April has arrived and although it’s now officially autumn, the weather decided to give us a few last glimpses of summer this week with warm winds from the north and temperatures reaching well into the 20’s (68°F +). This meant back to fishing in a normal shirt or a light puff jacket until at least sunset when an extra layer came in handy. This week the majority of the group came from Sweden, along with a couple guests from Lithuania and the UK.
We saw a huge run of fish coming up the river during the week. The combination of great water levels and a full moon certainly had something to do with it and we were catching fish as fresh as they can possibly be, pure silver bars. Unfortunately most of these super fresh fish were quite small but it’s still great to see the amount of fish coming up, showing us how healthy this system is. Hopefully these fish will come back up again in a year or two with some more size to them. Summarising this week we ended up setting a new season record in terms of fish landed, hitting and passing the 150 fish landed mark. Although many fish were in the single digit size, late season keeps on delivering really good and consistent fishing.
Kent and Thomas from Sweden are old friends and have been with us numerous times over the years. Thomas landed a bunch of very nice fish during the week, and, as most guests, lost some serious fish that are likely to haunt him for quite some time. Kent fished like a man on a mission all week long and kept landing one fish after another. His standout moment of the week came early in the afternoon one day, fishing Bridge pool with this favorite weapon of choice this week, a 7 weight single hander rigged with a girdle bug. He was covering the pool from the left side of the river when he had a solid bite quite close to the bank. It was apparent right away that this was a serious fish as his rod was bent all the way to to the handle when Kent was trying to stay calm during the headshake bonanza. After an initial run the fish to took the air several times before going back to the vicious headshakes and fast runs in all directions. The fish had Kent running downstream several times as the backing was getting thinner and thinner on his reel.
About 15 minutes after the take, Kent was finally able to guide the fish close enough to the bank to be netted. In a final desperate attempt to get the hook loose the fish did a couple fast rolls over the leader with Kent, and Christer holding their breath. Guide Christian reacted immediately and managed to get the net under the fish in all the commotion and chaos. After a few moments of admiring the fish, it was weighed in at 24,7 lbs! On a single hander! What an achievement and how great to have your close friend being there to witness the whole fight with you. Big congrats Kent, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
Swedish couple Sheri and Kalle were visiting Las Buitreras for the first time. For Sheri this was also the first time fishing with a Spey rod. It turned out she’s a natural, and with her eagerness to learn she picked it up almost instantly and got better and better with each session. Apart from just learning to cast she was also busy catching fish and started her week by landing a nice 10 pounder in Loop Hole on her first day. From there on there was no stopping her and she landed plenty more fish during the week. Kalle, mainly fishing with his single hander, followed suit and also landed fish from day one and then just kept going. A couple standouts were landed in Island stream and Heavyweight, but Kalle landed fish all over the place. It’s always nice to have couples visiting us here, choosing to spend a week together at this very special place and truly enjoying it. And just so you know Kalle, Sheri is already planning your next fishing trip.
Then there was the Swedish trio Tomas Z, Per, and Thomas B, all exceptional anglers, covering every inch of water in front of them. They’ve all been here several times before and to noone’s surprise they were catching fish from the start. Together they had several session with multiple fish per person landed. Thomas Z landed their biggest of week in Senior’s pool, a stunning 19 lbs that took a Sunray.
Leif and Lars, another Swedish pairing this week, usually comes down to visit us in April. Over the years they have seen how quickly the conditions can change at this time of the year and came prepared for everything. This year they had decided to stay for two weeks, enjoying the Patagonian autumn for a little longer and fishing a bit more relaxed than most people seem to do when they are here for just one week. As everyone this week, they were catching fish nearly every day. Lars had a very good session in zone one, landing three fish in quick succession, the biggest a superb 13 lbs fish in Molino pool.
Roland had decided to come down and celebrate his 78th birthday at the lodge. With him on this trip he had his long time friend Edward. They have both been here before and we were very happy to see them again. They both landed nice fish on day two when Edward landed an 11 lbs fish in Seniors in the morning, and Roland followed it up with a superb 12 lbs fish in Cantera in the afternoon. Both fish fell for the old classic Girdle Bug, a very successful pattern this week.
We first met Linas and Tyson in Kangia, Greenland, last year. Now they had decided to visit us again but this time in Las Buitreras, to try and catch the famous sea-run browns of Rio Gallegos. Luckily they were both successful with their mission of catching their first ever sea-run Brown. Linas had great success all week long, particularly in Bridge pool where he landed several fresh fish up to 10 lbs. His biggest of the week however was a spanking fresh 13 pounder in zone two, that took a chartreuse Woolly Bugger.
We want to thank you all for an amazing week with plenty of fish, laughter, and fishing stories. As we are now heading into the last week of the season we are excited to see the river in such great condition with big numbers of fish in almost every pool.
Stats of the week
Biggest sea-run Brown Trout landed: 24,7 lbs by Kent S. from Sweden
Average size: 8 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.
