achalabrookies

In this old photo we are “hunting” brookies with Ernesto Mazzola in the beautiful Rucachoroi lake, near Aluminé in the province of Neuquen.
I remember it was a great fishing experience on a shallow coast, presenting our flies very close to the rises of the brookies that were very active.
Unforgettable.
This photo was taken by our great friend Abel Wenetz.

The Yuspe river belongs to the region of the mountain range called “Los Gigantes” not far from the Pampa de Achala. Both areas are very visited by fly fishermen who eagerly look for the treasures they keep.
This river possesses a very particular beauty, it is rocky and with very clear and transparent waters, besides being the owner of a remarkable reputation for great trophies achieved some time ago as far as rainbow trout fishing is concerned. Currently has a good and healthy population of these combative salmonids.
A few days ago, the Yuspe offered us a very fun and instructive fishing day.
I invite you to see this photo gallery:

No matter how often you go to a place to fish, you never get to know it at all. It is precisely this sensation that I feel particularly every time I reach the parking area of ​​the Paso de las Piedras and Trinidad rivers, splendid places so typical of this region.
This time the fishing was good but somewhat erratic and dispersed. Also, as in the Achala brook (see previous post “An alarm light”), I continue to perceive that the average size of the catches has decreased with respect to previous seasons of meaningful way.
I hope that I am wrong, that it is only a subjective sensation of mine. Otherwise, we will have to speculate about the cause of this process in the population of Salvelinus Fontinalis (brook trout) of these beautiful rivers.
Also, and logically, it is inevitable to ask myself if the management of these resources by the National Parks Administration is correct and if it will not be time to establish changes in this matter.
I show you some pictures, I hope you enjoy them.

On a beautiful sunset, my fly goes straight to the target, a promising ring on the surface of the water twelve meters in front of me.
Thanks to Daniel Passero, my friend, for the photo.

A few years ago I was lucky enough to get a special edition copy of this famous work by Frederic M. Halford. An excellent reading for the recently started Argentine autumn, is not it?

Fishing these jewels with fine bamboo canes is a pleasure that, from my perspective, involves the purest heritage of fly fishing.
(Without detriment of other opinions or appreciations)

The Achala stream, which takes the name of this very particular region, is for the local fly fishermen a great “laboratory” where we test and experience all aspects of our art in pursuit of brook trout. It is, therefore, very appreciated by us.
Its management regarding its population of Salvelinus Fontinalis is in charge of the National Parks Administration and its personnel. This has been the case for several years now.
Recurrently during the fishing season, we visited and fished this stream.
In this opening, we have noticed a worrying tendency to decrease the quality and number of fish (do not forget that the regulations here allow the death and carrying of brook trout).
Of course, those of us who practice catch and release are wondering if it is not time for something to change in
the management policy of the resource for sport fishing in Quebrada del Condorito National Park.

From my tying bench, I share this local version of a very effective nymph, although it is fair to say, only retains the colors of the original model.

Here are some photographic memories of the Malalco river and its beautiful rainbows. The Malalco, in the region of Alumine, is a tributary of another extraordinary river, the Quillen. This zone corresponds to the province of Neuquén in the northern Argentine Patagonia, very close to the limits with the country of Chile.
In the third photo, from top to bottom, I´m with Ernesto Mazzola (to my right with a graphite rod), he is a great fly fisherman, excellent fly caster and fly tyer. I remember we were very close fishing together and we had simultaneous bites of those beautiful rainbows of Malalco.
It was an unforgettable trip.

Finally, the season opened and we were once again able to enjoy the richness of the Pampa de Achala streams.
This time different circumstances led us to choose the small river “Colgado”, outside the jurisdiction of the National Park “Condorito”.
I have previously posted about this particular place a couple of times before.
The fishing was good, the brookies were concentrated in some particular places of the river and in others…, simply were not there.
Horses and cows cross it in many places, blurring the water a bit and causing disturbance, perhaps being one of the causes of this particular distribution.
It also seems to me that small and hidden springs of cooler and oxygenated water may have to do with it.
Like other times, the Colgado offered us his beautiful Fontinalis.
Thanks to Franco and Gerard for their company, they make me a better fly fisherman every time we go out together.
The fly of the day was (for me at least) a little yellow bead head, without a tail and ribbed with fine silver wire.