CHILE
The Fishing
The variety of the fishing here in Patagonia is the awesome and you will never get tired of it. We have resident rainbows, browns and salmon with migratory fish like steelhead, sea-run browns, Chinook and Coho salmon. Southern Chile Expeditions owns 3,200 acres that only our guests will fish. The private reserve includes streams, spring creeks, rivers, lakes, ponds, and estuaries. We also vary the way we fish each of these waters. Some we approach on horseback, some by 4 wheeler, some by boat and other by raft. We augment this private water with the best of the public waters as well.
All three of our lodges are located on lakes. Quality fly-fishing rivers border two of them. On the Chilean side, the combined lake and river systems serve to buffer rivers from Chile's higher rainfall. Snowpacks, which maintain stream levels on the Argentine side of the Andes, may vary year to year. Taking this into account, we are located on a large lake/ river system to assure season long fishing with plenty of water and adequate temperatures. Watersheds just next door may appear to be the same but either cannot maintain the water levels or the temperature all year to support world class trout fishing. These watersheds on both sides of the border, benefit from an enhanced food chain and, thus, sustain larger fish. In the brief descriptions of your fishing grounds below, many of our choice locations around them remain unnamed for obvious reasons.
Each location was selected for the quality of fishing, variety of waters within close reach and scenic beauty. Fly-fishing enthusiasts are individualists. Each has a favorite water type and fishing technique. Rest assured that our locations provide a variety of rivers, streams, spring creeks and lakes to satisfy the taste of the most discriminating angler.
Yan Kee Way lodge is located on Lago Llanquihue (pronounced Yan Kee way), near the small town of Ensenada, Chile. The lake has a resident population of large browns and rainbows. Resident and migratory Coho, king and Atlantic salmon make this their water as well. Some of the best water in Chile are just 15 minutes away. The Rio Petrohue, made famous by Roderick L. Hague-Brown in his book "Fisherman's Winter," is home to large, resident brown and rainbow trout, which are supplemented by sea-run browns, steelhead, sliver salmon, king salmon and Atlantic salmon. We have four different floats on this river alone. There are spring creeks and streams that run into the Petrohue for added variety. Horseback expeditions, if you're so inclined, provide access, through native Chilean forests, to some beautiful lakes and streams off the beaten path. The Chilean forests will look l ike they are directly from the Amazon with thick vegetation and huge trees. Yo u would expect a monkey to come swinging through or brightly colored birds to be flying by until you see the majestic snow capped volcanoes reminding you you are not in a tropical setting. The fishing is of course dependent on weather and river conditions but our
guides, equipped with their fleet of boats, jeeps, trucks, rafts, and horses will put you on fish when other lodges cannot. There are rivers that can yield 50 fish a day and spring creeks that may yield a fish or two a day and everything in between. The average resident trout will be between 12-15 inches with shots at 25" fish every day. We have caught trout up to 20 pounds here but this is not the norm. Expect good solid trout fishing and you won't be disappointed. Expect a 10 pound fish everyday, and you will not be satisfied. There are huge fish here but as in any healthy fishery the big ones are not easy. Work hard, cast well and you will get big fish.
Our El Patagon Lodge is in a remote region that was first settled in the early 1950's. The first roads reached the area in 1988. El Patagon is located on Lago Rosselot and Rio Figueroa. The Figueroa empties into Lago Rosselot. Flowing from the lake, heading west, Rio Rosselot joins with Rio Palena at La Junta. Eastward, the Rio Figueroa is fueled by Lago Verde and other river systems which cross the Andes from Argentina. We have a mile of frontage on Lago Rosselot, 3.5 miles of frontage on the Figueroa and our own spring creek at this Lodge. Other small streams and lakes surround us. These waters are home to rainbow, brown and brook trout. In addition, sea-run browns, Coho, king and Atlantic salmon ply these waters. If you want untouched Chilean waters this is the place. The fly caster who can throw it 30 feet, quickly and hit the water underneath the overhanging trees will be rewarded with the best trout fishing in the world. The fish average 15-18 inches with 25- 30 inch fish likely to chase your fly each day.
Los Banditos is located in the Argentine valley of Cholila, former home (the house is still there) of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We have a mile of shoreline on Lago Rivadavia and are bounded by Rio Carileufú, an oxbow style river. This is the ONLY private property bounding the 1,000 square mile interconnected system of lakes and rivers of Parque Argentina Los Alerces. World famous Rio Rivadavia is at the outfall of our home lake. This river and lake system is the headwaters of the Rio Futaleufú and joins the Rio Yelcho system in Chile. Other nearby and notable waters include the Rio Chubut and Arroyo Pescado spring creek. These waters are home to numerous and large rainbows and browns.
Yan Kee Way and El Patagon lodges are very close to the sea. With ready accessibility to estuary fisheries, we offer opportunities to fish for very large rainbow and sea-run brown trout, steelhead, and silver, Atlantic and king salmon. King salmon exceeding 40 pounds ply these waters. A further bonus of our estuary fishery is the assurance that you will have additional fishable waters should unseasonable rains put some of our local rivers out of shape. While we focus primarily on fly-fishing, we also satisfy customers who desire to pursue this abundant salmon resource beyond the estuaries. Our professional guides will escort you on a traditional salmon fishing expedition on the salt chuck.
Estuaries -- where fresh waters engage the salt -- are home to fine rainbows like these. They eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner in the sea. Incoming tides carry them to the rivers for their dessert. When we talk about 17 inch estuary fish, we are talking about their girth rather than their overall length.
The stream and lake fishing season in Chile begins, in most areas, in the month of November and continues through the middle of April. El Patagon Lodge is situated in a region that opens its season with large runs of spring salmon, silvers, kings, steelhead and sea-run brown trout in the month of November.
Fresh kings, some in excess of 20 kilos, make their way from the lower Palena, through Rio Rosselot, Lago Rosselot and the Rio Figueroa to distant spawning grounds in Argentina. Whether taken as an incidental catch, or by design, one of these sea fresh fish will change the tempo of your entire day.
Yan Kee Way Lodge is nearby the salt water estuaries of the Rio Petrohue, Rio Cochamó, Rio Puelo and the Rio Maullín, to mention but a few of the better known of these fisheries in the immediate area.
CHILE!
EL PATAGON - YAN KEE WAY
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