photo gallery

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fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500

To what lengths -- or rather, what extremes -- would you travel to catch the trout of your life? For me, the journey led nearly to the end of the civilized world, over 8,000 miles from home, to the wildest reaches of Tierra del Fuego, the "Land of Fire," in southernmost Argentina. I had been told of a seldom fished and little understood river here, the Irigoyen (pronounced erie-GO-zhen), where massive sea-run brown trout swam through log-strewn runs and deep pools. The chance to hook a 20-pounder was enough incentive to fly from Denver to Atlanta, to Buenos Aires, to Ushuaia, the southernmost town in the world (total flying time over 16 hours). By the time we drove across this bottom spine of the Andes on our way to the river, I was a veritable trout zombie.

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fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500

Driving through the estancia, we came upon several herds of wild guanacos, llama-like animals that can run up to 35 miles an hour. We also saw condors circling the river overhead, and massive flocks of shore birds, like buff-neck ibis, and Magellan geese. Different penguin species and sea lions also migrate through the shore area. While there are plenty of foxes and beavers in the river corridor, there are no pumas here.

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fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500

This is a sea-run fish (you can tell by its size), but it has been in the river longer than most "fresh" trout, as it has started to assume some more muted brown hues, pronounced spots, and iridescent blue shades along its gill plates. After this fish spawns, it will once again run into the open ocean, where trout apparently range relatively close to shore, near the mouth of the river where they were born. The greatest predator to sea trout in the open ocean is the sea lion.

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fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500

Got wind? One thing you can count on in this part of the world is a steady breeze, which, indicated by the odd formation of this tree, gusts reliably off the Atlantic coast. Eight-weight fly rods are the standard in this region -- a necessity for hoofing big streamer flies against that wind, as well as turning double digit-weight sea trout in the strong river currents.

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fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500

With miles of open river to explore, Alex and Nico use twin "Argo" six-wheeled all- terrain vehicles to shuttle back and forth to the river. The Argo is basically a two-person river assault machine that drives like a tank over rocks and stumps, and even swims across the river on demand. After a 45-minute, herky-jerky ride through the lenga forest, trust me, you're more than ready to stretch your legs and wear your arms out on big trout.

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fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500

The magic hour . . . Just like back home, the big browns moved and fed at night. This photo was taken at around 10 p.m., as Alex and I sat on the riverbank, waiting for the first telltale splashes in the runs downstream. We tied on a large black articulated leach, and within minutes hooked five large trout (landing three). It was as if the big browns had heard the dinner bell. Runs where we had hooked nothing earlier produced big fish. We wound up losing all light by 11 p.m., but still cast by sound. Wait . . . listen . . . big splash, loop a cast in the direction you hear the fish . . . and wait for the thunder-take. Then try to remember where all those stumps are, as you fumble, splash, and fight the fish in near blackness, with only the light of the moon and the Southern Cross glowing dimly through a layer of fog overhead.

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fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500

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fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500

The brown trout here were planted in the 1930s. By freak of nature, the species has evolved into two varieties that determine their life course at the smolt stage -- those that remain in the river as resident fish, which remain small, and yellowish in hue, just like the brown trout in Europe, New Zealand, and North America, and the silvery sea-runs. You can tell whether a sea-run trout is "fresh" from the ocean by its color. The "fresh" fish are bright silver.

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fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500

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fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500