The weather made a turn for the worst which over the long run might be for the better. Of course that is hard to be happy about right now. The area was getting so dry and streams so low that I was getting worried about water levels over the next two months. For the last week it has been cold, rainy and windy, yesterday was a nice day and we took advantage of it. That is not to say we didn’t get out on the other days.
On the 28th the destination was a tributary of the Guillermo. It was cool and a bit windy but all in all it was a good day. We hit the stream a bit earlier in the morning than I generally like to be there, the water was still a bit cold, but by lunch it was getting good and kept getting better as the day wore on. http://youtu.be/CMpul1XKfh0 We ended the day at our watering hole for that area by having a beer at what we call “Granny Bar.”
On Sunday we traveled to the Valley of the Moon. All day we fished in wind and mist with a few periods of showers thrown in for good measure. Artful casting is not possible under conditions like we had but thankfully if you could get your fly any place near you thought a fish would be there was a good chance that you could bring one up.
Monday we headed for the Manigauales. The several days of rain had the river up and off color. The section I wanted to fish, above the confluence with the Nireguao, was not fishable. Back toward Villa Ortaga we went. The Guillermo was running high and off color, as it tends to after a rain, but a tributary that drains a different geological area was fishable – barely. After hard wading with only a few smaller fish to show for the effort we headed for Granny Bar.
Tuesday we headed toward Coyhaique Alto. Last year Ethan and I had a great day up there. In fact it turned out to be an award winning day, a photo Ethan took there was the grand prize winner at the FFF’s Gulf Coast Conclave PHOTO Contest. It wasn’t an award winning day for us. After only a couple hundred meters of fishing we only had two semi-decent fish. Off we went back to the Valley of the Moon. The wind was blowing about as hard as I have ever seen it blow there. But the fish didn’t mind. We fished up from the bridge and did well as long as we could get our fly tight to the banks. Of course in a gale force wind that wasn’t always easy.
Wednesday was back to the new river that Gerlof and I had found. It was cold (water and air temperatures), high, and slightly off color. In spite of it all that the fish cooperated. Early in the day nymphs worked the best but as the day warmed, Fat Alberts in pockets along the shore were killers.
Yesterday we were back at the Manigauales above the Nireguao. The weather was perfect, and the fish cooperated. All but one or two of our fish were 14 to 17 inch thick, feisty and healthy fighters.
Rained out again today!
No comments:
Post a Comment