Argentinian steelhead - guides report
Water
The Santa Cruz river was running high when we arrived, within an inch or two of flooding
the driveway in front of the lodge. However, it dropped slowly but steadily every day. Last year
Tomas and I started sticking a marker into the ground at the water’s edge in Guanacos to track
the recession, and overall I think the river dropped well over a meter to a meter-and-a-half over
the six week season. The clarity can vary from day-to-day due to rain events or warm weather
but it usually recovers within a day or two. Generally, the overall color and clarity improves over
the course of the season. As fall progresses, glacial runoff decreases and with it there’s a
corresponding decrease in the amount of glacial till in the water, thus contributing to increased
visibility. Overall we had some beautiful water conditions, especially the last few weeks. This
river is a stunning blue/green color due to its glacial origins, and it only gets better as the
temperatures start to drop.
Weather
My biggest fear at Los Plateados is to experience a rainy year! The dirt around this
area turns into a sticky, slippery mud that when dried hardens into concrete. In doing so it
makes an absolute mess of everything. Fortunately, I think this is quite uncommon. We only had
two rain events; the first one right after we arrived, and the last one just a few days before the
last guests left. Though obnoxious, neither event impeded our operations in the slightest. Wind
is the biggest nemesis here, and it’s more a matter of the direction than the speed. Most of the
time we have runs that are oriented so as to remain fishable in the prevailing west-northwest
wind directions. Southwest winds tend to blow directly downstream which is challenging, but
anything out of the east is straight in your face.
March was unseasonably cold and there were a few mornings with frozen boots left
outside. To contrast that, the last week was unseasonably warm and guests enjoyed
temperatures in the 60’s all week, with hardly a breath of wind most days! Everyone cherished
that week, and we couldn’t help but remark all day long just how pleasant it was. Otherwise, the
climate was pretty typical for late-summer/early fall. Most days the temperatures were in the
50’s or low 60’s, and most of the time the wind blew out of the west/northwest at 15-25 mph.
Mornings tend to start most settled, then as the sun heats the land the wind will pick up by either
mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Some days it was calmer, and some days it was sustained 30
mph with gusts to over 50. This is Patagonia, afterall, and wind is just an everyday fact of life.
Fishing
The first round of guests arrived earlier in March than usual, and we didn’t know how
the fishing would be. While we were preparing the lodge for their arrival we managed to hook a
decent number of fish, and it gave us confidence going into that first week. Anadromous fish are
still anadromous fish though, and they’re either there or they’re not. The steelhead were not
around much during the first week. A few were hooked, but it was the sea trout (sea-run brown
trout) that were the unexpected savior for everyone. A good number were landed, all chrome-
bright and solid fish, with a few tipping the scales into the mid-teens. The steelhead fishing
improved steadily every week after that, and peaked during the last week. The most consistent
anglers caught 1-2 fish a day, and we even had one day during the last week where 10 fish
were hooked. The biggest key to success is to keep your fly in the water and cover the runs
thoroughly!
It’s not an easy fishery though, and skill definitely plays into one’s success. It seems to
me that these fish sit out farther and deeper than your average steelhead, so strong casting
abilities help one to cover the water better. If the fish are sitting 40-60’ off the bank, then you
need to be able to cast another 20’ beyond that, and well upstream to get your fly down in front
of them in time. Our formula for fishing is: 1) Cast perpendicular to the flow, straight out at 90°, if
not upstream, 2) throw a big mend, 3) take 2 steps downstream, and 4) keep the tension off to
let the fly sink (usually about 10-12 seconds) before it comes tight, and swing. This place is well-
suited to strong casters as the bigger the cast you can make, the deeper your fly will fish and
the wider swath it will cover as it swings.
by Lukas Young
