Namesake of the Lodge,
El Martin Pescador
(The Kingfisher)
MARTIN PESCADOR LODGE
Namesake of the Lodge,
El Martin Pescador
(The Kingfisher)
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This was our fourth year to visit Martin Pescador Lodge. It’s always such a wonderful experience that we have chosen to continue to use it as our Chilean fly fishing escape. Hosts, Frans & Anna Jansen, do a tremendous job. Frans focuses on the daily fishing routine and is always scouting for new and better opportunities. This ensures great fishing each and every year. Anna focuses on the lodge operation and spoils us endlessly. Meals are fabulous, staff are always cheery and helpful and it just feels good to be at one of the Martin Pescador lodges. (Yes, that’s right; a week long excursion includes time at two different lodge locations – one near Puerto Cardenas and the other near La Junta.) Below is a daily breakdown of our activities.
16 February: When we went to breakfast in the hotel, we ran into our fellow anglers for the week. We knew three of the four couples because we had previously fished with them at Martin Pescador. In fact, we thought they were the nicest group of anglers with whom we had ever fished. Unfortunately, one couple (Allan & Barb) were returning back home rather than heading to the lodge due to a death in the family. The other two couples we fished with last year – Hyde & Meade and David & Patsy – were both doing great. We were introduced to our other fellow anglers – Steve & Susan – and learned that Steve was David’s younger brother. So, we felt very privileged to once again be joining this group of family and friends. Mireya Gonzalez arrived to transfer the group to the Aerodromo for our flight to Chaiten. We arrived in Chaiten at about 11:00AM and were met by Frans and two guides, Mike and Derek. We transferred to the Lodge and received another warm welcome from Anna Jansen. After hugs & kisses, we went to the “honeymoon cabin” to settle in.
After enjoying a delicious lunch of cazuela (chicken soup), we headed out for our first afternoon of fishing. Just before lunch it had begun to sprinkle and now it was a steady rain. However, the temperature was warm and everyone said rain was needed in Patagonia so we all just took it in stride. Our guide for the afternoon was Blake. We fished along the banks of the Yelcho. Ed did both some streamer fishing and some dry fly fishing. He caught several rainbows and 6-8 brown trout (we lost count). Lindy stayed with streamer fishing and she managed to catch one rainbow. We called it a day after we moved to our final spot for the afternoon and Ed hooked a brown trout on his first cast. A perfect way to close the day. We returned back to the lodge for a leisurely evening beginning with cocktails followed by one of Anna’s wonderful meals.
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Blake
holding one of Lindy's rainbows |
17 February: On our first full day of fishing we went with Derek to a tributary of Lago Yelcho. It was our first time on this beautiful river. We didn’t take any fish photographs because we were too busy catching the little guys. The fish weren’t sizeable (our largest was probably 16 inches) but it was great landing one on almost every cast. We caught both brown trout and rainbow using both dry flies and small streamers. A fun productive day.
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Derek at the Helm |
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A view of the lovely setting |
18 February: Today we fished with Mike. We began our day fishing with dry flies. It was very productive as we caught both rainbows and browns albeit two times the number of browns. We had a late lunch and then decided to go upstream to fish with streamers. These too were very productive. Late afternoon, we returned to dry flies and decided to fish one of the remolinas where the water swirls and eddies and you can sight fish for trout. Again, we had great luck and were able to cast to and catch numerous fish.
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Lindy gets her first brown |
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The beautiful glaciers above the river |
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Mike holding Ed's nice rainbow |
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Lindy gets one of those rainbows too |
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One of Ed's many brown trout |
On our final pass of the day, we decided to once again go upstream and cast big dry flies to see what we could stir up. It turned out to be very eventful. Ed cast near a tree jam in mid-stream and “BAM” – he hooked into a huge rainbow. He successfully kept the monster out of the logs and Mike maneuvered the boat into the middle of the river. Unfortunately, however, it was incredibly windy and Mike wasn’t able to get the boat in reach of the fish. Ed managed to keep the rainbow on a short leash and Mike kept trying to get near it for the landing. Finally, Mike attempted to net the fish and managed to get its head to touch the rim but that was it. Then, the hook came out. The fish had been on the line for some time and was large enough (the guys estimate 28” and 10lbs.+) that it bent the small and fine dry fly hook and escaped. Damn!! Oh well, we’ll never forget that beauty! That evening we enjoyed a wonderful “cuaranto” in the quincho. It’s a feast of seafood and meats cooked over the coals and accompanied by wonderful salads. Diego, a great member of the Martin Pescador team, oversaw the cooking of the seafood and meats. Another wonderful feast!
19 February: Today we headed out with Derek. We had a great day hooking and landing some big fish (23-25” beauties), including a few really fresh, silvery, hard-fighting salmon that kept us busy for quite a while. Of course, we caught a few smaller fish too and we also each hooked several more big ones that got away but that’s just part of fishing. We had a wonderful and relaxing dinner prepared by Eliza, Anna’s sous-chef (we even got her to sit down for a toast!). Then, we went outside and took photographs of the sunset. Spectacular! It was a great way to close the day.
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Derek holding Lindy's 23" rainbow |
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Lindy gets a salmon |
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What a beauty!! Ed's 25" rainbow!!! |
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Another beautiful rainbow measuring 23" |
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Sunset in Patagonia |
20 February: After an early breakfast, we returned to the river for another day of fishing with Derek. Again, we had great fun and managed to hook into a few large trout as well as several of the smaller guys. When we arrived at the La Junta Lodge at the end of our day (6:30PM), all of our belongings had been moved from the first lodge to the second lodge by Anna and her staff so we settled in quickly and went to happy hour to see how everyone else enjoyed their fishing.
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Lindy gets a 25" rainbow of her own |
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Ed and Derek with one of the many typical size trout we caught that day |
21 February: Today we once again fished a new river for us. We accessed it via an 8-wheeled ATV which towed a trailer with a small raft (12’). Our guide, Forrest, was at the helm. After we arrived, Forrest and Cristian, an invaluable member of the Martin Pescador team, set up the raft while we got our equipment ready. Then we began our float of this beautiful river. It was really pristine. We caught lots of trout – both rainbows and browns – some 28 to be exact. Not bad at all! Again, another great day!
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Cristian and
Forrest |
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Forrest holding one of the
typical brown trout we each caught during the day |
22 February: We drove to Lago Rosselot with our guide, Garrett. It was a beautiful day and the lake was very calm. So, after catching a couple of fish, we decided to go to the far end of the lake. We’ve never been able to make it there before due to wind so it was a real treat. En route, we stopped at a beautiful cascada (waterfall) and Ed was able to sight, hook and land a beautiful 20” rainbow. We continued on to the end of the lake and we just kept catching fish. We had three doubles during the day and Lindy was able to catch and release a grand slam – a rainbow, a brown and a brook trout – in a single day. For icing on the cake, the brookie was her first brook trout ever! So, another day of fun followed by a wonderful asado in the quincho. Cristian oversaw the roasting of a lamb on a spit headed by wood fire and coals. This treat was accompanied with a fine variety of great salads and wonderful Chilean wines.
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Garrett holding a healthy rainbow |
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Ed and Garrett with one of Ed's many rainbows |
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One of the beautiful "cascadas" at the lake |
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Lindy and Garrett with a brown trout |
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Ed's fat 20" rainbow |
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Ed and Garrett with a nice brown trout |
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Lindy's first-ever brook
trout; what a thrill!! |
23 February: This morning we said good-bye to our fellow anglers who finished their week of fishing at Martin Pescador. We began our second week at the lodge. Garrett was once again our guide as we headed to the Lago Yelcho. Again, we had terrific weather and the lake was very calm. We fished the weed beds with both dry flies and streamers. We both had great success is pulling some nice fish out of their hiding places for pictures before returning them to their homes. Again, a terrific outing. In the evening, we returned to the Puerto Cardenas lodge to meet the other anglers for this week. There was another angler who returned from last year – John – and he brought along a fellow angler, Burt. We met a couple recommended to fish at Martin Pescador by John (who himself is a fishing guide) – Phil & Bridget. And, to round out our week, we also met Dave & Dave – fishing buddies from Tulsa. For two evenings, we also enjoyed the company of David & Pat, individuals who had returned to Martin Pescador for some fishing at the outpost. Another great group!
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Garrett holding Lindy's beautiful 20 inch brown |
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Ed and Garrett with Ed's 21 inch rainbow |
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How about this 22 inch brown beauty!! |
24 February: Today we once again fished the Rio Yelcho. Our guide, Blake, decided to fish the lower sections of the river. His choice was a good one as we both caught rainbows and browns, first on the dry fly and then on streamers. Late in the day, we opted to return to the river above the lodge. Again, we had good luck on both streamers and dry flies. Unfortunately, however, one of the fish got the better of Lindy on a streamer. She hooked a nice rainbow which decided to head to the deep wood structure on the river floor. During the ensuing battle, Lindy broke her rod. Thankfully, Orvis has a lifetime guarantee and it replaces broken rods. For the balance of the day, Blake loaned Lindy his rod so we finished out the day still catching fish albeit after switching back to dries so we had a chance of landing one or two of the strong beautiful resident trout on the Rio Yelcho.
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Blake at the helm |
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Blake holding one of Ed's rainbows |
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Beautiful glaciers setting above the river |
25 February: Since Lindy was “sans rod,” Frans came to the rescue and offered a lodge rod for the balance of the week’s fishing. Again, we went to Lago Yelcho with Forrest Forrest as our guide. The lake was very calm which made for a nice crossing but not for great fishing. We each missed a couple of strikes before Ed finally hooked a really nice rainbow. We stayed there through lunch and then Forrest decided it was time to return to the Rio Yelcho. En route, we stopped at one bay where Ed again managed to hook and catch another fish. We returned to the lodge to switch boats and headed out for the balance of the day on the Rio Yelcho. Thankfully, Lindy finally caught a fish (and then a couple more) or Forrest would have kept us out all night to ensure Lindy didn’t get skunked. At 6:00PM we called it quits in anticipation of another wonderful cuaranto feast in the quincho.
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A great shot of Forrest at the helm |
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Forrest holding Ed's beautiful 23" rainbow trout |
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How about enjoying lunch in the boat?! |
26 February: We returned to Lago Rosselot after making the drive from the Puerto Cardenas lodge to the second lodge on Rio Rosselot. Our guide was once again Garrett. We had a slow start to the day as there was absolutely no wind and the fish were very spooky. However, about 2:00PM the wind arrived and with it so did the fish. We each caught rainbows and browns but no brookies (for another grand slam). We had another enjoyable day with lots of fun and action.
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Garrett
holding one of Lindy's |
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Ed and Derek with one of Ed's rainbows |
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Lindy and Garrett with a small brown trout |
27 February: We ventured to new waters today to do some wade fishing with Master Guide Frans. The day started with a bang – Lindy and Frans landed a beautiful brown of 23 inches on a dry fly. Wow!! The fun continued as we both hooked lots of browns and rainbows and Lindy even got a tiny chinook salmon. In the afternoon the wind kicked up which made it a bit more difficult. However, we both managed to land more fish. Thanks to Frans’ tutoring, Lindy’s casting improved dramatically in terms of distance and ease of casting. She also learned how to get a great drift. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the hook-set “mojo” going as she raised some 20+ fish but only landed a couple. Thankfully, in the last pool of the day there was no misses – just two browns which she hooked and landed on her own. Good tutoring Frans!
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Master Guia
Frans holding Lindy's |
28 February: Today Forrest was our guide. It was a great day in terms of numbers and sizes of fish. Ed alone managed to land 20 fish; terrific and some really nice ones too! Lindy caught 10 fish so we beat our prior record catch on the river. That evening we enjoyed a great meal prepared by Anna’s assistant, Max. Frans and Anna, who left the lodge early in the morning and didn’t return until late evening, spent their entire day transacting a real estate purchase to once again expand fishing opportunities at Martin Pescador Lodge.
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Forrest
holding a beautiful |
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Lindy and Forrest with her brown trout |
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Forrest holding Ed's really
nice brown |
29 February: Our final day of fishing in Chile (for 2008) was spent on the Rio Rosselot with Derek. It had rained most of the night and it continued throughout the day. In fact, we encountered some incredible rains about 12:00 noon. Initially, we tried dry flies but we couldn’t attract any trout. So, Derek had us switch to streamers and then the action began. Ed got a really nice brown to get us rolling. We took a quick photograph despite the rain because it was such a beautiful fish. Then, before stopping for lunch we each caught and released some 7-8 fish – a combination of browns and rainbows. After stopping for a delicious lunch cooked streamside (and yes, still in the rain but under some thick trees), we continued catching fish on the streamers. However, when we passed a tributary river, it was blown out (i.e., it looked like a chocolate milk shake) and it was draining into the Rio Rosselot. We still were able to each catch a couple more fish despite the worsening condition of the Rio Rosselot. We finally decided to quit fishing for the final stretch of the river and just enjoy the row home. The sun decided to peak out so we dried out a little while we enjoyed the fabulous Chilean scenery. Then, we finished another delightful week enjoying an asado in the quincho.
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The guys in the rain with a final brown trout |
In closing, we enjoyed another two weeks of great fishing, including fishing at some fabulous new spots. Then, we thoroughly enjoyed our time spent with wonderful new guests as well as many we knew from prior years. Frans continues to expand the fishing opportunities at the lodge which is really terrific. Anna continues to spoil us and we love every minute! We’ll be looking forward to once again enjoying the setting, hospitality, fine food and, of course, fishing in 2009.