South America Fly Fishing Destinations

Where & When to Go in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, and the rest of South America

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Your vacation guide to Latin America’s fly fishing lodges camps and outfitters

Rainbows

Browns

Brook Trout

Tierra del Fuego’s Sea Trout

Peacock Bass s Arapaima s Dorado s Payara s Africa’s Tigerfish

SONAR TROPICAL/JUNGLE CUSTOM TIP

“The Scientific Anglers Sonar Tropical/Jungle Custom Tip is my choice for chasing predatory species in the Amazon. When I’m exploring remote jungle water, I need to pack light but be able to cover any type of condition. The custom cut sinking tip gets my fly right in the feeding column, no matter what, and the taper makes throwing large streamers easy. From Peacock Bass to Payara and up to monster Arapaima this is my must have line.”

- Rodrigo Salles, SA Advisor

CUSTOM-CUT SINKING FLY LINE

• Cut-to-fit design lets you cut the tip to the ideal weight

• Goes deep and stays deep

• Intermediate running line

• Sink Rate: 7.75 ips

• Tropi-Core technology for tropical climates

• Comes with braided add-on loop

Trusted travel experts since 1978

Over the last 47 years our team has been searching out the best fly fishing places on Earth and separating the great spots from what is often a confusing, crowded list of lodges, estancias, outfitters, camps, and guide services. We do it, so you don’t have to. Do yourself a favor. Let our team of travel experts put that wealth of experience to work for you.

USINGANANGLING travel agency is cost-free, and most sensible method to plan a successful fly fishing trip! Because, in the fly fishing world, you can’t make a direct (or online) reservation with reputable lodges for a cent less than you’d pay for your trip with a professional agency like The Fly Shop® and it doesn’t stop with bucks.

O bjectivity – Ask any lodge, and they’ll tell you they’re the best. But, I doubt they’ll tell you which weeks in their season are the least productive, when the weather sucks, how to combine their place with another complementary, competitive location, or offer to help you plan a complex itinerary that doesn’t include their own services.

I mpartiality – Neither will they provide an unbiased opinion or an honest comparison between their place and others you might (or should) be considering. And they sure as hell aren’t going to recommend another destination that’s more appropriate for your interests, budget, or skill level,

D eals – And I guarantee you won’t hear a word about any promotional deals, discounted cancellations, or special offers that are connected with any other operation but their own.

A dvocacy – The Fly Shop’s sales team isn’t motivated by commissions. We’ve got one job – helping you select the right place at the right time, and watching out for your interests.

F ollow U p – Then, when the decision is made, we’ll walk you through every detail, help at every step along the way, double-check your schedule and air itinerary, and make sure you show up with everything you need to be successful.

And, if things happen – health issues, COVID, natural disasters, political conflicts, airline cancellations, missed connections, or other things that can screw up a trip, our clients aren’t left to deal with those problems alone. We’re right there to help, and who better to have in your corner with any lodge than The Fly Shop ®

What you’ll get when you choose to book with The Fly Shop® is all that, and more.

Bryan Quick photo

Pat Pendergast, Travel Director, The Fly Shop®

Friends on the fly

Kindred spirits woven together with fly lines into an elaborate fly fishing tapestry

Photography: Antti Rastivo, FlyCastaway, Rafael Costa, Val Atkinson, Greg Maxwell, Justin Miller, Untamed Angling, Isaias Miciu, Mark Murray, Mike Michalak, Ricardo “Pinti” Pinto, Gerson Kavamoto, Matt Harris

Discovering trout fishing in Patagonia

This part of the world is legend in fly fishing

PATAGONIA IS ANIMAGINARYBAND that stretches from the Argentine Atlantic to the Chilean Pacific. It covers the southern third of the continent and includes the island of Tierra del Fuego.

The Patagonia experience transcends our fishing and is in many ways a journey to another era, and a step into the past where hospitality, old world culture, grand service, spectacular scenery, wonderful fishing, and elegance collide. It is a faraway, sparsely populated world where much of the native transportation is still on horseback; where Christmas arrives in summer, and where the clear night sky is filled with stars and constellations that can’t be seen from back home. Here, one matches hatches similar to those back home...yet different. A passing shadow causes you to look up, expecting to see a hawk kiting by,

but instead an enormous Andean condor circles, its massive wings catching the morning thermals. Guides are quietly respectful. Midday meals are late, and evening dinners even later. The rhythm of everyday life seems more natural here, perhaps slower than at home.

The heartland of picturesque Patagonia is dotted with volcanoes and fish-rich rivers with hard to pronounce names. The air is so clear that the Andean cordillera separating Argentina from Chile can be seen from the seashore more than a hundred miles away.

Rainbows, browns, brookies, steelhead, and sea trout were all introduced to Patagonia less than a century ago. None are native to Chile or Argentina. The first brookies were brought from New York in 1904. The rainbows distributed throughout South America were hatched from eggs brought to Bariloche from California in the ‘30’s – the same McCloud River strain of trout collected from the river and used to stock New Zealand.

In their native habitat, McCloud rainbows grew fat and strong. In Patagonia, with little competition for space, no predators, no fishing pressure, and an abundance of food, they grew fast and multiplied exponentially. Dwight Eisenhower hit the road to Argentina as quickly as possible after giving the keys to the White House to Kennedy in 1960. He’d probably read Ernest Schweibert’s reports in Field & Stream, then decided to put Pennsylvania Avenue in his rear view mirror. Along with Charles Ritz, Joe Brooks, A.J. McClane and other famous fly fishermen of their day, they put Patagonia on the angling map. Forever.

Spring in Chile and Argentina begins in December. Trees have dropped their blossoms and warm summer weather lands in Patagonia before Christmas presents are opened.

THEIRSEASONSARE the exact opposite of our own and our winters are a great time to escape to that part of the world for a week or two. Patagonia summers are abbreviated, like Montana and Wyoming. Warm summer days often begin with cool mornings and can be punctuated by thunderstorms.

December is a time when North Americans are preoccupied by holidays, but that’s when things warm up in Patagonia. The landscape is ablaze with eye-popping wildflower displays and European lupine carpet the meadows in an explosion of violets, reds, purples, and yellows – and the fishing gets good.

Trout season swings into high gear at the New Year, and the fishing just continues to get better and better until the snow falls.

By the end of the 1960’s you could still stuff everyone who had fly fished in Argentina in your house, everyone who had fly fished in Chile in your kitchen, and all of those who had gone fly fishing in Tierra del Fuego would fit in your garage!

The Fly Shop’s first trips to Chile and Argentina were in the early 80’s. What we found, with one exception, remains true today. The finest fly fishing on both sides of the cordillera lies in tough places to get to, away from the cities and heavily populated pueblos – beyond the reach of casual fishermen armed with a harvest, catch-and-keep mentality.

The noted exception is the implementation in recent years by both governments of progressive, catch-and-release regulations, reasonable limits, and strict enforcement. More than that, an environmental awareness permeates Patagonia and, other than a historic disregard for private property, most of the contemporary Patagonians exhibit a strong conservation ethic.

Even so, the best of the fishing in Patagonia is much like our own at home in North America. It requires planning, four-wheel drive vehicles, rafts, drift boats, permission, or a key to the gate.

Rainbows, browns, brookies, steelhead, and sea trout were introduced to Patagonia less than a century ago. None are native to Chile or Argentina.

The Fly Shop® staff has spent a collective lifetime exploring Patagonia and kept our finger constantly on the pulse of their trout fishing. We were part of the cutting-edge of fly fishing while it was developing in that part of the world, and there isn’t a more experienced South American angling travel agency in the sport. We can help you avoid hit-and-miss tactics, focus on the best of what Patagonia has to offer, and quickly plan and prepare the trip of a lifetime.

Marcos Furer photo

Patagonian BaseCamp

PATAGONIANBASECAMP is in the seldom-visited Palena Province, tucked away in a remote valley midway between the Pacific coastline and the Andes. It is a remarkable streamside spot, surrounded by rainforest, nestled below snow-capped mountains, and is truly remote, even by Patagonia standards. But it is more than geography that separates this destination from other South American lodges.

Certainly the isolation is an advantage because there are few people and little or no angling pressure in this sparsely populated part of Chile. Most of them are indigenous, notoriously independent, and cherish their solitude. Locals call the region, “media de la nada”, (the middle of nowhere) and a decade ago, just getting to this part of the world was a real adventure in travel.

There’s something here for every fly fisherman, and not enough can be said about the diversity of the nearby angling opportunities. The fly fishing alternatives at Patagonian BaseCamp seem endless only because they are.

Scan the code for more info about current availability and rates.

The glacial-fed streams, rivers, and lakes enjoy clear cold water and provide the ideal habitat for a mix of trophy rainbows and muscle-bound brown trout. The tributaries to the Palena River often begin in mountain meadow lakes that are rich in bio-mass which helps create a year-round, growth-friendly habitat for wild native trout.

Some of the fishing available with the Patagonian BaseCamp crew is divorced from the possibility of outside angling pressure by whitewater rapids, requiring rafting experience and skill. Access to other spots on the fishing map demand an intimate knowledge of the intricate waterways, specialized equipment and a seasoned staff capable of technical jet boat maneuvers.

At the risk of offending other Patagonia operations, several members of our staff feel that Patagonian BaseCamp rates at the top of our portfolio of Chilean and Argentine trout fishing destinations.

The arrival of Marcel Sijnesael to the Palena Valley in 2001 signalled a dramatic change to the Chilean fly fishing scene.

Recognizing that some of the most exciting trout fishing was hidden deep in roadless canyons protected from angling pressure by Class IV rapids, this creative Dutch expatriate imported sophisticated whitewater rafts and skilled fly fishing guides to handle them.

Then he built a 1st class, riverside lodge, added two wilderness camps and introduced a sense of true angling adventure to Patagonia.

When guests return in the evening to Patagonian BaseCamp, tired of catching fish, they’ll be arriving at one of the finest riverside lodges on either side of the Andes, and able to enjoy unlimited after-hours fishing.

The facility was designed by a fly fisherman and custom built over two decades ago for fly fishermen on the shoreline of the Palena River, where angling pressure is all but non-existent. The elegant lodge is only a stone’s throw from one great fishery,.and within easy driving distance of a spiderweb connecting half a dozen others. All of it is ideal habitat for a mix of trophy-sized rainbows and muscle-bound browns.

Further separating Patagonian BaseCamp from other Chilean operations are their signature drift trips – full day affairs in nearby mountain valley rivers that are often extended to include an optional overnight stay at either of two comfortable, permanent, camps built on sections of these rivers that seldom see other anglers.

The ideal spot for anglers seeking diversity, spectacular scenery, solitude, and a rewarding, hard-core South American fly fishing adventure!

The spirit of outdoor adventure in every angler will be satiated by one of the floats requiring technical rafting skills, and putting anglers in touch with fishing that can’t otherwise be reached except on foot or horseback. This is a part of the Chilean bush most natives of the region have never seen and angling that’s experienced by only a few BaseCamp guests each season.

Fishermen and guides arrive at these deluxe campsites at the end of a full day of fishing and the guides are ready to put on a show with well-rehearsed dinner presentations.

patagonian basecamp

Other than your tip at the end of the week, you won’t have to reach in your pocket to pay for anything at Patagonian BaseCamp. Everything in the package covered, including the scenic Puerto Montt round-trip charter flight to the rural Chaiten airstrip.

This Signature Destination is available only through The Fly Shop® and our agents

Matt Harris photo

Matt Harris photo

Val Atkinson photo

Val Atkinson photo

El Saltamontes (2.0)

WHENTHEGATES to El Saltamontes first opened to anglers in 1987, the lodge established the bar by which all other Chilean fishing lodges have since been measured.

It remains the only operation in the “Valley of the Moon” and has access to most of the fish-rich Rio Ñireguao, several oxbow lagunas, spring creeks, and two private lakes.

The river is considered one of Chile’s finest trout fisheries, and is rated by experts as among the most consistent fly fishing destinations in all of South America. In fact, for nearly a generation the lodge has been considered the Chile’s gold standard for service and accommodations. Much of that is now changing, and all of it for the better.

In 2025, after 36 years of hosting anglers from around the world, the Gorroño family passed the responsibility of operating El Saltamontes Lodge to Dane & Chiara Emerson – the founding owners of the world-renowned saltwater fly fishing Mecca, Espiritu Santo Bay Lodge, in the Mexican Yucatan. After stepping in at the first hint of spring weather, these talented hospitality professionals quickly put their fingerprints on the operation. They began with the installation of Starlink® and a complete remodel of the lodge facility and duplex cabañas. They brought in new vehicles, and then capitalized on the already-existing angling resource by introducing specialty float equipment capable of navigating the rugged Ñireguao canyon and floating the nearby, ultra-productive Rio Manihuales.

Dane and Chiara have brought more than new management to El Saltamontes.The couple added new leases of other regional fisheries this season to the ranch properties, and successfully introduced the new generation of guests to water visited by only a handful of anglers in the past.

Working side-by-side throughout the summer with what may be one of the most talented team of trout fishing guides ever assembled in the region, Dane and Chiara have ushered in an entirely new standard of excellence to this famous destination –and promise the future will be even better!

The rugged cordillera that separates Chile from Argentina is often visible on the Nireguao River’s angling horizon.

Scan this code for more info about El Saltamontes and the exciting news for the lodge’s future.

Lean Herrainz photos

When the Ñireguao became legend

THE FLY SHOPTRAVELSTAFF first stumbled onto the Gorroño ranch in 1986 while on a goverrnment-funded exploration of the angling and tourist potential of Chile’s seldomfished rivers south of Puerto Montt and the Lake District. We’d left the military helicopter, jet boat, and float plane behind, and accepted a vague invitation to join a whitewater rafting fanatic even farther south who claimed to have discovered the newest fly fishing El Dorado.

What we found was Jose Gorroño, an educated engineer and entrepreneur with an Australian wife, building a cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere –more than an hour from the nearest street light.

This guy had dozens of horses, a thousand cows, three kids, lots of dogs, and big dreams. He also had a magnificent ranch and a river that was stuffed with browns. Like most Chilenos of his era, Jose knew little about trout fishing, so he teamed up with an Alaska whitewater rafter who saw the potential and invited The Fly Shop® to the game. The fishing we encountered was startling.

The Ñireguao River begins in the high desert and its natal springs come together quickly, flowing undisturbed through a couple of neighboring ranchlands before arriving at the fenceline of what would eventually become El Saltamontes.

Our first stroll from Jose’s meadow cabin raised a cloud of streamside hoppers which caught in the wind, prompted an explosion of trout, and gave us the name of the lodge (The Grasshopper) that young Chileno promised he would build.

The riverside lodge Jose finished two years later was surrounded by a guest complex of handsome, well-appointed duplex cabañas with spectacular views of the nearby Andes and and are only a few steps from what we knew was great fishing.

Each day’s fishing was tailored to mirror every individual guest’s interests and from the comfort of their guest suite, anglers often found the afterhours temptation of the nearby angling irresistible.

And for the next four decades El Saltamontes built an unparallelled reputation for delivering on their promises of a terrific trout fishing holiday.

el saltamontes guests are met in Coyhaique or the Balmaceda airport on Saturdays and driven the two hours to the lodge. Then they’re delivered back to the airport 7 days later, after a visit which includes everything but flies and tackle. No extras! (Private rooms & guides are the only options)

Transfers, licenses, superb meals, wonderful accommodations, expert guides, and every soda, beer, pisco sour, and glass of fine Chilean wine are part of this exceptional package.

The Chilean season opens in November and the fishing starts to get going before everyone opens their Christmas presents. The months of January, February, and March are dead center.

This Signature Destination is available exclusively through The Fly Shop® and our professional angling agent network.

Estancia de los Rios

This enormous rancho is Chile’s largest private fishing reserve. Behind the estancia fences is more stream, river, spring creek, and stillwater trout fishing than can be imagined - much of it has yet to be explored!

ESTANCIADELOSRIOS is a fishing destination dream come true, with locked gates that protect more than sixty miles of private rivers, spring creeks, lakes, and lagoons and provide just a few lodge guests with exclusive access to a plethora of worldclass trout fishing options.

The property lines of this massive ranch surround 445,000 acres (695 square miles)! It’s a rugged landscape bordered by a snowcapped Andean horseshoe that completely surrounds Patagonia’s Cisnes Valley, nearly the entire fish-rich Cisnes (Swan) River, and every inch of its headwaters.

It is difficult to fathom the enormity of this estancia. A visit is total immersion into a quickly disappearing way of rural Patagonia life, where an 8-hour horseback ride through the mountains is what it takes to visit your closest neighbor and where no fishermen have yet tested angling in some of the ranch’s distant lakes and spring creeks. It goes without saying that guests fish wellrested water each and every day without ever having to repeat a fishery. Angling choices are unlimited and include stalking trophy browns with dry flies on isolated lagoons and terrific walk and wade action on the Cisnes River for feisty browns.

Extremely popular fishing targets are the mountain lakes, streams, and a few portions of the river which are accessible only by horseback on well-groomed trails using the finest of the working cattle ranch’s remuda. Guides, gauchos, and anglers all enjoy this!

Guests are accommodated in a spacious, log-constructed lodge that’s about 300 yards from the home river, can fish to exhaustion each evening, enjoy dining, and retire to one of the lodge’s beautifully appointed, double occupancy rooms with spectacular views of the distant cordillera.

Robert Scoverski photos

THEMAGNIFICENT estancia angling is managed by Marcelo and Cristian Dufflocq.

Their father, Adrian, was a Chilean fly fishing pioneer, and their name is synonomous with the sport in the Southern Hemisphere.

They’ve trained a superb, fly-savvy team of guides who know the fishery intimately. All of them are experienced horsemen and particularly enjoy guiding anglers to the less frequently visited locations on horseback.

The estancia has orchestrated what many previous guests consider to be Patagonia’s finest angling experience.

The non-stop, action-packed river fishing is complemented by near-wilderness spring creek and stillwater options. An added bonus are the horseback trail rides to even more off-the-beaten-path angling.

This is an authentic glimpse into rural Patagonia. It is purely Chilean, where the gauchos work the land and cattle as they have for a hundred years.

It’s an angling holiday you’ll never forget. It’s a place that’ll leave a lasting impression on you and one The Fly Shop® travel staff highly recommends!

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about

Estancia de los Rios.

Estancia de los Rios can be easily combined with several other regional Chilean lodges.

Trouters Patagonia

This team of fly fishing savvy natives is the absolute best independent guide service in Chile!

TROUTERSPATAGONIA is a team of seasoned, local, talented, fly fishing-savvy Chilean guides operating under the watchful eye of our outfitter, Nico Gonzalez. With his well-developed guide skills, Nico helped pioneer many of the famous local streams and rivers that are now an established part of the Chilean fly fishing lexicon. And his hand-picked and well trained team of fly fishing shepherds know the angling eccentricities of the local streams, rivers, and spring creeks “like the rings on their fingers!”

Trouters uses state-of-the-art rafts to float water that’s too wide, too deep, and too rugged to wade, and top quality 4WD vehicles to get you there. Their boating skills, personalities, and dawn-to-dark work ethic have established Nico Gonzalez and his expert team of Chilean guides as the most popular outfit west of the Andes.

The Fly Shop® has been fishing with Nico for nearly three decades, since he was apprenticed to the sophisticated Yankee guides we brought to Chile to augment the few experienced native guides necessary to suport the first regional lodges.

Trouters Patagonia is part of a new, highly-qualified generation of native fly fishing guides that approach every day with energy, enthusiasm, and a passion for the sport. These young men add a cultural element to the pleasure of fishing the rivers and streams of Chile that makes it special beyond quality angling. They add an important accent mark to instruction and a true Chilean flavor to the daily angling experience.

It doesn’t hurt that they know every short-cut, back road, riffle, pool, and whereabouts of every trout within a hundred miles.

WEFIRSTVISITED Coyhaique in 1980, after initially wetting our lines in the Lake District and attempting to walk in the footsteps of Joe Brooks and other Chile fly fishing pioneers. It was an enlightening trip that firmly established the Aisen Region in our minds as the absolute center of Chile’s fishing.

trouters patagonia

Guests are met at the Balmaceda airport and accommodated in comfort at the stylish “La Reserva Lodge” on the outskirts of Coyhaique. Nothing is left to chance with this team of professionals. Anglers leave early each morning and enjoy any one of a vast array of fly fishing options ranging from wading small, intimate creeks to floating the top rivers in this part of the world.

This is a wonderful added accent to any Chilean holiday.

Scan this code for more info about Trouters Patagonia.

Michael Caranci photo

Michael Caranci photo

Trouters Patagonia photo

Nothing is more Argentine

Pulse of the Tango

Done right, the tango is arguably the most erotic and provocative spectacle you’ll ever witness two adults doing together with their clothes on.

THEORIGINS of this sensual and melancholy music is intimately identified with Argentina. The dance began as the nineteenth century was ending and Argentine aristocracy included some of the wealthiest globe trotters on Earth.

But in the rough-and-tumble world of the predominantly male immigrants, World War I war-weary soldiers, and the working-class working poor, the pulsing rhythms that arrived in Argentina centuries earlier with the African slaves mixed with the haunting melodies of Andalusia, southern Italy, and locally popular milongas.

In the late 1880’s a fusion of all these cultural elements breathed life into the birth of tango.

It’s debut did not take place in polite company. The Buenos Aires brothel parlors of Plaza Lavalle, Retiro, and the port areas of La Boca were cultural melting pots where the Johns (Juans?) waited their turns while musicians played and sang the suggestive and often obscene lyrics that gave the tango its early reputation for ribaldry.

In the first decades of the twentieth century, Buenos Aires met with a transformation. The growth of a vital, new economy brought wealthy Argentines a hunger for entertainment. Bawdy bars became elegant cabarets, and the rigid morality of Catholicism found an escape in the suggestive dance and intricate steps that accompanied the throbbing music.

Have your concierge include an evening visit to one of the Buenos Aires tanguerias. Then take a cold shower.

My own favorite Buenos Aires tango show is El Viejo Almacén, one of the city’s oldest tanguerias. It is located in the quaint, historic San Telmo barrio.

Their superb, prix fixe dinners are served no earlier than 8:30 and the tango shows start about 10:00. The cost for both is about a hundred dollars, plus wine or cocktails, per person. Reservations are a must.

https://www.viejoalmacen.com.ar

Mike Michalak

Founder and owner of The Fly Shop®

Planning your trout fishing trip to Argentina

EVERYVISIT to Argentina is going to begin in Buenos Aires, often with an overnight stay and a chance to decompress after a long journey. It is an exciting place for first-time visitors and there’s no shame in being a tourist. The historic city is famous for fine dining, architecture, provocative tango shows, and vibrant nightlife.

For travelers wanting to jump-start their angling vacation with something other than a visit to the city, there are convenient flights from the capital to the scintillating wine country of Mendoza, or a relaxing stay at Iguazu Falls (17 times the size of Niagara).

In our expereince, the most outstanding Argentina fishing trips are those that combine a couple of complementary angling estancias (or lodges) in an 8, 10 or 12-day window, satiating the need for variety and leaving the traveling angler with a sense of having experienced and seen far more of what Patagonia has to offer than with just one destination.

We’ve been doing this for more

Obviously, it’s best to arrange multi-destination packages in the same region and avoid time-wasting, back-tracking to Buenos Aires. To accomplish that, our outfitters provide comfortable vehicle transfers between those regional lodges. The guides usually move between destinations with the anglers, creating a more familiar atmosphere at the successive fishing locations.

than forty years and can make your travel options clear, simple, and easy!

The initial (and maybe only) stop after Buenos Aires will be a direct flight to the airport nearest the first scheduled lodge in the itinerary. That’s usually Bariloche, San Martin, or Esquel – and there aren’t many connections between these small airports.

Combining trophy trout trips to Jurassic Lake or Tierra del Fuego involves flights from Buenos Aires to Calafate or Rio Grande. Connecting the two trophy destinations is relatively simple.

In all these situations, understanding the distances and connection options between places is critical in building a practical, multi-lodge itinerary.

If this sounds complicated, it’s because it can be. That’s when the help of an experienced outfitter and agent working together counts.

The best advice we can offer is to involve people who know what they’re talking about to help plan your angling holiday.

The Fly Shop® has been creating fishing dream trips for decades, and we know the ropes. We don’t cost a cent more, and can make the difference between a good fly fishing vacation and a great one.

Brian Grossenbacher photo courtesy of Patagonia River Guides

Argentina’s Recognized Experts

There’s no one better at custom-tailoring fly fishing vacations in Patagonia than the expert travel team here at The Fly Shop®! We began working hand-in-hand with Argentina’s most famous lodges, estancias, guides, and outfitters soon after opening our doors in 1978 and, like the Johnny Cash lyrics, we’ve been everywhere (in Argentina), man! That wealth of experience and those connections allow us to make valid, objective destination comparisons, and help us fit our clients with the places that’ll best match their interests, pocketbooks, and skill levels.

ANOUTFITTER ’ S ROLE in Argentina is unique. In addition to acting as a traditional, independent guide service for the local tourist crowd, these operations often furnish the guide staff for a number of their regional lodges and estancias. Too, they work with foreign agents (like The Fly Shop®) to help coordinate what are often complex schedules for travelling anglers who want to visit one or more of those different lodges and estancias.

Those lodges and estancias, in turn, focus on managing their operations, and rely on those outfitters and agents like The Fly Shop® to provide their clientele.

Some destinations do accept direct reservations, but also work with the agents and outfitters to keep them busy during the short Patagonia season.

Finding a few days of fly fishing at one place is easy. But building an angling itinerary that combines complementary, quality locations, offers a variety of geography and different fishing, and marrying their calendars is difficult.

There’s no more knowledgeable or experienced team of Argentina angling travel agents than those you’ll deal with here at The Fly Shop®. We’ve spent more than four decades learning all we could about every fishery in Patagonia and cultivating positive relationships with the finest lodges, estancias, and the most capable outfitters in Argentina.

Creating a great Argentina fly fishing holiday is a job for experts. And unless you’ve been there and done that, you won’t be successful online or with a few e-mails. Even the experts find it challenging and extremely time-consuming.

The Fly Shop® has assembled a lifetime of experience, and a portfolio of blueribbon, Patagonia destinations. We put all of that to work every time we’re asked to help.

Give us a call!

Scan this code for more information about our Patagonia fly fishing packages

Alex Knull photo

Collon Cura Lodge

TTHIS IS MONTANA , Patagonia style, a fly fishing experience that ranks among the top tier of Argentina’s fishing resorts. It’s the ranch house and headquarters of an enormous 70,000-acre estancia and working cattle ranch owned by the Ted Turner family, and a river property used exclusively for angling guests.

The small, well-appointed lodge handles only eight guests in large, double rooms. The size and decor is intentionally intimate, with just the right atmosphere – a casual blending of quality, luxury, and comfort that is somehow perfectly appropriate.

The estancia location provides exclusive access to the best entry points for floating the river and most of the action-packed days are spent prospecting the shoreline, riffles, and tailouts searching for the Collon Cura’s notoriously aggressive rainbows and the occasional monster brown trout.

It is a classic, high desert, freestone river with a willow-lined bank and a panoramic, arid landscape reminiscent of Wyoming that appears to stretch to the horizon.

The techniques and experience are not unlike those we’ve all had in Montana. Most of the fishing is done in drift boats or rafts, with occasional backtracking on foot and wading for some rising bank-sipper that was too big to pass up. The fish can be large and most anglers select nothing lighter than a six weight rod. Everything seems to work here - dry flies, attractors, nymphs, streamers – and work well most of the time!

It goes without saying that the dining every day is well planned with a delicious lunch or streamside asado. And the end of each day is memorable, with an emphasis on traditional Argentine cuisine complemented by fine domestic varietals.

The Collon Cura guides are provided by our friend and associate, Jorge Trucco (Patagonia Outfitters), an angling legend and one of the most respected outfitters in the Argentine fly fishing industry.

Jorge has assembled a talented, seasoned crew of professional guides, and every one of them is committed to providing a world-class fly fishing experience at Collon Cura!

Scan this code for more info about Collon Cura Lodge

Eric R. Schroeder photo

Isaias Miciu photo

Eric R. Schroeder photo

Estancia Pilolil

The spectacular Aluminé flows through this breathtakingly beautiful high desert ranch. Every riffle, tailout, and pool shelters phenomenal trout and affords memorable angling.

ESTANCIAPILOLIL isn’t just another fishing lodge; it is one of the finest fly fishing retreats in all Patagonia, featuring exceptional lodging, cuisine, service, staff, equipment, guides and of course, a wonderful fishing experience!

Estancia Pilolil is a private 23,230-acre ranch, which borders more than ten miles of the Aluminé before it merges with the Collon Cura. It’s an amazing fishery, surrounded by a rugged landscape, incredible rock formations, unique streamside vegetation, and spectacular wildlife. There are regular sightings of all kinds of birds of prey – condors, eagles, falcons, hawks –as well as a variety of waterfowl, wild boar, fox, guanacos, and even an occasional herd of red stag.

This is a fly fishing experience with something for everyone. Daily float trips that are highlighted by shore lunches, or a full day of sight fishing while wading the shallows. Dry flies, nymphs, or streamers.

Though it’s seldom necessary to expand the angling options beyond the huge estancia’s river and spring creek, guests do have quick and easy access to a number of other fine, nearby, float fisheries.

Access to this angling property is the result of years of lobbying and effort by Jorge Trucco, a legend and one of the most respected names in Argentine fly fishing.

In keeping with his own high standards, Jorge has assembled a talented, seasoned crew of professional guides, lodge staff and chefs committed to ensuring that Pilolil is a world-class fly fishing experience.

Beyond superb lodging and angling, the estancia also offers guests horseback riding and shopping excursions for non-fishing companions to the nearby resort communities of Junin de los Andes and San Martin.

Estancia Pilolil can be easily combined with other nearby angling estancias – Tipiliuke, Arroyo Verde, San Huberto, Tres Rios, and Quemquemtreu, and Estancia Collon Cura.

Eric R. Schroeder photo

Estancia Pilolil Lodge

Isaias Miciu photo

Estancia Pilolil photo

Eric R. Schroeder photo Isaias Miciu photo

San Huberto Lodge

This world famous fly fishing ranch in the shadow of the majestic Lanin volcano offers superb, season-long dry fly fishing and is one of the most popular destinations in Patagonia!

TTHIS IS A WORLD - CLASS , world-famous fly fishing lodge with 25 miles of private access on what is considered the best stretch of the equally famous Malleo River. The fishery is mostly spring-fed, crystal clear, and perfect for sight-fishing with reliable hatches and plenty of dry fly fishing opportunity. It’s ideal for walk and wade fishing, and a popular destination for anglers of all skill levels.

Named after “Saint Hubert” (the patron saint of hunters), the lodge began as a hunting operation in the mid-20th century, was renovated in 1999, and is now operated for fly fishing.

San Huberto features 10 guest rooms, can accommodate up to 16 guests, but limits access on the estancia water to only a dozen anglers. The scenery is breathtaking and with plenty of space to relax, the lodge is a great spot for non-anglers.

San Huberto has been a favorite of Argentina’s fly fishing elite for generations and has hosted Ted Turner, Dwight Eisenhower and Ernie Schweibert, among others. The upstairs lounge and fireplace is perfect for conversation, cocktails, and has been the site of a lot of fish stories.

Not to be ignored is the lodge’s reputation for exceptional gardento-table cuisine. Its fine meals are perfectly paired with Argentine varietals, and are an epicurean bonus, even in Argentina.

Our outfitter, Jorge Trucco, helped initiate Argentina’s first catchand-release legislation on the Malleo in 1985 and, after decades of protection, the river boasts one of the highest trout populations in all Patagonia.

San Huberto Lodge photos

Veteran anglers return to San Huberto Lodge each season like swallows to Capistrano. The dry fly fishing there rates as among the best in all of Patagonia, and the Malleo River is one of the most fisherman-friendly stretches of water in all of Argentina!

San Huberto Lodge.

san huberto lodge

Estancia Quemquemtreu

A sought-after angling resort since it first opened its gates to fly fishermen in 1993!

SIZEMATTERS and this century-old cattle ranch is one of the largest angling estancias in Patagonia – and with almost 200,000 acres and more than sixty miles of private river access inside its fences, Quemquemtreu is in a size class by itself.

Guests at Quemquemtreu share little of their angling with the public and have nearexclusive access to over thirty miles of the always productive Collon Cura River and their own private spring creek.

The scenic, day-long float trips on the broad freestone river are a highlight of every visit, and there are excellent beats reserved just for anglers who want to wade. Virtually every fly fishing technique works well on the Collon Cura and anglers score regularly with trophy-sized browns and rainbows.

The central Patagonia location combines perfectly with several other regional, toptier fly fishing resorts.

Quemquemtreu promises a full season of terrific dry fly trout fishing, an experienced, expert team of fly fishing guides and is rated a perennial favorite among veteran Patagonia anglers.

The estancia’s historic ranch house comfortably accommodates up to ten anglers in its five guest suites and can host another eight anglers in the spacious, adjacent “Hunter’s Lodge.” And, with more space than guides, they have plenty of room for non-angling companions and are able to offer single accommodations.

estancia quemquemtreu

The angling packages are all-inclusive and provide all the gear (waders, wading boots, rods, reels, flies) that’s necessary, along with great river lunches, every beer, soft drink and an open cocktail bar at the lodge and the Gaucho clubhouse.

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Thomas Erich Tscherne photos

Quemquemtreu anglers have a wide variety of fishing experiences to chose from daily. The memorable float trips have it all, and guests can usually incorporate dry fly fishing for rising, bank-feeding trout, wading and sight-fishing in the side channels, or prospecting with streamers for large, predatory browns into their day on the water.

Estancia Arroyo Verde

“The greatest fly fishing lodge in the world. Period.”

Charles Gaines, Forbes Magazine

ESTANCIAARROYOVERDE is, arguably, one of the most deluxe experiences in all of Patagonia. The famous fishery flows from crystal clear Lake Traful for twelve-plus, private miles through lush forests and a valley distinctively sculpted by ice age wind and water.

There are breathtaking views of a rugged horizon above each of the Traful River’s riffles, pools, and runs – and every drop of it is as clear as any fishery you’ve ever seen. So clear, in fact, that the unusually large resident browns and rainbows of can spot a poorly tied fly, a tippet that’s too thick, or a drift that’s not properly presented. It is a challenging, technical fishery, proving that just because a river is far away or pristine doesn’t make it easy, but does make success that much more rewarding.

Traful fish are large, often visible because of the clarity, and without the assistance of Arroyo Verde’s expert team of veteran guides would definitely be a river better left to experienced anglers. Skilled fly fishermen rate the experience as among the most satisfying trout fishing in Patagonia.

The author and conservationist, Charles Gaines, called the place “The greatest fly fishing lodge in the world. Period.” And the friends who introduced The Fly Shop® to Arroyo Verde in the early ‘80’s were quick to agree. Everything about this place is first class and reflects the style and old-world hospitality created by the La Riviere family, who began hosting elite anglers and at their estancia long before opening the lodge more than four decades ago.

The valley of the Traful is a rarified atmosphere. La Primavera, the estancia on the opposite bank of the Traful from Arroyo Verde, is owned by the Ted Turner family, and it is extremely unusual to encounter another angler on the river. Guests staying at Estancia Arroyo Verde enjoy near-exclusive access to a one-of-a-kind fishery made famous by Joe Brooks, Ernie Schweibert, Jorge Trucco, Mel Kreiger, Bebe Enchorena, and other Patagonia fly fishing pioneers.

The Fly Shop® couldn’t recommend this place more highly for a two or three-day visit, combined with angling at one of the other regional fishing estancias (Collon Cura, Quemquemtreu, Tipiliuke).

Estancia Arroyo Verde photos

arroyo verde lodge is defined by graceful, elegant accommodations and sophisticated service punctuated by a 5-star dining experience.

s Each trip to this historic angling estancia is customized to fit your schedule, and can be combined with any of several other angling resorts or estancias.

s Options include private accommodations and guide.

s Non-fishing anglers who enjoy riding can arrange for authentic mountain trail rides using superb stock.

s Rates vary depending on length of stay, options selected, and other destinations combined in the itinerary.

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The Traful is unique, flowing between two lakes with annual runs of giant brown and rainbows as well as landlocked Atlantic salmon.

IsaisMiciu photo

Estancia Arroyo Verde.

Tipiliuke Lodge

This exclusive angling estancia surrounds some of the most famous of Patagonia’s trout fishing rivers and streams!

TIPILIUKE is an angling experience that’s reminiscent of the best of what the pioneer anglers first encountered more than eighty years ago. It’s more than a fishing lodge, it’s a historic, working cattle ranch that just happens to surround some of Patagonia’s most famous rivers and its finest fishing.

The breathtaking, 50,000-acre, Estancia Cerro de los Piños is just minutes from the resort community of San Martin de los Andes in one of the most beautiful parts of Argentina. It is still owned by the Larminat family who founded the estancia more than a century ago and their gauchos – many of them descended from the cowboys that helped start the estancia over a hundred years ago – still round up the cattle on horseback along the shoreline of the more than 17 miles of incredible trout streams inside the property fences.

Tipiliuke guests have exclusive wade access to 9 miles of the fabulous Chimehuin River and 4 miles of the Quilquihue River where rainbow and brown trout average 14-20 inches, and monster browns nearing 30 inches are landed each season. The Chimehuin’s clear water and consistent hatches ensure ultra-reliable dry fly fishing all season long.

The five-star Tipiliuke Lodge is well-known for its service, accommodations, and cuisine. The ranch house accommodates up to sixteen guests, but is limited to twelve anglers.

It’s a perfect spot for non-fishing guests, with horseback riding, hiking trails, and the nearby town for shopping, golf, and sightseeing.

Guests enjoy a comfortable living room and social areas, a sauna, hot tub, and fire pit for evening fish stories. Accommodation options include the “River House”, a private residence just steps from the river that’s a great option for small families or groups.

tipiliuke lodge

s Each trip to Tipiliuke can incorporate other lodges or estancias to customize your itinerary.

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Tipiliuke Lodge

Guest at Tipiliuke have exclusinve wading access to nearly nine miles of the fabulous Chimehuin!

Tipiliuke Lodge photos

Las Pampas Lodge

LLOCATEDINTHE Chubut Province of Central Patagonia, Las Pampas Lodge is in the “heart” of the Rio Pico area – one of the most rural regions of Argentina. The isolated lodge is surrounded by countless spring creeks, rivers, streams, and lakes. Much of the angling is located on private estancias that see little or no pressure from other anglers. All of it is beyond any well-traveled road and the nearby, tiny, border village of Aldea Las Pampas isn’t on all maps.

This is amazing country, and little has changed from the days Butch Cassidy found temporary refuge in these mountains and valleys.

Las Pampas has near-exclusive access to a bunch of small, clear, spring creeks and freestone streams. Most harbor aggressive brown and rainbow trout – some of the streams boast big fish, while others feature surprisingly large populations of respectable trout.

Stillwater enthusiasts will find the nearby mountain lakes full of trophy-sized, rod-bending, ‘bows, browns, and brookies.

Most of the exciting action at Las Pampas is on the surface. The flies are large (often foam-bodied), and most of the water is small. Many of the fish are big. And there’s nobody else around!

The Rio Pico watershed is home to nearly a dozen tiny spring creeks, all of which ultimately feed into the Pico. Varying greatly in size, length, depth, and current, each creek presents its own, often technical, set of angling challenges.

These intimate spring creeks hold a surprising number of goodsized rainbows and broad-backed browns that are all too willing to rise to a properly presented dry fly.

las pampas is a beautiful European-style log and stone lodge featuring a main common area with a guest lounge, dining room, and open bar.The inviting main room sets the informal, casual atmosphere of the place. It features a central fireplace surrounded by plush built-in lounge chairs where guests gather each evening for cocktails and share their daily adventures before retiring to one of the four, spacious, double-occupancy bedrooms.

Each lovely guest room has a private bath, superb view, and cobblestone veranda with a majestic panorama of the surrounding Andes.

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Bryan Gregson photos

Denver Bryan photo

Pampas Lodge

Limay River Lodge

in a part of the world that is legend!

Argentina’s finest tailwater

TTHELIMAY IS A sparkling, broad tailwater fishery, born at Lago Nahuel Huapi and meandering in a snake-like path across the dry pampas of Patagonia nearly 240 miles until it meets the Rio Neuquén. Together they form the Rio Negro, but along the journey the Limay collects strength from the most legendary of Argentina’s trout fisheries. The Traful, Pichileufu, and the Collon Cura rivers all contribute to the magnificence of the Limay.

The Limay is exceptionally wide and shallow. It is celebrated as one of the top trophy trout fisheries and productive destinations in all of Patagonia, and is a sensational dry fly fishery.

Famous for trophy brown trout, the Limay also harbors some massive rainbows. Fish larger than 20 inches are routine and don’t raise an eyebrow with veteran anglers.

Limay River Lodge uses a fleet of drift boats to cover five separate river beats. Most Argentine guides use rafts and, for some, drift boats prove more comfortable. Each beat covers about seven miles of gravel flats, riffles, runs, braids, and side channels. Most fishing is done drifting and casting to the shoreline or pocket water. In predictably productive runs fishermen are encouraged to wade, covering the cutbanks and rock gardens methodically, usually with a dry fly.

The location, lodge, guides, fishing, food, and the casual atmosphere at Limay River Lodge combine to encapsulate the best of what the Patagonia experience is all about. There are other places that claim to be as good, but there are none that are better.

Limay River Lodge

THIS TOP - TIER operation is among the most recent additions to the list of Argentina’s finest fly fishing lodges. It was the brainchild of master outfitter, Jorge Trucco, one of Patagonia’s iconic angling personalities and part of a generation of professional guides in the mid-20th century that made fishing below the Southern Cross an irresistible experience.

Trucco was Patagonia before Patagonia was cool, and many of today’s young guides and outfitters learned their trade at his elbow. Now, with that wealth of experience under his hat, he has fashioned Limay River Lodge, incorporating the hard-core angling tradition and the standard of excellence that’s been his hallmark for decades.

The elegant lodge was designed from its foundation with angling guests in mind. Every creature comfort imaginable was included, and all of it is accented by the fine dining, wines, and Argentine hospitality that has been synonymous with every operation Trucco has touched. Jorge and his team of architects chose, as their location, a spot on the Limay hours away from other angling access. Not surprisingly, Limay River Lodge has quickly developed a reputation as one of Patagonia’s top fly fishing destinations and The Fly Shop® is proud to act as one of their few agents.

Getting there is easy. The lodge is nearly equidistant from both Bariloche and San Martin de los Andes, simplifying the domestic airline connections.

Jorge’s representatives meet flights and provide transportation to, from, and between lodges as part of the all-inclusive packages. Talented guides, fine meals, superb accommodations and every bottle of water, glass of wine, soda, and cocktail is part of every wonderful week of fishing at Limay.

Scan this code for more info about Limay River Lodge

Isaias Miciu photo

Jurassic Lake Rainbows

Lago Strobel is a fish-perfect environment rich enough to grow the largest rainbows on Earth!

LAGOSTROBEL was named to honor one of a trio of Jesuit missionaries who wandered the desolate Argentina plateau region just north of the Strait of Magellan nearly 300 years ago in search of natives to convert. There was nobody home. It was (and remains) almost entirely uninhabited, with a human population density fifty times less than that of the Sahara Desert.

Neither were there fish of any kind in the massive, 16,000-acre lake until 1989 when a landowner hatched an ill-fated business plan to farm trout in the lake and nearby lagoon and released two batches of rainbow fry from the Piedra Buena hatchery on the Santa Cruz River. Like the rest of Argentina’s rainbows these huge trout can trace their wild, genetic lineage to California’s McCloud River. They aren’t triploids or genetically altered trout. These are wild fish that were last stocked when Ronald Regan was president, and reproduce naturally in Strobel’s sole tributary, the Barrancoso River – another coincidentally ideal nursery with near perfect spawning gravel and habitat – in numbers that constantly replenish the lake’s thriving population.

The smolt were met with a near-perfect, fish-friendly environment; an ideal altitude, no predators, a temperate climate,

an ultra-rich food source, and highly oxygenated, ice-cold water that blended with an unusual alkali content.

The naturally otccurring menu items are dominated by phenomenal swarms of Gammaridae, a scud so abundant in Strobel that the mega-rainbows can be seen swimming like open-mouthed whales gorging on krill. It’s a high protein diet so rich the fish grow quickly to epic dimensions (and when they’re not engaged in spawing or under the winter ice, they can pack on an astonishing two pounds in a month) and in numbers unequalled elsewhere on Earth.

All of this has coalesced to form Mother Nature’s own natural trout farm – an environment that creates ridiculously huge, incredibly strong trout with no apparent limit to their size or number.

The fishery burst into angling headlines in 2005 when the pioneer angler, Christer Sjöberg (founder of Loop Tackle), saw photos of these giant trout and organized the first group of outsiders to visit the lake.

His first fishing outpost at the mouth of the Barrancoso was a collection of spartan tents with few amenities, and required a grueling 13-hour drive in 4WD vehicles from the nearest airport. Before long the early encampment was upgraded, the federal government built a superb road system in the province and two other fine fly fishing lodges on the lakeshore emerged.

Each of the three operations on Lago Strobel offers incredible shoreline fishing, exclusive access to a portion of the Rio Barrancoso, and their own individual claims to superiority.

The nickname, Jurassic (from the movie), accurately describes the oversized rainbows found in this isolated lake and stream just north of the Strait of Magellan. It’s a particularly appropriate moniker, because these fish, like the creatures in the movie, aren’t native to this part of the world and are able to achieve mammoth proportions.

Lago Strobel Lodge photo

Matt Harris photo

With a nearly unlimited supply of proteinrich food, these football-shaped, Jurassicsized trout can pack on as much as two pounds of weight and muscle in a single month!

Lago Strobel was formed nearly 12,000 years ago on the greater Patagonian Steppe shortly after the last ice age as a result of an immense collapse in the alkaline crust of the Earth – the seismic event also created several other bodies of water on the plateau.

The lake is oblong, surrounded by gently sloping, rock-lined, cliff-free shores, and filled with crystal-clear, blue water that has a maximum depth of between 70 and 90 meters.

The surrounding landscape is truly breathtaking, offering raw, untouched beauty, vast open spaces, extreme weather, majestic skies, and unforgettable sunsets. The region supports a wide array of animals and birdlife—sustained by a resilient and diverse flora that thrives in the mineral-rich, rocky terrain.

The Barrancoso River is the life blood of the lake. The river runs cold, clear and swift in all but the dead of winter. It is the only significant tributary of the huge, 65-square-kilometer lake and there’s no stream or river flowing out of Strobel. During most years evaporation is approximately equal to the river’s inflow. In recent years evaporation has exceeded the inflow.

The cascading Barrancoso is vital and serves as the perfect spawning and nursery environment for the lake’s rainbow trout.

The peak of Strobel’s spawning activity occurs in Patagonia’s springtime ( October and November ). Then the river bottom is actually layered with huge, spawning trout and is a veritable kaleidoscope of undulating fish. Some adult trout continue to reproduce in the upper river until the freezing winter weather arrives in April and May. All this provides a steady stream of juvenile trout to repopulate, forage, and grow quickly in the fertile waters of Lago Strobel.

Everything you’ve ever read or heard about the place is probably true. There’s no need (in fact it is impossible) to exaggerate the numbers of trophy rainbows, the dimensions of these trout, or amplify their strength. It is a fantastic fishery with jumbo rainbows that average six to eight pounds. Double-digit fish are common, and often tip the scales well above fifteen pounds. Even larger fish are seen routinely and occasionally hooked – but seldom landed.

It goes without saying that, for sheer size and numbers of trophy rainbow trout, there can be no argument that Lago Strobel is in a class by itself.

The lake is alive with trout that can be seen constantly cruising the shoreline above thousands of acres of shallow weed beds. Their constant movement and spawning activity have made it nearly impossible for professionals to accurately estimate the population of rainbows, and there are no other fish besides rainbows in the lake!

When these fish are feeding, they naturally gravitate toward the shoreline contours, weaving between submerged boulders, above the grass beds, or along the edges of the drop-offs and shelves.

These fish have no fear of winged predators, inhabit a huge lake and may spend their entire life without ever seeing a fisherman. They’ll forage in shallow water, cruise near the shoreline or ride high in the water and can be seen in the windows of the waves as they roll toward shore, or finning and rolling at the surface in the flat breaks between the waves. They’re large, and move slowly. So, they are easy to spot, and will give you the time to get into position and make the right cast – which is usually only a foot or so in front.

Sometimes these big boys will attack streamers, nymphs, surface flies, or even mouse patterns with abandon. On other occasions they’ll be more selective and move only to scud patterns. When hooked, Jurassic’s fish are bull-strong and acrobatic. No light wire hooks, because when you come tight they’ll smoke your drag and show you backing that has never seen the light of day

We all agree – there’s no other stillwater or stream on Earth that offers more exciting trophy rainbow action than Lago Strobel.

The Fly Shop® has sent our staff to the lodges of Jurassic Lake half a dozen times over the course of the past decade to vet the operations and learn all about the fishery. One member of our travel team guided at Lago Strobel and is exceptionally familiar with every aspect of this unique fishery.

And no other angling travel company is as well-versed or more familiar with the Jurassic trout fishing than the experts you’ll talk to here, and there’s nobody in the sport that is better able to answer your questions and get you connected with what could be the trout fishing trip of your lifetime.

Val Atkinson photo

BC Beck photo

Lago Strobel Lodge photo

Estancia LagunaVerde

Estancia Laguna Verde is a sprawling rancho in the southern Patagonia pampas whose fences surround miles of river and the shoreline of a lake with a fish-perfect environment so rich that it grows the largest bunch of rainbow trout on Earth!

THISINTIMATE , trophy trout Mecca lays claim to the majority of the massive, 15-mile shoreline of Lago Strobel ( Jurassic Lake ) and all but a quarter-mile of the lake’s fabulous spawning tributary, the Barrancoso River. This part of Patagonia has what most veteran anglers would agree, the finest trophy rainbow trout fishing on Earth!

That’s the good news. The bad news for travelling anglers is that the phenomenal fishing that put Strobel on every serious trophy trout fisherman’s bucket list isn’t an easy place to get to, and is dead-center in some of the most inhospitable terrain in the western Hemisphere.

In fact, Estancia Laguna Verde and the other two lodges on the shore of Jurassic Lake are surrounded by nothing but a near-barren, windswept, brush-dotted, volcanic plateau that extends as far in every direction as the eye can see. At first glance it appears the place may too hostile to support much in the way of life. A second, and even a third glance will probably confirm that opinion.

For most travelling fly rodders, there’s an overwhelming and very compelling excuse to be there. The fishing.

The massive Lago Strobel (Jurassic Lake) is a natural phenomenon, with a 15-mile shoreline, ocean-sized swells, and breathtakingly clear blue waters. It is thought the lake was formed nearly eleven hundred years ago and, until fairly recently, it had no trout or fish of any kind.

Since the moment rainbow trout were introduced to Lago Strobel and the Barrancoso in 1989, they’ve prospered, and it’s estimated that their already impressive numbers still continue to increase each year.

But it’s not just the population of trout that is startling. It’s how many of them are huge. Rainbows in the 6-12 pound category are considered average, 15-pounders are routine, and this last year (for the first time) several fish in excess of twenty pounds were landed.

Estancia Laguna Verde owns or has exclusive leased access to the majority of the lake’s shoreline and all but a quarter of a mile of the lakes only tributary, the Barrancoso.

Every aspect of the cozy, ten-person lodge is a source of pride with the owners. The guides are terrific. The private rooms are tastefully decorated and the conclusion of every action-packed day is accented by cocktails, delicious meals, and the finest Argentine varietals.

Laguna Verde Lodge.

Matt Harris photo

Pat Ford photo

Lago Strobel Lodge

If you’re after big, fat, powerful rainbows with broad shoulders – the kind of fish you think you could ride – then saddle up and head for Lago Strobel. This bucket list item is part of the ultimate trophy trout experience!

THESISTERLODGE to Estancia Laguna Verde is located on the northern shore of Lago Strobel (affectionately called Jurassic Lake). This relatively new operation shares exclusive access with its sibling to the three massive private estancias that surround nearly 85% of Lago Strobel’s shoreline, all but a quarter of a mile of the Barrancoso River, and all but one of the lake’s half dozen protected bays.

Guests at both lodges enjoy a tremendous amount of diverse angling and scenery, and aren’t locked into one spot to fish for the week or fishing shoulder-to-shoulder with other anglers. They can choose to mix it up and fish either the shoreline of Strobel Lake or any one of the private eight miles of the estancia’s freestone tributary.

This small, intimate lodge incorporates all of the high standards the Alba family has delivered to angling guests at their Estancia Laguna Verde property for over a decade.

Lago Strobel Lodge guests enjoy a spectacular view of the lake from their panoramic porch, and a built-in, casual atmosphere. It’s addition to our Jurassic Lake lineup is intended to appeal to dedicated anglers searching for a world-class, trophy trout experience with double-occupancy accommodations and a bit more modest price tag than will be found at either of the lake’s other two lodge alternatives.

Still, nothing is spared in the way of essentials. The trophy trout action will be enhanced by a Lago Strobel team of talented, expert, fly fishing savvy guides who pride themselves on delivering exceptional angling and a wonderful experience – each and every day.

The big fish stories are sure to be exciting and accurate. And the apres angling, the wines, cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres, the delicious meals, and service at Lago Strobel Lodge are as stellar as can be found elsewhere in Argentina, because the owners won’t tolerate anything less.

EVERYJURASSICTRIP begins in Calafate, a Patagonia resort community far more notorious as the gateway to the massive Perito Moreno Glacier Field than as the jumping off point for trout fishing at Jurassic Lake. It’s a lovely tourist town with great restaurants and hotels. More than that, Calafate is a swell place to rest, relax, and decompress from the flights. From there, our packages include the round trip vehicle transfers and everything at the lodge, except your tackle and tips.

There are three, four, and full-week packages available throughout the season at both lodges, and (with enough notice) The Fly Shop® can help create an angling holiday that combines Jurassic Lake rainbows with the world-renowned monster sea run browns of nearby Tierra del Fuego.

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Lago Strobel Lodge photos

Guests revel in the exceptional sight fishing for singles, pairs, and large schools of the super-sized, Jurassic rainbows that they spot cruising the crystal-clear shoreline of Lago Strobel’s many protected bays.

QUALITY EQUIPMENT FOR ECONOMY-MINDEDFLY FISHERMEN

Signature Series H2O Fly Rods

Signature H2O rods for the anglers who have dialed in their casting stroke

THESEHANDSOMERODS employ a more expensive, higher modulus graphite than our Fresh H2O models. Those differences translate into a fly rod with a moderately faster action that’s better matched for experienced anglers who have more refined, practiced, casting skills.

These high performance rods employ what was once called “reserve power” – a resilience that’ll drive the line a little farther, help toss the line into the teeth of a stiff wind, or handle a larger dry fly or big streamer when extra power is applied.

Signature H2O Fly Rod features

s Dynamic, powerful, progressive action

s Superb components, tailored to each model

s Beautifully finished Buckeye reel seats

s An extra tip comes with every rod

s Complete with The Fly Shop’s segmented rod/reel case

Signature H2O Fly Rod Warranty

Signature H2O rods are warranteed by The Fly Shop®. We'll replace or repair any H2O rod for the original purchaser, charging no more than $55 plus $6.50 shipping. It’s a great deal without an expensive, hidden premium for a lifetime guarantee.

All four of our Signature H2O fly rod models sport components that are a step up from our Fresh H2O fly rods. All of the Signature rods feature handsome Buckeye hardwood reel inserts and more expensive components than you’ll find on comparably-priced rods. They also feature a dark, non-glare finish that won’t spook fish.

“At only $299 these rods outperform others at triple the cost! There isn’t another rod that can match its quality and performance at any cost. You have our word on it!” – Zachary Miller TFS Guide, Instructor & former retail associate Designed & Field-Tested

Fly Shop’s Signature H 2 O Fly Rods

Nobody knows more about indicator fishing than our team of Sacramento and Trinity River experts. We’re the outfit that refined indicator fishing for trout and steelhead in NorCal and these two new models of indicator rods are the perfect answer to pursuing the endless, perfect drift – and the tug!

Fresh H2O Rods

A forgiving action combined with an ultra-responsive high modulus graphite. (see pages 76-77)

SG-H2O Indicator Rods

A medium fast flex action that combines a soft tip and a unique graphite blend that will help open loops and turn over indicators and split shot rigs effortlessly.

SG-H2O Rods

Fast flex action, and a powerful, sensitive tip that will tighten the loop and help make tossing a fly toward the horizon easier. Perfectly suited to expert anglers and big water.

Signature Series H2O Indicator Rods

THE FLY SHOP ’ S indicator rods employ features that help make this style of fishing easier, much more fun, and a lot more productive.

These rods are designed with a high modulus graphite to add the strength so they won’t buckle under the weight of a multi-fly rig. They have a strong tip, slightly softer center section, and powerful butt. All of this forces the rod to flex lower down the blank and automatically opens the loop – making indicator terminal tackle easy to toss without messing up or tangling.

We expanded our indicator rod line up with 5 and 7 weights last year and they have been a hit!

Signature H2O Indicator Fly Rod features:

s Designed, tested and tailored for indicator fishing

s Longer than normal for better mending and control

s Stack mends effortlessly at short and long range

s Non-glare, ultra-functional, matte finish

s Fighting butt helps balance the rod perfectly

s An extra tip comes with every one of H2O fly rods

Build your rod outfit ...just add water

Add any of The Fly Shop’s fine reels to any one of our Fresh H2O or Signature Series fly rods and save a bundle with the bundle

1. Choose your fly rod and reel

2. Let us know whether you wind the reel with your left or right hand.

3. We’ll toss in a Scientific Angler floating fly line ($80 value) matched to the rod weight, and the backing ($20 value) to the price of the rod and discounted reel.

4. Then we’ll tie all the knots, load everything on your reel, and ship it for free. Save up to $120

Adding an L 2A fly reel to a Signature H2O model creates the best possible value. It is a super reel and a sensible step up in quality to a combination that will meet the most demanding situations.

Extra Tip

We’re common-sense fishermen here at The Fly Shop® and we understand the logic of including an extra tip with every H2O fly rod. It’s a simple, built-in guarantee, at no extra charge, that’ll keep you fishing on the stream instead of waiting for the UPS truck.

Our Warranty

All our Signature H2O Series rods are fully warranteed by The Fly Shop®. We don’t care how it broke and we’ll replace or repair any of our rods for the original purchaser, for just $55 plus $6.50 shipping.

The Fly Shop’s Bonus Rod & Reel Pouch Case included

Katie Falkenberg photo

Flex chart for The Fly Shop® Signature & Fresh H2O Fly Rods

The Lodge atTrevelin

Built for fly fishermen, this stellar lodge is within striking distance of Los Alerces Nat’l Park and all of Esquel’s tremendous trout fisheries!

Angler options range from float trips on the scenic Rio Rivadavia, wading the streams of the Chubut pampa, or backcountry hikes to small, seldom-fished streams in Los Alerces Nat’l Park.

Guests can “pick their own poison” and choose as much or as little match-the-hatch dry fly fishing, sight fishing, terrestrial or streamer fishing, or focus on Euro nymphing.

Trevelin guides specialize in steering their clients to small, out-ofthe-way, hard-to-get-to places. They’re experts at connecting with trout on the fish-rich Rio Grande below Lago Menendez and have the savvy to score consistently on the fly-shy, trophy trout in Arroyo Pescado (Argentina’s most famous spring creek). These guides give new meaning to the term expert.

FROMTHEIRFLAGSHIP lodge on the outskirts of the tiny Welsh community of Trevelin, the Patagonia River Guides team dishes up a diverse angling menu that includes a variety of spectacular public water as well as exclusive access to a number of private streams and stillwaters.

Trevelin Lodge guests can elect to fish a different river every day of their visit, no matter how long they plan to stay. There are over two dozen rivers within easy striking distance of the lodge, and this part of Patagonia is considered to have the most diverse trout fishing in Latin America.

Each professional Trevelin guide has an assistant, and every walk-and-wade fishing guest has a professional guide at his elbow to help improve the day. The talented guides specialize in solving the riddles and the challenges presented by diverse situations. They carry all the necessary flies and tackle required to change tactics quickly. The Trevelin guides are excellent instructors, patient tutors and rate as one of the best-trained fly fishing guide teams ever assembled in Patagonia.

The lodge location is in the heart of one of the most spectacular mountain valleys in all of Patagonia. The panoramic vista shifts from the distant, snow-capped Andes on the western horizon to the windswept pampas that stretch east to the Atlantic. Trevelin guests will find productive trout streams in every direction.

Packages with a custom-tailored daily itinerary can be fashioned for as few as six days or several action-packed weeks.

Many guests return to Trevelin year after year and space at the lodge is limited. Interested anglers are encouraged to pursue reservations through The Fly Shop® as far in advance as possible.

the lodge at trevelin

The peak season (November through mid-April ) packages include the airport transfers, superb guides, fine meals and excellent accommodations. Quality equipment (waders, rods, reels), flies, and terminal tackle are provided.

Scan this code for more info about PRG Trevelin.

TresValles Lodge

This part of Patagonia hasn’t changed much in the last century,

THETROUTINTRODUCED all over Patagonia between 1932 and 1950 were met with a variety of conditions. Very little was hostile. The clear, clean water, lack of native fish competition, and a near-perfect climate sent the newly arrived immigrant trout into a ballistic population explosion.

The only real predator Argentina fish are concerned with walks erect. With the exception of the well-regulated National Parklands, Patagonia soon became much like everywhere else on Earth – a place where the best fishing was often found only behind some locked gate, beyond a posted fenceline, after a long hike, or accessible only with a drift boat, a raft, or a four-wheel drive vehicle.

The region of Rio Pico is an exception. It is hours south of rural Esquel and a giant step beyond the middle of nowhere – a land of horseback travel and four-wheel drive transportation.

This part of Patagonia is beyond the influence of tourism and technology. It’s a place where trout have lived unmolested for nearly a century. They are plentiful and some are huge.

The river itself is a willow and beech tree-lined stream ringed by mountains, and is entirely fed in its upper reaches by the Rio Nielson, and the Rio Las Pampas downstream. These feeder streams require some hiking and are full of big, broad-shouldered trout.

In its narrow, shallow, upper reaches, all of the fishing is done from the bank – stalking and sight fishing. Farther downstream, as the river approaches the Chilean border (photo below) the Pico gains volume, broadens and is large enough to raft.

Tres Valles Lodge guests can expect to fish new water every day at the elbow of the best guides in Patagonia.

The Tres Valles experience is a small stream, dry fly fanatic’s dream come true. A great part of each day is spent sight-fishing for truly large trout, all at the elbow of one of a team of excellent, welltrained, very professional guides.

It’s only a stone’s throw to the nearest fishing and a short commute to a variety of small spring creeks and ultra-productive stillwater.

While at the lodge they’ll enjoy spectacular views, cuisine, and high-end accommodations in the middle of what’s considered one of the wildest and most remote parts of Patagonia.

The 6,000-square foot lodge features 4 spacious double suites each with private baths, a private deck with a beautiful view of Desnudo Mountain, a barbeque pit, two large fireplaces, library, full bar, two dining areas, mudroom, and large deck.

The professional kitchen prepares delicious gourmet meals, and weekly highlights include traditional asados and barbeques that showcase grass-fed beef and lamb that is raised on the estancia.

Resident hosts, Guillermina and Simon Madero, take pride in all aspects of the estancia and lodge management, ensuring guests enjoy an amazing lodging and fishing experience while at Rio Pico.

Tres Valles Estancia is a 22,000-acre cattle ranch about 150 miles south of Esquel. The nearest street light is a plane ride away, and the clear night sky in the Southern Hemisphere is brightly lit with stars and constellations we can’t see from home.

tres valles lodge packages include the airport transfers, superb guides, fine meals and excellent accommodations. Quality equipment (rods, reels, and even waders), flies and terminal tackle are all provided.

Scan this code for more info about Tres Valles Lodge.

Tres Valles Lodge photos

“ There’s more to

Patagonia than Fishing”

Ernie

When I began traveling to Patagonia nearly half a century ago, I turned first to friends for advice – where to go, what to do.

CHILEAN FLY fishing was then in it’s infancy and very few of today’s Argentine destinations had then been tested, but the Patagonia angling pioneer, Ernie Schwiebert, graciously took the time to provide me with an encyclopedic list of the places he felt we had to go, and the people I had to meet. At the end of his epistle-length message, Ernie offered a few final words of advice, “There’s more to Patagonia than fishing!”

Four decades later, The Fly Shop® is confident in our angling acumen, and wise enough to rely on other travel experts to help fashion the often-complicated air itineraries.

We’ve also found that whether it’s wine tasting in Mendoza, sightseeing at Iguazu Falls, or adding fascinating tours en route to the fishing, nobody we know has more experience or better local connections than our long-time Latin America travel advisors, Alicia Regueiro and Fabio Rodriguez at Holdy Tours ( www.holdytours.com or 800-446-111 1 or holdy@holdytours.com).

They specialize in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia air travel, and are intimately familiar with The Fly Shop’s angling destinations. Holdy Tours works hand-in-hand with local experts in Buenos Aires, Santiago, and elsewhere to provide meet-and-greet services, and hook you up with superb hotels, dining, and city excursions that’ll add a wonderful accent to your fly fishing travel.

Mike Michalak Founder and owner of The Fly Shop®

Schwiebert Personal Correspondence, June, 1980

Kenny Gonzalo photo

TFS Staff photo

Tom Wheatley photo

Nathaniel Shuman photo

Twin Bridges, Montana SINCE 1929

Tierra del Fuego’s Sea Run Browns

An average Rio Grande brown trout would be considered the fish of a lifetime anywhere else in the world!

THEFIRSTSEATROUT of Tierra del Fuego were stocked in the 30’s by John Goodall, an expatriate Brit, lonely for freshwater fishing and the sea run brown trout of his own native island. He first plant(along with rainbows) in the Ewan River, then turned to the Rio Grande and a few other rivers on the island in 1935.

The rainbows and browns thrived in the Rio Grande and, by the mid-50’s, the resident fish were thick in the main stem, headwaters, and all of the tributaries.

In Joe Brooks’ best-selling book, Greatest Fishing, Where to Go to Get the Best (Stackpole, 1957), he described the rainbows as “large and plentiful, averaging 3 to 5 pounds. A few of the browns were a bit bigger.” In two weeks of hard fishing, he and his fishing companions landed five brown trout over ten pounds. It’s questionable whether, at the time, those fish were sea run trout.

Within 15 years of that publication nearly all the large rainbows and resident browns in the lower 30 or 40 miles of the river were gone – leaving only a vestigal population of smaller rainbows and browns in the headwaters and tributaries. Then an ever-increasing annual migration of sea run brown trout claimed the main river as their own.

Another two decades passed and the population of sea run brown trout suddenly and unexpectedly exploded. The average size of the fish nearly doubled and the number of these river monsters went nuts. Rio Grande brown trout now average over 9 pounds. One fish in 5 is over 15 pounds and one sea trout in 40 will tip the scales above 20 pounds.

How did that happen? Well, an exhaustive, 3-year study conducted by University of Montana biologists theorizes the original browns and resident rainbows literally ate themselves out of house and home. They gobbled up the native forage fish and polished off all of the invertebrates. Then the browns left, trading the river sanctuary for the sea estuary and more plentiful groceries found in the Atlantic.

Why the brown trout now return annually as ever-larger anadromous fish, while the rainbows didn’t evolve into steelhead remains a mystery.

Biologists now estimate there are 2,432 adult trophy brown trout in every mile of the broad, shallow Rio Grande. That translates to nearly 700 fish in each of the 102 pools bordering the Estancia Maria Behety and Estancia Jose Menendez (Kau Tapen) and Despedida. At the same time, less than 7% of those fish in the river are caught each year.

Photo courtesy of David Oondatje and The Winston Fly Rod Company

Val Atkinson photo

s Kau Tapen Maria Behety Lodge s

All of the 106-mile long Rio Grande (in both Argentina and Chile) was once bordered by property owned by a single, wealthy pioneer, Jose Menendez. Today, the grand estancias created by the land baron are diminished. They’ve been bi-sected by national borders, sold, divided by descendants, or reduced by government mandate.

Still, the enormity of those remaining estancias is astounding.

The Rio Grande’s headwaters and most of the river is on the Chilean side of the border. However, there are progressively fewer pools, fewer spawning beds, and fewer numbers of fish in the upper river. Eighty percent of the prime spawning habitat, the major spawning tributary, and the best sea trout fishing is on the Argentine portion of the island – and nearly all of it is in the first 40 miles above where the river enters the sea.

The lodges on the southern shoreline of the Rio Grande are Kau Tapen, Villa Maria, Despedida Lodge, La Aurelia, and Ted Turner’s Estancia San Jose. The two lodges on the north bank of the river are Estancia Maria Behety Lodge and La Villa de Estancia Maria Behety.

The maximum combined occupancy of all these lodges is about fifty anglers. That allows an average of nearly a mile of private water and several huge pools and tailouts for every single fisherman who could possibly be accommodated in all of the Rio Grande lodges.

The fishing lodges alternate use of the river beats located on their property with their neighbors on the opposite bank in an organized rotation, ensuring a terrific fishing experience for everyone.

If John Goodall was still alive, he’d be proud that his modest hatchery experiment morphed into one of the most sought after trout fisheries on Earth.

estancia maria behety

estancia jose menendez

estancia despedida

estancia jose menendez s Despedida

The Two Sea Trout Lodges of Estancia Maria Behety

THELEGENDOF the Rio Grande began here in the summers of the 50’s and 60’s when the historic Menendez mansion hosted fly fishing legends Joe Brooks, Mel Krieger, Jorge Donovan, Ernie Schweibert, Bebe Enchorena, and other great Argentina angling pioneers.

At the turn of the 20th century all the lands now bordering the Rio Grande (in both Chile and Argentina) fell under the aegis of one man, Jose Menendez. The largest of his two estancias, Maria Behety (below), was named in honor of his indominitable wife.

The property had a library, school, bakery, chapel, blacksmith shop, and everything else needed to be self-sufficient before towns, airports, or even ferries and roads reached the island of Tierra del Fuego.

The estancia is still a working ranch with fences surrounding hundreds of square miles of grazing land, tens of thousands of sheep, cattle, and the largest sheep shearing shed in the world.

The huge estancia stretches from near the river mouth for more than thirty miles towards the Chile. The two Maria Behety lodges are the only ones on the north side of the river.

Maria Behety fishermen alternate use of the well-defined river beats each day with neighbors on the opposite shorline. The estancia’s guests have access to every inch of what the other lodges claim are the best pools on the river, far fewer anglers per river mile, and a great deal of daily diversity. dreds of square miles of grazing land, tens of thousands of sheep, cattle, and the largest sheep shearing shed in the world.

The huge estancia stretches from near the river mouth for more than thirty miles towards the Chile. The two Maria Behety lodges are the only ones on the north side of the river.

Maria Behety fishermen alternate use of the well-defined river beats each day with neighbors on the opposite shorline. The estancia’s guests have access to every inch of what the other lodges claim are the best pools on the river, far fewer anglers per river mile, and a great deal of daily diversity.

la villa de estancia maria behety

Situated near the entrance to the estancia, La Villa de Estancia Maria Behety was once regarded as among the most beautiful “farm” mansions in South America. It was gutted by fire in the 1970’s, then painstakingly restored by craftsmen under the watchful eye of Alejandro Menendez, grandson of the estancia’s founder and Tierra del Fuego land baron.

Renovation included the addition of every imaginable modern amenity and qualifies La Villa de Estancia Maria Behety as one of the most deluxe fly fishing lodges in all of South America.

The six weekly guests enjoy single occupancy accommodations, an after angling hours billiard and card room, and an always-open bar.

Meals are paired with fine varietals selected from La Villa’s excellent, 7,000-bottle cellar.

Scan this code for more info about La Villa de Estancia Maria Behety

Val Atkinson photo

The Fly Shop® has had an active role in Tierra del Fuego since the late 1990’s. We financed the construction of Maria Behety Lodge in 2000, designed and built Despedida Lodge in 2002, and assisted in the restoration of the historic Menendez family mansion in 2004.We’ve worked with Nervous Waters, Kau Tapen, and La Villa since the mid-90’s and joined them in underwriting the costs of the Rio Grande’s definitive, 3-year University of Montana study.

Nobody in the angling world knows as much about the Rio Grande’s lodges, or its sea trout and fly fishing, than the expert travel team here at The Fly Shop®.

We’ve been there and done the homework, so you won’t have to. Give us a call with your questions, and we’ll help you build the Tierra del Fuego trip of a lifetime!

estancia maria behety lodge

This modern, cozy lodge overlooks the Rio Grande nearly 10 miles upstream from the entrance to Estancia Maria Behety, the largest estancia bordering the river. The mid-estancia location positions angling guests within quick and easy striking distance of every pool on the 32 miles of river flanked by Estancia Maria Behety. It is the finest trophy sea trout fishing on Earth!

The spacious accommodations host a maximum of a dozen fly fishermen and was designed with every necessary amenity. Each guest enjoys a queen-size bed, a wonderful open bar, fine food, and a clublike, informal atmosphere.

Fly fishermen at both Maria Behety lodges rotate throughout the estancia’s beats, ensuring equal access to the best of the river’s pools.

They are teamed with talented, experienced, fly-savvy, English-speaking, Argentine guides who know the river intimately.

Scan this code for more info about Estancia Maria Behety Lodge.

Marcos Hlace photo

Jeff Bright photo

Fiercely proud of their heritage, the Menendez family insists on staffing both lodges with Argentine guides, management, domestics, and a kitchen staff selected from Buenos Aires’ finest restaurants.

The Two Sea Trout Lodges of Estancia Jose Menendez

The first estancia & lodge

What was the first and most famous estancia in all of Tierra del Fuego more than a century ago kick-started the reputation of the Rio Grande as the most sought after fly fishing experience in the Americas, and the finest sea trout fishing in the world!

Jessica DeLorenzo photo

Courtesy of Fly Fisherman Magazine

Jose Menendez established this estancia in 1896 when this part of Argentina was a frontier wilder than the American West! It was the first jewel in his necklace of Tierra del Fuego sheep and cattle ranches that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific, spanned two nations, and surrounded a thousand square miles!

AFTERTHEDEATH of Jose Menendez in 1918, all of his property and wealth were divided among his children and heirs. Later, Argentina’s Peron government forced the Menendez family to “choose their nationality,” divest themselves of their historic Chilean properties, their magnificent Punta Arenas family homes and to establish a buffer between Estancia José Menendez, Estancia Maria Behety, and the Chilean border.

The second generation of the family became mostly Porteños (residents of Buenos Aires), leaving the management of their estancias to professionals. Visits to their historic Tierra del Fuego homes and the massive pasturelands that nurtured their sheep by the tens of thousands became (and remains for many) a seasonal combination of business, vacation, and small family reunions.

José was long past caring, but the river flowing through the magnificent legacy he created gained notoriety and was destined to become the most famous sea trout fishery on Earth.

The lodge stuff began in the early 80’s, when his granddaughter, Jacqueline de las Carreras, and a

famous Argentine fishing friend, Jorge Donovan, built Tierra del Fuego’s first fishing lodge. It was originally a small, six-person, single-story family affair, dedicated to accommodating their globe-trotting, fly fishing friends.

By the mid-80’s the Rio Grande had been recognized by a lucky few as the sport’s premier sea trout river. The river’s average anadromous brown was considered huge by world standards, the numbers of fish returning each fall was startling and, unlike European sea trout fishing, the river was improving every year!

Fly fishermen in significant numbers were beginning to travel all over the map in search of trophy trout – and letting them go.

It was time for the family to build a real fishing lodge.

Creel census surveys and detailed records kept for over two decades confirm biologist’s estimates regarding the impressive average size of Tierra del Fuego sea trout!

kau tapen

Kau Tapen was more than just the first fishing lodge on the Río Grande. Not forgetting the name of the place is “Fish House” in the native language, the de las Carreras family built the lodge mid-river on the estancia, in the heart of the Rio Grande watershed and within easy striking distance of the best pools on the river and to minimize dirt road travel along a property that parallels the river for more than thirty miles.

The family was accustomed to fine food and great service themselves, and wouldn’t settle for anything less for their guests. They expanded and improved the size of the original lodge to accommodate a dozen anglers in 5-star comfort, each with private rooms and amenities unexpected in the distant, isolated island desert of Tierra del Fuego.

Kau Tapen offers superb cuisine, Argentina’s finest wines, and a team that includes some of the sport’s top guides. Over the past 40 years Kau Tapen has built a reputation as one of the finest lodges in the sport and enjoyed one of the highest return rates in the world of fly fishing - the true test of quality!

villa maria

With more pools than fishermen, Kau Tapen decided to open a sister-lodge in the Estancia Jose Menendez guest house in 1994. In the three decades since the first guests arrived, Villa Maria has established a reputation second-to-none on the Rio Grande.

The Villa Maria location is a short drive from the river’s largest and most famous pools – they are broad, shallow and ideal places to intercept ocean-fresh fish, and the perfect location for wind and distance-friendly Spey rods.

In addition to the Rio Grande, guests can opt to explore the twenty-two miles of the private Menendez River, the Rio Grande’s major tributary. Though much smaller than the Rio Grande, the fish are every bit as big and it is a technical, sight-fishing treat!

Custom Fly Selections

fine-tuned for exactly where you’re headed.

Up to 20% off

Order all you want and return what you didn’t use after the trip for credit!

The Fly Shop® has been one of the sport’s largest angling travel agents for nearly 48 years. We’ve visited, guided, and outfitted tens of thousands of fly rodders for fly fishing trips all over the globe and no one in the fly business is as experienced. Who better to help choose the right selection of flies for your next trip?

Order one of our custom selections and get the flies you’ll really need!

Our team of experienced travel professionals fill every order individually, picking flies we know will work. We’ll make sure your fly box is loaded with exactly what you’ll need and just what we’d choose for ourselves. Whether you are headed to Alaska for king salmon, Argentina for sea run browns, or Bolivia for dorado, you’ll end up with a first-class selection of flies. Each one will be totally on-target for exactly the spot you’re headed.

Show up prepared with nothing flies that will work. You’ll arrive properly outfitted, and ready to catch fish with your custom fly box stuffed with deadly flies selected specifically for your destination by experienced anglers who have been there and know what will work.

Order all the flies you want for your trip. When you return, just send back what you didn’t use for a credit!

Traveling anglers can load up with all the flies they might think they need for a trip. When they return they’re welcome to return any of those flies that are unused (within 60 days of that purchase) and in their original condition for a 100% in-store credit

It’s an open invitation (whether you booked your trip with us or not) to every traveling fly fisherman to load up on the proven patterns and insure you show up with al the flies you’re going to want or need!

The Fly Shop® sells nothing but the highest quality flies in the sport. Our patterns are tied by craftsmen to our own exacting standards using nothing but the industry’s sharpest hooks, and the finest available materials.

Your selection will be made from fly fishing’s largest inventory of flies A great deal of theThe Fly Shop’s massive fly selections was created for the needs of our travle clientele. It’s a diversity not found elsewhere..

PAT PENDERGAST was brought on board The Fly Shop® 28 years ago to lead our team of international destination specialists in our travel department. He’s fished most all of the locations we represent, and continues to explore the world in search of new and exciting fisheries.

Pat’s extensive international fly fishing knowledge and intimate, first-hand experience at the places The Fly Shop® represents ensures that your fly selection will be spot-on for the fishery you’ve chosen.

Put decades of field experience to work for you and let Pat and his team build a fly selection that’ll guarantee a successful angling holiday.

Chile & Argentina Fly Selections

There isn’t a spot on the Latin American map we haven’t fished dozens of times. Let us know exactly where and when you’ll be there and we’ll select just the right patterns and help ensure the success of your angling holiday.

#4950 Argentina Trout $149.95

4949 Chile Trout 174.95

Tierra del Fuego Sea Trout Selection

Decades of experience has tuned The Fly Shop® into the hot Rio Grande flies.

#3559 Rio Grande Sea Trout $159.95

Amazon Peacock Bass Fly Selection

There’s no outfit in the world that is better prepared or more knowledgeable about jungle fly fishing than the experts at The Fly Shop®

#18746 Peacock Bass $334.95

Arapaima Fly Selection

There are only a couple of places in the Amazon where this fish can be legally caught.

#19722 Arapaima $309.95

Golden Dorado Fly Selection

Argentina or Bolivia? The correct patterns will help ensure your success.

#19335 Golden Dorado $334.95

Tigerfish Fly Selection

We know what works and we can fine-tune a box of Tigerfish flies for these toothy African critters.

#24581 Tigerfish $319.95

Fly fishing with the indigenous of Brazil

THE EXPLORER , Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered Brazil in April of 1500 while searching for the West Indies. Accompanied by a fleet of 6 ships and 1,200 adventurers, Pedro claimed Brazil and all of South America for Portugal when he realized he had found a new continent.

The natives had no acquired immunity and their population was quickly decimated by the confines of slavery, and introduction of measles, smallpox, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Without hesitation, Portugal screwed the indigenous population both literally and figuratively for the next 300 years. Then, after the crown finally ceded independence in 1822, fresh faces emerged to butterball the “indios” for another two centuries.

Now, five centuries after Cabral stepped ashore, much of the indigenous’ remaining land continues to be invaded and taken by farmers, developers, miners, and loggers.

There is, however, a new and politically savvy generation of natives who aren’t taking the insults to their sovereignty lying down.

Their connection to tradition and the natural world upon which they depend remains continuous and unbroken. As Pukatire, the chief of a Kayapo tribe told us, “We need the white man for a few things; eyeglasses, flip-flops, and flashlights.”

The contemporary Brazilian government has also changed. In fact, under the watchful eye of the Brazilian government’s biologists and their version of our Bureau of Indian Affairs, a number of historic agreements between the indigenous native tribes and progressive fishing operations have been crafted that (for the first time) prioritize the interests of the native Indio community.

Providing the leadership and models for these agreements were our friends and business associates at Untamed Angling.

Working hand-in-hand with government watchdogs and tribal leaders they collaborated, then created what is now the largest assemblage of catch-and-release, flyfishing-only preserves on planet Earth.

Together they established mandatory Native Community Fees ( paid by all anglers) in all Untamed Angling fisheries to further support the tribes’ efforts to remain unaided and committed to tradition.

The indigenous tribes also participate in the operation of the Untamed Angling lodges and camps. They form a majority of the labor pool and, as their skills develop’s the men and women whose tribes have legitimated control of these river valleys take an ever-increasing role in the management, development and protection of their own fishery.

The indigenous inhabitants of Kendjam, Pirarucu, Xingu, Tsimané, and the Marié with their vibrant traditions, profound wisdom, and intimate knowledge of their fisheries are the beating heart of these destinations.

Guests don't just visit; they learn, listen, and connect. Lodge guests participate in a living culture, and leave with a deeper understanding and respect for their hosts' way of life.

When you’re there, you’re helping too.

The Kayapós are indirectly world-famous. Their connectivity to their natural world and the fierceness with which they defend it has been the subject of several National Geographic documentaries and inspired the film, Avatar.

Adriano Gambarini photo

The Fly Shop® The Jungle Is

The New Frontier of Fly Fishing

The Fly Shop® has been part of the cutting edge of jungle angling for more than two decades. We’re the exclusive agent for the #1 Peacock Bass destination in the Amazon and are, arguably, the most experienced and knowledgeable angling travel agent in the world of jungle fly fishing.

From Africa, Bolivia, Brazil or Colombia, we offer a diverse portfolio of lodges and camps to suit every angler’s interests and budget. Call us today and put decades of jungle expertise to work for you.

We look forward to helping you with all your fly fishing needs.

South America’s Golden Dorado

Taxonomically, these Latin American sportfish are shaped like our king salmon, but with terrible orthodonture. They’re incredibly powerful and go airborne immediately when they’re hooked. If a Dorado was tied tail-to-tail with most other freshwater species, it’d pull the scales off its opponent then probably turn around and eat it!

DORADOARESO aggressive and carnivorous that they eat each other and even eat their young. In the juvenile stage these cannibals swim in small circles chewing at each other’s tails. In fact, it’s rare to find a young Dorado with its ass end intact, and thathasn’t been physically scarred by a relative. They’re the ultimate dysfunctional family in the fish world, displaying only two modes of behavior: kill and reproduce. Apparently they can multitask and can often be found in both modes simultaneously. By nature, Dorado are mean as hell. They show no mercy, and often chase their prey into inches of water. The violent pursuit of these fish busting bait easily telegraphs the location of the Dorado, and a quick, well-placed streamer will usually connect.

These fierce, macho fish will take flies on top of the water and subsurface. The techniques are simple, and the whereabouts of Dorado is predictable. With no predators, they often lie in plain sight, and stalking them from the shore is thrilling.

The strike of a mature Dorado can be surprisingly subtle or extremely violent, and when the fish feels the steel, all hell breaks loose. They’re ferocious animals, go airborne right away, and don’t give up easily.The battle is punctuated with explosive bursts of power and tailwalking attempts to toss the hook. Then, when the struggle appears over and they’re being landed they’ll often attack the angler!

Tsimane Lodge photos

Argentina’s Recognized Experts

Argentine and Bolivian conventional tackle fishermen have been rabid Dorado anglers for generations. It’s popularity languished for decades in the dark recesses of our sport, and enthusiasm for the freshwater freight trains didn’t gain traction with the gringo fly fishing community until the relatively recent discovery of fly rodfriendly, clear jungle rivers in Bolivia, and tropical marshlands where sight fishing is the rule, not the exception.

THESEMIGRATORY predators spend their entire life in freshwater, either spawning or chasing baitfish. The two most common prey are sabalo (a migratory baitfish the size of a small, one to three-pound shad) and any one of several common tetras (which look like giant guppies)

Dorado can be both resident and migratory in most rivers. Nonresident Dorado migrate upstream each year following the upstream movement of massive schools of spawning baitfish.

Large numbers of Dorado begin to show up in Bolivia’s jungle river headwaters each season in mid-May, and are stacked up in the pools and deep riffles by the end of June.

The season in the marshlands and rivers of Northern Argentina begins about then and peaks in October. Like all predators they’ll either lie in resting position or wait in ambush locations, and it’s going to be the same whether you’re fishing in the Corrientes River, blind-casting in the Ibera Marsh, or sight-casting to visible fish in Bolivia’s clear rivers and tributary streams.

The vibrant coloration of the fish doesn’t appear to changes from infancy through maturity, and the brilliant yellow-gold responsible for the name, makes them stand out and easy to spot in clear water.

The most effective method to prospect for fish is with a streamer, though seeing a fish longer than your leg smack a popper is a heartstopping thrill that’s worth the long trip to South America it is far less common than the subsurface strike of a mature Dorado.

There isn’t a more vicious freshwater gamefish in the America’s than the Dorado. They’re meaner than a junkyard dog and landing a big one is a feat in itself. If you aren’t paying attention and turn your back on one for a second while posing for that grip-n-grin photo, they’ll try to take a chunk of flesh out of you.

They’re belligerent, mean, and nasty – all the things we like in a fish!

Gearing up for Dorado is easy. Eight or nine weight fly rods, and a high-end reel with a drag that can handle the sudden, explosive bursts of speed that you can expect every time you hook up with one of these mean machines

TrophyDorado can tip the scales at up to 40 pounds, but most are about half that size. Schooling fish in the Ibera Marsh average smaller. But even a small, four or five-pound Dorado puts up a helluva fight, and will easily bend an eight-weight rod to the butt.

These fish aren’t leader shy. Most veteran anglers choose floating lines or the clear Tropic sink tip line, heavy leaders, and thirty-pound wire tippet.

This isn’t one of those tackle-intensive trips. With the exception of your rod and reel, nearly everything you need and aren’t wearing will fit in your pocket.

Why this facet of the sport took so long to resonate with fly fishermen is anybody’s guess. But, in our book, this badass carnivore rates right alongside its distant cousin, the tigerfish, as the ultimate freshwater gamefish!

Here at The Fly Shop we’ve quickly become addicted to Dorado fishing. Give us a call and we’ll do our best to get you hooked on this incredible tropical fishing, too.

The Dorado Cruiser

This is a perfect way to spend your first or last few days in Argentina before (or after) fishing in Patagonia, wine tasting, or hunting. The Parana Gipsy helps avoid overnight hotels, transfers, and time in another city whose sights and interests you may have exhausted on previous trips.

THEPARANÁDELTA is formed by the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers. It’s a 4,600-square mile marshland that filters the rivers, allows them to clear, creates a unique ecosystem to support a massive migration of bait fish, and a fishery harboring the largest population of Dorado on the planet.

This is the perfect fishery for anglers new to Dorado fishing with a fly and who measure successful trips by numbers of fish. Anglers can expect to land a couple dozen Dorado each day in the 2-7 pound range, and an occasional fish twice that size.

The key to effectively fishing the thousands of lagoons, back bays, channels, creeks, and river banks that make up this natural fish farm is mobility and the ability to pursue these extremely migrant, pressure-savvy gamefish. That’s where the mothership, Parana Gipsy, with a team of hardcore fly fishing guides and first-class fishing skiffs comes into the picture, keeping its anglers within easy striking distance of a fresh supply of aggressive Dorado.

Guests aboard the ultra-comfortable, 75´Paraná Gipsy enjoy firstclass cuisine, and the finest Argentine wines with meals.

Guests destined for a few days of angling on the Dorado Gipsy are met at Ezeiza Int’l Airport and spirited by van to the skiffs harbored at on the shoreline of the Paraná River. From there, it’s a swift boat ride to the liveaboard, where the staff will be ready with snacks and refreshments, and you’ll have a chance to stow away luggage, gear, and get your tackle organized. Depending on arrival time, anglers often get in a few hours of Dorado action that very same afternoon. The season is year ‘round, though peak Dorado angling begins in October and continues through the end of March.

Golden Dorado Cruiser photo

A few days Aboard the Paraná Gipsy

THEDORADOCRUISER is a travel-worthy experience and a productive destination for anglers who want to get their first taste of fly fishing for golden dorado.

Thanks to the program’s easy access to and from Buenos Aires, a few days aboard the Paraná Gipsy is also a wonderful way to begin (or end) an Argentina holiday.

For anglers heading south to fish for trout in Patagonia, a few days spent chasing dorados beforehand can help shake off the travel cobwebs, and serve as the perfect way to welcome yourself to Argentina.

Once on board the skiff, it’s only an hour or so by skiff before tying up to the Paraná Gipsy. Carefully designed to support a fly-fishing operation, the ship is kept moored near a comfortable oasis in the midst of the river delta. The guest cabins are picture-windowed, roomy affairs, furnished with two twin beds and an en-suite bathroom with a hot-water shower.

The Paraná fishery, a stone’s throw away, is second only in size to the mighty Amazon in South America. The river begins in southeastern Brazil, flows south, and eventually joins the Uruguay River to form the massive Río de la Plata Estuary –home base for the Paraná Gipsy.

In all, the Paraná’s drainage encompasses a massive area of about 1,081,000 square miles as it spreads throughout parts of Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina.

In the upstream regions of the Paraná, the Dorado are substantially larger, though not nearly as plentiful. The verdant Río de la Plata Estuary is alive with animals, birdlife, near non-stop action for juvenile Dorado and, once in a while, a real trophy.

golden dorado cruiser

The Parana Gipsy package is simple and hassle-free. Guests are met at the Buenos Aires airport, and about three hours later will be on board and rigging up their fly rods, often in time to enjoy an evening of fishing on the day of arrival.

The modestly priced packages include airport transfer, liveaboard accommodations, meals, non-alcoholic beverages, paired wines with meals, and guided fishing.

s The Non-Angling Rate is 50% of the angling package, and the Parana Gipsy is a swell place for the non-fishermen to relax and enjoy the constant parade of wildlife and birdlife.

Peter Herzog photos

The Dorado Cruiser

Dorados on the Fly

The birthplace of the passion, fever, and enthusiasm fueling the sport of dorado fishing is Argentina, and Ricardo “Pinti” Pinto is the most famous dorado outfitter in Latin America. He’s forgotten more about dorado than most claim to know, and has a small, riverside lodge in a village on the shore of the Paraná River, perfectly positioned to access the endless river, back bays, and side channels that hold some of the largest dorado in the world!

FROM HIS ITÁIBATÉ base on the Upper Paraná River below Yacyretá Dam, Ricardo Pinto and his expert staff of fly fishing guides are perfectly positioned to pursue some of the largest and most explosive freshwater carnivores in all of South America.

The river in this region is a tailwater for more than 70 kilometers with over 6 feet of visibility. The dorado in this area cohabit with exceptionally large pacu that range from 8 to 25 pounds, and pirá pitá which are called “Paraná Salmon” because of their red meat.

Pinti and his guide staff are world-class professionals, with decades of experience, fishing and guiding dorado all over South America. These guys are considered the best in the business, and have developed the most popular flies and the most effective techniques used in this aspect of the sport. They are terrific communicators, coaches, and fun to spend a day on the skiff with. They’ll fasttrack you on the fly fishing tactics needed to become a successful dorado angler, and you’ll learn something new every day.

Guests fishing with Dorados on the Fly enjoy a well-appointed and spacious Argentina-style lodge sitting right on the banks of the Paraná River, with spectacular views of the water and jungle environment surrounding this amazing fishery. Anglers are accommodated in large single/private rooms complete with en suite bathrooms, air conditioning and all the amenities you would expect in a first-class fishing lodge. Meals are enjoyed in the main dining room, and fish stories are shared in the full bar.

The best months for dorado fishing on the Paraná River with Dorados on the Fly are from October through early January, and again late March through May.

During late January, February, and March, the water warms up and the dorado tend to be off the bite during the bright, sunny days. So Pinti focuses on early in the morning and late evening angling. This is prime time, however, for targetting pacu and pirá pitá with dry flies. It’s a challenging, super-technical sight fishing situation, using lighter than normal gear (5 and 7 weights).

dorado on the fly (corrientes, argentina) Dorados on the Fly operates for the majority of the year, September 1 through May 31.

Pinti’s place features lovely guest rooms, fine meals, great wines, and a full bar. Anglers share a guide and boat in search of trophy dorado on the Upper Paraná River using sinking tips or floating lines.

Scan this code for more info about Dorados on the Fly.

Dorados on the Fly photos

ARGENTINA

Pirá Lodge

The enormous Iberá is the second-largest wetland reserve in the world. It surrounds more than 3 million acres of flowing water and envelops what is considered one of South America’ most important freshwater systems.

The expansive wetland is a habitat-rich bottleneck formed by the convergence of the Iberá marsh and Corrientes River. This spectacular water wonderland is an intricate network of gin-clear creeks, shallow lakes, swamps, and lagoons. Its borders stretch beyond even northern Argentina’s massive Corrientes Province. And here, the Dorado is king.

ARGENTINA

Stephan Dombaj photo

pirá lodge is located on the shores of the The Iberá Wetlands Nature Reserve. This lovely facility was created more than two decades ago and was the first luxury fishing resort in Latin America to focus exclusively on dorado. And they do it exclusively with flies!

Beautifully designed and crafted with exquisite Corrientes style and pride, Pirá Lodge enjoys a spectacular panoramic view of the vast wetlands and accommodates up to 10 guests in five deluxe rooms, each with a private entrance, private bath, two double beds, ceiling fans, and air conditioning.

Everything about Pirá Lodge is first-class! It was designed by award-winning architects to respect traditional regional elegance – and offers all the comforts and luxuries of a contemporary boutique hotel. Everything is included. Guests can enjoy a cocktail or fine Argentine varietal at any hour, and cool off in the outdoor swimming pool after a rewarding day of fishing.

The warm, sub-tropical climate of northern Argentina makes Pirá a wonderful mid-winter destination that dovetails with the peak fishing season in Chile, and the best of the fishing and shooting season in Argentina.

While the average fish isn’t enormous, the remarkably productive dorado fishing at Pirá is consistent, and trophy-sized models are not uncommon. In fact, Pirá Lodge rates at the top of our list for those anglers interested in getting into the world of fly fishing for dorado.

Scan this code for more info about Pirá Lodge.

Pirá anglers fish dorado from Hell’s Bay flats skiffs, ideal for the marsh environment and fly rodders. Guides are well-trained, and food at Pirá is absolutely first-class.

Pira Lodge photo

The Jungle is the new frontier in fly fishing!

WHENWEOPENED our doors in 1978, much of today’s world of fly fishing didn’t exist. Cuba was off-limits. There were a couple of lodges in the Bahamas, and one in the Yucatan. Christmas Island, the Seychelles, Jurassic Lake, Rio Grande sea trout, Kola Atlantic Salmon, Kamchatka trout, and much of the fly fishing in Patagonia, Belize, and elsewhere didn’t yet exist on the fly fishing map.

A permit on a fly was a rarity. The pursuit of offshore bluewater species, bass, tarpon, permit, bonefish, redfish, and even carp had been surrendered to the spin fishing and conventional tackle crowd. It’s taken nearly half a century, but fly fishing has developed, explored, conquered, and now has a share of those angling arenas.

Fly fishing industry experts predict that a great deal of what is left in fly fishing’s future involves new target species, refined tackle, flies, and innovative methods. We’ve already seen switch rods, the spey revolution, Euro-nymphing, and new flies that’ll catch Milkfish and other species considered impossible to attract a few years ago.

The Fly Shop® was prominent in the voyage beyond many of those angling barriers. We’ve been walking the cutting edge for nearly 50 years and have the scars to prove it. We feel strongly that the jungle is the new frontier of fly fishing – and that prophecy makes sense.

The Amazon rainforest is huge, blanketing nine South American nations with 390 billion trees. Its massive river system eventually embraces 25% of all freshwater on the face of the Earth, and has more fish species in it than the entire Atlantic Ocean.

Yes, the jungle is the beating heart of fly fishing’s new frontier.

John

Sherman photo

The Fly Shop® has been part of the cutting edge of jungle angling for more than two decades. We’re the exclusive agent for the #1 Peacock Bass destination in the Amazon and we are, arguably, the most experienced and knowledgeable angling travel agent in the world of jungle fly fishing.

Marcos Hlace photo

Matt Harris photo

Daniel Coimbra photo

Val Atkinson photo

Rafael Costa photo

Untamed Angling photo

Frank Azevedo photo

Camilo Duarte photo

Peter Herzog photo

Justin Miller photo

The Tsimane Experience

Tsimane is in the heart of Bolivia’s Indigenous Territory. It’s a wild country where the Amazon jungle meets the Andes and is definitely in the conversation for the most unique and exciting freshwater destinations that have entered the world of international fly fishing in a generation.

TSIMANE IS a remarkably different jungle experience, sightcasting to monster dorado that can tip the scales at up to 40 pounds, in gin-clear, freestone rivers, with fierce pacú up to 25 pounds cohabitating with them. Much of the fly fishing is done in mountain fisheries that are often as clear as any western trout stream. It’s angling in a spectacular tropical jungle setting accented by exotic birdlife and a list of other unique animals, and set to a cacophony of jungle noise.

We hunt golden dorado with light tackle, and spot them in shallow water, busting bait or lying in structure ready to ambush anything in range.

The pursuit is often done on foot, with pairs of anglers wading or stalking foraging fish from the banks of these freestone rivers. When individual dorado are spotted, fishermen usually alternate shots. The wading and the walking aren’t tough, but there’s a lot of it. The angling days are often strenuous and are best suited for physically fit anglers with a spirit of adventure and an appetite for exotic fishing that’s beyond conventional.

Sight-casting to these fierce cannibals is a thrilling event that must be experienced to be understood.

tsimane’s pluma lodge

Pluma Lodge is as nice of a place as you will find in the jungle. Carved out of the Amazon forest, it features fine meals and panoramic views of the river, where packs of ravenous dorado hit schools of sabalo at all hours of the day and night. Six anglers have access to fishing that begins at the lodge doorstep, as well as targeting two different, nearby rivers and several smaller tributaries. Adventurous anglers may choose to trek up the rugged Upper Pluma or hike to incredible sight-fishing in the Itirizama headwaters.

Pluma Lodge was sustainably built entirely from material harvested from the local jungle forest and features 6 single/private rooms. Each room is equipped with a private bathroom, spring box bed, hot water, ceiling fans and 24-hour electricity – luxury jungle accommodations by any standard. Decadent international cuisine, fine wines from Argentina, Chile and Bolivia and an open bar are all included.

Tsimane is more

than just another

destination

TSIMANE IS A real partnership between an indigenous native community and private enterprise. The small tribe of Tsimane all participate in the operation of the lodge and camps. These are people who have changed little, other than their clothing, in a thousand years. But, they are invested in their own land and take an ever-increasing role in the management and protection of their own fishery.

Guests at Tsimane will not only enjoy phenomenal fishing, but will be immersed in local culture and surrounded by guides and other natives who contribute a great deal to every aspect of what makes Tsimane more than just another fishing trip.

Scan this code for more info about Pluma Lodge.

Untamed Angling photo

Christiaan Pretorius photo

Sécure Lodge

SÉCURE LODGE , like its sister lodges Pluma and Agua Negra, is uber-remote, tucked between two mountain ranges, and strategically positioned to take full advantage of miles and miles of world-class waters home to dorado and pacu. Each morning pairs of anglers, accompanied by an English-speaking pro guide and an indigenous native, set off in specially-designed wooden 28-foot boats powered by small outboard engines or traditional dugout punts poled by natives, to explore both up and downstream of the lodge. The amount of water to fish at Sécure is massive and the dorado are aggressive as hell, and love to pound streamers and poppers. As an added bonus, anglers can opt to venture upriver toward the headwaters, spending a night or two at an out-camp that puts you in some of the wildest country you can possibly fish, anywhere on Earth.

Based on the comforts of the main Sécure Lodge and the opportunity of doing headwaters out-camps, anglers have access to a broad variety of waters and pools which allow groups to fish in new water every day. It is absolutely ideal.

The lodge at Sécure sits on an elevated hardwood deck overlooking the river. The lodge features 6 deluxe, single occupancy, private wood cabins, each with its own bathroom, spring box bed, hot water, ceiling fans and 24-hour electricity. Delectable cuisine, fine international wines and an open bar are all included.

Val Atkinson photo

sécure lodge is located in Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS), established in 1965. The park is home to indigenous people belonging to the Tsimané, Yuracaré, and Mojeño-Trinitario peoples. Access is by invitation only and strictly controlled.

The Sécure River is born at the confluence of the Nutusama and Cascarrillas streams. Along its first sections this river goes from north to south between the Mosetenes Range and the Eva Eva Mountain Range and it is wedged among peaks that range from 900 to 2,000 meters above sea level.

The upper section of the Sécure River is extremely beautiful with crystal clear water, and allows anglers ample opportunities to sight-fish.

Transportation to the headwaters are in handmade Chiman wood dugout canoes (coambas) powered by push poles or small outboard engines. After a few hours navigating upstream, one can encounter two small tributaries, the Ashahana and the Maniquisito, both offering excellent holding water. On the upper Sécure there are dorado up to 30 pounds, many of them resident fish. There are also a lot of pacú, moturos, surubi and yatorana, which are excellent sport.

The lower section of the Sécure River is shallow and open, with grass banks, long gravel bars interrupted by fallen trees, logs and boulders. As you move downstream its clear waters gradually become colored due to tributaries sweeping sediments from the high plateau – perfect for dorado to ambush baitfish. The beats in this sector are more accessible and the river features are diverse with long runs, “flats”, sandy riverbanks, channels and deep pools. Dorado are the unquestionable kings here, though very large pacu can also be caught in the deep pools, where seeds and fruit pods are brought in by the current.

Scan this code for more info about Securé Lodge.

Agua Negra Lodge

AGUA NEGRA LODGE was purposely built as a small, intimate facility that could host only 5 anglers at one time. This is a perfect, private retreat for small groups of friends, or the family looking for an over-the-top angling experience in the midst of the most exotic landscape imaginable. Deluxe, wood-framed, private cabins, ice-cold drinks, and fine meals await fish-weary fly rodders after each day of fishing. It’s ideal for those anglers with more than an ounce of adventure in their souls, who want to get farther away, and are searching for the ultimate in remote headwaters out-camps.

The fishing program at Agua Negra is diverse, and features three distinctly different fisheries – the Agua Negra, the Arroyo Chimoro, and the middle section of the Sécure River.

The Agua Negra River is the major tributary of the Sécure and less than half its size. The easily-waded river stacks with migrating dorado from June through the end of September. Its clear, shallow waters will remind you of a freestone trout stream back home – except you’re in a jungle rainforest! The river is intimate and easily waded, offering terrific opportunities for sight-fishing. As you make your way upstream, the river narrows, increasing in gradient with big boulders, plunge pools and chutes that hold individual dorado looking to attack the migrating sabalo baitfish. It’s up close and personal fishing, unique and extremely exciting as dorado tear through inches of shallow riffles to hammer your streamer and shoot immediately into the air. Good numbers of pacú are also available in this little gem of a fishery.

Arroyo Chimoro is a small, crystal clear, tributary of the Sécure River, and harbors solid numbers of dorado in the 8 - 15 pound class, the occasional larger fish, and healthy populations of yatorana.

Every day, each two anglers, accompanied by an English-speaking, expert guide, motor up the Sécure to within striking distance of the mouth of the Chimoro. From there it’s all on foot, with you and your guide carefully and patiently dissecting the water, sight-fishing for the marauding dorado. It is, at times, both physically and technically challenging, but the memory of having connected with a dorado in a small mountain stream will last a lifetime.

The middle section of the Sécure River is a far different beast than the Agua Negra and Arroyo Chimoro. The Sécure is much larger, can accommodate more fish, and holds larger models of dorado.

Anglers travel from camp using 28-foot custom-designed, shallow draft dugouts powered by specialized, outboard motors. They’ll target individual and small schools of large, migratory dorado as they make their way upstream following baitfish.

These wild, ravenous fish are fueled by the sabalo they consume and are tough and mean as hell. The Sécure’s river structure is a combination of logs, sunken trees, boulders, deep cut-banks and long runs. All of it is perfect for ambush. Hooking, then hauling a 20-plus pound dorado out of a sunken tree engulfed in strong current is a real rodeo, and worth the price of admission.

agua negra lodge

As with the other Tsimane lodges operated by Untamed Angling, the Agua Negra out-camps are attractive to anglers searching to engage the full jungle fishing experience. The out-camps are simple affairs carved out of the bush, and offer a unique opportunity to hike to and fish for dorado that seldom see a human, let alone a fly. They offer hardcore anglers the opportunity to fish extended hours, and explore the limits beyond the normal guided day.

The lodge at Agua Negra is built from sustainably harvested jungle timber and sits on a high bank overlooking the middle Sécure River. Anglers are now accommodated in single occupancy, private, deluxe wooden cabins featuring full-sized beds, private bathrooms, toilets, showers, and WiFi. The new cabins are spacious, decorated with handmade hardwood furniture, and feature 24-hour electricity provided by generators and modern, renewable energy devices for powering fans.

Delicious meals are prepared by a chef featuring fresh meats, local fruits and vegetables, and paired with an assortment of wine options. Breakfasts are cooked to order each morning, and lunches are taken riverside. The open bar is always stocked with your favorite libations.

Agua Negra gets high marks from The Fly Shop® for its intimate setting, variety of fishing, and the authentic jungle flair. Imagine all of this in the middle of nowhere!

Scan this code for more info about Agua Negra Lodge.

Tsimane Heli Fishing

Pluma Lodge

TSIMANE - BOLIVIA

ASIFTHETSIMANE experience wasn’t exciting enough, our partners at Untamed Angling have again raised the bar with a helicopter fly out program. Miles and miles of never before fished dorado water, not accessible on foot or from boats, is now reachable by short daily flights in two helicopters from Pluma Lodge. For 2025, anglers will have the option of six full days of helicopter fly-outs or a hybrid fly-out week, featuring 3 fly-outs and 3 days of boat/walk and wade fishing. This is fly-out fishing on steroids, the ultimate jungle fly fishing adventure, and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Period.

Scan this code for more info about Tsimane Heli Fishing.

Untamed Angling photos

Prime Travel Categories:

The Fly Shop’s Prime Travel Club

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Prime Travel is your definitive source of information on the finest fly fishing destinations in the world. Whether you are looking for a family holiday, a last-minute cancellation special, or a prime week at a high demand fishery, Prime Travel Club is a resource tool to help find exactly what you’re looking for.

Join the Prime Travel Club, at no cost.

s Last-minute cancellations – Save up to 50% on trips…or more

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Hook up today...just use the QR Code or go to our website: https://www.theflyshop.com/prime-travel.html

We promise not to flood your inbox or bother you with junk! We’ll only send you the information that you’ve requested!

Done right, the average international fly fishing trip takes a minimum of 40 hours of research.

You can save valuable time and gain inspiration with The Fly Shop.®

s Worldwide fly fishing best suited for couples

There are some fly fishing lodges and outfitters that do a great job of catering to angling couples, and non-fishing companions, and the staff here at The Fly Shop® are experts at creating angling holidays that can be a memorable combination of activities with something for everyone.

u We’ve got places with amazing snorkeling, world-class wildlife viewing and photography, whale watching, hiking, horseback riding for all skill levels, and cozy spots for those who just want to curl up with a good book in front of the fireplace while their best friend is off catching fish.

s Last-minute cancellations

One angler’s misfortune is often someone else’s opportunity, and if you are one of those fortunate fly fishers with an open calendar and can travel at a moment’s notice, then you need to get on our shortlist of special offers, deals, last-minute cancellations, and low-season incentives. These are occasionally high-quality trips at some of the best destinations in the world, and offered at substantially discounted rates.

Get on our list, and be the one to take advantage of a cancelled trip or special offer.

s Dead-center, hard to secure dates

Sometimes you just want the best – the best destination for the species you are pursuing, at peak season, outfitted by the best in the business. The Fly Shop® keeps its finger on the pulse of availability at some of the finest and most difficult places in the world to secure space.

Maybe it’s a prime week on the Babine River for steelhead, or maybe an absolute dead-center date at ESB Lodge for a week of permit fishing. Fresh or saltwater, we have the inside track on prime dates.

s Single anglers looking for a fishing partner

Fishing as a single angler can be expensive, especially when it comes to saltwater fly fishing destinations, where solo anglers can expect to pay upwards of 60% or more for the privilege of having their own private room, guide and boat. The advantages are obvious, but you will pay a premium. If you don’t mind sharing your room and fishing with another like-minded angler, we can help you find a suitable partner. We keep a long list of anglers looking for a fishing partner they can match up with and share the costs. And who knows, you might meet your next wingman!

u The common denominators at all these getaways include breathtaking scenery, a variety of outdoor experiences, and terrific fly fishing.

We’ll find you some great fishing that, combined with a line-up of non-angling activities, will make you a vacation planning hero with your partner!

s Trips hosted by The Fly Shop’s travel team

One of the best ways to get the most out of a fly fishing destination is joining one of our staff on a “hosted” trip.

You’ll be guaranteed another level of red carpet treatment even beyond The Fly Shop’s normal, award-winning service with the on-site help of one of our experienced staff who’ll be right there to help – from start to finish.

From the moment your reservation is confirmed, our pro-staff host will personally do everything possible to make your trip memorable and more rewarding.

Too, if you want to avoid single supplement fees, hosted trips are a perfect option. There are no added fees or costs associated with The Fly Shop® hosted trips, and our staff usually travels with extra gear, demo tackle, and flies to share.

s What better way is there to make longlasting memories with your family than a fishing trip?

Few things in life are better than a family vacation to a warm tropical paradise, a quiet little trout stream, or the wild maritimes of remote coastal Alaska or British Columbia. These family-oriented vacation spots offer world-class fishing and nonangling activities that are sure to keep the entire family entertained and happy.

We represent a strong stable of lodges suitable for not only the angler in your life, but the entire family. They represent a broad spectrum of experiences, locations and budgets that are sure to make everyone happy. These are vacations that forge strong family memories that last a lifetime.

s Regional Company Meetings

The Fly Shop® can easily help you custom-tailor your next business meeting at any of the lodges we represent, or any of several great local locations.

For example, our Antelope Creek Ranch facility (page 24) easily accommodates 10 to 14 guests, can provide a private chef for meals, and has an excellent conference room for your meetings. You might include some fly fishing instruction for the beginners in your group, or add a guide to help on the ranch’s two lakes and private trout stream.

Or consider a meeting at Corning’s Rolling Hills Casino (page 22) and we’ll provide the instructors and/or guides at their adjacent, fish-filled Luk Lake. Maybe a team of guides on the Sacramento or Trinity River for your own team?

The Fly Shop ® has helped companies like Walmart, Turner Communications, McDonalds, Ford Motor Co., Gallo, and other industry giants.

We can handle all the details from start to finish.

Jordan Mortimore photo

Robert Scoverski photo

Erik Argotti photo

Roughly a third of all known bird species and more than ten percent of all the birds on the planet Earth are found in this incredibly fauna-rich part of South America.

OURAMAZON fly fishing destinations are all in the midst of spectacular avian wonderlands, and though fly fishermen are thrilled by the sight of these fascinating feathered animals, we’re usually focused on the fishing and hear, more often than see, the birdlife of the Amazon. Still it isn’t uncommon to see hundreds of parrots, squadrons of macaws, a variety of magnificent herons, egrets, toucans and other birds overhead, on the shoreline, or in the riparian jungle.

Brazil alone is home to more than 1,800 different kinds of bird species, and new species are being discovered annually.

Certainly, the trips are about fish, but it’s not all about fish. There is so much more to enjoy and there are a few things you can do to make your jungle visits more fun. It is a rich and entertaining part of the fishing experience and, if you’re not paying attention, you’re missing an incredible facet of the trip.

For whatever reason, a few of our fishing lodges are more birdrich than others. The shorebirds and storks at Agua Boa are breathtaking. The number of macaws plying the skies at Marié is astonishing, and the morning alarm of the nesting birdlife surrounding the Tsimané camps is deafening in a very wonderful way.

Pirarucú Reserve is one of the top 5 bird-watching destinations in all of Brazil, and home to over 400 different species of birds.

Merlin Bird ID, a ( free download ) phone app, works well in the tropics and easily identifies birds by their melody, photo, or description. You’ll enrich your trip, become an expert in minutes, and amaze your companions with your ornithologic acumen.

Birdlife of theAmazon Peacock Bass Basics

There are 16 different species of peacock bass native to the world’s jungles, and none of them are even bass at all! They’re actually the largest and most powerful variety of more than 1,700 species of cichlids, jumbo-sized relatives of those small, dazzling fish found in most freshwater aquariums.

Untamed Angling photo

Matt Harris photo

IN ENGLISH they’re called peacock bass. In Brazil’s national language, Portuguese, they are called tucanaré. Tucunaré is a Tupy ( native Brazil tribe ) word that means ‘friend of the tree’ – no doubt because peacock bass are commonly found lying near submerged trees either as ambush spots, protection, or as a nesting area. In neighboring, Spanish-speaking Venezuela and Colombia they’re called Pavon, which means peacock.

These fish live 6 to 9 years in the wild and only one variety of peacock bass ( Cichla temensis ) routinely grows into the double-digit category. Their diet consists mostly of smaller fish, ( including each other ) and, as they grow, the big fish become progressively less common. So, peacock bass over 10 pounds are considered fish worth getting excited about! Those weighing in the ‘teens’ are true trophies, and any serious peacock bass angler would crawl naked through broken glass to connect with the rare fish that’ll tip the scales at 20 pounds.

The temensis ( big ones ) are usually found in pairs or singles. The largest recorded peacock caught was just under 30 pounds. Their smaller ( but much more numerous ) cousins range in size from 3 to 8 pounds as adults and are called “butterflies” or Borboletta, in Portuguese. Though some cohabit with the much larger tucanaré, they’re usually found in similar-sized family schools, and in often astonishing numbers.

It’s not unusual to hook dozens upon dozens of the smaller variety in a day. What these smaller models lack in size is more than compensated by their aggression, aerobatics, strength, and willingness to attack surface flies. The ultra-abundant peacocks

will bend any 7-weight to the butt, and are an acid tackle test. Temensis come in 2 distinct color phases. The “Asu” are brightly-colored fish in obvious spawning mode. The “Paca” phase is darker with small white dots in rows along their flanks. Equally captivating are the unique markings on their gill plates.

The massive spiderweb of tributaries that make up the headwaters of the Amazon begin in Colombia and Venezuela, some even as far away as Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Eventually the river system combines to account for an astonishing 25% of all the fresh water on Earth before pouring into the Atlantic.

Most peacock bass fishing is in Brazil, for no other reason than there’s just so much more water located there. The major rivers of Brazil are huge, and able to absorb both the commercial netting and less threatening sportfishing pressure applied by the dozens of luxury live-aboard fishing vessels and isolated peacock bass lodges spread throughout the Amazon and Rio Negro watershed.

Brazil’s Ministry of Tourism estimates that more than 18,000 Yankees and other foreigners pour into Brazil each year to test their skill and try their luck fishing for peacock bass.

Recognizing that sportfishing is very popular and important to Brazil’s tourism economy, the country’s fisheries biologists began a combination of study and angling conservation more than a decade ago. Brazil’s Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources ( IBAMA ) conducted intensive biological studies on most river systems and they have taken progressive steps to protect their angling resource.

Lucas De Zan photos

Peter Herzog photo

The Rio Marié

is the absolute best trophy peacock bass fishery on planet Earth!

Five seasons of fly fishing have proven Brazil’s Institute of Resources correct. The Rio Marié is home to more double-digit, trophy peacock bass with a higher concentration of those monster tackle-busters than any other river in the entire Amazon.

Now, nearly 500 miles of the number one peacock bass fishery in the world is managed as a catch-and release fishery and is the largest fly fishing only fishing preserve in South America.

The decision marked a red-letter day for our sport, and one of the most exciting additions to fly fishing in the 21st century.

THEHEADWATERS of the Marié begin in the jungle foothills that separate Brazil from Colombia. Then it flows southeast for more than 800 kilometers through an impenetrable rainforest before joining the Rio Negro. There are no roads or airstrips in this part of the jungle, and the only way to get to the fishing on the Marié is by boat or floatplane.

It is, unquestionably, the finest trophy peacock bass fishery on planet Earth. Proof is that nearly half of those who have fished the Marié in the five short seasons since the natives of the Marié opened the door to our anglers have hooked and landed a monster peacock bass over 20-pounds –the gold standard in the rarified world of trophy jungle angling. All on a fly!

The fishery first opened in June of 2014 when local natives collaborated with the Brazilian government and professional biologists to protect both the resource and the interests of the indigenous tribe.

rio marié

The 2025 rate includes overnight accommodations in Manaus prior to the round trip flight to the river. The operation offers exceptional standards of service, with professional English-speaking fly fishing guides, state-of-the-art fishing skiffs, first-class mothership, superb meals and all beverages and wines.

This Signature Destination is available exclusively through The Fly Shop® and our professional angling agent network. Scan

The only way to get to the Marié is by float plane

Each of these weekly angling adventures begins in Manaus with a comfortable, scenic, two hour, 300-mile, amphibious Cessna Grand Caravan flight above the rainforest.

A huge portion of the package cost, float planes are the only sensible way to rendezvous on the river with the constantly moving, luxurious mothership, Untamed Amazon.

John G. Sherman photo

In the world of peacock bass, size really matters!

What sets the Marié apart from all other jungle rivers is the prospect of catching giant peacock bass. Smaller varieties of Cichlids (called butterflies) averaging in size from two to six pounds are a common occurrence in the Marié and other Amazon rivers. They’re good fighters, and loads of fun.

THELARGEST , most sought-after peacock bass species is the C. temensis. Unmolested, they’ll grow slowly to double-digit size and as they put on pounds, they become exponentially and unbelievably stronger.

The difference between small peacock bass and the mega-models found in a few places like the Marié is the difference between Jerry Lewis and Joe Louis. Giant peacock bass don’t fight, they wage war!

And it’s a fact that no other river on Earth has more of these big fish, or even comes close to the average size of the peacock bass found in the Marié.

IBAMA (Brazil’s fisheries biologists ) has conducted a number of definitive studies in the Amazon and concluded that the Rio Marié holds at least twice the number of trophy-sized peacocks when compared with any other river in Brazil. Those same studies established the percentage of trophysized speckled peacocks (sexually immature Temensis called “paca”) and the percentage of large (and much more common) “butterfly” peacocks are also higher in the Marié than in the other Amazon rivers that were surveyed. Other than genetics, little is known about why the fish in the Marié grow so much larger than elsewhere in the Amazon. Perhaps, like Coors beer, “it’s the water.” Or it may be either its isolation – the Marié is more than 10

hours by swift boat from the nearest non-native community and the only comfortable way to get there is by float plane – or just the lack of impaction and pressure from conventional tackle fishing for decades prior to the arrival of the team from Untamed Angling and The Fly Shop®. But for whatever reason the peacocks are definitely larger and those big fish are much more common than anywhere else that has been found.

Trophy peacock bass fishing like this has a definite downside. There are rivers in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela that have a much higher population of smaller fish and, in fact, it’s often nonstop action, but with little real potential for fish the size of those monsters routinely caught in the Marié. At the same time, Marié guests don’t suffer from a lack of fish.

Further setting it apart from other operations is exclusive access to 497 miles of catch-and-release river. It is a unique experience even in Brazil, a part of the world where other rivers are often shared by half a dozen motherships and fishing groups.

Fishermen on the Marié travel in pairs, departing the mothership each morning in swift outboard skiffs (powered by 90-hp outboards and equipped with electric motors, GPS units, and poling platforms) custom-crafted for fly fishing the Amazon. They’re

accompanied by one member of the greatest team of English-speaking, fly-savvy experts in all of Latin America and a native Marié Indian, whose presence and intimate knowledge of both the river and the jungle adds much to the experience.

At the end of each action-packed day, Marié anglers rendezvous with the deluxe mothership, The Untamed Amazon, for appetizers, cocktails, fish tales, and superb meals paired with fine wines.

From the moment you step onto the float plane in Manaus to when you bid farewell to the Rio Marié it is an absolutely wonderful experience.

It is a safe, exciting, exotic, fish-filled adventure well within most angler’s skill sets for a fish and a fight that you and your friends will never forget.

Agua Boa

One of only two angling destinations in Brazil dedicated to fly fishing only, this superb facility was recently selected by Forbes Magazine as one of the top ten fishing lodges in the world!

AGUA BOA LODGE guest accommodations are second to none in Brazil and its swimming pool is a welcome sight at the end of a tropical, fish-weary afternoon. The well-trained, English-speaking, native guides are dedicated fly fishermen and the fishing is terrific.

There are remarkable numbers of peacock bass, including significant numbers of the monster temensis variety and a nearendless supply of the smaller “butterfly” peacocks. Its white sand bottom and clarity makes Agua Boa particularly well-suited to fly fishing, setting it apart from many other peacock destinations.

Agua Boa is operated by one of the most respected outfitters in the business and is first-rate in every category. It accommodates

eight guests, is strictly fly fishing only, and has exclusive access to over 100 miles of the Agua Boa River and its lagoons. Because the Agua Boa is an ecotourism preserve, only one licensed sportfishing operator is allowed on the entire watershed. Absolutely no commercial fishing has been allowed for the last 13 years and the sportfishing is beyond terrific!

The peacock bass action is near non-stop in January and February, and fish in the double-digit category are common. Biologists estimate that the Agua Boa is one of the top three trophy peacock bass rivers in the entire Amazon.

Agua Boa Lodge photos

Naturalists will appreciate that the Agua Boa River is bordered by a primal hardwood forest reaching hundreds of feet to the sky and is home to world-class birdwatching and wildlife viewing.

The lodge offers a level of comfort unrivaled in the Amazon. Guests stay in private, air-conditioned bungalows with two queen beds, a sitting area, private bath, and a porch overlooking the river. The lodge has every amenity imaginable including phone, satellite TV, well-furnished library, 24-hour electricity, game room, swimming pool, full bar, a wonderful indoor and outdoor dining room, fine meals, cold drinks and is just a top-notch facility.

This is a perfect spot for the expert, and the novice, the hard-core angler, and the discriminating traveller.

agua boa lodge

Clients are met in Manaus, transported by charter flight to the remote Amazon tributary location as part of the package.

Scan this code for more info about Agua Boa.

Val Atkinson photo

Kendjam The next frontier in jungle angling!

Kendjam

means “Standing Stone”, for the 800-foot mountain of stone towering above the forest canopy

– it’s a startling landscape feature and very unique in nature.

THIS IS a crystal-clear fly fishing jungle jackpot loaded with exotic varieties of peacock bass that share the pools, riffles, and runs with eight other red-hot river targets!

The Iriri River is a shallow, 800-mile long, fast-moving freestone river that courses over a granite and boulder streambed and runs absolutely transparent. It’s a one-of-a-kind Brazilian fishery filled with fly-friendly gamefish, including seldom-seen and less frequently caught varieties of spectacularly-colored peacock bass, wolf fish, matrinxa, pacu, bicuda, payara, and more. The Iriri is a wet-wading, sight-casting, fly fishing experience in what amounts to a huge, clear-flowing tropical aquarium in the middle of the Amazon basin.

Kendjam Lodge is typical of Untamed Angling destinations –reverently carved out of the jungle, situated on a beach overlooking a magnificent view of the fishery, staffed by a combination of indigenous guides and English-speaking angling experts with fine meals, and comfortable accommodations that are a stark contrast to the surrounding rainforest.

GETTING TO KENDJAM is a near all-day affair. Anglers usually arrive in Manaus, Brazil, and spend the night preceding an early morning, 3-hour charter flight to the remote grass airstrip in the heart of the Kayapo 26 million-acre native territory (roughly the size of Ireland). From there it’s 3-4 more hours downriver in modern cayugas to the lodge, a journey involving several portages past terraced rapids. Every moment is fascinating and memorable.

Your Kendjam hosts are the indigenous Kayapo (see page 56) whose miraculous emergence into the 21st century with their land, culture, and largely subsistence-based lifestyle intact is a rare, indigenous success story. It began when the tribe became rich in the 1980’s after employing whites to log species on their lands. This practice ceased when logging was outlawed on indigenous lands.

The largest and richest Kayapo village is Gorotire where one of the world's largest gold mines is located. The Gorotire village controls the mining concessions, using earnings to buy airplanes and hire Brazilian pilots to police their territory. The wealthy Kayapo have worked for preservation of their forest and to raise awareness about the destruction of the Amazon.

Part of the Kendjam experience is a fascinating cultural facet that rates beyond the exceptional. This is a jungle angling adventure tailored for those travelers interested in more than great jungle fly fishing.

Pat Ford photo

Untamed Angling photo

Kendjam is lots more than just another fishing trip.

KENDJAM exploratory trips were originally a reconnaissance mission to acquaint Untamed Angling with the Iriri watershed, give anglers a view of the potential of the Kendjam fishery, help us become familiar with the social customs of the Kendjam community, and introduce the Kayapó warriors to sportfishing.

What we’ve found is a spectacular fly fishing-friendly fishery, full of exotic tackle-busters most anglers have never seen before, and a rich, rewarding cultural experience that is far more than we expected.

The Kayapó natives are more than the Kendjam landlords. They’re a tiny nation of educated warriors that have beaten back ranchers, gold miners, missionaries, fur trappers, and even famously stopped the building of a dam. They’ve been the subject of several National Geographic documentaries and become famous for their guile, independence, and efforts to preserve their indigenous way of life.

Now the tribes of the Iriri have joined forces in an effort to take control of their future in a logical way, by capitalizing on their own skills and fishing knowledge, expanding their universe to slowly include capitalism, free enterprise, and exploit interest from “the outside world” in a sustainable way by catching fish in their river and then letting them go!

Part of traditional Kayapó guest orientation includes optional body painting. Usually they decorate only your face. It’s durable but not indelible. The ink is made from local plants, and charcoal.

It lasts only a few weeks. But the memories will last a lifetime.

Kayapós are indirectly world-famous. Their connectivity to their natural world and the fierceness with which they defend it has been the subject of several documentaries and inspired the film, Avatar.

The mandatory Native Community Fee (paid by all anglers) helps support their efforts to remain unaided and committed to tradition.

Traditional Cocktails & Street Food

THECAIPIRINHA

is Brazil’s national cocktail, made with Cachaça (known locally as Pinga or Caninha), their most commonly distilled alcoholic beverage.

According to legend, the drink began around 1918 in the state of São Paulo with a popular recipe made with lime, garlic and honey, and given to patients with the Spanish flu. Probably didn’t help, but made them feel better.

Modern Brazilianos still use it as a remedy for the common coldtheir version of Nyquil®.

The drink was once unknown outside Brazil, but now is popular and widely available, in large part due to the availability of first-rate Cachaça in places outside Brazil.

The ingredients are simple, and a Caipirinha is easy to make.

COXINHA is a popular street and comfort food in Brazil and Bolivia. It’s made from chopped or shredded chicken meat mixed with a doughy filling then molded into a shape vaguely resembling a chicken leg, battered and fried.

Fillings vary by region but the traditional recipe usually consists of chicken, onions, parsley, and scallions combined with wheat flour, chicken broth, and optional mashed potato or maize. Some cooks add spices to the chicken, as well as tomato sauce, tumeric, and catupiry cheese.

The legend is Isabel, Brazil’s Imperial Princess in the mid1800’s, had a son with mental problems who lived in seclusion. He had a favorite dish, chicken, but would only eat the legs.

For a single drink, use one juicy lime, two ounces of Cachaça, and a tablespoon of powdered sugar. Begin by cutting the lime into 8 wedges, then muddle the wedges in a rocks glass with the sugar, add the Cachaça and top with ice. Stir and serve. Finish it with a lime slice or a mint leaf garnish.

Natives often make it in a Martini shaker, or a single glass, usually large, that can be shared amongst people, or made into an even larger jar and then poured into individual glasses.

Try rimming the glass with lime and powdered sugar, (like a salted Margarita) and consider using fine brown sugar as a substitute for the powdered sugar once in a while. Warning: Too much of this stuff will leave you feeling like you’ve been nailed down and pried up.

One day, the cook didn’t have enough drumsticks and decided to turn a whole chicken into legs by shredding the fowl, making a filling and shaping the concoction to look like a drumstick. The child liked it.

Empress Teresa Christina, tried it while visiting him. She couldn’t resist the tasty delicacy and had the imperial kitchen’s master chef learn to prepare the snack. They’re great! And you can find them sold by street vendors in most villages and all large cities.

Pat Ford photos

The Xingu River

The Kayapo Nation’s Xingu River is hands down the #1 destination on earth to target trophy payara.

THEXINGURIVER lies deep in the heart of the Amazon. It flows swiftly over granite bedrock and runs clear from its headwaters to its confluence with the Iriri, over 300 miles downstream, all of it within the protective borders of the Kayapó’s Indigenous Nation, inside Brazil. It is a broad but braided river made up of riffles, pools, oxbows, channels, lakes, lagoons, rapids, drops and waterfalls that create the finest payara habitat in the Amazon basin.

The impressive and ferocious-looking payara, aka the “Vampire Fish”, are nicknamed for the two enormous fangs protruding from their bottom jaw and penetrating through their forehead. There may not be

a more savage-looking game fish swimming in freshwater. If you want to pick a fight with one, there is really no place else to consider. Nothing else compares.

While the payara are considered the primary angling target at Xingu, fly fishermen will enjoy the pursuit of a plethora of other superb gamefish in this clearwater fishery. Big wolf fish can be targeted in the shallow lagoons and pocket water, several different ultra-colorful varieties of peacock bass are caught routinely, as well as big bicuda, pacu and more! This is truly an exotic jungle fly fishing odyssey in the midst of authentic Amazonian culture!

FEWOTHERSPORT fishermen, and no commercial fishermen have ever been allowed on the Xingu. In fact, few non-natives have been tolerated in the massive Kayapó Indigenous Territory at all. The natives harvest only what they can immediately consume from the fish-rich river and do not focus on payara, pacu, or peacock bass as part of their diet. These fish are both plentiful and aggressive, and it is doubtful that they’ve ever seen a fly. Just imagine.

The Xingu experience is a great deal more than just another wonderful fishing trip. The Kayapó natives are famous for their efforts to preserve their culture and have resisted the introduction of modern technology beyond what they collectively feel is necessary for their health, and what is needed to assist them in the protection of their community and traditional way of life. Many are simultaneously computer literate and cell phone savvy, yet don’t own a pair of shoes.

The ultra-comfortable Xingu Lodge is the first non-native, modern structure allowed near their native village. The lodge features comfortable double rooms with full bathrooms, hot water, electricity and satellite wifi internet. The camp is located on the bank of the Xingu River, overlooking a gorgeous rapid and home pool.

Anglers at Xingu will have the opportunity to meet the tribe, and to participate in their ritual body painting and tribal ceremonies. Most of the very few visitors to both Xingu and Kendjam return home with a complicated mix of both exceptional angling and cultural memories.

THEFIRSTGROUPS of anglers allowed to trespass into the heavily-guarded, government protected Xingu portion of the Kayapó Indigenous Territory arrived in September of 2019, accompanied by fisheries biologists and escorted by the Brazilian version of our own Bureau of Indian Affairs. It was an experiment sanctioned with the support of the native community and only after the cultural and financial success of Untamed Angling’s Kendjam Project.

The size and numbers of payara they encountered, along with the variety of gamefish species left absolutely no room for exaggeration.

However, no further visitors were permitted after that first visit (and the following onset of the viral pandemic) until the entire adult native population was vaccinated. We could not be more excited to be invited back! Our first returning guests picked up right where we left off in 2019, rediscovering the best payara fishing on earth.

vampire fishing on the xingu

The Fly Shop® has thoroughly vetted this thrilling, exotic, action-packed trip. The journey to Xingu begins with an overnight in Manaus, adding just a day to the trip. All airport and ground transfers, superb hotel accommodations on the night of arrival, and the 3-hour charter flight to the Kayapó village airstrip in the jungle are included in the package price. Upon arrival at the Xingu Lodge your eight person group will enjoy comfortable shared accommodations, superb meals, excellent guides, daily laundry, en suite bathrooms, hot showers, and nightly generated power.

Scan this code for more info about Xingu.

Daniel Coimbra photos

Pirarucú Lodge

Arapaima – fly fishing’s largest freshwater target

THESEAREMONSTERFISH that often weigh hundreds of pounds and are protected in all but two other fisheries in Brazil and Guyana. Sight-fishing for arapaima, the largest scaled freshwater fish in the world (up to 9´ long and 440 pounds) is way up near the top of the list of new jungle angling experiences. These colorful, powerful monsters lay in ambush on the bottom of the river, hunting unsuspecting baitfish. They may also cruise into the shallows as singles, in pairs, or even schools. They are actually air breathers and must surface every 40 minutes to gulp fresh air, so if they are there, you’ll see them splashing as they take a gulp and kick back down towards the bottom. Searching these lakes, channels and rivers is much like hunting flats and mangroves for rolling tarpon.

When mature, they’re big and have no known predators. When hooked they go ballistic, obviously pissed off that anything would challenge their alpha role. More than just big, arapaima are strong and their battle is usually punctuated by repeated jumps and powerful runs.

Rafael Costa photo

The Mamirauá Reserve is a huge 2.5 million acre Brazilian wetland - a maze of interconnected lagoons, lakes, and flooded forest in the heart of the Amazon. It is a national treasure, a World Heritage Site, and home to an indigenous native tribe which allows limited, fly fishing only, catch and release sportfishing for the large population of resident arapaima, arowana, tambaqui, red-bellied piranha, peacock bass, and oscars. All of these species attack flies with abandon and every action-packed day at Pirarucú (arapaima in the native togue) is a diverse, exciting outing.

The reserve is the largest in Brazil dedicated exclusively to protection of the Amazon floodplain, and the natives are aided by a team of professional, government fisheries biologists, who monitor the healthy population of arapaima.

The Fly Shop’s anglers this past season scored and scored big, and landed arapaima over 300 pounds (though most fish caught are about half that size).

August through November is the best time to sample the fishing. Guests are accompanied by expert, fly-savvy guides using swift, modern skiffs and electric trolling motors. The days are action-packed, and the native indigenous lodge staff adds a fascinating cultural accent.

There’s daily flight service to Manaus and the package marries perfectly with the flight from the Rio Marié, which stops briefly in Tefé for re-fueling on the way back to Manaus.

EcoTouring for Couples

FEWDESTINATIONS in the fly fishing world are more appropriate for angling couples with a passion for nature or non-fishing companions than Pirarucú Lodge in the heart of the Mamirauá. It is a naturalist’s Shangri Lahome to 427 mammals, 1,300 different birds, 378 reptiles, more than 400 species of amphibians and features that’ll keep non-anglers fascinated and entertained.

Mamirauá attracts naturalists from all over the world. It is rated as one of the top five birding locations in the Amazon, and a stronghold of the spectacularly strange White Uakari Cacajao calvus, a New World monkey that is bushy and white in color, with a very short tail, bright crimson face, and bald head.

Mamirauá guests share the comfortable, unique, floating lodge accommodations with an interesting multinational collection of ecotourists and bird watchers.

Guests are serenaded to sleep each night by the sounds of the forest, and awakened early each morning by howler monkeys and a cacophony of the feathered inhabitants of the surrounding refuge and National Parkland. Non-anglers spend their days in traditional cayukas (large, native canoes) navigating the flooded forests in the company of a knowledgeable team of bilingual, jungle-literate, botanists, ornithologists, and biologists.

Every jungle-day is a visual and audible odyssey, a chance to experience one of the greatest ecological wonders in the western world – the Amazon!

Scan this code for more info about Pirarucu

Brian O’Keefe photo

Eco Fishing Lodge

formerly Eco da Barra

This prolific jungle fishery includes a daily angling menu with wall-to-wall butterfly peacock bass and as much variety as any spot we’ve ever seen!

Huge, prehistoric, acrobatic payara and many other exotic quarries share the river with a staggering population of peacock bass.

THISLUXURIOUS floating lodge was founded by a group of hard-core Brazilian anglers who joined forces six years ago to provide like-minded, adventure-seeking anglers with a quality operation in a well-managed fishery. Their deluxe operation provides an extremely modern, ultra comfortable, and ecologically-minded approach to sportfishing in the Amazon jungle. The lodge was built of renewable hardwoods, with 16 spacious guest rooms, each with a private bath and riverfront patio.The entire facility, including the dining room, bar, lounge and guest rooms is comfortably air conditioned. The outdoor tackle room was built by fishermen, for fishermen, with a huge rigging table and rod racks overlooking the river and with spectacular views of the surrounding jungle.

Don’t let the luxury fool you. This is a terrific fishing lodge. It’s an

easy boat ride to sandbar flats and sight-fishing for peacock bass or rapids sheltering huge payara, and the medley of other angling options in the vicinity is staggering.

Anglers fish the Juruena, Teles Pires, and Tapajós Rivers and their tributaries, the Bararati and Aximari Rivers. In addition to these majestic Amazon basin rivers, guests have access to dozens of pristine lakes and lagoons in a jungle filled with some of the most exotic birds in the world.

These waters are home to more than 20 species of tropical game fish, including piranha, jatuarana, brycon, bicuda, wolf fish, payara, arowana, jacundá, tambaqui, and an astounding population of two species of peacock bass.

Scarlet Macaws fly through the jungle canopy while you fish with your indigenous native guide, cayman float in the quiet waters, and jaguars prowl in the heart of darkness.

Few destinations in the Amazon include all of the nearby fly fishing options or the exquisite level of accommodations and service found at Eco-Fishing Lodge. Amenities include daily laundry service, reliable hot water in high-pressure showers, televisions with all major American channels, satellite telephone for emergencies, and both WiFi and internet access.

Eco-Fishing Lodge gets The Fly Shop’s enthusiastic thumbs up and we highly recommend it for the angler searching for 5-star comfort and fishing variety.

eco-fishing lodge

The angling package includes an overnight in Manaus on arrival, charter flight to the lodge, all meals, soft drinks, beer, cocktails, guide service, fishing license, laundry service, and single, private accommodations (with two anglers sharing a boat and native guide).

Scan this code for more info about Eco Fishing Lodge.

Eco Fishing Lodge photos

The Asado Experience in South America

The Latin American tradition of preparing food is passed from generation to generation, and homemade food is seen as a way of showing affection. The family dinner on Sunday is considered the most significant meal of the week, and often includes an asado.

TRADITIONALBARBECUES in Latin America are more than a meal. These people have elevated what is an everyday experience in other parts of the world to a social art form that is much more than a meal.Whether it’s an everyday streamside lunch or an elaborate dinner, it’s a celebration of friendship and an experience usually lasting well into the night.

Nearly every family builds a parilla (outdoor barbecue area) or quincho (BBQ dining shelter) at their estancia, ranch, home, or week-end retreat. The Brazilian version is called fogo de chão or churrascaria. An asado is simple, centuries-old, gaucho style, openair affair. The quincho will range from simple to elaborate, and the quincho fire is often tended by experts who use personal sauces and family recipes to flavor and season the meat, while sausages, empanadas, cheeses, salads, and red wines are served to get the digestive juices flowing.

A freshly sacrificed lamb or kid goat (chivito) is skewered with a cross-shaped asador then moved, turned, and tilted in different

directions adjacent to hot coals for hours. The fire is often built and tended by experts who use their personal chimichurri recipes to season and flavor the main course.

Most places hosting our fishing guests highlight the week with an asado which often includes local musicians. Not surprisingly, Argentines consume more red meat and drink more red wine, per capita, than any other nation on Earth. A questionable claim to fame hotly contested by neighboring Chilenos.

Any excuse is a good excuse to drink wine in South America. In fact no excuse is necessary, but none is a better excuse than an asado, the traditional Patagonia barbecue. More often than not, there’s lamb, beef, and sausage.

The annual Argentine consumption of beef is now estimated to average 220 pounds per person! That’s nearly 4.5 pounds per week, for every man, woman, and child – and that consumption is down from 396 lbs/person, 55 years ago.

It’s the Latin America version of the Dr. Atkins diet.

Estancia Maria Behety photo

Isais Miciu photo

Brian O'Keefe photo

El Saltamontes photos

El Saltamontes photo

AFLOATADVENTURES is our main outfitter in Colombia, operating two remote camps deep in the jungle for a variety of exotic species. They consistently deliver amazing customer service, premier exotic fisheries, and a commitment to sustainability.

Akuani Floating Camp is a diverse fishery with daily shots at large temensis peacock bass that can hit the 15-pound mark, and even larger. In addition to trophy-sized peacocks, the rivers and their endless back bays and lagoons have a very strong population of two other species of fierce, hard-fighting peacocks for anglers that predicate their success on large numbers of fish landed daily. It’s an action-packed and exotic jungle angling adventure in a remote setting, just what we like in a jungle fishery.

Akuani River Lodge is a land-based operation and one of the few places in South America to target two of the most coveted species together on the same trip - peacock bass and payara (vampire fish) – on their home waters of the Vichada and Orinoco rivers. Both trips begin and end in the fascinating, high-altitude city of Bogotá. Bogotá – the largest city in Colombia – is becoming a mainstream destination for tourists, offering diverse attractions within and near the city. It is safe, offers lots of restaurants and tours, and is one of the biggest cities showcasing street art and murals in the world. It also has many attractions to visit such as Museo Botero (showcasing Fernando Botero’s art), and the Museo del Oro, as well as the 17th-century Iglesia de San Francisco.

akuani floatingcamp

Akuani Floating Camp is a floating, mobile operation on the Tomo River and its major tributary, the Gavilan River, targeting three different species of peacock bass: temensis - Cichla temensis; butterflies - Cichla orinocensis; and royal or intermedia - Cichla intermedia.

This is a first-rate peacock bass fishery allowing anglers a terrific crosssection of high-volume fishing along with a daily chance of landing a true monster of 15 pounds or larger. What it may lack in creature comforts compared to a land-based operation is more than made up for in its ability to stay within easy and short striking distance of high-quality fishing. The floating lodge allows the outfitter the ability to manage the water for optimum fishing by rotating beats over a 75-mile stretch of river.

The remote floating camp features five double occupancy cabins, and although the cabins are certainly comfortable, well-equipped and efficient given the operating environment, they are not deluxe. Each cabin accommodates two guests and are not air-conditioned, but do have individual oscillating fans over each bed that run during the night, and the cabin’s open-air design allows for plenty of air circulation. A flush toilet, as well as a cold-water shower, sink and vanity round out the cabins.

The angling window is short, coinciding with the dry season and low water flows – December through early April.

The Camp package includes hotel accommodations in Bogotá on the nights of arrival and departure, all meet-and-greet services, all transfers, and roundtrip private charter flights to La Primavera or Vichada. Sodas, beers, bottled water, a fully-equipped room in the floating camp, two single beds, electricity, bathroom, fans – nearly everything but your tackle and tip.

akuani river lodge

The Lodge is located deep in the Colombian jungle on the Orinoco River system.

The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America, 1,330 miles in length. Its drainage basin covers 340,000 square miles – about 75% of it in Venezuela, with the remainder in Colombia. The Orinoco and its tributaries are the major transportation system for eastern and interior Venezuela and Colombia.

The fishing program incorporates two distinct fisheries – the Vichada River and the main Orinoco River. You will get four full days of guided fishing at Akuani River Lodge for peacock bass and two full days of guided fishing at the Rio Orinoco out-camp for payara.

The Vichada River is a tributary of the Orinoco and has many lagoons and is a blackwater river (a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands). You'll find plenty of topwater action, with the possibility for monster temensis (three-bar) peacock bass reaching over 20 pounds.

At Akuani River Lodge you'll be in the Mataven jungle. You'll be amongst the Sikuani and Piaroa indigenous communities. It's a complete jungle experience where you can get to know the indigenous cultures, take in out-of-this-world scenery and wildlife, and enjoy some of the best fishing the country has to offer.

The main lodge sits on top of a large cliff with great views overlooking the Vichada River. It has four spacious cabins, each with two queen beds, en suite private bathroom, mosquito nets, plug-ins for electrical devices, and ceiling fans.

The payara camp is basic and equipped with double occupancy nylon tents with cots.

For peacock and payara fishing, you'll fish from bongos (a type of canoe), which are big and comfortable. They have chairs and platforms for better casting, also coolers with beers, soft drinks, and water. Two anglers per boat and guide. On the Orinoco, the bongos are used to get around the rapids, and most of the fishing is done off the rocks on foot.

Lodge packages include all meet-and-greet and transfers in Bogotá, two nights in Bogotá hotel accommodations, the round trip charter flight between Bogotá and Puerto Inírida, transfers to and from the lodge, double occupancy lodging at camp, six days of fully guided fishing, two anglers per boat, all meals at camp and unlimited soft drinks and beer.

What you need to know about

Wining & Dining in South America

IT ’ S COMMONLY k nown that, as a nation, Argentines eat more red meat and drink more red wine (approximately 12 gallons or 59 bottles each year for every man, woman, and child in the country) than any other nationality on Earth.

Even more significant is the fact that they drink 90% of all the wine poduced in Argentina. There’s only a fraction that’s exported, and the best of it never crosses the border.

It’s a good thing then that Argentina is the 5th largest wine producing country in the world. The premier Argentine wine is, arguably, their Malbec (considered a secondary grape in France).

Malbec can be considered unique to Argentina, since it developed superb, distinct characteristics in Mendoza, and no other country has been able to match the same quality.

South Americans drink a lot of wine, and they drink red with most meals, whether it is cloven-hoofed creatures, fish, or fowl. The cost of a great bottle of Mendoza’s finest tinto (red) is quite modest, and native winos are appalled at the price tag on California wines.

Most local oenophiles agree the domestic tintos are much better than the blancos. Except one. That grape is the Torrontes, of Spanish origin, but which only develops its full potential in the high Andean Cafayate Valley, about a hundred miles west of Salta.

Torrontes wines are almost overpoweringly aromatic – more so than a good Gewurztraminer, and have a rich, gold color, a sturdy body, and a reputation as the fruitiest of Argentine wines.

Any excuse is a good excuse to drink wine in South America. In fact no excuse is necessary.

The top Argentine beer, Quilmes, is the Latin American version of Bud. A good bar in Buenos Aires might have some good suds from Brazil, but the micro-brewery craze hasn’t yet hit south of the border.

Any good parilla (steak house) or restaurant in Buenos Aires, Santiago, or even the rural villages in their summer season is going to require reservations. Most Argentines, Chilenos, Brazilianos and Peruvianos don’t begin their summer meal until quite late by North American standards. Restaurants usually have only one seating for the evening and locals don’t start arriving until nine, ten or eleven. In fact, many of the finest restaurants don’t open until nine.

Patrons generally begin their meal with large sausage and specialty meat selections, or cheese appetizer platters. You’ll find that soups and salads aren’t as popular (or as good) as here at home, and that the natives generaly have a sweet tooth and always seem to have a little room left for dessert.

Surprisingly, coffee in South America wasn’t a big deal until recent years. Two decades ago it was common for even the finest restaurants to offer Nescafé after dinner.

One wonderful Latin American custom is that meals are a leisurely affair, with time between courses for conversation, and service that is rapid is not necessarily considered good.

Leave a little on your plate, rather than polishing it all off to indicate your satisfaction. Don’t use a toothpick at the table after the meal and, finally, a 10% tip is usually considered adequate.

Buen provecho! (Enjoy your meal!)

Even the simplest snack or streamside lunch in South America requires wine as a companion!

Laguna Verde photo Kau Tapen photo

THE NEXT GENERATION OF BIG GAME FLYFISHING PERFORMANCE. When we looked at building our next saltwater and big game reel, we focused on reliability, strength, and intuitive function. In the end, our new reel is not just built, but born from the flats, jungle backwaters, and offshore environments, specifically for any demanding angler’s pursuit of perfect performance.

Tanzania Tigerfish

Simply put, the Tanzania Trophy Tigerfish Safari on the Mnyera and the Ruhudji rivers is the best in the world for targeting trophy Tigerfish on the fly.

DISCOVERYOF the Mnyera and Ruhudji river systems in Tanzania over a decade ago was nothing less than a milestone in our sport when one considers that, in the previous half-century fly fisherman had been targeting tigerfish, no twenty-pounders had ever been landed. Then eight fish over that mark were landed in as many days on the Mnyera!

The Fly Shop’s well-established outfitter and travel partner, African Waters, pioneered angling in this part of East Africa. They discovered the potential of these two magnificent fisheries, then teamed up with the hunting operator who holds the exclusive concession to this massive Tanzania jungle wilderness.

Unlike other famous tigerfish fisheries, this outfitter is allowed to strictly limit river traffic and enforce year-round anti-poaching regulations. The result is that during each of the sixteen years since these two river camps were developed, every aspect of the operation, and the fishing, has continued to improve.

Guests enjoy spacious, traditional, safari-type tent camps with ensuite bathrooms, daily laundry, fine meals, and a staff-to-guest ratio that virtually guarantees personal attention and the great service that has become the hallmark of African Waters.

The Fly Shop’s angling travel team has visited this fabulous fishery several times in the last three years, and has completely vetted the operation. Hands down, it is not only the best tigerfish fishing Africa has to offer, but the destination truly rates as one of the world’s finest and most unique angling experiences.

“This was a trip of a lifetime and I can’t wait to return one day to feel the strike of these amazing predators. There is nothing like the take! This is the top of my bucket list of species. Terry Jepsen – Mnyera, 10/8/21

Mark Murray photo

Because both fisheries are loaded with a startling population of huge, freshwater crocodiles and hippos, there is very little wading done on either the Mnyera and Ruhudji rivers except in their clear, shallow headwaters. Most angling is done from the safe confines of comfortable, shallow-draft jon boats, perfectly suited for these rivers.

Each skiff has a cockpit surrounding the boat man. This has two unique purposes; to keep the boatman lower in the boat while anglers are casting and to keep the crocodiles out. These experienced boat men stay low in the boat during fishing and use a mini paddle to keep the drift on task while the guide uses a metal pushpole to assist.

FLY FISHERMENTEMPT these toothy savages with streamers or poppers tossed toward cutbanks or structure where the fierce predators might lie in ambush. Fish range in size from 5 to 25 pounds. Most of the largest fish are lost, because these critters don’t just look ferocious, they battle like no other fish found in freshwater, combining aerobatics with blistering runs that peel a full fly line off the deck in seconds.

These gamefish have no equal in freshwater. The strike of a tigerfish is ultra-violent and every non-stop, finger-shredding battle is punctuated by a breathtaking display of suspended gravity.

This place has all the sights and experiences that you might expect in the African bush. Pods of hippos are found in both rivers, spending their time in the deepset holes in the rivers. Herds of buffalo and elephant are common in the area, as well as a host of plains game species including puku, warthog, hartebeest, zebra, eland, bushbuck, and the occasional sighting of lions and leopards. The amount of bird life is exceptional, with many rare and endemic species sighted in the area.

The best time to be there is from August thru mid-November, when the annual dry season causes the water temperatures to rise, the clarity to improve, the baitfish population to explode, and tigerfish to go berserk. The short season is timed to ensure predictably good weather, and is limited to only eight guests weekly. It is a strict catch-and-release operation with a wellmanaged system that keeps each of the beats fresh and provides season-long, non-stop action.

Although anglers travel to Tanzania to pursue the famous trophy tigerfish, there are additional species to be caught, including casting dry flies to yellowfish and dredging for vundu catfish.

Four of the eight fly fishermen in each group spend half the week (3 full days) at each of the two well-equipped, fully-staffed river camps. A head guide is assigned to each group and changes camps with their select group while another guide stays at the original camp. They exchange locations mid-week, joining up the last night at the larger (Mnyera) camp for a festive meal and plenty of fish stories, before returning on the final morning’s two-hour charter flight to Dar es Salaam.

One of the many highlights of African Water’s Tanzania Trophy Tigerfish adventure is the mid-week transfer day between Dhala Camp (Mnyera River) and Amaki Camp (Ruhudji River). This amazing Range Rover journey exposes the full splendor of the African bush with sightings of cape buffalo, bushbucks, warthogs, hartebeest, zebra, eland, and the occasional lion in a landscape unchanged for thousands of years. It’s a miniature classic African safari, and certainly warrants a camera and good set of binoculars.

The Fly Shop® couldn’t give this action-packed trip a higher recommendation. The journey begins and ends with overnights in Dar es Salaam, adding 2 days to the length of the trip. Airport/hotel transfers and round-trip charter flights to the camps are included. International airfare, hotel overnights in the city, and Tanzania’s $100 visa are not part of the package.

WILDLIFEANDBIRDVIEWING

The dry season concentrates wildlife around water sources, such as rivers and waterholes, which increases the chances of spotting various animals, including lions, elephants, giraffes, and more. In Ruaha National Park, the riverbanks become a hub for wildlife activity, and you can observe large herds of elephants and other animals. These wild creatures are shy for the most part, so you’ll want to keep your camera ready and your eyes open.

September through November is also an excellent time for birdwatching in Tanzania. Many migratory bird species arrive during this time, adding to the diversity of the avian population.

With the landscapes turning dry and golden, the lighting conditions become ideal for photography. The stunning sunrises and sunsets in this region of Tanzania provide fantastic opportunities to capture breathtaking images of the wildlife and scenery.

Scan this code for more info and pricing for Tanzania Tigerfish.

“My first big tigerfish burned through the leather on my Sun Glove, the tape on both stripping fingers, and nearly cut me to the bone.”

Justin Miller –Mnyera, 9/15/19

Mark Murray photos

(800) 669-3474 www.theflyshop.com

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