Fishing Around El Hoyo

We spent the last four days fishing near El Hoyo, Argentina.  Betsy decided she wanted to try fishing so we both got licenses.

The waders were a little big.

Getting a casting lesson from Patricio while floating down the Rio Chubut.

At lunch Bets needed just a few more pointers to get a good drift...

...and just like that...

...a new fisherwoman was born!

The first day we floated a small river, the Chubut, the longest river in Argentina.  There were lots of rainbows in the river and willows along the banks... we caught quite a few of both.  Most of the fishing was throwing hoppers and caddis at the banks and under overhangs, producing fun hits and lots of jumping ´bows.

The scenery in this area reminded us a bit of Nevada as its in the rain shadow of the Andes.

The second day we started floating toward this big mountain on the Rio Manso.

The Rio Manso is right in the Andes, surrounded by big mountains.  Despite some rain we had a great time catching mostly rainbows...

...and one large German brown trout.

A last look at the Manso from our takeout at the end of the day (8:30 pm... the first night had been 10 pm!)

The third day we floated the Rio Carrileufu, a river Dan and Joe were skunked on two years ago. 

Here´s Dan at the headwaters of the river.  The water is incredibly clear so you can see the number of fish that are refusing your fly... it can be very frustrating!

It was a windy day, also frustrating to cast into!

Then Betsy hooked a large salmon before Dan had even gotten a hit (this might have been a little frustrating too).  Bets fought the landlocked Atlantic salmon well through many jumps and runs, got it to the shallows, but it flipped off in Patricio´s hand so we never got a photo. 

Here´s Dan and Patricio at lunch.

Dan hooked a salmon in the afternoon.  He jumped out of the boat to fight it...

...and we go a picture of this guy, Dan´s first South American salmon!

Another look at the Rio Carrileufu.

Bets on the bow of the raft.

Dan at the end of our fishing trip.

A great three days of fishing beautiful rivers.

Three days of fishing wasn´t enough so we rented a cabana in Cholila and fished the Carrileufu some more.  Bets caught this rainbow all on her own, from fly selection to perfect cast to reeling without a reel (we only have one) and grabbing him.  Pretty cool!

We are now headed south back into Chile, hoping to make Coyhaique this week for another hike.