Talk of sport fishing and you are talking of a sport that people enjoy, talk of fly fishing and you are talking of a passion.Between the months of November and April, in the summer afternoons as the sun starts to go down, trout emerge looking for the may flies and caddis which cover the water’s surface as they wait for their wings to dry before flying off.  Over the whole river the small trout leap, but the large  trout, with the wisdom of years, stay in deep shady, protected pools overhung by trees and foliage and rich in food swept in by the rivers currents. These big, cautious, wily trout only rarely cause ripples on the water’s surface - you only know they are there by the characteristic plopping sound like a large fat raindrop hitting the water which they make when they open their mouths and suck. 

Fishing in channels and fjords - photo Patricio Silva

This air of mystery exerts a strong fascination and so fly fishing can take you over and become a way of life.  Rivers no longer look all the same; it is possible to read them, to understand how life in them is organized and the beautiful balance that exists between living things. Aysén, Trapananda, a place of countless rivers and lakes, both large and small with clear waters which support  many trout both rainbow and brown.  The most important rivers, from north to south, are El Palena, Río Cisnes, Río Mañihuales, Río de Aysén, Río Simpson, Río Paloma, Río Baker and the Cochrane.  They flow from east to west with many small tributaries with come together in river basins and flow into the fiords, channels, inlets and small bays of the heavily indented Pacific coast.  Fiords, cliffs, snowy peaks, glaciers, indigenous forests and lakes - these are the elements of the landscape in which one goes fly fishing.  In these beautiful surroundings the fly fisherman can experience and enjoy nature in one of the few remaining unpolluted places in the world.

A beautiful rainbow - photo Patricio Silva

Trout are strong, they fight from the moment of the strike and they put up a thrilling struggle.  They leap out of the water and turn to run, they race along the surface of the water or career down to the depths.  You think you will never land them; this sensation with a 4 kg trout is unsurpassed.

They are beautiful!

They are unpredictable!

They are wild!

Whoever tries fly fishing just once will be captivated by it.  From the start it will change your life, your memories.  Its images will stay trapped in your mind’s eye.  Trapananda, the land which traps you.  The land, mountains, rivers, lakes; here there is the magic of  the unpredictable which becomes an adventure for the fly fisherman who has improvise, create new flies in order to catch his fish.

A fisherman and his guide - photo Patricio Silva

The New Inhabitant:

Into this world of trout has arrived a new inhabitant “The Pacific Salmon”.  At the end of February and during March they start up some rivers in order to lay their eggs in the tranquil waters of the mountain valleys.  Few people know of this fishing.  No one knows the salmon’s route, the precise time they come or their stops along the way.  It gives a additional challenge for whoever has the ability to read the rivers and discover this other alternative.

Coho salmon - photo Patricio Silva

The conditions, the locations and the trout are waiting for you here in places where there is, as yet, not much tourism.  Fishing in Patagonia - Aysén is a privilege.  “If you look clearly you will see the vigorous life which the river brings”.  The most beautiful thing that could happen is that the river will touch your soul and it will not seem strange to put the trout back into the river.

Recomendations

• For the area south of Lago Las Torres, the fishing season runs from the second Friday in October until the first Sunday in April.  For the area to the north of Lago Las Torres the season starts and finishes one month later.
• For your first fishing trip I recommend that you use a specialist fishing guide, ask in hotels and guest houses. 
• The most important places for fly fishing are the Simpson between January and April and the Baker between October and December.
• There are, too, places not yet fully explored and which are difficult to get to, but they have excellent fishing with trout averaging over 4 kg.  For these places we recommend that you book specialist services such as  in the case of  Villa O’Higgins.
• In the majority of lakes, both large and small, you will require a boat or float due to the thickness of the bulrushes at the edges of the lakes.
• The best flies are:Adam’s Humpy, Parachute Adam’s, Brown Wulff, Elk Hair Caddis(tan), Slow Water Caddis (brown), Co’s Caddis Elk Hopper, Pheasant Leg Hopper, Hare’s Ear, Prince Nymph, Woolly Bugger (olive, white, black).  In  general results are good with flies the colour of earth, terracota and grey for dry flies