Patagonia Brown Trout

Friday, November 18th: Esperanza > El Calafate, Argentina

• After breakfast we headed out to a further spot on Rio Pelke. The wind didn’t pick up until 10 AM, so we had about an hour of unobstructed casting. We fished for browns and hooked into them early. We caught several between 15 and 20 inches with beautiful spot patterns and colors. Tomas said the browns had taken over the river and there were very few brookies left in the system, but we managed to find a few. We had several fish strike at the last strip or line wiggle of our retrieve. 

• The geese were still sitting on their nests and some chicks had just hatched in the last few days. They were sitting in the bank nestled into the grass or following their mother upstream with little webbed feet paddling quickly. 

• We went into the estancia for lunch and had grilled lamb chops, potato salad, spinach salad, avocado toast and roasted carrots. 

• We went back out on the river and caught a few more fish. In total for the day, we probably landed 15-20. 

• On the way back, we saw an armadillo scurrying ahead of the truck.

• We packed up, said our goodbyes and headed back to El Calafate. As we drove the car up the hill, the wheels turned and Matt spontaneously let out his best evil laugh. Liz attempted to copy, but it felt less threatening. 

• We checked in and immediately noticed an odor throughout the house that smelled like their septic and plumbing wasn’t working properly. As we toured the AirB&B, we found close to a dozen spiders that soon met their fateful death. 

• We went into town to La Zaina for dinner. We had spinach croquettes with garlic aioli, provoleta and rainbow trout with lemon risotto. For dessert, we had a molten dulce de leche cake Roth ice cream and a berry compote. 

• Accommodations: AirB&B, El Calafate, Argentina