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CHILE!! 
*****ADVENTURES CONTINUE SIZZLERS AS TEAM TROUT HEADS TO RIO FUTALEUFU AND RIO YELCHO TO PHOTOGRAPH OUR CUSTOMERS THERE WITH FRANCISCO AT THE OARS! STAY TUNED, AS WE TOUR PUBS & RESTAURANTS IN BARILOCHE, ARGENTINA AND HEAD TO CENTRAL PATAGONIA*****
Glaciers near Yelcho Lake are magnificent to say the least. Breath taking views are in every direction, and Francisco headed this past week with a new customer from Japan to Central Patagonia. We stayed here anticipating a fine week with David and Maureen Cargill from the United Kingdom. Their tour was 4 days of fly fishing and two days of scenic tours.
When they arrived in Puerto Montt we shuttled them to town and the weather was none other than perfect! So here was our plan,
after we spent our week guiding David and Maureen Cargill we would take you, The Sizzlers, on an incredible journey from
Puerto Varas into Argentina and down to some of the most famous rivers in Chile. We are also taking some more drift boats down for future trips!
**Thanks for the emails Francisco, see you in a few days with
all the boats and the gang!!
The first day Nico and I, took David and Maureen, over to the Gran Isle de Chiloe, to see some very beautiful places and check out the Penguins that inhabited a small section of rocks near shore. We would take a small boat tour to get us there, but before that, we had to take a short boat ride with our truck from mainland to the island, which took about 25 minutes.
(Did you know that Interstate 5 that runs through Mt Shasta ends here in Puerto Montt, Chile? Great trivia question!)
Islotes de Punihuil, is the name of this beach that is so picture perfect! No foot prints on the beach and as tranquil
as any heavenly place on earth. The air was so fresh and the sun’s rays bared down on us intensely, it was the start of a great adventure for David and Maureen. I thought about my sister M’lissa, who lives in the Bay Area of California, and how she loves beaches and penguins. I thought to myself, one day I’d like to see her here! But that was to be in a future web log entry, as David and Maureen were so happy to be here away from England and it’s cold weather. It was a great time to be alive.
The tour started by us putting on some waders and taking a short boat ride out into the small island rocks that were within viewing distance. Meanwhile, the locals worked on their fishing nets, harvesting crab, albalone, fish and shellfish. The guides remembered Nico and I, from last years tours and we were treated like V.I.P’s on this very friendly coastal paradise.
10 minutes later, we were there looking at penguins in their natural habitat. It was so great, and Maureen and David snapped many pictures to share with friends and family back in the U.K.
I looked over and saw Nico with a look of content and pride, he looked as though he was in his element. Now becoming one of Chile’s best guides mastering English, fly tying for our local rivers, and always having success on the rivers he guided. For he had also become my Mike Hibbard of Chile, helping in so many ways as well as our valued customers. With a heart as big as South America, earning our customers repeat and referral business. So Knowledgable, so dedicated to growing our business down here. I know I am lucky to have found he and Francisco, so I looked to the north and thanked Ana Maria again for first taking me here, and putting me in touch with these superstar guides of Chile!
There’s two species of Penguins, some migrate down from Peru they are smaller and have stripes on their neck, they are called Humbolt Penguins. The other are larger but co-exist with the Humbolts. I thought back to a weblog entry I did on Danny Devito, and remembered he played the Penguin in that Bat Man movie. I think the Penguins here were taller, but not as funny and friendly as Danny was when I met him…..
We got really lucky and witnessed a Sea Outter feeding some crabs, using his belly as the dining room table.
After the tour, we took them to the top of the hill and on the other side of the mountain we saw some incredible views that warmed our hearts. It was low tide and we could see fishermen looking for shellfish. I though at anytime Brook Sheilds would come running out at age 19, in her role in the Blue Lagoon.
The next day our adventures on the rivers commenced. We put in on the Upper Maullin, just outside of Puerto Varas. David was a finatic fly fishermen, Maureen just liked to come along and enjoy the views, possible read her book, and photograph David’s catches. Little did she know this was to be the start of a life long partnership of fly fishing with her new husband of only three years. The book was never taken out the entire week, Sizzlers!
David caught rainbows, browns and Atlantic Salmon. Some were small and medium sized, but it didn’t matter cause he knew in all his travels around the world fly fishing, that it was the places it took one that meant the most, and the bigger ones would eventualy come.
The Upper Maullin, sported water translucent like a spring creek, a window into a trout’s living room. Dumping out of Lago Llanquihue on it’s journey to the ocean some 50 miles away.
David hooked and landed a medium sized Brown Trout from Germany, introduced here from the 1900’s on.
Nice kipe on this catch! (Fish language for big shoulders)
David had big fight on his hands when he hooked this trucha loca!
But first off the bat Maureen hooked her first rainbow and she began to embrace the thought of fishing the entire 4 days.
In the middle Maullin, we enjoyed a lunch made by Francisco’s wife Veronica, and gave thanks for her efforts. David, was always making jokes and laughing up a storm, using the words that only came from England, like bugger, bli-me and so on….
We heard stories of dancing with Princess Ann, and knowing the Royal Family, as he was one of importance himself, in a land that once owned mine. Nico and I, felt so comfortable with David and Maureen, and they thoroughly were enjoying their trip! They were the epitome of debonaire meets elegance. Nico and I couldn’t get over what a gentlemen David was, and what the definition of true lady meant in Maureen .
She 4 the first day, 5 the next. Including this Perch, that riped out line and fought like a fish of much larger proportion. She was becoming hooked Sizzlers, possible for life, but that was in our hands now, and we rose to the occasion not pushing, but pulling her into our passion!
David and Maureen loved birds, and this King Fisher was a daily highlight for them, as they shot some many photos of birds we saw megandering down the mighty coastal river.
What a great river Sizzlers, you should experience once in a lifetime!
Maureen took a brake for a while, and we came upon these nice folks vacationing down from Santiago. We had many laughs together, as Dad was the funiest of all of them. They seemed to love Gringos, and were more than happy to pose for a photo shot for you, The Sizzlers!
David had lost some larger Atlantic Salmon during the day, two larger browns that might had gone 5lbs plus. But it was this very large brown that he landed near dark that made his day complete. CONGRATULATIONS DAVID, YOU’RE MY SIZZLER OF THE WEEK!
Back at the ranch, (LODGE) David and Maureen, enjoyed their cabin house with views of Lago Llanquihue, and Volcanoe Osorno.
The day we had on the Lower Petrohue was great, but the fishing was not as good as the Rio Maullin in Previous days. This river here has no dams just like the Rio Maullin, but the differnce was, the hot weather was melting snow on Volcane Osorno and the banks of the river that usually produce larger trout was running fast, thus why I encourage all to come here in mid February to March, and fish the lower flows that are never controlled.
Maureen caught 2 large steelhead that we saw from the boat, but the power and intensity of these bucking broncos, were
too much for her limited experience. We just laughed and I told her at least she got the best part of the fight! She thanked me, and continued to fish and caught 5 in this one spot.
David and I really hit it off, being kind of from the same tribe.(kinda) His jokes, grateful comments and passion for fishing earned our respect immediately. He was another Rob Brown type of guy, with a genuine love of life and a compassion for his guides that didn’t go un-noticed. I call it being worldly.
Meanwhile, down in Central Patagonia, Francisco, was tearing things up on the Rio Futaleufu and Rio Yelcho. We finished David and Maureen’s tour, by taking them on a scenic adventure to the Parque de National, on the Rio Petrohue, to check out the falls. We then headed over to Cochamo Valley, which will appear in my next entry. I would like to give a warm thanks to David and Maureen Cargill, and look forward to seeing them in Central Patagonia next year, for some more adventures together!*****STAY TUNED SIZZLERS FRANCISCO CALLED AND NEEDS US TO TAKE SOME BOATS DOWN TO THE RIO FU’ AND RIO YELCHO, THIS IS ONE DON’T WANT TO MISS! THANK YOU ALL WHO WATCH MY ADVENTURES AND EMAIL ME, I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD EVER HAVE SUCH A LARGE AUDIENCE WATCHING. (LIVING IN THE LIME LIGHT, THE UNIVERSAL DREAM, FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO BE. THOSE WHO WANT BE, MUST PUT A SIDE THE ALIENATION, GET ON WITH THE FASCINATION, THE NEW RELATION THE UNDENIABLE DREAM.** A SONG BY RUSH IN THE 1980’S
DURING MY HIGH SCHOOL ERA, WHAT A CLASSIC!) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WATCHING AND BOOKING YOUR TRIPS WITH JACK TROUT GUIDE SERVICE. NEXT ENTRY, NEXT SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11TH 2006. SALUD AMIGOS!