Hosted Las Buitreras Week 7 Report and It was time again for our hosted weeks at the famous Las Buitreras Lodge on the Rio Gallegos in Argentina. On arrival we were greeted with the lowest water levels on the river for 16 years. Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego was suffering from a major dry season, so not the best water conditions for Sea Trout fishing.
From this picture you can see how low the water was
Low water and bright conditions
However the group was not deterred and eager to get stuck in to the fishing, which was going to be far more technical than experienced before. For the returning customers they could see the vast difference in the river and the fishing styles from previous trips. For all new customers they just fell in love with the river, the stunning surroundings and the amazing lodge.
An eager group of anglers
The call for the week was fishing light, scale everything down, light leaders and small flies. Try to keep the pools as quite as possible as fish in low water are going to be spooky and unsettled. The weather for the week was all over the place, which did not also help. We had many mornings with little wind, clear skies and bright sun. Then in the evening sessions that were the best time as the light faded, the wind would be gusting at some silly levels. One day we even had wind with gusts that topped 100 km pr hour. Mind you this was a great experience and a night that everyone came back in laughing at. It also made for some amazing hero pictures of customers fishing with waves and spray lashing them.
The river this year is full of fish, with lots more still waiting to run up, so the challenge was getting them to take and when they did take keeping them on considering the light leaders everyone was using. As the water was low most of the fish were all located in the bigger slower moving pools, which are not the easiest to fish given the wind while trying to cast 15 foot plus thin leaders and make sure the casts land perfectly as not to upset the pool.
Keeping feet out of the water as much as possible, so not to spoke the pools and fish
As the week progressed anglers became more accustomed to the technical fishing and the bites started to increase. However the ratio between hooked fish and landed fish was only 50% due to thin leaders. Having said this there was still some amazing fish caught.
The prize for the best fish for the week went to Ali who landed a monster Sea Trout that just topped 24LB, which is an amazing fish, and a prize that many of us have been trying to achieve for a good few years so well done to Ali. (PS it was from the same pool that she lost a huge fish from last year so you could say she had unfinished business)
Ali’s 24b Sea Trout well done Ali an amazing fish
The prize for top rod fell to Ali’s partner Tony with 9 fish for the week. Who between them had a great week considering the challenging conditions? All new customers managed to land a few Sea Trout and defiantly got bitten by the Sea Trout bug. Other notable fish was Tim who on his very first trip managed to land a cracking fresh sea run trout over twenty pounds and boy was he a happy boy. Plus fishing with his father what a great father & son experience.
It comes as no surprise that fishing with such light tippets and small flies that the whole group encountered lots of Brown Trout up to 24-inch fish.
Even though the fishing conditions were difficult the whole group had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed each others company, lots of food and wine was consumed creating lots of laughs both on and off the bank.
One advantage of the extreme low-level water conditions was all the knowledge built up of the river for future trips. You really get to know the river and can easily see all the holding spots for fish when the water level is at normal level. This experience will be put to use on next years trips as most of the group are desperate to return and fish again in normal conditions.
The results for the week were as follows:
Total number of Fish caught: 172
Total number of Brown Trout: 138
Biggest: 5 lb
Total number of Sea Trout caught: 34
Biggest: 24 lb
Average Weight: 8,3 lb
As anglers we all know that the fishing is weather dependent, for 3 days after we departed the lodge the river rose 1 mtr overnight, which then put the river from being very low back to normal height in a single night. This means the river was in flood and coloured for 3 days but as the water level started to settle it is now in perfect condition for the rest of the season and the fishing has gone mental. We have a few rods left for this season so if you can go at short notice and want to catch the river in the very best condition there is never a better time to go than NOW.
Call our office for more details 01603 407496.
We will be hosting more weeks in 2017 dates and details will be coming out soon. We will also be doing add-ons for the King Salmon (Report about my trip coming out very soon) plus the opportunity to do add-ons for Steelhead fishing also.
Check out the following links:
Some pictures of the trip for you.
