Patagonia River Guides: North

Start your Patagonian adventure on the storied Rio Malleo, one of the most renowned dry-fly fishing rivers in the world. Based out of the historic San Huberto Lodge, one of the first to cater to guests in northern Patagonia, you’ll walk-and-wade the river casting dry flies to trophy browns and rainbows. Guests of the lodge have private access to over 25 miles of the Malleo as well as to Huaca Mamuil Creek, famous for its dry-fly fishing and only accessible to San Huberto's guests. Should you tire of casting dry flies to rising trout, have your guide take you to the stunning canyon reach of the lower river, where you might hook and land a 24-inch brown trout that appears out of nowhere to seize your streamer. 

From the new, boutique lodge at Tres Rios, which boasts panoramic views of the Patagonian steppe, you’ll fish one of the most productive rivers in Argentina — the Chimehuin. It’s a river with wildly varying character — one minute, you'll be hucking streamers under the willows hoping to tempt one of the Chimehuins brutish brown trout, the next, you’ll be trying to match a hatch of caddis coming off in clouds or even sight-casting to an individual rising trout that will test your fly-fishing acumen and give you the thrill that comes with hooking and landing a challenging fish. The Chimehuin has something to please almost every angler, and fishes well both from a drift boat and on foot. And because Tres Rios (Three Rivers) sits at the confluence of the Chimehuin, Aluminé, and Collon Cura rivers, anglers spending more time at the lodge have access to a plethora of additional water.

Quemquemtreu is an enomrous, sprawling ranch that once spanned the entirety of South America, from its Atlantic shores across the Andes to where the continent meets the Pacific Ocean. Steeped in history and tradition, it is one of the oldest and most endearing estancias in northern Patagonia. And the Rio Collon Cura which runs through the ranch is just as storied — its trophy browns and rainbows are bruisers, and the freestone nature of the river will give you a feel for what fishing in the American West might have been like before it was “discovered” and settled. The river is a drift-boat angler’s dream stream, with long, productive runs, seductive side channels and the chance to walk-and-wade at will. In the fall, giant schools of native minnows run up the river, offering the chance at 100-fish days as the lake’s football-sized rainbows and browns follow the smaller fish into the river. From the lodge, when water is plentiful, you can also fish fabled Quemquemtreu Creek, an intimate spring creek that offers some of the excellent sight-fishing for trophy brown trout.