Estancia Despedida Fly Fishing Argentina

I’ve been fishing South America for the last 11 years. I love everything about it – the beauty of the landscapes, the people, the food, and, of course, the fish. This was not my first trip to the Rio Grande in Tierra del Fuego and the rain, snow and high water were reminiscent of previous trips. But still to this day, and with tougher than tough river conditions, I continue to find the Rio Grande the best sea trout river in the world.

Going in February means prime time – middle of their summer, perfect water conditions even for dry fly fishing, and plenty of fish in the system. Well, I only experienced the latter – plenty of fish in the system. With only a few inches of visibility, my dry flies stayed dry and my string leeches hit the water hard. I loved every minute of it, and bonded with my speyrod. The Rio Grande IS the perfect place to use a speyrod. If you are fairly proficient and like throwing tips, a speyrod is the perfect tool. These anadromous brown trout are grabby. All you need is a few inches of visibility, a good cast, and they will eat. One of my most memorable fish jumped 12 times!
Having fished Estancia Maria Behety previously, I was anxious to see what the ‘other side’ would offer. On this trip I fished on the south side of the river out of Kau Tapen, Estancia Despedida, and had a quick visit to Villa Maria. All three operations are quite impressive and have their own special waters, guides, and amenities to offer anglers. 

Kau Tapen was better than I expected. I was under the impression that it is overly formal at the lodge but I was welcomed by a very casual and fun group of anglers. They fished hard and enjoyed one another’s company. I was fortunate to be matched up with a southern gentleman, Carl. Carl and I became fast friends and after watching him catch the two largest fish of his life, the shine of his smile will be hard to forget. Kau Tapen’s guides and staff are hospitable, professional, attentive, and lots of fun to be around. Kau Tapen’s guests are really spoiled rotten with lots of remarkable water.
I took a day to visit Villa Maria on the lower river, have lunch, meet the guides and staff, and check out their water. This is a very special operation on the lower river which has continued to give up most of the river’s record fish. Anglers LOVE this place and I understand why. The river and runs are quite a bit larger down near the mouth. There are various side channels, lots of swing water, and guides Jean, Lucas, and Alejandro know how to fish it. After a morning fishing session there is a short drive to the “fishing cabin” which is exquisite. It is easy to confuse it with the lodge since it is so well built and beautiful. Anglers take lunch and a nice siesta here between fishing sessions and only return back to the main estancia after dark. The main lodge is classic ranch house on the Estancia Jose Menendez. It is charming, well appointed, and now offers a private room for each of the six anglers.

My next stop was at Estancia Despedida. Despedida has been on my personal fishing list for over a decade. I had met the owner, Danny Lajous, in California in years past and I really wanted to spend time on his special waters around the lodge. Danny and Ozzie are incredible hosts and extremely knowledgeable in terms of the fishery. The ‘heart of the river’ is quite impressive and the runs are large and full of fish. My afternoon fishing session started by photographing guest Mark fighting and landing a hot 15 lb fish. To this day I will be hard pressed to capture such a great fish and such great smiles all at once. Mark had fished the Rio Grande a number of times from a different lodge. After the first day of fishing, he said he wanted to return to Despedida next year. That says it all. As my week progressed, water conditions deteriorated and the main river opportunities crumbled. One of the nice pieces of the puzzle here at Despedida is the fact that we were able to fish the MacLennan tributary during high water. This smaller piece of water offered up some super fresh, fat fish to a number of lucky anglers.
The Rio Grande is perfect in so many ways and though I have fished it under tough conditions a few times now, it continues to impress me. I pinch myself every time thinking how grateful I am to be on Tierra del Fuego’s island fishing for these incredible bright and mysterious fish.
 

Estancia Despedida Fly Fishing Argentina

To set the record straight, I am a steelheader. Nothing gets my blood pumping like swinging a fly for steelhead on a big western river with my spey rod. Don’t get me wrong, I love fishing for trout as well. Throwing small, bug-like flies on light tippet gives me a charge that will never dissipate. However, after spending my first week on the Rio Grande fishing for sea-run browns using a combination of steelhead and trout techniques and flies I can honestly say that my perspective has changed. I cannot believe I am saying this but if I had to choose between 100 days a year of steelhead fishing or an equal amount of time sea trout fishing on the Rio Grande, I would be hard-pressed to make the decision. In January and early February every single fish swimming into the Rio Grande is chrome bright and strong. Sea trout 25” long weigh in at 8-9 lbs. A 15 lb. sea trout on the Rio Grande pulls like a 30 lb. Oregon Chinook. My 7 wt. spey rods that have landed 20 lb. steelhead were stretched to the cork to land 14-17 lb. sea run browns. The strength, power and majesty of the early season Rio Grande fish is truly amazing.

My first trip to the region was to Estancia Despedida in January 2011. After the long journey down to the lodge we received a warm welcome from the lodge owners Danny, Ozzie and their crew, settled into our rooms, and sat down for the welcome speech. At this point we were given the “good news/bad news” from our host Ozzie. The bad news was that it had been raining off and on for four days in the headwaters and we wouldn’t know until the next day how the river would be affected. The good news was that even if the Rio Grande was blown they had an absolutely great back up plan. The fishing program at Despedida has the added bonus of having the Rio Onas. Often overlooked, the Onas is a small gem of a freestone that is blessed with the wonderful quality of keeping it’s clarity in all but the absolute worst of storms. And if that was not enough, guess where a good number of the sea trout from the Rio Grande go when the river is high and muddy. You got it. The Onas. The following morning we awoke to the “bad news” a Rio Grande that had risen nearly 3 ½ ft. and had about four inches of visibility. Without skipping a beat our guides loaded us up and headed out to the Onas. Although not the big river we had come for, the Rio Onas was a joy to fish and produced sea trout up to 15 lbs. Although no one planned or based their trip on this little river, we were grateful to have it as a back up plan and will not overlook it on future trips. Personally I plan on fishing it with a single hand rod and a dead drifted dry on my next trip. Rain or not.

By the morning of day four the Rio Grande had dropped and cleared considerably. Although heavy sink-tips and large flies were still necessary, we all enjoyed success with the heavy rigs. The river continued to drop for the rest of the week. As the water cleared we were able to use lighter tips and smaller flies each day. By the evening session on our last day members of our group were catching fish on floating lines and skated flies.

So how windy is it? A calm day in Tierra del Fuego will have sustained 15-20 mph winds at some point during the day and yes, the wind is challenging to cast in. Although our guides did a great job of moving us around to cast with the wind, a spey rod in the 13 ½’ – 14’ range will be necessary equipment for me in the future. That being said, two members of our group learned to spey cast on this trip and they both caught fish every day, proving that long casts are not always required. Aside from the wind the Rio Grande is a joy to fish. With a gravel river bottom the wading was never an issue and deeply sunk flies were only getting hung on fish mouths. The river bank is devoid of trees so we never needed to worry about flies getting hooked in the branches and if the wind was particularly fierce it was easy enough to make overhead casts with the spey rod.

The lodge at Estancia Despedida is intimate and comfortable. Danny and Ozzie are the ultimate lodge hosts. Their outgoing demeanors and rich fishing history made everyone in the group feel right at home. As the only owner-operated lodge on the Rio Grande, Despedida has the comforting feel of staying with your family. In fact, Despedida Lodge literally is one big family. Danny Lajous and his wife Helen work hard to make you feel right at home. Danny and Helen’s son Tommy and his childhood friend Bocha are guides with an uncanny ability to find big fish that will bite. Ozzie’s conversation starters at the table ranged from Argentine history to American rock ‘n roll. Chef Oscar served four course meals with elements of Argentine and European cuisine that were well-matched with Argentine wines.

Although my heart still belongs to steelhead I will be counting the weeks until I can return to Tierra del Fuego (49 as I’m writing). In my opinion every steelheader needs to fish the Rio Grande. From my group of sea trout novices everyone will be returning next year. We have all learned why the Rio Grande is the best sea trout river in the world: summer-run brown trout fresh from the ocean in an unspoiled location.