Despite the fact that some weeks presented tough conditions, we still managed to catch a very good number of nice fish. In particular, the average weight over the summer was amazing as it reached the 12,2 pounds.

A very nice season has ended in Bella Vista Lodge, just enough to celebrate the sixteen years since Bella Vista Lodge first fished the waters of the Rio Gallegos and Gallegos Chico.

When we arrived in January, the water level was very low and it stayed as such for most of the season. It was only during three weeks over the summer that we had good water levels in the river.  We had one big rise during the summer and another in the last week of the season. The conditions were very varied for sea trout, turning, dark, fresh and very fresh, but they still reached a very good size throughout the summer.

In general terms, weather conditions made the mood of the fish quite unpredictable. The temperatures were higher than normal and the wind shifted constantly.

The best part is that we caught a very good number of nice fish. In particular the average weight over the summer was amazing, especially if we consider that we had very good weeks of fishing and some a bit slow and we still finished with 12,.2 pounds as an average.

We had  the best week of the season in March--when we hooked a total of  24 sea trout, with an average of 12.66 lbs!!, 4 of the fish were between 15 and 20 pounds, and one was above 20 pounds. 

The largest fish of the season was a 23 pounder caught by Didier Convers from France.

We also caught many huge brown trout during the thirteen weeks in the main river, ending with almost a thousand browns. And in the Gallegos Chico, the river dry fly fishing was incredible! We landed 161 brown trout in the spring creek ranging the 2 to 5 pounds.

Special thanks to all those anglers who have shared with us such a fantastic season. We are looking forward to see you all next season!!

Gaston C. Guglielminetti

We started the season with a very good water level and lots of fish in the pools. It seems like an earlier run came into the river. We ended the season as good as we had started and in the middle we caught 1500 fish, which was even better than last season.

For this new Kau Tapen season 2011 we welcomed once again an incredible team of international and local Argentinean guides. Our guides are always very pleased to come back to the Rio Grande to start a new season and we were all very excited to be here, on the best sea trout river of the world!

We started the season with a very good water level and lots of fish in the pools. It seems like an earlier run came into the river. For our first week of the season we landed 182 fish. What a great start!

Traditionally at this time of the year with still cold water we were using sinking line and leeches, and progressively going to an intermediate line with sink tips, and rather smaller flies. The Collie dogs, leeches, and streamer swere very effective.

Mid January we had some heavy rain and the water level rose and brought colored water for a few days, giving our guests difficult fishing but bringing some very nice fresh fish in Kau Tapen’s water. We ended the week with one 24 and one 25 pounder!

This “high water condition” brought a lot of fish in the river and the season kept going very well landing close to 1000 fish in 6 weeks! The water level was very good and then started dropping, and as the water lowered the rubber leg nymphs and the “guide bug”, especially the black body, yellow legs and heavy eyes, were very efficient. A good amount of nice fresh fish was caught this way, using floating line and sink tip. The green machine has been working very well too, and we all know since many years that this fly can be very productive using it on different line and depth, while some other guests and guides were also using tube flies. For the “magic hour” we were using the traditional string leeches or sunrays and had a great time.

The river finally dropped a lot and the river got pretty low. The fishing in this condition was still very good but more challenging as we had to fish “light” and use long leader, delicate presentation and small flies on a floating or intermediate line.

It was a great season in terms of numbers. Last season was already really good but we are happy to say that 2011 season was even better. The number of fish landed and hooked was higher and so were the average fish per rod per day and the average weight.
We landed 30 fish over 20 pounds, including some beautiful 23, 24 and 25 pounders. The record of the season with a huge male of 26 pounds caught on a leech at dusk by Mark from the U.S.A.

The Rio Grande itself at Kau Tapen and Villa Maria has provided huge sea trout once again and many of our guests have hooked and landed a fish of lifetime. Some of our guests have landed several fish over 15 and 20 pounds during their week and there is for sure NO other place and river like this in the world for sea run brown.

The Kau Tapen staff also deserves a special mention as they have worked very hard to welcome, help and serve our guests. This season the bookings were great and we are proud to see that Nervous Waters lodges are coveted by keen fisherman in search of luxurious accommodation, fine cuisine, great service and staff and very professional guides. I would like to thank our guests for coming at Kau Tapen to share this incredible experience and we are already looking forward to seeing you next season!
Have a great 2011 fishing season and tight lines!

Jean Baptiste Vidal
Kau Tapen Lodge