We were having great shots, but there were no bites. We tried everything: Stripping, not stripping, allowing the fly to drift, moving the fly like one does in Tierra del Fuego; absolutely everything! But the streamer didn’t work. Actually, in the three next days, the stream also worked very poorly. As far as I can recall, it only worked nicely for about two hours on the third day and that was it. Opposite to Juan, I only got two fishes and lost another.

We mostly used number 8 rods with floating lines, dry flies and sinking lines to go deeper. They were all Sage roads, but we also tried a brand that we haven’t heard about before. Our American friends brought it with them and we learned that those particular rods were made by a guy in the US who personalizes every rod. It was a great rod, but kind of stiff and I don’t like stiffness in my rods; I mean, it’s amazing when they go far but not that good when they don’t let you put the fly where you want it. So we had three rods per boat and William suggested that we take an extra number 7 rod and a dry fly and depending on the water, we used one or the other.

It was time to rest a bit, and the campsite was the perfect spot to do so. We had a nice lunch plus a couple of drinks. Homemade hamburgers were the day’s menu by the hand of our magnificent guides; we took our hats off to our cooks! There, we drank a couple of beers, renewed our sunscreen and, after taking a nap under the willow trees, we were ready to go back to business, as our friend Mark likes to say.  

At the campsite, we met Rodo and his son, Rodito; Fabio and Francisco, who is young but his English is remarkable since he´s been living in Australia for the last couple of years. Francisco´s 25 years old, and he´s already an extraordinary guide with a lot o potential to achieve, so I really hope that he lives up to his potential. Rodo was extremely attentive to us; he took such good care of me and my friends. He was constantly checking that we had a drink in our hand, making sure our plates had plenty food left, and answering every question we had.

A pretty neat surprise was that they arranged one particularly special dinner for us: the famous Patagonian lamb, cooked on a cross over the fire. Our mouths were instantly watering. Let me tell you, that lamb was so tender we could cut it with a spoon! It definitely was the correct way to close an awesome fishing day.

The tents we slept in were extremely comfortable. Juan and I shared one tent with two roll away beds - those beds that fold – our sleeping bags and we got electricity at the campsite, which was a great relief to find. That way, we got to charge our phones and cameras, speakers, and of course, lights. So it´s fair to say that this made everything even better, since we were able to listen to some music at night chosen by Juan; and also, Danny who is a gifted guitar player – he actually used to be in a band, and get this: the band´s name was “Mas fiero que masticar laucha” which translates into “As disgusting as chewing on a filthy rat”. Such a weird, and not to mention a long name for a band! We were rolling on the floor and holding our sides from laughing so much!

To wrap up this spectacular flyfishing trip, we shared our fish count and, the results are in: I was definitely out of luck, but Juan caught a couple of fishes – thank god! – Mitch and David were the ones that got the most fish in our group. Probably about 20 pieces, and mostly rainbow trouts; but they weren´t that big, about 15 to 20 inches long. But that didn´t make our trip any less of an incredible experience; on the contrary, everyone was pretty much excited. Then, we have Mark and Pat who were struggling with the windy situation we commented before, to get their casts good, but they also got a few bites: around 10 fishes a day; which is pretty impressive!

So summing up the action, the first day at the Limay River I was in the poor boat. Mitch and David got a lot of fish, probably like 20 and mostly rainbow trouts, of about 15 to 20 inches, but they were really excited nevertheless. Mark and Pat were working hard against the wind to get their casts good and they also got a fair amount of fish. They told me they got 10 fish average each day, which is a pretty good amount. So all in all, even though it was a rewarding day, I had already made my decision that the next day I would try to use the dry lines and dry flies rather than working so hard on trying to get a big fish from under the water. And I can tell you it paid off, we got a couple more catches and I was over the moon!

Besides having tons of fun fishing and floating the Limay river; being at the campsite at night with no phone reception, no wifi, just doing what we love most, and getting to share that experience with my brother and friends, leaves you utterly speechless. There are no words to express that feeling of connecting up close with nature. I believe that every person should experience this sensation first-hand; I mean, at least once in a lifetime. All in all, this trip couldn´t turn out better. I can´t wait for our next adventure. What about you? What are you waiting for?

You should be the next one!

Pablo Aguilo

Pointer Outfitters