for trophy sized Rainbow's. Graham got a nice Atlantic Salmon and I a Sea Run Brown as bonus fish. Our fat Rainbows went up to 9 pounds and gave us a good run for our money. These appeared to be Rainbows that escaped rearing pens and entered the many rivers in the region. Our guide told us that if we had more time we could have went into the Salt Waters and caught many large Rainbows. Next season we plan on spending three days on or near the Rio Pueblo.
We all agreed if we had done only half as well on this trip it still would have been the best trip ever!
In 2003 I am planning on going the end of March through the first week of April. The first trip will consist of three days for the large rainbows and then a week at Cameron Lodge on the Rio Grande. The second trip is a week at Cameron Lodge for the large Brown Trout. Cameron Lodge can only properly accommodate eight people per week. The price is $3,200 per person for a week at the lodge. There are miles of private waters and lots of good holes and runs. Should you have interest please contact me about either of these trips for 2003. No question it will fill up fast. I will be on both trips next year. Who Knows, maybe we could get some even bigger fish! Yan Kee Way Lodge was the nicest lodge that I've ever seen anywhere in the world. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and company of the owner along with General Chuck Yeager who was fishing out of the Yan Kee Way Lodge.
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