By CLAUDIO MARTIN Photos by TRES AMIGOS OUTFITTERS

If you’re planning to fish the Rio Gallegos, here’s a few things you may want to know. And if you’re not, please con tinue reading anyway, as many of these tips just might apply to your local (sea-run brown) trout fishery too.

The Rio Gallegos is a diverse and exciting fishery that is known for its rugged and harsh scenery, gusting winds, and challenging fish. It’s a place where everything is test ed to the maximum: Your tackle, your stamina, and your skills – but the rewards are great. You’ll need to reset and rewire your previous skill sets and adapt to the river to connect with Rio Gallegos and its powerful migratory fish. However, once you’ve learned how to catch fish on the Rio Gallegos, you’ll find that you’ve become a better and more versatile trout fish erman. And you’ll be able to reap further rewards once you return to your local rivers.

Every spot, bend, run, and pool on the Rio Gallegos is different. The an gle, the wind affects your cast, also varies every time you venture to a new fishing spot.

There’s room (for overhead casting) behind you in most places, but not always. There are small, crammed spots, but also large, wide pools, where you’ll need to reach further in order to cover the water just right.

The Rio Gallegos demands a solid cast, but also the skills to adapt to changing casting scenarios. So do yourself a favour, don’t come unpre pared. Practice switching hands or casting over your shoulder – with a backhand forward-stroke and drop, so that the winds don’t determine where you can- and cannot fish. Learn how to effectively cast and fish both single- and doublehanded rods and get proper casting instruc tions if you feel that it’s necessary.

Fly fishing for sea-run brown trout on the Rio Gallegos is about cover ing water, and after a full week of fishing and adapting to the windy conditions, your fly casting will inadvertently improve. Then, you’ll need to remind yourself that the best fly cast isn’t necessarily the longest fly cast: It’s the one that pre sents the fly, where the fish is – at the right depth and speed.

You’re probably going to say; “the setup is always key”, but in the case of the Rio Gallegos there’s very lit tle margin for error. Especially if you’re fishing it for one just week, you’ve got to maximize your chances of success.

As a suggestion, the combination of a 9 - 9’6’’ 7-weight single-handed rod and a 12’’-13’’ 7/8-weight spey rod is the right choice. In both cas es, medium-fast action blanks make life easier, especially during those windy days.

Normally having a float (or a float/intermediate) line on the single-handed rod is enough – but keep in mind that skat ing dry flies across seams and necks can be your ticket to some great surface action dur ing the mid-summer months!

For your Spey rod, the suggestion is a compact Scandi-type line with interchangeable tips for quick adaptation to var ying depths and currents. It might be windy, and there might be riffles on the water a lot of the time – even foamy waves – but don’t be mistak en: The gentle presentation achieved with a short head and a long and thin front ta per (and a long leader) is the recipe for catching big, spookish fish.

The presentation of Scan di lines is superb and you’ll NEED that here! As a matter of fact, you can leave the long lines and Skagit heads at home.

When it comes to the running line, it’s really a matter of personal preferences. Still, our recommenda tion would be 35lb mono or a thin (.029’’) PVC-coated running line that really maximizes casting dis tance when needed. Regarding the tips, most of the time you’ll prob ably keep your intermediate one on, but still, it’s important to have a float, Sink 3 and Sink 6 tips around. (Did we mention already that it’s important to be versatile?)

Finally, it’s important to use longer leaders than you’d probably think to begin with (10-15’ and up to 20’ in low water-) plus a thinner tippet (0,25-0,35mm) as the fish ARE lead er shy. Generally, think of diameter prior to strength when choosing your tippet, and don’t forget to test your knots. (Oh, and considering those damn winds again: Maybe check for wind knots on your leader/tippet every now and then?)

You’ve probably heard already about the rubber-legged nymphs and streamers for Argentina’s sea run browns, and that’s because they work. But in addition to some of the most popular types of nymphs, like Girdle Bugs and Copper Johns, that simply need to be in your box in siz es ranging from 6 – 12, you’ll want to have a selection of salmon flies in the same range of sizes, like stoat tails, red butts, etc. Small flies land big fish in this river (and in other similar rivers where down-sizing is the key to catching big and weary fish). Then, add some mid-sized streamers into the mix, and some larger flies for the last hours of the day like Sunray Shadows and Temple Dogs to have a full box ready for the mission.

If you’re a purist (or not so much), a handful of size 6 Bombers – natural or with fluoro-orange hackles - should be included.

And now back to the technique. For those used to swing flies for salmon or steelhead, well, this is a different game. Think of stripping the fly as the thing that triggers the fish into taking. It’s how you work the fly that ultimately will get you into fish.

After a sligthly downstream cast (that can go up to 45º) to make sure the fish sees the fly (and not the line) first, you let the fly sink and come around for a few seconds. Then it’s time to start moving it.

The all-round strip is a mere 5 – 10 centimetres long, with half a second of pause in between. Pretty simple – but very effective! That said, when things slow down – don’t be afraid to try alter native stripping methods. As with trout elsewhere, the Rio Gallegos fish can be very picky when it comes to how the fly moves in the water.

Avoid having studs/nails on your boots. The Rio Gallegos is one of the easiest ones to wade and walk due to its thin gravel bottom and moderate current, so both rubber and felt sole boots are fine. Being stealthy will pay off every time, as is the case with trout fishing in general.

Also think about keeping your wading to a minimum. Otherwise, the fish WILL notice you. Fi nally, always choose a cast that will disturb the surface minimally, which means that – most times - the Double Spey is NOT the best choice. A nice underhand cast, single Spey, or snake roll is usually a much smoother and more subtle cast – and therefore more effective.

Even though the Rio Gallegos has a November thru April season -as most of Argentinean Pata gonia - the prime time is January-April.

The reason is that the main seatrout run enters the system by late December and that runs will continue to intensify in strength throughout the remainder of the season - depending on the river conditions and tides of course.

With random seatrout opportunities and plenty of quality resident brown trout both at the top and lower stretches of the river, the middle section should be the one to pick for the most committed anadromous angler. The simple reason being that seatrout hold there longer, while waiting for the spawning time. The middle section has more gradient compared to the rest of the river, so even during low-water summer conditions there are steady flows and more oxygenated- and produc tive water to be found here.