So with that in mind and a break from work, I got in touch with Tommo Baxter to see if there was any availability in late November. Tommo used to work in a fishing shop owned by a friend of mine in Australia, and after marrying an Argentinean had moved to Salta and started guiding for Juramento Fly Fishing - the same outfit I fished for back in 2011. Tommo confirmed a 3 day slot was available to fish the Rio Dorado so after pencilling that in I started building the rest of the trip.
Diego Castillo was the lodge manager at Aurelia lodge on the Rio Grande back in 2011, and after fishing together we have stayed in touch and been plotting my return to fish the Rio Grande. He is now the lodge manager at World's End Lodge on the Rio Irigoyen, and a Tierra del Fuego local. Early December is normally not a fishing season on the Rio Grande, the season starts at the beginning of November but mainly locals fish the river, with all the lodges opening at the end of December. However the recent increase in early season runs of King Salmon, as well as sea trout being in the river as well meant that Diego was able to secure me a 5 day slot at Estancia Maria Behety, the largest and best section of the lower and middle reaches of the Rio Grande - where the vast majority of sea trout are caught every year.
The last piece of the puzzle was to finally fish the famous Lago Strobel - home of the largest number of giant rainbow trout in the world. Stories abound of huge numbers of prodigiously fat rainbows in the lake, gorging on daphnia and scuds and growing huge, as well as crowding the only inflow to the lake during early and late season - the Rio Barrancoso. Diego managed to get me a 3 day slot at Estancia Laguna Verde, the premier lodge on the lake and with that the fishing part of the trip was complete. Internal flights were booked easily online with Aerolineas Argentinas and then the preparations started, especially tying Dorado flies - on my previous trip I went through lots of flies snagged and lost whilst drifting down the river, and even though I planned to fish the Rio Dorado, not the Juramento, best to be prepared.
The day of departure arrived, and I flew from Johannesburg to Sao Paolo, and with a very short connection I was met and escorted to the next flight - I began to worry about my bag but on arrival in Buenos Aires it was there and then off to the airport Holiday Inn for a few hours of shut-eye before the early morning flight to Salta. I set my alarm and when I woke up there was an email from Aerolineas saying my 6:40 flight was delayed to 8:20 - back to sleep and then off to the airport with the later shuttle. Upon arriving at the airport I was met by a bizarre scene - huge queues of people and no-one at the check-in counters! It turned out to be a strike, which should have ended at midnight the day before but was obviously carrying on - no-one really knew much but apparently it was going to end at 7am. Everyone was calm and quiet, the queue spilling out the door of the terminal, and at 7am the AA workers walked back in to applause... To demonstrate that check-in can be quick and efficient, they managed to clear the queue in a bit more than an hour and my flight eventually took off at 9am!!!
In Salta I was met by Jose, my guide for the next few days. We drove for 2 hours to El Tunal and after quickly getting changed we headed to the Rio Juramento for an afternoon drift.The put in point is a fairly short drive, ad I was pleased to see the rafts are gone and have been replaced by drift boats - a much better way to fish, both for the angler and for the guide. We drifted down the river, casting at and structure near the banks, especially in front and behind logjams and trees. I managed to catch one nice Dorado and lost a much bigger one that spat out the hook near the boat, but good to get off the mark.
Towards the end of the drift dark clouds started to build in the distance, with lightning and thunder, and once back at the accommodation the storm hit and it rained, and rained, and rained. Things were not looking great for the Rio Dorado, so the plan was to wait for news from the lodge there before heading off. I went to sleep to the constant sound of rain, and in the morning it was confirmed that the Rio Dorado had blown out, and that the guides and anglers there were bailing out - it took them a long time to negotiate the muddy tracks. So we headed off to fish another section of the Juramento, but whilst driving there we crossed a bridge over a side stream - the stream was always dry, but not today - high and chocolate coloured meant a change of plan and back to the dam to fish the top beat, the only fishable section. It proved to be a tough day, a few hits and a couple of smaller Dorado in the 3kg range landed.
The next day it still didn't look any better, only the top section fishable so for the 3rd day in a row we set off. The water was still in good condition, however the fish were completely shut down, until we drifted into a big bend with a huge cliff on one bank. I put my cast under the overhanging bushes, let the red and black Andino deceiver sink and started the retrieve - all of a sudden not one but two giant Dorados appeared behind the fly and one of them ate it and it was on. Jose started frantically rowing to the other bank, but the big Dorado had other ideas, jumps, head shakes and lunges. In the middle of the river there was a large weedbed and when we got close Jose warned me that the Dorado would not be keen on crossing it. Sure enough the fish turned and raced off, I felt the wire trace click in it's mouth. I held on and found a gap in the weeds to get it through and we kept on heading to the bank - the river was about 40m wide but it felt like 400m! We finally got to the other bank, and Jose jumped off and secured the boat, and then jumped into the water to land the fish. No net, and no beach to ease it on meant Jose was in 50cm of current trying to grab the tail of my Dorado. after a few attempts he finally grabbed the big girl, what a relief! Now it was my turn to jump into the water for a picture, and that proved nerve wracking as she kept on slipping out of my hands - the tail wrist was too big to get a proper grip. But finally I managed to hold for pictures, and shortly after Tommo arrived to help and take more pictures
We put the big girl (all Dorados over 5kg are female) in a sling and weighed here - 9.2kg so over 20lbs. I was elated, and for the rest of the day had a big smile on my face. I had no more strikes that day, but that's dorado fishing, one strike only in a day but it can turn out to be an epic fish. That evening a fantastic day was capped of with a superb asado and lots of wine and beer.
Next morning the Rio Dorado still wasn't accessible, but we managed to fish another beat further downstream. This section was more productive, I managed to land 8 Dorados, nothing big but good to get some action.
My last day in Salta arrived, and Tommo and I set off to try our luck on the Rio Dorado - there had been no more rain so hopefully the Rio was going to be fishable. We drove 2 hours to the San Fernando lodge, then a 30 minute quad bike ride had us finally on the river. It was still slightly clouded but definitely fishable so we walked downstream to the first pool. I covered the pool with casts with no luck, so we carried on. On the third pool I fished it finally happened - as the fly swung close to a submerged log we saw a big wake and I was on, the Dorado jumping and leaping in the narrow stream. I pulled hard on the 6 weight and we finally beached it,and the scales said 12lbs - at last a fish from the Rio Dorado. We took a bunch of pictures, and let the Dorado swim away happy - another female.
The size of fish in such a small river really makes the Rio Dorado a special place - and I was content. We then tied on a mouse fly and tried a clearer side stream, but more clouds and thunder and lightening were approaching, and the heavens opened up and it started to pour - a proper tropical jungle downpour. Tommo waited a bit and then gave the news - let's get out of here mate whilst we can. So we hiked back to the quad bikes and by then the road was a river. It was adventurous to saw the least but we made it back to the lodge, and after a quick change of clothes jumped in the 4WD and started heading back to El Tunal. In the end I fished the Rio Dorado for 1 hour, but caught another epic fish - I'll be back!!!
The next day was transfer day, Ale gave me a lift to Salta and I flew to Ushuaia via Cordoba. In Ushuaia Diego was waiting for me and we drove to the lodge for the start of the next part of my fishing trip
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