PATAGONIA’S TOPOGRAPHY
can be compared to a giant, flat triangle, the apex being the Andes,
descending on each side to terraced plateaus terminating in the
bordering oceans. It’s one of the least populated regions
in the Americas.
Most of the land mass known as Patagonia
is on the Argentina side of the Andes, and the texture of
Patagonia changes rapidly as one moves south from the Rio Colorado
to Tierra del Fuego. The climate is generally cold, though summers
are pleasant in the central strip, where the weather resembles Calgary
or northern Montana. Southern Patagonia temperatures drop as the
American continent ends near Antarctica. The most common feature
of southern Patagonia’s climate is its wind, which usually
originates in the Pacific Ocean, downloading humidity in the Andean
mountains, creating abundant rains, before sweeping east with great
intensity toward an enormous, barren plateau.

The Patagonia trout fishing map changes
as quickly as latitude and longitude. Mountain lakes and
streams in the northern plateaus on both sides of the Andes could
easily be imagined in Wyoming or Montana, and glacier-swollen, alpine
rivers on the Chilean coast are mindful of the Canadian Pacific.

No visitor would argue that the clear, pollution-free
Patagonia air doesn’t give new meaning to “Big Sky Country”.
But, in truth, South American trout fishing is no better than the
best found in the lower 48. Why then travel thousands of miles to
fish this part of the world? Because the fishing is usually as good
as the best we have at home. And, as anyone that has visited and
become addicted to Patagonia will tell you, it’s because the
fishing experience is punctuated by scenery that’s magnificent,
accented by wonderful people, and alive with a friendly, rich, rural
culture that marches to a pace suited for fishing.
Patagonia is an imaginary swath covering southern
Chile and Argentina and stretches across the map from the Atlantic
to the Pacific

THIS IS TROUT COUNTRY. Much of it is reminiscent
of an old western movie, and most is farther south than Calgary
is north. It’s a place where people don’t lock their
doors when they’re gone and, in some ways, is a journey into
our own past.
It’s a world with a landscape filled with
picture-perfect streams where trout thrive without angling pressure
and lack 21st-century sophistication.
Just like at home, the best of Argentina’s
and Chile’s fishing is often behind some locked gate,
tucked away in a rough, roadless canyon, or in a river that’s
difficult to find and access. Patagonia’s angling is largely
catch and release only because trout fishing is not yet part of
their culture, and the distances to the streams from the major population
centers are enormous.

And just like home, a great Patagonia fly fishing
vacation requires good planning!
THE FLY SHOP™ has been part of the
cutting-edge of fly fishing in Chile and Argentina for more than
three decades. The people we’ve chosen to work with
are the same skillful angling pioneers that were among the first
to expose Patagonia to the sport. Often, we were there to help them.
Together we brought the first float plane to Chile and explored
uncharted angling of their rugged coastline for rainbows, browns,
and sea trout. Then we turned our attention to the rivers and streams
pouring out of the Andes toward the east and western shores.
The Fly Shop™ was instrumental in
helping develop the great fishing of Coyhaique and Aisen in Chile.
We walked the walk, camped, and rafted the rivers on both
the Argentine and Chilean slopes of the Andes before many of the
modern day lodges were built on their shorelines.
Most other angling travel experts will agree
The Fly Shop™ represents the finest estancias and outfitters
in the vague band pasted across South America called Patagonia.
Download any of the following:
2009/2010 General Chile Travel & Information
2009/2010 Chile Travel Information & Services
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