11 to 18 February: Weekly report from Tierra del Fuego
The fishing remained good to La Villa this week despite the high and muddied waters, with 91 fish landed to the six rods. At Estancia Maria Behety conditions were tougher but Nadine L was undeterred and managed to land a monstrous 25lber!
LA VILLA MARIA BEHETY LODGE:
By Diego Motter – Head guide at La Villa
The fishing was good at La Villa this week, despite the dirty and high water. A combination of tube flies and sinking lines were the weapons of choice this week. We landed 91 fish of which 25 were over 15 lbs and 4 over 20lbs. Average weight was 11.8 lbs.
It was a great group of friends who were all good fishermen so a super fun week. They all fished very hard under difficult conditions, and we got some very good results.
The river started to clean out on Thursday and the fishing got a bit slower, it was certainly better with dirty water.
Water Conditions:
We pretty much had dirty water all week, Sunday and Monday with little or any visibility. The river started to clear on Tuesday.
Water temperature: 7⁰ - 14⁰ Celsius (44⁰ - 57⁰ Fahrenheit)
Water levels rose 20 cm (8 inches) and got dirty.
Weather Conditions:
The wind blew from the northwest most of the week, and it wasn't too strong. On Friday the wind blew from the south and got stronger.
Air temperature ranges through the week: 5⁰ - 22⁰ Celsius (41⁰ - 71 Fahrenheit) We had very good weather during the week with pleasant temperatures, although on Thursday and Friday it got colder
Fishing Conditions:
Flies that are working the best: big leeches, intruder and tubes flies.
Plastic tubes in tandem were the best weapons and got a lot of fish in really muddy water.
Fly lines (tips, heads, lengths, densities, etc.): Skagit heads with different lengths of T-14, T-17, Scandi with poly-leaders.
Floating lines worked well Thursday and Friday on top with plastic tubes.
Length and strength of tippet and leaders: 4 to 7 feet, 12 to 15 lbs. The most successful way of caching fish was fishing big flies and sinking lines. Most of the fish were in the lower and middle part of the river, we found a lot of fish in the upper part of the river; every week we are fishing more and more fish in the upper stretches.
Fish Statistics:
Number of anglers for the week: 6
Total number of fish landed for the week: 91
Weight of the biggest fish: 22 lbs
Number of fish landed over 15 lbs: 25
Number of fish landed over 20 lbs: 4
LA VILLA GUIDES
Diego Motter (Head Guide)
Jorge Castro
Guido Perillo
Estancia Maria Behety Lodge
By Federico Molinolo – Head guide at Estancia Maria Behety Lodge
We had tougher fishing, with some some really good sessions and some very slow ones. We had lots of weather changes during the week with west wind some days, east wind, south wind on Thursday and Friday and a lot of rain.
We landed a total of 103 fish with an average weight of 11.1 lbs. We had 29 fish over 15 lbs and 4 over 20 lbs
Top rod: Paul S and Jim N with 11 fish to the net
Biggest fish: Nadine L landed a 25 lber
Water Conditions:
Water colour and visibility: The week started with the river 7-8 inches higher than the week before, dropping and clearing up a little every day. Water visibility went from 5-6 inches on Sunday to 3-4 feet on Friday.
Water temperature: 44°F to 60°F
Water levels: By Friday the river dropped about 5 inches. Still a few inches higher than last week
Weather Conditions:
The weather was unstable the entire week. From Monday to Wednesday evening wind changed from west to north to east and sometimes all the same time. We had a south wind and a heavy rain on Thursday and Friday.
Air temperature ranges through the week: 40°F to 76°C
Fishing Conditions:
Flies that are working the best: Big flies for the first 3 days - Leeches, intruders, Paul Millers, and big tube flies. Then medium size buggers, Yuk Bug, Tdf Taxi. We fished nymphs the last 2 days of the week: Red Butt, TDF Prince, Aurelia Prince.
Fly lines (tips, heads, lengths, densities, etc.): Light tips and Scandi heads for low water conditions. Poly-leaders and Spey versi-leaders.
Heavy tips and Skagit heads for high water conditions, with different lengths of T-14 and T-17 worked the best and we also used T-20 in some pools.
Length and strength of tippet and leaders: Short leaders for heavy tips, 3 to 5 feet and long leaders for heavy tips, 10 to 15 feet in length
Fish Statistics:
Number of rods for the week: 12
Total number of fish landed for the week: 103
Weight of the biggest fish landed: 25 lbs
Number of fish landed over 15 lbs: 29
Number of fish landed over 20 lbs: 4
Notable catches:
Nadine L landed a 25 lber
Ian C landed a 20.5 lber
Paul S landed a 20 lber and a 20.5 lber
ESTANCIA MARIA BEHETY LODGE GUIDES
Federico Molinolo (Head Guide)
Genaro Molinolo
Miguel Angel Zangla
Nauhel Stauch
Marcos Hlace
Exequiel Bustos
For further information on fishing The Rio Grande, please do not hesitate to contact either Charlie White, Hannah Treliving or Jack Selby.
Related
West Ranga River, Iceland - Hosted trip report by Charlie White
The West Ranga is the most prolific river in Iceland – sounds straightforward when you read it but it is when conditions are at their toughest that this fact really comes into its own.
La Villa Maria Behety 4-11 January 2019 Week report
Fishing has improved this week with floating lines beginning to be effective. The team of 6 rods had a great week with a lot of laughs amongst great fishing. They landed 85 fresh fish with 16 fish over 15 pounds for an average weight of 10.1 pounds. The middle and lower river have fished best...
Greenland – a trip report by Charlie White
Arctic char fishing in Greenland has been on my radar for a long time but for various reasons I have never actually taken the plunge. That all changed last year when, on the way to host a group on the East Ranga in Iceland, I spoke to Valgerdur Arnardottir (Arni Baldursson’s daughter) who had just come back from Greenland and was utterly raving about it.
