Week 8 and we welcomed a mixed group from Sweden, Germany, and Canada. Adam and Maxime from Canada were on their first trip to Argentina, whereas the rest of the group had some experience from Las Buitreras. Team Spoors have been here many times, just like Sven and Toni who stayed for their second straight week. Alex who was here for the first time last year, started this trip with three days in Glencross where he landed plenty of nice Brown trout as well as a couple Seatrout. With that he was warmed up and ready to go.
The water dropped continuously during the week and we got some very cold nights mid-week which obviously caused a decrease in the water temperature and gave everyone a shorter window where the fish were active. However, aside from nymphs like the Copper John or Vitamin C, Sunray Shadows and leech patterns worked well all week. Fishing here in these conditions is a bit of a challenge, a challenge this group were more than ready to take on.
Anders and Sara have both been here at Las Buitreras in the past and were enjoying quality time together on the water, escaping the winter in Sweden. Sara caught a couple beautiful fish throughout the week, like a fresh 14 lbs seatrout in Barranca Negra. On day 3 of the week Sara and Anders were fishing Crillos when she had a hard bite and managed to land a beautiful 13 lb fish. Minutes later Anders were swinging a girdlebug through the deeper part of the channel when his swing got interrupted by a heavy thug. A quick hook set and Anders rod was bent from the cork down to the tip. A good sign as this was cleary a heavy fish. After a couple seconds where nothing really happened, the fish suddenly sped up, went straight up in the air, followed by hard splashing in the surface before it took off down stream. If there had been any doubts about the size of the fish they were all gone by now. This was a dream fish and had to be landed. Luckily Anders doesn’t get worked up that easily and played the fish like a pro. Very calm, letting the fish do it’s thing and not forcing anything. When the fish was ready Anders slowly got it close enough to the bank for Santi to net it. Boom, a stunning, angry-looking male weighing in at 21.5 lbs. If you think Anders leaned back from that point on, you are seriously wrong. The following day he landed a 21 lbs in Molino. Not too shabby during a week with low, clear water, and overall tricky conditions. What a week for both Sara and Anders!
Tina brought her son Luke over to Las Buitreras for his first visit. Tina knows this place very well and is no stranger to catching big fish in these pools. They had a rather unique experience on day 3 when they ended up catching one fish each, one after the other, on the same fly. Not the same pattern but the same actual fly. It started with Tina fishing Machaka with a small Copper John nymph. She quickly hooked up and managed to land a stunning 17.5 lbs fish after a great fight. Since the fishing had a been a bit tricky, our guide Charly had an idea. Why don’t we put that same fly on Luke’s line, since it seems to be working. Great idea thought both Tina and Luke and so it went. Next pool up was Beck’s Bank. It only took a couple casts witht the blessed superfly before Luke was on. The fish took a sharp turn downstream towards the channel of La Recta but luckily decided to turn again and come back into the main pool. Luke kept his cool and could eventually stare down at an absolute beast safely lying in the net. After measuring the fish several times it was estimated to 21 lbs! Way to go Luke, on your first trip to Las Buitreras.
Wolfgang and Meta were happy seeing all of their family members gathered as well as catching some big fish on their return to Las Buitreras. As always they caught some nice fish themselves, where the one Meta was most happy with was a stunning 5 lbs Brown trout that she caught in Outer Limits pool. A trophy brown in most waters. It was so nice to see the family back here, sharing stories and photos after each day’s fishing with a glass of wine or our locally brewed beer. They are now off for a few days fishing in Estancia Glencross before heading back home to Sweden.
Toni, on his second week, was fishing together with his friend Alex who first visited Las Buitreras in 2022. This was only Alex second week week of fishing with a double hander and he kept improving all week. Although the conditions this week weren’t very forgiving Alex still managed to land a couple nice fish, including a 12 pounder in 75.
Sven, also hear for a second week straight, had decided to put in a real effort this week to see what he could accomplish in these challenging conditions. He started the week strong and landed fish every session the first two days. His biggest of the week though would come on the last day when he decided to give Cogedero a second run after fishing it earlier in the session. This time starting all the way up in the corner and rigged with a Sunray, he managed to get the fly over the weed bed and into the channel where he and Charly had seen a fish roll. A couple strips and the fish took the fly hard. Sven managed to manouver the fish downstream to below the weeds and eventually, with the help of Charly, landed a nice 15 pound fish. A great ending to these two weeks.
Canada was represented by Adam and Max this week. Not only were they were both on their first trip to Argentina, but it was also their first experience fishing Spey rods. They were both here to experince something new and were excited about everything the river threw their way. They never got stressed and were super positive all week long, enjoying the challenge and trying to make the most of it. They listened tto the guides, kept improving the casting and it didn’t take long before they were catching fish as well. Max had his first seatrout in Limits and quickly followed it up with a nice chromer in Toll booth.
Adam also had his fair share of seatrout encounters the first few days, but on day 4 he would land a fish that made the previous fish pale in comparison. Fishing 75 and covering the water really well, he hooked a fish that would require him to use all he learnt during the week. The fish used all the classic tricks, violent head shakes, fast direction changes both up and downstream, and then suddenly coming straight towards the bank which is always crititcal to avoid slack line and the hook falling out. This is a very common way of loosing fish here. Fortunately Adam was quick on the retrieve and managed to keep the tension before the fish trashed and went out again. The fish eventually tired and Adam managed to get it close enough to be netted. Boom, another 21.5 lbs male landed, and the third fish over 21 lbs on a week with very challenging conditions. We’ll take it! Good job guys.
A huge thanks to all of you for a very fun week! Now we look forward to seeing what March has to offer. Hopefully we’ll get some more water shortly to stir things up a bit.
Stats of the week
Biggest sea-run brown trout landed: 21,5 lbs by Anders G from Sweden and Adam from Canada
Average size: 9,7 lbs
Fish over 10 lbs: 16
Fish over 20 lbs: 4