Southern Chile - More than just a fishing trip

A fishing trip to Southern Chile is much more than just another bit of piscatorial madness that will see you pack your bags and travel half the way around the world just to feel the convulsive shake of a trout’s head and feel the bend in your rod. Of that you will have plenty and rightly said there are many places closer to home where you can experience that. What makes Chile a quite extraordinary destination to visit is the unbelievable scale of the wilderness surrounding you and the emerald clear waters that trace there course from the Andes to the ocean.

Until you have visited Southern Chile it is difficult to put words to the unbelievable backdrop that surrounds you however the image that kept on coming to my mind was that resembling a setting out of Jurassic Park – except without the dinosaurs! All around you are vast towering mountains, many of them raw and jagged and often capped in snow. Volcanic peaks spring up everywhere and yet rather than the usual barren landscape that comes with such features here they are coated in an unbelievably thick temperate rainforest jungle. If this serves to soften the features of the landscape one is reminded of the ferocity of the land by the savage black scars, which run down the otherwise strikingly, green precipices.

Although the rivers teem with both brown and rainbow trout they are not native to the region but like their larger sea run relatives on the Argentinean side of the Andes they were introduced sometime in the mid 19th century. They have thrived in the fast flowing clear water and surprisingly have been one of the major net beneficiaries of the aqua culture business for which Chile is now a world leader. The escapee fish, which wrecked havoc to native salmon stocks in Northern Europe, have now occupied the virgin waters all along the length of the Chilean coast. These rivers now successfully harbour growing populations of not just mighty King Salmon, which can be seen in increasingly large numbers, and often weigh more than 50 lbs but they also increasingly also sustain runs of all the various types of Pacific salmon as well as Atlantic and even Sea Trout. It is the King salmon however that are dominant and as their natural life cycle ends once they have spawned both their eggs and their decaying bodies vastly increase the bio mass in the rivers.

If this goes someway to help the trout they are by no means dependent on it for a food source. Rather they feed hungrily on the natural food sources in the river and if the surrounding animals have not undergone a similar increase to their mountainous surroundings this cannot be said to be true of the insect life. Stoneflies are 2 inches in length, beetles are as big as bottle tops and all manner of flies and insects that should came with hazard lights.

What this does do is make conventional fly patterns, that might be appropriate for the clear waters of English chalk streams, almost redundant. Dry fly imitations are tied on size 4 hooks. Fine feather hackles are replaced with deer hair and buoyancy for these creations is as often as not a result of foam bodies. These can be fished very effectively with a trailing nymph, New Zealand dropper style, (tied to the bend of the hook). Sometimes the dry fly will act as an indicator in the turbulent waters as the nymph is taken but as often as not the dry fly will result in an explosive surface take. If this is not visual enough you will almost always see a flash of bronze or silver as a brown or rainbow respectively dashes from its bolthole and chases the fly down.

Dry flies can be used throughout the entire season however large streamer patterns are also very successful. Fished on an intermediate to fast sinking line it allows one to reach into some of the deep nooks and pockets behind boulders or fallen trees or in the fast flowing water of the larger rivers.

In terms of the fishing styles and techniques required they are matched to suit the huge variety of waters that are available to fish. The larger rivers, which generally run clear with an emerald green tinge, are fed by large lakes, which in turn collect glacial melt-water from the Andes. The only method of fishing these effectively is to float down them in a raft. The undergrowth is impenetrable and the sides unwalkable. However the other reason is that for most of the time the fish sit very tightly to the bank sheltering in the numerous pockets, riffles, eddies and drop offs. It is absolutely classic trout water and as often as not the tighter you can cast to these areas, and the more inaccessible they are, the greater the reward. Alongside the natural breaks in the water are hundreds of fallen trees providing unparalleled structure for wily trout to hide behind.

On the smaller streams and rivers it is possible to walk and wade. These rivers are equally abundant with the debris of countless floods with an even mix of fast streamy water and deep clear pools where it is possible to stalk fish cruising both near the surface and in the depths. As often as not the best method of accessing these waters is by horseback along steep wooded trails which snake along the sides of the rivers. Led by a local guide wearing traditional sheepskin chaps and poncho it makes for a remarkable fishing experience and it is hard to feel more at tune with nature in this wild environment.

A Chilean experience is not complete without its share of rain. There is a reason for everything and the impossibly luxurious undergrowth is a result of a high annual rainfall. The seasons run from November to April with equally good fishing available throughout. The start and close will see a preference for streamer patterns over dries although not exclusively by any means. The climate is temperate and while days of blazing sunshine are common it is equally possible to experience wildly changing environments during the course of a single day. Throughout the season the rivers are prone to floods and it is here that the value of your guides and the resources available to your outfitter or lodge are paramount. The lakes fish well in almost all conditions while the larger rivers take a long time to rise significantly due to the large lakes that feed them. And then of course if you do return to your lodge a little cold one can always revoke the elements whilst you enjoy a piping hot tub overlooking the river!

Fishing trips to Chile can be arranged by destination fishing specialists WhereWiseMenFish, tel: +44 (0)845 603 1552; www.wherewisemenfish.com.

publication date: July 04 2007 by WhereWiseMenFish.com

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