Here’s some basic information you must know about this unique Steelhead fishery.
1. Location:
the Santa Cruz river is a massive glacial river that runs from the Andes mountains to the Atlantic ocean for over 240 miles in south Patagonia, in the province of its same name.
Our operation (Los Plateados) is located 50 miles from the ocean.
More info:
2. Season:
The river has an autumn run (opposite for southern hemisphere) starting late February with prime time from mid-March till mid-May.
3. Weather:
Its valley has a micro climate that allows anglers to fish well into fall, with cool mornings and sunny days with temperatures around 60ºF.
4. The river with no crowds:
The Santa Cruz river has only one smaller town in its lower stretch and the lack of fishermen along the river is part of its attractive. Its not easy, there are not many roads to access and it can intimidate the first timers for sure.
5. Skill level:
An intermediate level of Spey casting does just fine. The river is big but steelhead don’t hold far from the banks. Wading fishing knee deep, covering large runs and small pockets, making sure to swing your fly at the right speed, and the right depth is all.
6. Other fishes:
Despite a few indigenous species like a Patagonian perch, the numbers of brown trout have been raising over the last decade and nowadays you even get a chance to hook a good-sized sea-run brown trout.
7. Catch records:
We’ve been running the camp since 2014 and averaged up to one Steelhead landed per angler per day, with avg size of 8lb and biggest of 21,5lb.
