Tuesday, April 18, 2017

DIY Fly Fishing Argentina: Oregonian fishing the Rio Chimehuin








My guided DIY Patagonia experience was amazing. I feel sure that there would have been opportunities for bigger/more fish if the rivers hadn't been blown out. I fished the Chimehuin all 4 days. The first day in the stretch starting right in Junin de los Andes and drifting for about 8 miles, the next two doing the upper 22 mile stretch from the lake down to Junin, and the last with the kids repeating most of the first float. Mark's partner and head guide was amazing to work with and it was a blast fishing the fast section of the river on top. I must have made hundreds of casts both days, often times to pocket water where the fly was only there for a second. It was gratifying that he thought I was a good enough caster to do it. It was amazingly challenging, but that's a lot of what the joy of fly fishing is: if anyone could master it in a day, it wouldn't be worth pursuing. He went so far as to carry the kids on his back from the raft to shore so they wouldn't have to get their hiking boots wet. Amazing, and a great picture in my mind.
























The owner-host of Mark's private apartment was friendly, kind, solicitous and seemed genuinely concerned that the kids and I have a great time. The apartment worked well and we were exceedingly comfortable. After being on the road for 3 months, Norah was excited to be able to cook so we had a couple of lovely dinners in. Our host even went so far as to loan the kids a GPS so they could find the trail heads on some of the hikes they did.

I hope that my new acquaintances in Junin de los Andes think half as well of us as we did of them.

C. Driver.  Oregon, USA.