The Las Buitreras section of Rio Gallegos is an authentic southern Patagonian fly-fishing paradise. Picking a fight with some of the biggest sea-run brown trout in the world, using mainly floating and intermediate lines, makes for spectacular show downs and visual fights. Watching a 20 lbs trout attacking your fly and take to the air can be borderline frightening, yet highly addictive, and is guaranteed to get your adrenaline flowing. 

Our first visit to this magical place was back in the summer of 2002 and it’s brought us back every year since. It’s this location that first made us fall in love with southern Patagonia and inspired us to develop our current portfolio of fly fishing programs in Argentina.

The area features varied terrain ranging from deep pools with steep banks to fast-moving stony runs and flowing streams atop shingle beds. The variety of pools and fishing techniques, in combination with the visually inspiring mountainous landscape, makes this part of the Rio Gallegos one of the most spectacular stretches of fly-fishing waters in Patagonia. Being relatively shallow, the river makes for easy wading, eliminating the need for fast sinking lines, while providing both an exciting and challenging fishing environment. This location is mainly fished using light double-hand-rods or single-hand rods rigged with floating or slow intermediate lines. Rio Gallegos does not require anglers to be expert casters; instead, you should focus your efforts on trying to fish every cast properly by controlling your fly and line in the water. At this location, the fish move and bite all over the river and it’s not unusual to have a fish take your fly right at your feet. The strikes are often violent and it’s typical for these sea-run brown trout to lunge into the air several times, making for an excellent fight.

All of our guides speak English and have spent several seasons fishing and guiding on the Rio Gallegos, in fact, some of them have spent their entire lives fishing the river and they’ll make sure that you’re maximizing your chances of landing a fish during every session. If you’re unfamiliar with double-hand rods, we suggest that you dedicate time to practicing your casting prior to departing on your trip. This practice will ensure that you get the most out of every session should the conditions negate single-hand fishing. Our guides are also happy to provide instruction on how to improve your casting skills at your request.

Most of the fishing at this location requires that you strip your fly to provoke a violent strike. There are also pools where fish will take in response to the fly being swung as one would do for an Atlantic Salmon, however, searun brown trout generally prefer different flies to salmon. The fish at this location tend to lie in quieter seams and tails and the motion imparted by stripping the fly produces some fantastic takes. We like to use shooting heads as they allow for a greater maximum effective fishing distance with each cast compared with a normal line. Though it’s nice to fish with a double-hand rod during periods of heavy wind, most of the fishing can be accomplished with a single-hand rod; rod selection ultimately comes down to a matter of personal preference. The most popular types of lines when fishing Rio Gallegos are float or clear intermediate shooting heads. Since Rio Gallegos is a relatively shallow river we can’t stress the importance of being as quiet as possible when wading and casting not to spook the fish.

If we were to recommend one setup for Las Buitreras it would be a 7 wt., 12 ft. double-hand rod rigged with a scandi style floating body and an intermediate front/tip. Add a line wallet with a variation of  interchangeable tips from float to fast sink and you will be able to cover most situations and conditions you are likely to encounter.