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

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