La Posada de los Farios (Inn of the Brown Trout) Chile Patagonia Fly Fishing
By: John Randolph
Chile - Opened on a 5,000-acre ranch, 135 kilometers (83.7 miles) from Coyhaique, on the Rio Cisnes in 1995 by U.S. guide and outfitter Rex Bryngelson, Posada de los Farios fishes the upper and middle Cisnes, its tributaries and nearby lagunas and lakes. The Cisnes where the lodge is located is an easily wadeable freestone stream similar in size to the Madison River. It and two nearby tributary creeks assure anglers of from 30 to 60 browns a day ranging from 8- to 18-inches, with browns up to 21 inches and larger taken during a normal week of fishing the river and spring-fed lagunas and creeks that hold large fish.
The variety of fishing in this stretch of the Cisnes is exceptional, even for Chile. The small lakes and lagunas have large browns, fished from float tubes or by wading, either wet of with waders. The main stem of the Cisnes is ideal for dry-fly fishing or nymphing, with long glide pools and riffles and an abundance of from 1- to 3-pound browns.
This stretch of the Cisnes has extraordinary grasshopper populations, like the Nireguao, and they provide spectacular summer dry-fly fishing on both the main stem and tributaries. Excellent mayfly and caddis hatches carry the dry-fly fishing through the late season. And wade- or boat-fishing large streamers and nymphs produce large browns throughout the season. Late-season fishing for exceptionally large browns gets rolling in late March. Ten-pound tippets are called for on the largest fish.
Flies (the guides have a complete selection) include: #12-#16 Elk-hair Caddis and Royal Wulffs, #10-#14 Humpies, #14-#18 black ants (black parachute), #4-#10 Dave's Hoppers, #14-#18 Adams, #4-#11 Stimulators, large dragonflies, and medium damselfly imitations. Streamers and leeches include #2-#12 Crystal Buggers (black, brown, green, and white), #6-#8 Zonkers, and Muddlers. Nymphs include #12-#18 Hare's-ears, Pheasant-tails, Princes, caddis emergers, #6-#10 stonefly imitations, #4-#6 dragonfly nymphs, #8-#12 Montana Nymphs, and Bitch Creeks.
Lago Las Torres (two kilometers [1.2 miles] from the ranch) has float-tube fishing for large browns, and Bryngelson's guides do Montana-style day or overnight float-fishing trips on the river.
The Posada de los Farios lodge is the former main ranch home, remodeled with three comfortable guest rooms and two baths, designed to accommodate six guests, with excellent on-premise Chilean meals served with regional wines, and lunches prepared for the guides to serve onstream.
Larry Page's Patagonia Adventures lodge is located 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) downriver from Posada de los Farios near the Rio Cisnes in a ranch building turned into a lodge, with an outbuilding for cooking and equipment. Outfitting at this location for the past decade, the New Hampshire outfitter conducts an operation that guides the Cisnes watershed, including tributaries, spring creeks, lagunas, and nearby Lago Los Torres.
Page offers basic but comfortable accommodations to dedicated fly fishers. His guides fish both Chilean and Argentine waters in this region, hosting only four anglers per week (six maximum), often with one guide to a client. Contact Larry Page, P.O. Box 223, Claremont, NH 03743, (603) 542-6888; fax: (603) 543-4174. Argentine/Chilean Travel Travel to this part of the southern hemisphere requires a few basic understandings. The language is Spanish. If a fly fisher can speak it, he/she can communicate and understand the culture. If not, and most Americans cannot, then chaperonage becomes necessary, especially with transfers at airports. Virtually all lodge operations provide bilingual assistance at the airports.
Daytime temperatures range from the high 40s (F.) in spring months to the mid-80s in summer and mid-40s on chilly overcast autumn days.
The tabanos horsefly can be a major annoyance on some Chilean and Argentine rivers in late December and early January, but they are not a bad problem in the Aysen Region. Nevertheless, fly fishers should include a headnet to avoid this insect. They should also include sunblock (SPF 30 or higher), bandannas for neck protection, and sungloves if they have a fair complexion. Polarized sunglasses are essential for spotting fish and for guarding against the intense Patagonian sunshine. (The ozone hole in the Patagonia region makes ultraviolet-ray penetration there far more intense than in North America; sunburn can be severe.)
High-quality stormwear and short-billed fishing hats are essential. Some streams can be wet-waded in summer, but it's a good idea to include breathable waders, pile or polypropylene underwear, and felt wading shoes in your gear.
Five-, 6-, and 8-weight rods and floating lines serve for most of the fishing. Weight-forward or double-taper floating lines are standard for the dry-fly and nymph fishing at normal river levels, and a T-300 or T-350 for high-water conditions and for fishing lake inlets for large trout. Teeny T-200 lines are used to throw streamers to the banks and to fish the lake bocas and connecting rivers. Reels should carry from 100 to 200 feet of 20-pound backing.
American dollars are acceptable in both Chile and Argentina; money exchanges can be made at airports of entry. A money belt is a convenient way to carry extra dollars. Crime is not a problem in either country.
All road travel in Argentina and Chile should be done with a local driver. Roads are dirt and rough; tire problems are normal occurrences, and there are long distances between services and little or no help in between. The lodges provide the car-travel service, and it is well worth the money. Patagonia is a very tough place for the do-it-yourselfer-both in finding the fishing and getting to it.
There is no problem with drinking the water in Patagonia, but to be safe carry Imodium AD pills with you.
Meals at all the lodges are served late by American standards-9 to 10 P.M. And they are served with excellent Chilean and Argentine wines, as are the streamside lunches. Asados (half-lambs cooked over an open fire) are served on Friday evenings and accompanied by the favored drink, pisco sours. Hospitality is a characteristic of the Chilean and Argentine cultures.
JOHN RANDOLPH is editor and publisher of FLY FISHERMAN. He lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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