We then drove for another hour to the end of the asphalt, where I was collected by the head guide in a pickup truck, for the last 2 1/2 hours to the lodge. We drove up on to the plateau and it got rockier, bumpier and more barren, and we finally arrived at the lodge - nestled against the bank of the Laguna Verde. After unpacking I put on my waders and walked down to the laguna for a quick fish - first fish I caught was a very plumb brown trout, much to my surprise...
Even more surprising was the next fish, another brown... I managed couple of rainbows as well and then walked back up tot he lodge for dinner. At the lodge I caught up with my good friend Nick Reygaert of Gin Clear fame - he was hosting trips for 2 weeks and had been coming to ELV for many years. Nick and I go back a long way and it was good to have a long chat with him.
The next morning I said goodbye to Nick and headed to the Barrancoso river with my guide Nano - we got to the river and even though the water was high and coloured, there were fish everywhere. It didn't take long for me to catch my first Strobel rainbow, and we proceed to catch fish that morning with numerous over 10 pounds, the largest 14 and 15lbs - amazing for a small river
The fish were all fat and full of eggs or milt - November is when they first run up the river to spawn, and the number of huge fish in the river has to be seen to be believed. After a great session we headed down to the lake for lunch, where Nano cooked up some milanesas whilst I caught my first Strobel chromers. After lunch Nano rigged up a dry/dropper combo, and with the wave action working the dry fly up and down, the fish hit the nymph with abandon. After catching a number of fish that afternoon ( a dozen or so from memory) we headed back to the lodge for dinner - a great first day on Strobel. At the lodge I met the next group of guests, a bunch of Alaskans on their first trip to Strobel, a great bunch.
The next day it was time to hit the lake first thing, Nano took me to a place called Dry Fly Bay as the wind was pumping, and as soon as we got there we saw fish cruising close. The dry dropper combo proved their downfall again, and I tied on one of my flies to try - a deepwater damsel. It proved lethal that morning, I managed to catch 13 fish, from 8 to 13lbs, the majority bright silver chromers.
It was then time for another great lunch where we met up with the Alaskans. One of them - Paul - is a snowmobile racer that broke his back in a freak training accident - he is unstoppable and still fishes where he can from his amazing tracked wheelchair - he was using a centrepin setup and a fly rod when conditions were right - truly inspiring!
After lunch Nano took me back to Dry Fly bay where the carnage continued with another 17 fish from 8 to 13 lbs - all on the same fly and caught standing on the same rock. I ended the day with more than my weight in trout landed - unbelievable. Dinner was outstanding, as is the case with all lodges in Argentina, and the wine and beer abundant too.
My last day of fishing arrived, and my target was to try and catch a rainbow from the river on a mouse fly, something you can't do in many places. That had to wait as Paul was going to fish the river, and his buddy Pat carried him down there - he managed to catch a number of rainbows from the Mouse Trap pool
I started the day fishing the lake as it was incredibly calm - the wind had finally eased off. I managed to catch a few rainbows including a couple on the dry fly before the wind picked up and ion no time there were waves crashing into me
After getting hit in the face a few times we moved back to the relative shelter of Dry Fly bay where I carried on as per the day before, one fish after another!!!
After another super lunch it was time for the river, and when we got there we found it lower and clearer, with even more fish visible. We started off with nymphs, but the resident rainbows were out in force, swarming around the fly like piranhas - I have never seen anything like it. Getting the fly down to the bigger fish proved impossible so it was now time for the mouse fly. It has to be said - rainbow trout are really really crap at eating mice, and I raised and moved many fish, had swirls, eats and takes but nothing, until it all finally came together and I landed my 10lob+ rainbow on a mouse fly - mission accomplished!
Time for a few more cats, including one where a huge trout chased the fly downstream, ate it and managed to not get hooked - but I was happy, as the last one landed was truly the cherry on the cake.
One more great meal and the next morning my long trek home started - drive to El Calafate, flight to BA and overnight stop. In BA I took the advice of my friend Alfredo and went and had a great meal at Charlone 101 - a lovely restaurant run by his friend German - Alfredo made one of his bottles of Malbec available for the meal - a great finish to a great trip.
The next morning the flight to Sao Paolo and then to BA was uneventful, except my bag didn't make it - I did get it a week later and if you are going to lose a bag it's much better at the end of the trip.
I can't wait to go back to Argentina - so many more spots to fish and such a great country with great people
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