Client report - Cinco Rios Lodge, Chile

Some great feedback from regular client Peter Connor who visited Cincos Rios Lodge in Chile for 10 days in February. A great insight to this fabulous lodge...

Hi Matt,

Please accept my apology for not replying sooner. 

You know my philosophy, the place itself provides the delight, and that the fishing sits alongside. I found the country to be quite breath-taking; from the impish shiny eyed uniform who guided me through the chaos of Santiago Airport (for a very small tip) to the bleak barrenness around Balmaceda Airport to the mountains and lakes around Coyhaique. From minute one I was made very welcome, collected at the airport on time and delivered safely to Cincos Rios by one of the friendly staff.  The lodge as you probably know is custom built looking over the Simpson River valley, (though we did not fish it whilst I was there.) None the less a provider of poetic sunsets and stimulating dawns, even the air tastes different as the valley clears its early morning mist, Condors drifting on the early air currents. If you have a look on trip advisor (Cincos Rios in the search engine ) there are a series of photos which show with excellent clarity the style of the place.   

Sebastian was not in residence when I arrived, but the place ran with obvious efficiency, ideal after the long journey. No rushing, just a gentle introduction to the place and the system. The senior guide, Lalu, ran me through an outline of the arrangements, a gentle interrogation on what I expected from my stay. I was delighted to find that all the guides are local, or relatively so, most of them clearly passionate fishermen themselves, fly tyers and, as it turned out, expert handlers of a variety of water craft. I was a bit perturbed to hear the term 'jet-boat' applied to one of the forms of transport, but it turned out to be a robust inflatable water platform powered by an outboard impeller allowing easy navigation of shallow water, rocks and debris. These are virtually unsinkable. In my ten days fishing I did not fish the same water twice, from log strewn lake edges hiding wonderful brown trout to spring creeks and freestone rivers where free rising brownies and rainbows were the order of the day. I dont want to give the impression that it was inordinately easy, it was not; but the opportunty to catch fish was ever present, the only inhibitor in any given situation was my own skill level. I have to report I managed some good shots alongside the odd inevitable duff cast. It was only on the last day, when the wind really got up, it was like fishing in a wind tunnel, that I felt almost defeated by the elements. Even then my guide took some time out to teach me a little single spey casting to beat the wind. We did catch fish.  

In accordance with your guidance I spent some time at the fly tying bench. Over-enthusiasm lead to me taking far more than I needed. The ever present Cantaria Beetles meant that the number one fly was any variation on a big black foam beetle ( though irridescent blue for some peculiar reason also seemed to work ) slapped down on the surface, attached to a 1x or 2x leader usually drew a response. In the Valley of the Moon (what a name) the fly of choice was a bright green grasshopper. We could almost groundbait with the real thing by walking through the grass. A perfect summer's day, with a light breeze, surrounded by a huge variety of birds, including several different raptors, I caught fish too numerous to count, from 12 to 22 inches. Magnificent! On one day we jet boated to the top end of Lake Elisalde, up a gin clear river populated with big brownies clearly visible on the bottom. When we reached the lake, in a large lagoon up to about 12 feet deep, there were many big fish cruising on the bottom. Dropping a big black beetle in the vicinity of a cruising fish provoked a slow deliberate take through the ripple. These were beatiful, well marked fish and many had a single blue spot on the gill cover. As soon as the wind dropped any line movement on the flat calm spooked the fish instantly. We then resorted to taking decent sized rainbows on size 16 Parachute Adams, in the mouth of the river. On a later day I fished a freestone river for rainbows, which needed super heavy nymphs ( 2 tunsten beads + lead ) to get down to the fish, using a floating indicator to help with bite detection.

When Sebastian arrived he made every effort to ensure that the guests were well looked after. I'll give you an example. An American couple arrived, both of whom fished. In the introductory chat they mentioned that it was their 30th wedding anniversary during the week. On the evening in question there were celebratory drinks provided and the couple (and everyone else) were seranaded by a local husband and wife duo singing Chilean love songs. All unannounced and included. A delicate touch I think, unsolicited and gracious. His attention to detail is excellent and the service provided first class. Incidentally, where wives turned up with fishing clients every effort was made to provide activities for them; guided walking treks and horse riding in particular.

All in all one of the best fishing holidays I have ever had, ever, including New Zealand. So well done. All travel arrangements went well.

About New Zealand. I had intended to go in January/February 2015. So watch this space. I will be going back to Chile in 2016 about the same time.

Best regards
Peter

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FLY FISHING IN CHILE PLEASE CONTACT US ON +44 (0)1621743711 OR EMAIL: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk OR VISIT: WWW.FLYODYSSEY.CO.UK

Fly fishing Argentina - Kau Tapen, Rio Grande Hosted trip report

During the last week of January a group of our clients fished the superb lodge of Kau Tapen located on the Rio Grande in Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina. This river is famous for it's large numbers of big sea trout. The 5 anglers on this week led by Sean Clarke of Farlows, Pall Mall all managed good numbers of fish. Gary Crossley finished with the biggest fish of the week at 19 lbs. You can read the lodge managers report below…..

Week 25th January - 1st February, 2014

When a week passes like the one we just had I appreciate all the more the events and experiences that no doubt I and the guests will recount for years to come. Stories at the guide cabin can go back years recounting in intricate detail individual fish, flies, guests, etc.

Guiding late into the evening here can be very special, referred to by many as the “magic hour” your guiding takes on a whole new perspective, as the light fades your senses change from visual to acoustic. You find yourself at times in an almost trance like state gazing into the darkness, head tilted slightly and ears intently cocked for any tell tail sounds of action. To the trained ear it is possible to discern a good cast from a bad one, instruction at this hour is futile so as a guide you persistently want to hear the running line tap the reel, closely followed by a deft plop as the fly land close to the far bank. Fishing close to the surface the initial take is unmistakeable, a crisp surge of water churning, one must wait for the clutch on the reel to click before you can be sure of a solid hook set, an elated guest may also confirm the same with one of the many hook up phrases “fish on” “ oh ya baby” etc. etc. The next matter of interest is the size of the specimen hooked usually denoted by the splash following a jump, once the reel begins to click for the second time it is time to call your charges to the bank while you dash for the net.

Our guests experience the best week of the season so far and managed to hook into an impressive 229 trout of which 166 were landed. Some of the better session in terms of numbers include Ron Clark’s Tuesday total of 8 fish, at 77 Ron with a group of American friends William Stoney, William Alford and Harvey Bender reminisced on how they had met and times they had spent together in Alaska over a period of 12 years, with many valuable memories had together this in William Alford’s words was their “final hurrah”. William Bush and David Blazes complete novices with the double hander slowly got to grips with the task at hand and each accounted for a total of 19 fish. Our friend from Ponoi, Francois Bocard made a welcome return to the Rio Grande after a 15 year absence. The Muirhead’s joined us from the UK, Linda a non-angler embraced the tranquillity of the lodge and got through an endless number of books as well as taking walks to and from the river while her husband Sandy got to work on the river, an astute angler he finished the week as our top rod with a total of 24 fish and received a new sage “method” single handed rod for his efforts. Gary Crossley joined us for the second season in a row and said that his desire to catch the “Big One” was the main motivating factor for his return, never one to panic Gary’s patience throughout the week paid off by landing the biggest fish of the week on his last session. ( 19lbs)

With extremely high tides at the weekend and a forecast of mainly overcast conditions throughout the beginning of next week hopes are high that we can continue to produce some of the best memories possible for our guests. Those who left this week certainly have shedloads.

Total rod catch: 166
Total hooked: 229
Biggest: 19lbs
Average weight: 7lbs

Regards
Matthew Solon

FOR MORINFORMATION ON FLY FISHING FOR SEA TROUT IN ARGENTINA PLEASE CONTACT US ON +44 (0) 1621743 711 OR EMAIL: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.flyodyssey.co.uk

Fly fishing Christmas island - Client report February 2014

We have just had a group of 6 anglers back from Christmas Island. You can read Nick Evans great report of his week below taken from the Salmon Fishing Forum..........

I hope some of you may find the following notes of interest.

Pegleg and I decided to forego our 1st week of Feb on the Scottish Dee in favour of a boys’ trip to Christmas Island, the Pacific one, not Indian Ocean! I’m pleased we did forego the Dee, as the river was totally blank below Banchory, where we fish.



Kiritimati, or Christmas Island, lies about 120 miles North of the equator, and is accessed by a once a week (!) flight from Fiji to Kiritimati and on to Hawaii, doing a complete return trip the same day. It is apparently the largest atoll in the world, and was the site for early atomic weapons testing in the late 50s/early 60s. The SE Tradewinds blow at about 10mph each day, and the daylight hours are basically 6am to 6pm.

Our journey started at Heathrow, to Los Angeles, then Hawaii – about 18 hours flying time. An overnight in Honolulu and then the 3 hour flight down to Kiritimati. We left home at around 5am on Monday, night stopped Monday night and flew out of Hawaii at noon on Tuesday, arriving Kiritimati at 3pm Wednesday – you cross the international date line on this flight!! Watches / cameras / brains all needed to be reset. 



We booked our trip through Fly Odyssey (I have no connections with them) and all the arrangements worked flawlessly, so hats off to Mat Mchugh.

About 50 anglers, mostly from the USA, boarded the flight at Honolulu, all heading to the small number of “lodges” that serve the visiting fishermen. We stayed in Tabwakea Village at "The Villages", a fishing lodge run by the Church. 

It was pretty basic accommodation, but the food was good – we lived on fresh fish each day. The 12 anglers at The Villages are looked after by 12 guides, and we changed guide each day. There were 4 boats with a boatman, each taking 3 anglers and 3 guides to different areas of the vast lagoon systems, and the anglers were also mixed up each day, so you always had new company for the day. 



Our team of 12 comprised 4 Brits, 1 Dane, 1 German, 1 Canadian and 5 from the USA – a super bunch of guys and good fun to be with.

This trip was what I call “immersive”, in that 6 days were spent with no phone connectivity, no WiFi, no TV etc. Our daily routine started with breakfast at 5:45, you made your own sandwich lunch, and headed out on the boat at 6:30, just before sunrise. 



A normal day saw us back at the lodge around 5:30 to 6pm, with dinner served at 7. A very long, tiring day – but well worth every moment. This was all wade fishing, with the guide beside you, dropped off and moved around by your allocated boat. 



We each normally fished 2 locations in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Mostly, you could see no other fisherman in sight, with the 3 in your boat all sometimes 2 miles apart ! 



The guides used their extensive knowledge to put us onto different flats according to the tide, wind and sun conditions. This is all sightfishing, and you need the right sun angles to best see the fish.



The fish – mostly Bonefish, with a sprinkling of Giant, Bluefin and Yellow Trevally, Trigger fish and the usual aquarium suspects. The odd Black Tipped shark cruised around, also hunting small bonefish. 







Most of us were kitted out with an 8wt rod for the bones, with a 12wt ready for GTs, carried by the guide to be quickly available should a GT pitch up. When they did, they were cruising erratically and at warp speed, and you were very lucky if you could get a cast in. There is a lot of footage on UTube of large (60-100lb) GTs being caught, and these are almost exclusively fish that have been lured into the edge of the flats by chumming, a practice which in now somewhat frowned upon and certainly not practiced by The Villages guide team.

Over the week, I lost many more fish than I would normally expect to lose in the Keys or Cuba, simply because of fish running through coral heads and cutting off the leader. I lost 3 Trevally and about 8 bonefish in this way, including my best bone of 8-9lb which cut me off just before the guide was about to land it. All these fish are returned, the guides unhook all the fish and we used barbless hooks only, making unhooking by such skilled guides a quick and simple task.

The bones I encountered probably averaged about 2 – 3 lbs, but a lot were around 4lbs, some 5lbs. During the week, bones of 10lbs and 9 lbs were taken by members of our team. My Keys and Cuba flies were mostly ignored by these fish, which live on worms, rather than shrimps and crabs. For those of you who fancy a trip, you need “Christmas Island Specials” in sizes 6 and 4, with various weights of dumbbell eyes, according to the depth and current. 

In 6 days of fishing, one of which was pretty much a write-off for all of us due to rain and wind affecting the water temperature, I took around 90 bones. My best day was the last, when I took 30 by lunch and another 10-12 in the afternoon. And remember, all these fish are sight cast to – it’s a very visual and totally absorbing and rewarding experience.

There are also opportunities for “blue-water” fishing, and Pegleg and 2 neighbours of ours took the plunge. A 3-hour motor to the right area on the exposed lee shore, led to 5 or 6 hours fishing – a mix of trolling and fishing into the back of the surf with giant poppers for GTs. Our 3 intrepid heroes, fishing with only 2 spinning rods between them, managed to land 2 Wahoo (Pegleg’s was around 75lb), a 40lb GT, 2 Yellowfin Tuna and lost another 6/7 fish in play. 





Plus a rod "exploded" (!) under the strain of trying to winch up a Wahoo that had run deep, and for much of their day, they took turns on just one rod. Needless to say, we enjoyed very much the fruits of their labours over the following days, with daily Tuna sushi and Wahoo cooked a number of ways.

All too soon our week was over, and we headed back, via another stopover in Honolulu, craving steak and salad !

Would I do it again ?? MOST CERTAINLY, particularly in these days of vanishing Dee salmon !!

Hope you enjoyed ?

TL
Nick

FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING FLY FISHING ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND PLEASE CALL US ON +44 (0) 16221743711 OR EMAIL: enquiries@flyodyssey.co.uk OR CHECK OUR WEBSITE: www.flyodyssey.co.uk