Long story short, I have surgery scheduled on my wrist in early December and will be unable to fish for at least a month. Obviously, I need to get in as much fishing as possible between now and then. With the official beginning of winter rapidly approaching, heading south of the equator seems the most logical plan of action.
I’ve been on numerous solo fishing trips in my life and have no issue with the solidarity. It’s not that I intend to take trips alone, just sometimes I’ve had the tendency to plan at the last minute. So, inviting your friends with limited notice usually causes conflicts with prior family obligations. For the last 17 years, however, I’ve been lucky enough to have my wife Meg as my willing and able accomplice who graciously puts up with my ad hoc fishing and travel suggestions.
Meg and I planned a trip to Chile some years back, but we couldn’t fit it into our schedule. So, now seemed the appropriate time to revisit the destination. We did have one main challenge: Meg’s work schedule was booked for the month of November. Knowing she couldn’t take time off, she said, ‘go to Chile, scout out the country and we’ll go back together in late January’. I was reluctant at first, but she convinced me staying at home for a month and with the physical inability to fish the following month, wasn’t a good option for either of us. I tend to get a little stir-crazy when I become too bored so, a solo fishing mission it became…
My primary goal for this trip was to target Sea-Run Brown Trout.
I only had four days to plan and prepare for this trip. My two choices in Chile were either Punta Arenas to the far south or Balmaceda towards the northern region of Patagonia. I chose Punta Arenas. My thought was to fish southern Chile, then cross the border into Argentina’s Tierra Del Fuego returning to Chile for my flight home. Truth be told, I was not adequately prepared and it’s not like me when it comes to fishing trips or vacations. I’ve been to more remote areas than I can count and know how important critical details are to ensure a successful trip.
Crossing from Chile into Argentina can be tricky from what I read, and most rental car companies will not allow you to do so. I decided to reserve my vehicle from Adolfo who owns Southland Rent a Car https://southlandrentacar.com. He was extremely familiar with the process and paperwork for the crossing and has helped numerous other fishermen throughout the years.
After an 8 ½ hour overnight flight from Miami to Santiago and a 3 ½ hour connection into Punta Arenas, I finally arrived at Gate 2. The good news about this airport, even if you have a last-minute gate change, it really doesn’t matter because there are only 3 gates.
Adolfo met me with the rental vehicle at the airport. It was a well-equipped 4×4 perfect for the journey ahead. Knowing I was there for fishing, he brought a few maps to outline areas he recommended and provided me with contacts throughout the region for lodging and fishing support. He also went into detail regarding the border crossing, which was a concern of mine. He set me up with a comfortable, cost-effective hotel for the night with wonderful hosts in Punta Arenas. He called his friend Patrick who owns the Konkashken Lodge on the world-famous Serrano River 5 ½ hours to the north bordering Torres del Paine National Park to see if he had accommodations and could provide fishing advice on the river. Patrick didn’t have a room immediately available but said he could accommodate me for two nights later in the week. That wasn’t a problem as my first night would be spent recovering from lack of sleep on the worst airline trip of my life and I wanted to fish the Rio San Juan just an hour to the south of Punta Arenas the following day.
The San Juan River wasn’t as easily assessable as I anticipated, and the Brown Trout weren’t active in the river system at this point. Even though the first day of fishing didn’t work out as planned, it was nice to see the landscape and culture after a well-needed good night’s rest. I went back to the hotel and grabbed dinner at an adequate restaurant within easy walking distance.
The next day I headed north. I still had one night to find accommodation before heading up the mountains into Torres del Paine. After setting my plans with Patrick at the lodge, I decided to stay in Puerto Natales that evening at the base of the mountain range.
On the road to Puerto Natales, I stopped at river holding trout to break up the drive: the Rio Pendiente. This was my first real introduction to Patagonian wind. The winds were a constant 45mph gusting to 60mph. To make matters worse, they were swirling winds. I don’t know how else to better describe it. There was no finding a shelter side of the truck or anywhere else for that matter. The winds were unescapable and relentless. While sitting in the truck upon my arrival, for a brief moment, I considered not getting out to fish; but I didn’t come to Chile for nothing.
Hanging with the Federales: Turns out the only buildings in the middle of nowhere on this river were the headquarters for the Federales covering the region.
As I was half-leaning into the passenger’s side door attempting to tie on a lure and avoid the wind shears, three armed Federales snuck up on me. By that I mean, casually walked 400 yards across the highway in broad daylight.
With the deafening noise of the wind, I never heard them coming. I used to think I possessed situational awareness, but I may have to rethink that notion. The first officer to approach reached out his hand with a smile and introduced himself. The second officer followed suit and was equally polite. The third officer, well, somebody had to be ‘bad cop’. Based on their cordial greeting, I was not only happy to meet them, I was anxious to present my newly acquired Chilean fishing license. I won’t bore you with the details, but it took more effort than you can imagine obtaining it. At this point, I had six active annual fishing licenses on two continents, and they couldn’t have cared less. They only wanted my passport; especially the grumpy one who leafed through every page. I’m pretty sure he was a nice person, and they probably take turns playing ‘bad cop’ to pass the time in such a remote area.
I will say this, I have never felt more comfortable talking to authorities in a foreign country. And yes, I do my best not to put myself in that situation. Nice cop #2 asked politely if he could take our picture, and I felt obligated to do so because I’m pretty sure I didn’t have a choice. However, as I was driving away and based on their demeanor, I was a little disappointed in myself for not handing them my iPhone and asking for a reciprocal picture as it would’ve made this part of the story so much better. But they were Federales, I was in the middle of nowhere and, my Spanish is terrible. More on that later…
After finally wading into the river, I quickly found casting was next to impossible due to the wind. I gave it a not so valiant effort and headed north to the town of Puerto Natales for the night before heading up the Andes.
I stayed at a hotel not worth mentioning @ $40 a night. However small the room, it was clean and comfortable for the night. I Googled up a restaurant in town, El Bote and it was one of the best meals of the trip: grilled Corvina. The name Corvina refers to several fish species in Central and South America. Basically, it’s a white flakey quality fish and I didn’t possess the language skills to get the specifics.
This was my first real view of the Andes Mountains and trust me, the pictures and fishing only go up from here.
