El Rincon – Rio Galegos

El Rincon

The fishing at El Rincon is for both fresh run sea trout up to 20+lbs and also for resident brown trout averaging 3 to 4 lbs but with many large specimens up into double figures.
The main runs of sea trout make their way into the river system around the end of December/first week of January and continue with strong runs all the way through the season until the end of April and beyond, with guests having total access to fishing on both the Rio Gallegos and the Rio Penitente during their stay.       

The Fishing:

The Rio Penitente:
The 35 kilometer Rio Penitente is just a short distance from the lodge so guests have the opportunity to pick up a rod and walk the few steps across the garden to try a few casts in any of the home pools of this stunningly pretty river. At its normal level, the Penitente is best fished with a single-handed rod or one of the lighter double-handed Switch rods around a 7wt. Lines should be floating/sink tip or intermediate in normal conditions with slightly heavier sinking lines, (S3 orS6), working well during periods of higher water.

The Penitente clears and returns to its normal height quickly after a spate. In normal conditions, most of the Argentinian sea trout-style rubber leg patterns work well here as do more traditional nymphs. Dry flies can be used effectively in settled and lower water conditions, with streamer patterns often turned to in higher water or in the numerous cut channels and deep holes spread out along the entire river system.

The brown trout here are big, averaging 3 to 4 lbs with some into double figures. Then, of course, there is the sea trout running up to 20+ lbs. We recommend bringing good quality leader material.
Expert guides use 4×4 vehicles to transport guests to different sections of the river each day but because of the meandering nature of the river and its myriad of glides, streams, pots, and deep-cut channels, time is never wasted driving long distances, as it is easy to walk from pool to pool in any chosen area.    

The Rio Gallegos:
The privately-owned double bank section of the Rio Gallegos is a short drive from the lodge. Along these 20 kilometers, there’s a selection of classic-looking pools holding good numbers of migrating sea trout. Brown trout are also here but usually, anglers are concentrating their efforts on the sea trout populating the river on their migration upstream. These fish are big……….and angry at having their journey interrupted, so be prepared for some rod-bending action when encountering one of these hard-fighting chromers!

Rods can be either single or double hand, depending on personal preference but we recommend a double-hander around 8wt matched to an intermediate line for normal conditions and maybe moving up to an S3 or S6 in higher water following a spate. A floating line/sink tip maybe used in lower water and if the conditions are right a skated fly can produce some explosive results.