Patagonia fishing and sightseeing recommendations

[Cabezon]

Hi folks,
Several friends and I are are planning a week or two visit to Patagonia next winter. The plan, at present, is a focused week of fishing and a second week of sight-seeing (maybe some day fishing...). While some participants, like myself, fish for diverse fish species (and methods), other participants are more hard-core dry-fly fishers. We are looking at lodges for the fly fishing week, not DIY options. Here are some questions for you.
1) Where would you go and why?
2) When would you go and why?
3) What are "not-to-missed" sightseeing sites? For example, I visited Torres del Paine National Park in Chile previously on a research trip to the Antarctic and would certainly go back.

Thank you for you insights and experience.

Steve

 

[Westfly Refugee]

Check out SET FLY FISHING who operate several lodges and have very good guides. Their Spring Creek Lodge is centrally located (just outside of Junin de los Andes) for good access to the best waters that area of Patagonia has to offer.

 

[SSPey]

Have traveled all over Patagonia … if interested in nature, the Araucaria forests are mind blowing. The Alerce forests are cool, too, but not quite the mental floss of the monkey puzzles. Best to check on recent status, as a decade of drought and fire has taken its toll in some areas.

 

[Paige]

Try and find a copy of the Trout Bum Diaries 1st movie Patagonia. It will at least inspire you, and maybe give you some Intel. @alpinetrout was there for a short spell with them and might be able to add some info.

 

[alpinetrout]

Try and find a copy of the Trout Bum Diaries 1st movie Patagonia. It will at least inspire you, and maybe give you some Intel. @alpinetrout was there for a short spell with them and might be able to add some info.

That was 19 years ago, so any info I have is pretty damn stale by now.

 

[Paige]

That was 19 years ago, so any info I have is pretty damn stale by now.

Damn time flies

 

[FishyJere]

And, don't forget the Wine. Malbec is indigenous.

 

[Fast Action Freddie]

This is really old info (98 or 99) from a DIY trip (I know you said lodges not DIY) but let me know if you want any more info on these DIY successes from our trip:

end of December / first week of January - could not have been better timing

Arroyo Pescado spring creek (pay to fish; $30/day at that time) - was warned how technical it was ... i guess true if you consider stripping grasshoppers upstream to get vicious strikes as technical, had it to ourselves twice (you had to hop a fence go down a long driveway find one of the ranch hands to pay and get a key for the gate then drive in)
Rio Frey -a section in/near los Alerces NP that runs between 2 lakes - either a long hike or (what we did) a long boat shuttle (camped, picked up 2 days later) - had beautiful river to ourselves and caught really nice bows on hoppers on streamers
Lago Yelcho - got a boat ride down to the boca - absolutely MONSTER bows rising at the inlet drop off - friend caught a massive one, I had an even larger one on and broke me off (would my largest trout to this day) ... then they just disappeared
Rio Malleo - just wandering around and camping, not seeing another person, probably on private ranch land - but some great fishing, including one night fishing dries until too dark to see and getting strike after strike (sounded like bowling balls being thrown in the river) until I found that the point had broken off my hook.
Rio Rivadavia - beatiful, saw some nice fish, no luck
plus others

Bariloche, Esquel, Junin de los Andes - nice small towns near the outdoorsy stuff (especially the first two). Barcelona was fun.

Malbec and Parrilla mixta if you like meat

Did Chile on another trip w my wife - not fishing (mostly), but beautiful and pleasant towns and cities and out door areas (Torres Paine) - pisco sours are the ultimate camping drink. hiked the "W" route at TP - beatiful and worth it.

 

[Paige]

 

[Brute]

I fished northern Patagonia about 4 years ago...however, I must preface where we stayed was my wife's choice, who doesn't fish...it was pricey (they had a sommelier), so there's that. Patagonia River Ranch. They pulled the raft over to the bank for lunch every day...pulled out a folding table, covered it with tablecloth, busted out fabulous malbec wine & venison escabeche, etc, etc, etc...at the lodge the night before we left, they had a killer Argentinian bbq with a whole split lamb, wood fired empanada's, etc, etc, etc...

When I fish by myself, I either camp or stay at Best Western...or whatever is available.