PATAGONIA TRAVELS 2009

Hola amigos...well we’re back in San Martin after a wonderful 10-day trip to the South covering almost 600 miles. Blessed with outstanding weather, bright sun and little wind, we spent two days with friends Trey and Shelby Scharp, Wyoming born and bred, who established a tent camp Sosiego just outside the town of Trevelin. From here we fished the well-known Arroyo Pescado Spring Creek where rainbow and brown trout grow unusually large. Note Diane’s 23” and Trey's 25” rainbows. Nightly fire-cooked dinners outside under a near full moon was icing on the cake.

We then crossed the frontier at Futaleufu and drove down the western slope of the Andes Mountains following the Rio Futaleufu, which is known as one of the finest white water kayaking and rafting rivers in the world. The river stone gravel roads that amount to driving on ball bearings are an ever-present danger for fishtailing into the river ravine. Needlesstosay, the “air brakes” were getting a real workout on the passenger side of the car. Bodhi was oblivious, stretched out across the back seat upside down most of the time.

Our destination was the Martin Pescador Lodge at Puerto Cardenas, Chile. Greeted by long-time friends and lodge owners, Frans and Anna Jansen, we were immediately fed lunch and then sent to the Rio Yelcho for the afternoon’s fishing session. Bodhi accompanied us on sort of a trial trip in a Johnboat. His excitement and our high expectations were soon realized as we started catching fish after the second cast. Bodhi supervised the landing of each fish with a sniff and a gentle mouthing while the fish was in the net. His zeal soon provided our first man overboard drill in the swift current. Grabbed by the scruff of his neck, he was unceremoniously deposited dripping wet in the bottom of the boat. We went back to fishing, and he seemed more mindful of the boat gunwales, however, our minds were made up he would not be joining in any boat excursions for the rest of the week. No skin off his nose as he worked the lodge staff for treats and swims.

The next two days provided the best fishing of our lives with countless large trout many taken on dry flies. Particularly fun was sight casting to fish as they sipped small flies along current seams and foam lines. We had to steel our nerves as we watched fish turn for our flies, open their mouths, and here comes the hard part, when you see the mouth open not to strike/pull the fly away before the mouth closes. Wherever we fished for 2.5 days we caught lovely healthy fish.

As the weather changed to more typical conditions: wind, showers and cooler temperatures, (we had been fishing in shorts) we made the transfer to the Martin Pescador Lodge in La Junta, a two-hour drive down the washboard Carretera Austral, Chile’s Alaskan Highway. For the next three days the Rio Rosselot drainage system would provide our action, which was good but not as spectacular as we had earlier in Pto. Cardenas.

Diane took a day off from fishing to drive to the volcano-ravaged town of Chaiten. In May 2008 the Chaiten volcano that had been dormant for 7,000 years suddenly erupted. Ash spewed over the town disrupting the lives of more than 3,000 inhabitants. The lava flow was negligible but thick ash soon choked the Rio Negro causing a flood that washed through the town putting the final nail in its coffin. The Chilean government ordered the inhabitants to abandon their homes and left only a small detail of soldiers to prevent looting. Local communities absorbed the residents and government provided financial assistance for the displaced families. In recent months the volume of daily ash being blasted into the atmosphere has diminished and large earthmoving equipment has been sent in to try to salvage the town for eventual resettlement.
Fortunately for the region the ash was deposited over a relatively narrow area down wind of the volcano. The aerial photo provides a dramatic view of the ash plume. Remote ranches down wind report the loss of cattle and sheep that could not graze or walk to water owing to the ash deposits.
Diane’s photos will provide a glimpse of the destruction.








We concluded the week with a traditional Chilean asado with a whole fire-roasted lamb, delectable salads and, of course, plenty of fine Chilean wines. Anna, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, provided wonderful meals that fitted perfectly with the week’s fishing program designed by Frans. All of this plus 8 other compatible guests made the week the finest lodge stay and finest fishing we have ever enjoyed.

For more pictures of our trip and Chaiten, click on the following links: Fishing in Trevelin and Chile and Chaiten