After almost two long years of waiting, we are finally back fishing at Las Buitreras.
We started the season 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.
Our first group of the season consisted of a group of great anglers from Norway and Sweden, most of whom have been here several times before. As is usually the case here 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 coming here 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 our friend Jamie who’s been here 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.
As we are writing this report we are just starting the third week of the season and recent rains have provided a good rise of the water level, making us 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 our clients 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 we are all obviously happy for our friends when they catch 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 we have a few rods open in March and we would love to show you what the Las Buitreras experience is all about.
See you on the water, your friends at Solid Adventures.
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.
