I tugged on my waders and thought, “isn’t it summer here in Argentina?” It was cold and had been snowing as the guide picked me up from my hotel. I was in Tierra del Fuego and the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia. I had taken 3 flights to get here, and anxiously awaited the chance to go fishing. Each bump in the now dirt road seemed to jolt more excitement through my body as we drew closer to our destination. It was all a dream, it had to be, right? It just didn’t seem real to be half way across the world fulfilling a dream to fly fishing southern Patagonia.

I finished tying up my boots and took my rod from its case to start casting. The lake was absolutely gorgeous and the guide and told me there were some big fish cruising around. Despite hours of fruitless casting the hope of pulling my first trout from the lake kept me going. Switching flies, quickly working the bank and keeping my flies wet as long as possible seemed to do no good but I was on a mission. Finally shortly before we were to leave I felt something; a quick, hard pull brought my line to life. I lifted my rod tip to connect with the fish on the other end, as soon as the fish felt pressure it broke the surface in a series of jumps and started pulling line hard. After a solid battle of tug’o war and several more acrobatic displays the fish came to hand. It was a perfectly proportioned hen brownie with incredible colors. My first Patagonian brown trout! It made all the hard work well worth it and made me excited for the days to come… especially to head further North and fish the famed Jurassic Lake.

About The Author

Hawg Wrangler

Derek Olthuis, raised in the wilds of Montana like the Jungle Book's Mowgli. Totally obsessed with fly fishing, exploring and adventure. When not guiding he enjoys fly fishing and Squatching for Unicorns. Fishing is fun!

6 Responses

  1. Kirk

    I’ve been wondering what you guys have been up to for the past month – now I know! Sweet fish – hopefully there are plenty more to come. Patagonia is a dream of mine as well . . . someday. Keep the posts coming!

    Reply
    • Nathan

      Yep, Derek has been getting some sweet love down in Argentina and I’ve been just fishing here and there. There’s definitely some more to come!

      Reply

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