The Steely Eyed Guide.: Region of the Lakes.

Main idea of the Project.

The Fishing in Chile Expedition Project give you the option to make contact with us , create your fishing destiny in Patagnia Region of the Lakes Chile. ( lakes, rivers, laguns and sea .)
Options like Going for Big Chinnok Salmon with stremers in Petrohué River , big Brown trout in untouched mountain laguna ,or in Lake and River Yelcho fishing floating with Dragon fly rainbows, browns or brook trouts, that reach 4 up to10 pounds.
All this mixed with the incredible food products of Chile with the company of the best cup of wine.

- Eating in the best restaurants.
- Learning about the culture of the place.
-Always the best accomodetion service were we are located.
- Fishing with the best Guides and the best equipment in this incredible biodiversity.

1000 km south flying from Santiago de Chile you get to Puerto montt where we pick you up ,adventure that will end in Yelcho Lake the capital of Dry Fly Fishing in Chile is also where our Fly Fishing Project is located. river Petrohue ,river Puelo, Cayutué, river Yelcho an other incredible fishing destinies we will visit.
Then we will take a plane to get you to Puerto Montt and say goodbye to this incredible place inside Patagonia.
Us a Fly Fishing Guide and fishermen from childhod I have the oportunity to enjoy this incredible places with my Father and then with my clients, that in all situation was a beatiful expirience that i have the honor to show and share with you.
All this places have a incredible projections in future. Patagonia is one of the few places in the earth that everything is like it was always , place that continue celebrating his originality and make that fishermen from all around the world come fishing with us in this wonder of nature.

we invite you to come and yoin us to this adventure that will be unique.
All details are here where you will have the complete info about this incredible expirience in Patagonia of Chile.

River Cayutué.

Patagonia.

Patagonia is the sothern region of south America bounded by parallel 40° S to the north, the strait of Magellan to the south, the atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
To the north is the Lake District, whose name reflects the profunsion of water bodies found in the territory. Slient among these are Lake Ranco, Puyehue and Rupanco and the River Bueno Basin.
The rugged terrain along the length of Chile gives rise to fast-flowing rivers with variable volumes of flow.
The existence of lakes in the central basin watershed is fundamental to provide an optimal habitat for the fish, because these large bodies of water have a regulatory effect on the rivers, making them calm, full-flowing and clear. This is the main reason why Chile´s best fishing spots are found in Patagonia.

Hydrography of th area.

The most significant rivers basins for fly fishing in this area are those of the Bueno, Maullin and Petrohué.

The Bueno River Basin, the fifth largest in Chile, includes three large lakes Llanquihue, and the Petrohué Basin, Lake Todos los Santos.

Lake Ranco has a surface area of 160 mi2 and a depth of 260 feet. It is bordered by high mountains to the east, and its main tributary is the Calcurrupe River.. Lake Puyehue has a surface area of 60 mi2 and a maximum depth of 440 feet. The coasts of the lake are very regular and it is fed by waters of the Gol Gol River. Lake Rupanco is shaped like an interior fjord with an expanse of 90 mi2 its coastis quite irregular, with high banks and few beaches on its eastern side, where it receives its main tributary, the Gaviotas River.

Lake Llanquihue expands over 330mi2 with a depth of nearly 1,150 feet. Its coast is low , with gentle hills, and it is fed by small rives, the largest of which is the Pescado River, Lake Todos los Santos was once joined to the lake Llanquihue, but they were separated by the Osorno Volcano, which created a natural dam between them. The Petrohué River flows through the area and empties into a wide delta in Ralún, on the Reloncaví Estuary.

The Andes Mountains are lower in this region, with an average height of 6600 feet. This makes the numerous volcanoes, mostly bordering on 8,000 feet, stand out like imposing peaks, sometimes perfect snowy cones, visible from very far away. But it is not only the beauty of these mountains that makes this landscape attractive, but also the rivers and lakes that witnessed the birth of fly fishing in Chile nearly a century ago.

On the way to the fishing destinations, it is tempting to wader through the different points of interest and extensive forests. Start in Argentina at the Nahuelhuapi park, one of the country´s largest, and after crossing into Chile, enjoy the lagoons, cascades, flowers and forests of Vicente Perez Rosales National Park and the Llanquihue National Park. Farther the south are the Alerce Andino, Hornopirén and Pumalín parks with their a majestic scenary with a variety of native flora and fauna.

Lago Todos Los Santos, an esmerald hued, fiord-like lake in the heart of a road-less national park and old growth rainforest reserve. Several streams drain the rugged mountains, flowing to the lake through steep valleys choked with bamboo, lush vegetation and granite walls. Although the lake has a healthy population of rainbow and brown trout, it is outflow of the lake, the Rio Petrohue, that has gotten the attention of famous, and yet to be famous, fly fishing adepts.
The Rio Petrohue flows from the west side of the lake, dropping 500 feet in the 25 miles to the saltwater estuary of Reloncavi. Probably 2/3 of the drop is in the first 12 miles, with spectacular falls and Class III rapids in the upper stretches. This is a fairly big river cutting through a landscape heaved up by plate tectonics and covered by volcanic ash and rubble. The wild scenery is magnificent, hardly a vista without one of several snowcapped volcanoes dominating the surrounding mountainous terrain covered with impenetrable rainforest down to the river banks. It's widely recognized as the most scenic fly fishing river in Chile.

The Fishing in this region.

This untamed river, runs fast over large freestone in the upper stretches, and then over sand and gravel with embedded deadfalls and undercut banks in the lower, limited access section. Trout thrive and grow heavy on the abundant pancora crayfish, puye minnows, and, of course, smaller trout. The Petrohue typically has one brushy, overhung and undercut bank, while the opposite bank will be a gravel bar where one can wade. Side channels and tributaries offer small stream wading and dry fly fishing opportunities. Muddler and other minnow patterns are effective cast against banks and around logs, provoking aggressive attacks from browns waiting in ambush, and it's always a good idea to probe the shallow water first where puyes and pancoras fall prey to cruising browns. Another favorite strategy is to fish down with streamers on sinking tip lines to coax the larger trout out of their deep lies. Woolly bugger variants, zonkers, matukas, kiwi muddlers, marabou muddlers and bunny leaches are very effective.

Most resident trout hooked on streamers are in the 16" to 20" range, and it's a very rare day when anglers don't release, loose, miss, or roll nseveral fish over 20". At different times in the season there are a few Atlantic and plenty of Chinook salmon, and the occasional sea-run browns in the system. Generally fly fishing travelers come for the trout but it's hard to resist casting now and then to 30 pound salmon when you know they are there.

Brown Trout catch in Lake Todos los Santos.

Brown Trout catch in Laguna Cayutue.

Chinnock Salmon catch in Rio Petrohué.

One of the good things about fishing in Chile is if you live in the Northern hemisphere you can come down here in the winter to fish because down here it will be summer.
That way you can fish all year around.

Rainbow Trout catch in River Petrohué.

Lake Rupanco.

Fly fishing al Lake Rupanco takes place mainly standing at the mounths of the numerous rivers that feed into it, among them the Gaviotas, Bonito , Pulelfu and Nalcas. Rainbow trout are predominant in this area and it is possible to catch fish of up to 7 pounds using imitacions of small fish of and crustaceans, such as pancora crabs. Imitacion stonfly( Plecoptera) nymphs also produce results, using a 6-weight rod and a fast-sinking line. Casts are made from the shore toward the bar formed by the river where it enters the lake.
Upstream along the Gaviotas or any other of the Lake Rupanco affluents there are sections suitable for dry fishing. These sections are full of smallers trout that respond well to mayfly (Ephemeroptera) and caddis fly (Trichoptera) imitacions between sizes 12 and 18. The fly should float along the current over the eddies that form around projecting rocks. A 4 weight rod with a floating line and 9-ft leader is the equipment called for there. One of the more spectacular landscapes is the one surrounding the Bonito River. This easily accesible river has good fishing for smaller rainbows and for Chinnok samlon that swim uptream to spawn between november and december.

Gray Special is the perfect fly for this lake .its a imitation of a crab.

Lake Rupanco, in the bottom Puntiagudo Volcano.

Lake Todos los Santos.

Esmeralda or Todos los Santos lake is located in the Vicente Perez Rosales National Park.

It features exhuberant vegetation of ulmos, olivillos and coigües, and sea species like salmons and trouts. It´s an ideal place to practice fly fishing.

This lake has two ports (Peulla and Petrohue) that are part of the Lakes Cross, which connects Puerto Varas to Argentina.

Fly-fishing is popular at Lake Todos los Santos, as the clear cold lake is well-supplied with several varieties of sport fish, including rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon and coho salmon. Surprisingly, none of these varieties of fish are native to the lake. Because of repeated onslaughts of volcanic ash, which often killed off the fish, limited tributaries where fish could escape during these events, and the short lengths of the few inflowing tributaries, there has been little chance for native fishes to evolve or migrate into the lake. German settlers actively stocked the waters with their favored species, trout and salmon, which soon offered too much competition for the smaller native varieties. Today, the only native fishes in the lake are thought to be the perch trout and catfish.

The best times are sunrise and late afternoon into sunset. This is the time brown trout are most active and will take moving dry flies off the surface.

The best equipment for fishing the Todos los Santos Lake is a N" 6 weigh with a shotting line ussing streamers or in the sunset ussing floating line and caddis flies. Trout here can be bigger than other fishing spots in the area reaching 7 to 9 pounds specialy the big browns that live in the deep parts and in the bars of the Lake.

Big Brown catch in Lake Todos los Santos.

Big Soncker flies are specially atractive for big browns that live in this lake.

Lake Cayutue.

This particular lagoon is one of six craters in the area. Although this body of water is called a lagoon, it is actually a lake having an inlet and an outlet. To reach the Cayutue Lagoon, anglers must take a 45 minute hike or horseback ride through the Chilean rainforest . Rainbow and brown trout inhabit these waters and are extremely healthy and eager to eat your fly. The views from the lake are spectacular and surrounding mountains .
The river that drains the Cayutue Lake is the Cayutue River and is characterized by the crystal clear water.The water is so clear that fishing the river becomes a serious challenge for some anglers. It is very much like spring creek with slow moving currents and massive algae blooms. The only way to fish the majority of the river is to motor up the river and slowly fish and float down. The challenge lies in spotting fish before they spot you. It is helpful to remember where you saw fish on the way up so that you can cast to them when you eventually float down.

This video shows the beauty of this place and the incredible colors of the trouts of the Cayutue.

View from camp.

Incredible beauty of a Brown Trout catch in River Concha one of the rivers that drains the Cayutue.

Big cone head with deer wolly bugger are perfect to try to find the big Brown Trouts that can reach up to 9 pounds.

Big Brown Trout catch by Bill casting to the reeds in Cayetue.

River Petrohué.

Rainbow and brown trout, Coho and Chinnok salmon coexist in the Petrohué River. The appropriate equipment for trout fishing is a 6 weight rod with a reel and additional spool holding fast-sinking and floating lines. For salmon fishing a 9 weight rod is better.

One of the best fishing sectors is found between the Petrohué Falls and the mouth of the Hueñu Hueñu River.

One of the reasons for the high quality of fishing in this area is that there are few fishermen due to the potentially dangerous rapids in the course of the river. The best way to fish this upper section of the Petrohué safely and reach the pools and pockets of calm waters that offer ideal consitions for dry-fly fishing is a cataraft-type boat.

The middle section of the Petrohué is calmer and one of its main attractions is the large pool that forms at the mouth of the Hueñu Hueñu River. The Chinnok salmon rest here before continuing their upstream journey in search of spawining places.

Fishing isn´t easy in this setor because the trout are wary of the passing boats, making it necessary to use long, precise casts. The most effective technique is to cast toward the bank using a fast-sinking line. Once the fly hits the water it should be made to come alive with a few short tugs before stripping in the line.

Rainbow trout catch in the first section of the river .

In the beginning of the sesson between november and dicember the Rainbow trouts use to lay their eggs in this part of the river where we can find Rainbows up to 7 pounds.

Chinnok salmons grow big and healthy in the cold sea of Chile doing the River Petrohué the best Chinnok fishing destiny in the country.

More than a fishing destiny the River Petrohué is a nature sanctuary that make every minute drifting in this river a unforgettable time of your life.

More about this incredible river in video, filmed by
Taylor Mccurdy one of my north american clients.

RIVER PUELO.

The Puelo River is perhaps the most popular for it large size and for its possibilities for many rainbow and brown trout. The Puelo is known for it's excellent salmon fishing and anglers come during the spawning season of May and April to catch Coho, Chinook and even Steelhead.

The most traditional style of fishing in Rio Puelo is with large Wolly Buggers and streamers employed with a sink tip line. However the river also offers excellent places to use the nymph and or drift a dry fly in anticipation of huge catches.

Its basin is surrounded by an exuberant evergreen temperate rainforest, where only the yellows and reds of the oak, ñire (Nothofangus antartica), andlenga (Nothofanguspumilio), trees add touches of red and yellow int he autumm.

There is an abundance of ferns, moss and lichens in this area, as well as a large variety of trees with canopies extending more than 100 feet across. The diversity of the native flora is als seen in the entomological species whose only true relatives are found in Australia, New Zeland and Tasmania.

The Puelo River is notable for the abundane of fish due to the presence of numerous salmon and trout farmas along the Reloncavi estuary. This makes the Puelo one of the few rivers in Chile where it is possible to catch up to four different species in on day.

Because of the puelo´s proximity to the Reloncavi Estuary, it is common for large trout and salmon to swim upstream from the estuary. The circulation of salt water creates a habitat where crustaceans and mollusks are abundant.

Large rivers like the Puelo and Petrohué require fishermen to seek out braches and pockets where the fish are more readily accessible.

River Puelo is located in the south side of Reloncavi estuary, and with petrohué river share similar fishing styles and also the greatest comebacks sector salmonideas species.

Lake and River Yelcho.

The Yelcho Valley offers a diversity of landscapes for fishing: afull-flowing river that meanders through Patanian grasslands, a large lake surrounded by high mountains crested with perpetual ice, torrents situated between volcanoes, and a sandy delta leading to an area of fjors. Each of these places presents fishermen with new changes to catch their coveted prey in the cool waters of chilean Patagonia.

The upper section of the Yelcho Basin is set in a landscape framed by the Espejo Lagoon and the Futaleufú and Espolon River. This area marks the beginning of the Chilean Patagonia pampa, with vast grassy plains where the settlers are mainly engaged in cattle farming.

Life in the pampa is peaceful, with relatively warm summers and days that can reach 86°F and very could winters with temperatures below freezing. Because of its location to the east of the Andes, wich obstructs Pacific weather fronts, rainfall is less than 40 inches a year, mainly concentrated between may and august.

Lake Yelcho.

Lake Yelcho have one of the most beautiful sceneries in Patagonia, fishing big trout with dry fly in front of millenaries glaciers is unreal.

In River Yelcho Chinnok Salmon 55 pounds.

A large percentage of residents of the Yelcho Valley live in Chaitén. People in this small town of 4000 inhabitants are hospitable and in recent tears have focused on providing services to tourists who visit the region to explore its majestic parks. The Pumalín Park is an obligatory stop, with its imposing millenarian alerces (fitzroya cupressoides), native deer and numerous birds that break the silence of the temperate rainforest with their song.

The weather in the Yelcho River are during the fishing season is pleasant. In the summer months the temperature approacher 60°F, and although the average rainfall is on the order of 60 inches per year, it decreases considerably in the summer months.

The efforts to preserve sport fishing through catch-and realese practices encouraged by the lodges of the Yelcho Basin have made it possible to maintain a diversity of species, predominant among which are rainbow and brown trout, and Atlantic and Chinnok salmon.

Yelcho owes part of its renown to the trout´s eagerness in their efforts to catch some of the thousands of dragonflies that fly around its large expanses of reeds. On warm sunny, days in January and Febrery, its common to see trout jumping after a colorful pair of dragonflies flying near the water during their reproductive rite. Once the nuptial flight is over, the female will alight on the water to lay her eggs and may thus promply become trout food.

Lake Yelcho constitutes an extensive fishing area that is divided into three sectors: south, center and north.

In the southern sector, at the mouth of the Futaleufú River, fishing is conducted in boats, casting toward the reeds with imitation dragonflies in nymph stage, slowly bringing in the surplus line in preparation for the strike. If dragonflies are scarce at the time, other nymphs on a normal sinking line an be used and then stripped with quick, sharp tugs simulating the movements of the thousand of dragonfly nymphs that live among the stalks and roots of the reeds.

A 6 weight rod is the right choice for lake Yelcho because it allows sufficient pressure to be applied to the line allows sufficient pressure to be applied to the line when it gets windy in order to reel in the rainbows and browns.

The weight of the fish ranges between 1 and 9 pounds in the shallower sections, and it is possible to catch brown trout of up to 13 pounds using fastsinking lines in the middle of the lake´s outlet. It is increasingly common to catch young Atlantic salmon weighing between 2 and 7 pounds. The presence of Chinnok salmon is on a continual rise, and it is easy to spot pairs swimming upriver on the Yelcho in search of spawning places between April and May.