Neuquén · 1 November to 31 May
Cold water off the mountains, and no queue for it
The rivers at Bravo Sur begin high in the Andes and work their way down through the foothills into the valleys. That is what keeps them cold and clear right through the season, and it is the whole reason the fishing holds up in January when a lot of water elsewhere has gone off.
There are three of them — the Aluminé, the Chimehuín and the Collón Curá — and, alongside them, private stretches that are barely fished at all. The big water is fished from properly equipped boats; the smaller rivers are waded. Which you do on a given day is decided by the water rather than by a rota, and your ghillie will tell you the night before.
The season runs 1 November to 31 May. Nymphs and streamers early; from the end of December the dry fly takes over. And the thing most people remark on afterwards is not the fish but the emptiness: on most days you will fish a river and pass nobody at all.
- Season
- Nov–May1 November to 31 May
- Water
- 6 riversPlus three lakes
- Early season
- NymphsAnd streamers, from November
- After Christmas
- Dry flyFrom the end of December
Before the river
What anglers ask about the trout
1 November to 31 May. Nymphs and streamers do the work early on; once summer sets in, from the end of December, the dry fly comes into its own. If you are a dry fly angler, come after Christmas.
The Aluminé, the Chimehuín and the Collón Curá, plus private water the lodge holds that almost nobody else fishes. Your ghillie sets the following day the evening before, so you know what to put in the bag before you go to bed.
No, and this is the one place where our fishing differs from our shooting. The fishing permit, the tackle and the fly kit are all excluded at Bravo Sur, where at the shooting lodges a gun can simply be hired on site. Tell us before you travel and we will arrange them.
Trout
In the field
Next
Tell us the month and we will tell you what is on
Give us the week you have and we will come back with what is flying or running, which lodge it means, and what it costs.