This year, my annual trip to Patagonia promised to blend the old and familiar with new and exciting. For two weeks I would travel and fish with my friends in Argentina, exploring new water from Limay River Lodge, and enjoying the familiar comfort and excellent fishing provided by the Olsen Family at San Huberto Lodge.
Afterwards, most of the group would (sadly) leave for home while my good friend, Mark, and I, journeyed overland to Chile, where we would stay and fish for another week from Martin Pescador.
PART ONE – LIMAY RIVER LODGE
The hosted trip began with four friends joining me at a new lodge, just completed by my old friend and mentor, Jorge Trucco.
Jorge took me under his wing thirty years ago when, as a young guide, I worked for him at Patagonia Outfitters. A lot of water has passed in the decades since we last guided together, and it was a wonderful treat to catch up with him while we fished. I was anxious to hear about his vision for the new lodge he’s just built on the Limay River.
The Limay River has long been rumored to harbor rainbow and brown trout of epic proportions, but because of its remoteness and the lack of access, few have ever fished beyond the limited public water. Jorge’s lodge is strategically located on a remote, thirty-mile stretch of breathtakingly beautiful river that twists and braids into so many different channels that it’s quite possible to begin two or even three days at the same access and fish different water every day.
In addition to a spacious and well-accommodated lodge, with every possible amenity, Jorge has also constructed an elaborate road system that allows his fishermen full use of the incredibly rich Limay River.
Jorge instructed me to bring large foam and rubber-legged dry flies, and we fished these almost exclusively. Good numbers of fish, a few up to twenty-three inches, were taken on these big dries.
I plan to host a second trip at Limay River Lodge in early May of 2016, when the large fish from the lake below migrate up the river, preparing to spawn. I’m told that thirty-inch brown trout are not uncommon… and there are stories of thirty-five inch fish! Four days of fishing on the Limay will be proceeded by two days of duck and perdiz hunting in Buenos Aires Provence.
