Our guests this week represented no less than 7 different nationalities, such as Germany, New Zealand, Lithuania, Sweden, China, Switzerland, and England.
A substantial push of water surprised us all on Saturday, seeing the river rise to +30 cm, and adding quite a bit of color to it. As the week progressed, the water gradually settled and towards the end of the week we were back to a level of 0, with a near perfect tea color. As far as fishing goes, we had non stop action and the best week of the season up until now.
Adapting to the changing water conditions, anglers found success with a variety of flies. The “Poisson” and “Yellow Yummies” proved their effectiveness during the first days of the week when the river was on the darker side. Additionally, a mix of weighted nymphs, including patterns like “Marianne’s’ ‘ with fluor painted coneheads and Flashback nymphs, were very efficient.
The weather was wild this week, with a couple of days with strong upstream easterly winds and warm temperatures. In addition to the rainy season we are facing, two thunderstorms surprised the anglers during the week, bringing heavy rain curtains along with them. Having said that, it keeps the river in great shape and most pools are moving very nicely at the moment.
If we had to pick one highlight of the week that stood out a little extra, it was Marc, who managed to land the biggest fish of the week during the last session of the week; an impressive 22 lbs sea-run brown trout in the famous “Zoller’s” run. His lucky fly was a classic Las Buitreras favorite, the famous “Silver Shadow” leech pattern. Marc was fishing the run on his own while his two friends Pierre and Gregoire fished Barranca Negra, the pool below. Zoller’s is a very interesting pool to fish with a rather small channel where fish tend to congregate. It’s a very short cast, and most anglers can reach the drop off on the other side of the deeper channel with ease. In this type of water you will get a perfect swing and with its multitude of rocks and weed lines for fish to sit you can expect a thug at any given moment.
Marc’s fish hit the fly hard and took off immediately, taking to the air no less than 6 times while Marc was holding his breath. Somehow Marc found a way to stay cool and waited until his guide Cristian arrived to help assist with words of encouragement and invaluable tips when things got critical. Cristian eventually managed to find an opportunity to net the fish after perfect handling by Marc who never tried to force the fish, which usually leads to disaster. Perhaps we should mention that this was the first week Marc held a Spey rod in his hands ever, and that he landed another 20 pounder in Cantera two days earlier. This is how you start your Spey fishing career.
It was a true pleasure to see Marc, Pierre, and Gregoire, three close friends enjoying their 50th birthday celebration trip, experiencing something completely new and landing some beautiful fish throughout the week.
When fishing is this good there are simply too many stories to tell, but to mention a few we had our good friends Sven and Toni who landed 6 fish in their first session, the biggest weighing 15 lbs, Li landing one of his biggest sea trout ever in Barranca Negra, tipping the scale at 19 lbs, or Mats constantly renewing his personal best sea trout day after day. The final session also added to the excitement with several notable catches. Stefan from Sweden hooked and landed a solid 19 lbs fish in Little Corner, and Pontus landed three fish in total that night including a magnificent 16 lbs chromer.
This was truly a fantastic week, both in terms of fishing and overall vibes and atmosphere. Thank you all for the memorable moments on and off the water. We can’t wait to see you back here next year! We are now looking forward to Week 9 at Las Buitreras and will update you all soon.
Stats of the week
Biggest sea-run brown trout landed: 22 lbs by Marc from Switzerland
Top rod of the week: 36
Average size: 9,9 lbs
CONTACT US
Our fly fishing specialist Peter Collingsworth has been over to Las Buitreras, fishing the banks of the famous Rio Gallegos many times, so if there’s anything you would like to know about the fishing or if you have any questions you’d like to ask him, you can contact him on 01603 407596 or email at peter@sportquestholidays.com he would be delighted to speak to you.
