After almost two long years of waiting guests are finally back fishing at Las Buitreras on the Rio Gallegos.
The season started with a river full of fish but low water and sunshine made the fishing interesting and challenging, providing the Las Buitreras veterans a chance to shine, using all their experience from previous years. Knowing this river and fishing with confidence makes a difference, especially during the daytime sessions when careful wading, slick presentations and constant contact with your fly is crucial to success. Evening sessions and especially the last hour of fishing has per usual provided great results as the fish gets more active and less easily spooked. Sunray shadows and black leeches in particular have been very effective during this last hour of fishing.
The first group of the season consisted of a group of great anglers from Norway and Sweden, most of whom have been at Las Buitreras several times before. As is usually the case at Las Buitreras experience from fishing this particular river pays off and the veterans really stood out but it was great to see some of the first timers picking it up really quickly and landing some really nice fish as well, including a 20,5 lbs chromer and several fish in the 17 to 19 lbs range. Quick tip to anyone going to the Rio Gallegos for the first time: listen to your guide. It’s a great way to shorten the learning curve and catch fish from day one.
The second week of the season saw very similar conditions with a big number of fish in the river, especially in the holding pools, but the low and clear water was making them tricky to catch. However, with skills, patience and focus this river can provide great numbers even under what seems to be tough conditions. This was proven by Jamie who’s been at Las Buitreras several times before and managed to land 19 fish on his own. His biggest fish weighed in at 18 lbs. The biggest fish of the week belonged to first time Las Buitreras visitor Tom from California who managed to land an 18,5 pounder in Turning Bank followed by a 19 pounder in Molino within 20 minutes of each other.
The third week of the season is just starting and recant rains have provided a good rise of the water level, making all very excited for what’s to come. As mentioned before, the river is absolutely stacked with fish and hopefully this extra bit of water will get the fish really going. Some of the famous holding pools are so full of fish it’s been almost ridiculous. One of the guests recently threw rod and reel in the water in pure frustration after covering a pool perfectly without even a thug while fish were jumping left and right of his fly. This is just the way it is sometimes but holy smokes can it be frustrating! And even though everyone is obviously happy when others are catching fish, it probably stung just a tiny bit when the guests fishing that same pool in the evening later that day landed 4 fish, the biggest weighing in at just over 18 lbs.
For anyone interested in battling the famous southern Patagonian sea-run browns this season there are a few rods open in March and we would love to show you what the Las Buitreras experience is all about.
