The Fly Shop800·669·3474

Seven nights lodging in room with private bathroom |daily guided fishing | all meals (lunch and dinner accompanied by a selection of Chilean wines, beer including Pisco Sours and non-alcoholic beverages | all transfers between lodge and fishing locations | fishing license |Wi-Fi | one guide for every two anglers (unless a single angler booking) | one guide for every four non-fishing guests |use of vehicles, boats or horses required by program | Balmaceda Airport (BBA)/lodge/Airport (BBA) transfers

Not Included Air travel | hotel and/or transfers prior to or after fishing itinerary | hard liquor | use of fishing gear, flies (flies available for sale at the lodge, 3 dozen flies for $100 – rental rods $30/day) | gratuities | laundry service | telephone calls | or other items not specifically mentioned as included.

The Fly Shop® is not in the insurance business, but we recommend Travel Guard coverage as a service with a desire to see your best interests protected. It is impossible to know when an unfortunate situation (loss of luggage, fly rods, illness in the family, or an accident) may occur. However, such things can and do happen, and this insurance can provide a means of recourse against non-refundable financial losses.

• Travel Insurance Information

Day of Arrival:
After a comfortable night in Santiago (or following a morning arrival from the States), guests are to arrive Balmaceda Airport (BBA) mid-afternoon, no earlier than 13:00. Here you will be met by a staff member of Estancia de los Rios and driven to the lodge, an approximate 4.5 hour drive. The trip to the remote lodge inside the estancia is highlighted by beautiful roadside scenery, waterfalls, forests, and stunning mountain vistas of the Southern Andes.

Anglers and their companions are met upon arrival and introduced to the lodge hosts and staff. Each of the guest rooms is well-appointed, has a private bath, and the amenities are in stark contrast to the remote Patagonian location.

Time permitting, depending on your flight’s arrival time to Balmaceda, and after getting organized in your room, you can join your guide for a fly-fishing session, hiking, horseback riding or bird watching. In the evening you will return to the lodge for cocktails and delicious picada (charcuterie in South America) followed by a hosted gourmet meal.

Your host will discuss with you the variety of fishing options for the week and make plans for the next day’s adventure.

The Angling Week:
These are full fishing days, and the exact schedule will depend on the guest's wishes. Breakfast and dinner will be served in the lodge and fine mid-day meals are served in the field, streamside.

With more than 60 miles of rivers, several spring creeks and many lakes on the ranch, Estancia de los Ríos provides world-class dry fly fishing opportunities on a daily basis. The lodge is located on a 360,000-acre ranch in the heart of Chilean Patagonia. Expect vast uninhabited valleys surrounded by the majestic Andes Mountains, a place of spectacular beauty where you can enjoy unparalleled seclusion and privacy.

Each fishing day can be custom tailored to your wants, needs and ability, and you will be sure you will never run of out of angling options.

The after-angling cocktail reception always includes Pisco Sour, the Chilean version of a Margarita, a variety of domestic beers and some of Chile’s finest varietals. Dinners, like all meals at the lodge, are informal, sumptuous, and accompanied by delicious Chilean wines.

The Day of Departure from the Lodge:
Anglers will be transported to the Balmaceda Airport and begin their journey home with a mid-afternoon flight to Santiago (SCL) or the continuation of their South American angling or travel holiday. Please book your departure flight out of Balmaceda (BBA) no earlier than 14:00

Additionally, there is a large mud room for storing waders, boots and gear as well as ample living and dining rooms for guests’ use and enjoyment. The front of the lodge features outside terraces built of natural river stones, a favorite gathering spot for friendly conversation, coffee in the morning and adult beverages and delicious hors d'oeuvres in the evening. Adjacent to the main lodge there is a “Quincho”, a special building purposely built for the chef to prepare classic Patagonian barbecues – asados – at the end of each week. The food at Estancia de los Rios is prepared by chefs and focuses on traditional Chilean cuisine and a balance of locally and estancia-sourced meats and produce, along with homemade breads and desserts. Lunches and dinners are paired with some of the finest regional wines and beer. A complete continental breakfast is available each morning before heading out to fish for the day. During the fishing day, streamside hot and cold lunches are prepared and served by your guide. At the end of the day, evening festivities start with appetizers like empanadas, picadas and traditional Pisco Sours, the margaritas of South America. Fine multi-course dinners are served in the formal dining room. Dinners at Estancia de los Rios are an event, embracing old-world tradition, delicious regional cuisine, and friends.

to the lodge for a welcome cocktail, followed by a delicious meal. During dinner the head guide will explain the week ahead and the next day’s fishing options.

Sunday:
Typically, anglers fish upstream casting dry flies and nymphs. The river has excellent and regular hatches, and a healthy population of brown trout. A good fish weighs from 2 to 5 pounds, and often rise to take well-presented dries. The challenge here is to spot the largest fish within your casting range! After the morning’s fishing, you will enjoy a streamside lunch. The afternoon program includes a nearby spring creek, then a short walk back to the river to take advantage of the main hatch. Spring creeks require more patience and delicate work but they can be extremely rewarding. The hatches on the main river are always exciting, with stretches suddenly coming alive with fish feeding on the surface. When this happens, you want to be close to the largest fish and equipped with the right fly. On a recent summer afternoon our good friend Claudio hooked and landed four beautiful brown trout between 3 and 5 pounds, all on dries, in a little more than an hour.

Monday:
Today you'll fish down the valley towards the Andes. Here the river runs much larger in size due to a large tributary coming in from the north. We will fish below the junction. Here the river goes through a narrow canyon between some rocky banks; pools are very deep and slow, and are good holding spots for large trout. We will use streamers or nymphs until we see some action on top, then change to dries. You’ll fish each pool very carefully with a streamer or nymph, waiting for the big one to take. As soon as these fish grab the fly, they head to a big log or rock - you have to react fast in order to stop them, if you can.

As we fish upstream the river opens into beautiful runs with gravel beds. Here the rest of the group will join us for a streamside lunch. This section of river has no access but by wading. We continue fishing, trying various dries and nymphs as we approach the evening hatch…

Tuesday:
This day we will go to the headwaters. Here the river is smaller and has an interesting structure. We will start with nymphs, fishing pocket water and a few deeper holes, covering between a couple of hundred yards to no more than a mile of river during the morning. As the water temperature rises, we'll switch to a dry fly. Using a smaller rod, you should be able to land between 10 to 15 fish in a morning. In general, wading is easy and safe. The rivers have gravel bottoms and are not slippery. The water is very clear so it's easy to avoid large underwater logs or boulders. After the morning's fishing we'll join the group for an “asado”, the traditional Patagonia barbecue with lamb or slabs of beef attached to iron stakes thrust into the burning coals and rotated slowly. The charred meat is washed down with a robust Chilean red wine. Later, after the asado and some rest, you’ll get ready for more fishing. In the afternoon, our goal is to catch a large trout on a dry fly during the hatch. We'll go to a pool or run where we know there are larger trout. Once there and the fish start rising, you will excellent and regular hatches go after your trophy.

Wednesday:
This is a small water fishing day and we will travel to a small stream located in a valley south from the lodge, not more than 20 miles away. You’ll start with nymphs, slowly covering just a half a mile during the morning. The stream is narrow with grass overhanging deep undercut banks – this water holds strong brown trout in great numbers, many of which have rarely before seen a fly. After lunch, we'll fish further downstream where the river is larger, using hoppers cast close to the grassy banks. This valley is without doubt one of the most remote and beautiful corners of all Patagonia.

Thursday:
By now your guide will have shown you many of the secrets of our great waters. Like all previous days, you will fish a section of river you have not fished before, or return to one of your favorite spots. In the afternoon we will target the evening hatch on the main river, watching for the subtle rises that reveal larger trout. Later we’ll head back to the lodge for cocktails and a Patagonia- style lamb barbecue dinner.

Friday:
Enjoy a morning session of sight-fishing for large browns in the shallows of a nearby lake. Fish here are very active even on a bright and sunny day, allowing you to see fish as they come to your dry fly. Curiously, most fish come to your fly deliberately, slowly examining your offering with great attention before finally opening a large white mouth to inhale it. The excitement of this type of fishing has no parallel since you are able to watch all the action…the visual anticipation of the strike, and waiting for the fish to go back down with your fly is hard to take! The size of fish here is quite remarkable; this particular situation is very much like sight-fishing a large spring creek.

Saturday:
After breakfast and saying goodbye to your newfound friends, you will be driven to the Balmaceda Airport (BBA) to catch your plane back to Santiago in time for your connection home.