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There are few people in the region and angling pressure is all but non-existent.
The local map is dotted with spring creeks, small streams, and trophy trout lagunas in every direction.
Patagonia One
This is the perfect spot for the angler seeking diversity, solitude,
and a combination of comfort and hard-core South American fly fishing!
FOR YEARS, ONE OF Patagonian Basecamp’s most popular angler options has been the extended 10 night / 9 fishing day itinerary that allows guests to experi- ence a rarely-seen and fished corner of Patagonia out of our remote TempleCamp Lodge on the Rio Figueroa. It is a spectacular, remote, multi-day destination near the Argentine border that has many waters to float, with fishermen returning every evening to a remarkable and centrally located outpost lodge. Guests enjoy pre-dinner appetizers and fine wines here on a raised deck overlooking the beautiful Figueroa River, enjoy hot showers and flush toilets, take their meals in the small wood lodge/dining room and kitchen, and sleep in real beds inside spacious dome tents tucked into the trees, all of which are connected by a winding labyrinth of wooden staircase. The place has to be experienced to be believed.
Our cross-border program, Patagonia One, combines that experience with the best fishing on the other side of the Andes. This 10-night package begins with 3 days of fishing from our
Las Pampas Lodge in the Río Pico valley in Argentina. From this very well-appointed fron- tera lodge guests can step back in time to an experience most likely resembling our Rocky Mountain fishing of 100 years ago. What few people live in and around this Patagonian valley exist in a world very different from our own – the roads are all gravel, and one is as likely to see residents riding horses as driving cars. Life is simple here, with harsh mountain winters and warm, sunny summers. Locals are too busy eking out a living to fish, so the myriad small spring creeks and freestone streams are choked with trout that are, to be kind, a bit on the naive side. Most startling, many of these meandering little mountain meadow creeks are full of trout in the 16-23-inch range, fish seeming far too large for their environs. Even better, they show a marked preference for dry flies, in particular the oversized foam patterns made so popular in our own American West. Anglers can choose from a wide choice of fishing destinations daily. Most consist of easy, flat-ground walking and wading.
If you like slowly working your way up small streams, sight-fishing to rising trout, and work- ing hopper patterns against inviting banks that only see a handful of fishermen each season, you will consider this valley Shangri-La.
Too, there are a series of lakes tucked up on the flanks of these same mountains, each filled with brown and rainbow trout that commonly reach epic sizes. Many anglers like to spend one of their three Rio Pico days being rowed around the perimeter of one of these stillwaters, throw- ing oversized dry flies to the tanks cruising the edges. Fish in the mid-to-high twenty-inch range (and larger) reside here, and it is an excit- ing opportunity for the fisherman to land a true monster during his or her stay.