Facilities & Services

The Lodge

Northern Patagonia Lodge was constructed in 2008 and is located on the upper Chimehuin River. The beautifully- appointed lodge can accommodate 10 guests in five large bedrooms, each with private bathroom. Each bedroom sleeps two anglers comfortably in single beds. The lodge also features two common living rooms, a reading/internet room, open kitchen, and a large dining area where our guests enjoy delicious meals. Laundry service is available.

Food and Drink

At Nervous Waters, our kitchens come to life through the use of fresh and regionally representative meats and produce. By combining these elements, we create delicious flavors and varied textures that harbor hidden stories and package traditions on each plate. A top-notch team of experienced national and international chefs, trained in both classic and avant-garde culinary techniques, execute our food. With an artisan’s touch, chefs prepare every dish by scratch to be served at a minute’s notice. In addition, our inspired lunch and dinner menus are paired with some of Argentina’s—and the world’s—best wines; Bodega Catena Zapata.

In addition to our focus on fresh food with organic origins, we also celebrate our Argentine heritage with a wine partnership that brings truly world class wines to our lodges. We feel that the food we present and the wines we serve should mirror the sporting opportunities we offer—and be the very best available. While our vast country offers many options for traditional activities such as riding, hunting, eating good meats, and drinking good wines, we have chosen to blend fine food and outdoor activity at an even higher level. We feel our offerings from Bodega Catena Zapata blend perfectly into our harmonious niche in the sporting environment. Boasting many accolades from the wine community at large, a Bodega Catena Zapata wine recently received a “number four in the world” icon ranking from Wine Advocate. These are truly great wines that compete on the world stage and in addition to enjoying your sporting holiday and our excellent menus, we also hope you will also take note of our wines. They hold a special place in our culture and we are proud to serve them to you.

Overlooking the Chimehuin River, Northern Patagonia Lodge boasts front-door access to the greatest diversity of trout water in northern Patagonia. Brown, rainbow, brook trout, and landlocked salmon all thrive here. You’ll wade, float, and fish untouched beats by horseback or vehicleaccess, depending on your daily preferences.

The picturesque Chimehuin River is a wade and raft-friendly river that flows for 25 miles until it meets the Collon Cura River—another Patagonia fly-fishing mainstay. Also nearby, you’ll find small, technical streams offering dry-fly, streamer, and nymphing opportunities depending on the season.

In addition to sprawling rivers and intimate small streams, this is also a land of lakes. Trophy stillwaters include the Tromen, Huechulafquen, Epulafquen, Verde, and Curruhe—to name a few. Each has its own special nuances and all are known for sizeable trout. In total, the area is home to more than 20 trout-rich lakes.

Guide services at Northern Patagonia Lodge (NPL) are provided by Patagonia River Guides (PRG). The PRG squad is the best in the area opening up exciting new possibilities for NPL guests. For instance, during a weeklong stay you can now participate in one of PRG’s renowned 2-night “Unplugged” camp trips. These multi-day wilderness floats allow you to fish un-pressured waters that are not easily reached during a day-trip from the lodge. The camps are also deluxe by design. That means delicious Argentine meals, a comfortable night’s sleep under the stars, and dynamite fishing every morning.

Unplugged Camps

PRG offers exceptional overnight camping trips on the Caleufu, Aluminé and Limay Medio Rivers. Guests choosing to “unplug” and get-away from it all enjoy long and incredible fishing days. Camping is often the highlight of the entire trip, and for those who like to fish a few more hours or skip the “chit chat” at the lodges, the Unplugged program offers the perfect opportunity.

Unplugged camps are deluxe and include a high level of service and surprizing amenities. Guests enjoy spacious eight-man tents outfitted with two comfortable beds, one for each angler in double occupancy. This is not your ordinary camping setup as beds are furnished with fine cotton linen, warm comforters, and down pillows, allowing guests to spend a wonderful and cozy night under the stars. Camps are fully catered and come with a professional chef to prepare both regional and gourmet meals – cooked over the riverside fire!

Their state-of-the-art pressurized water system offers an endless supply of hot water for the private, enclosed shower. In addition, all camps come with two private bathroom facilities and a unique 12-volt lighting system for the tents, common areas, and trails making it easy to navigate the camp at any time in the night. The camp includes a fully stocked bar with ice, mixers, delicious wines and snacks to enjoy in nature or in the spacious walled tent for dining indoors if necessary. The amenities for the anglers include fresh towels, bathrobes, soap, shampoo, and headlamps. Guests choosing Unplugged program do not need to pack anything extra or special for the trip.

Each morning, guests enjoy a healthy breakfast consisting of fresh fruits, cereals, and eggs made to order before grabbing their rods and making their first casts right from camp. The Camp staff and assistants pack up and reassemble the camp in a new location approximately ten to twelve miles downstream. Exceptional fishing is the norm with anglers commonly landing browns and rainbows over twenty inches. Everything is made ready for our anglers arrival at dusk including hot showers, a crackling fire, an impressive table of appetizers and a full bar. Dinner is nothing short of amazing often followed by memorable stories and drinks around the fire.

The Daily Program

This is a sample itinerary for the purpose of illustration only. These are the waters we typically fish from the lodge. We may vary your specific itinerary according to your fishing preferences and prevailing weather, temperature, water levels, fish migration and the opinions of our guides. We can also arrange trips to other great fisheries from the lodge.

Day 1

• Arrival in San Martin de los Andes at Chapelco Airport (around 2 p.m.)
• Drive to Northern Patagonia Lodge
• After lunch, the fishing manager will assist anglers in preparation of fishing equipment
• Cocktails, appetizers, and dinner at the lodge.

Day 2

• Breakfast at the Lodge
• After breakfast we’ll drive to the Lower Malleo River
• This section of the river is located in the Mapuche Reservation Amutuy Quime
• It is wading only. There are hundreds of pools to fish all day long and then some
• We’ll move around with the trucks to find the most productive runs
• Back to the Lodge for appetizers and dinner
• Recommended rods: 4, 5 or 6 wt with floating lines and 7’ to 12’ leaders

Day 3

• Breakfast at the lodge
• Our day starts at the Rinconada Bridge, which spans the Collon Cura River
• This is big water, like the Madison in Montana, with fish from 12 inches to several pounds
• There are brown and rainbow trout and Perca, our native fish
• Percas put up a nice fight, much like a brown trout, and eat whatever you throw at them
• We’ll float most of this river and we’ll stop and wade the many channels formed around the islands in the river
• Back to the lodge for appetizers and dinner

Day 4

• Breakfast at the Lodge
• Drive to Lake Tromen, in the shadows of Lanin Volcano and 3 miles from the Chilean border, where we will fish for trophy brown, rainbow and brook trout. We’ll fish from our rafts casting to submerged logs, weed patches, obstacles and boulders where big trout live. There is a tiny spring creek that can be fished while we cook you a traditional Argentine asado (BBQ) for small brookies, or you may fish the outlet of this creek for trophy size trout up to 7+ pounds
• If you are in the mood of walking, there is a 40 minute walk to the mouth of the Malleo River. Fishing with dry flies sometimes produces nonstop action for rainbow trout and browns
• Back to the lodge for appetizers and dinner

Day 5

• Breakfast at the lodge
• Float the Chimehuin River, from Piedra del Viento (200 yards upstream from Northern Patagonia Lodge) to the Military Bridge. It is an all day float with a lunch break around 1 pm. We’ll fish the pools that made Junin de los Andes a world class destination for fly anglers (Piedras Blancas, Currhue, and Parrot pools). A lot of fishing is done from the rafts, but we’ll stop at the best spots and wade
• Back to the lodge for appetizers and dinner.

Day 6

• Breakfast at the Lodge
• Our day starts at the confluence of the Malleo and Alumine rivers. This is big water again, with fish from 12 inches to several pounds. There are brown and rainbow trout, some landlocked Atlantic salmon and Perca, our native fish
• Back to the lodge for appetizers and dinner

Day 7

• Breakfast at the Lodge
• Fish the middle Malleo River, with a streamside barbeque. This is pretty much the same (unforgettable) fishing as the lower Malleo River. You’ll love to be back on this jewel of a river
• Back to the lodge for appetizers and dinner

Day 8

• Breakfast at the lodge
• Today we will say our good-byes and go to San Martin de los Andes for some shopping and lunch (depending on time of departure flight) and then transfer to Chapelco Airport for departure.

About Brown Trout

Brown trout (Salmo trutta) and sea trout (S. truttamorpha trutta) are both fish of the same species. They can be distinguished by the fact that that resident, non-migrating browns live in freshwater river systems such as Chile’s Futaleufú, while the sea trout of Tierra del Fuego show anadromous tendencies, migrating to the ocean and returning to freshwater as massive steelhead-size specimens to spawn.

Brown trout are native to Europe and Asia, but the natural distribution of the migratory forms may be, in fact, circumpolar. Sea-run brown trout are not considered endangered in any location. But in some cases, individual stocks are under various degrees of stress because of habitat degradation and artificial propagation leading to introgression.

Brown trout like cold (60-65 degrees F, or 15-18 degrees C), well-oxygenated waters, especially large streams in mountainous areas. Cover is important, and they are more likely to be found where there are submerged rocks, undercut banks, and overhanging vegetation.

Browns in fresh water have the ability to grow to 9+ pounds. Although in most small rivers a mature browns might average 2 to 3 pounds. The sea-run variations of Argentina are another story, and consistently push the 20-30+ pound envelope—a challenge for fly fishers seeking the biggest, baddest browns on the planet.

Brown trout are active both by day and by night and are predatory feeders. While in freshwater, diet typically includes streambed invertebrates, small fish, frogs, wayward mice, and insects flying near the water’s surface. A brown’s penchant for insect larvae, pupae, nymphs, and adult insects is what makes this trout a fly-fishing favorite.

About the Rainbow Trout

Is there a more beautiful or popular fish? Depicted on corporate logos, ball caps, and gas station signs, the rainbow trout is the ideal symbol combining beauty and sport. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is favored by fly fishers because of its beautiful coloration—for which it’s named—and its fighting ability. Wild rainbow trout typically have olive-colored backs, tails peppered with dark spots, and silvery sides that look as if they’ve been painted pink and crimson. The rainbow trout is actually a member of the Pacific salmon family, and has been stocked on six continents. It can be found in freshwater streams, rivers and lakes, also in saltwater bays and open ocean as steelhead (the sea-run form of the fish, which returns to freshwater to spawn). Trout prefer cold, oxygenated moderately moving creeks and streams with plenty of cover and pools, although they also do well in food-rich backcountry lakes and rivers.

Rainbow size generally relates to the size of the water they can be found in, as well as the available forage base. Smaller creeks are usually home to smaller fish, while bigger rainbows inhabit bigger watersheds. Generally speaking, a three-year-old rainbow trout in a general trout stream grows to 12 inches but can exceed 20 inches if food is abundant and water temperatures are stable throughout the year.

Season

Fishing Equipment

• Rods: use 9-foot 5- and 6-weight rods, reels with good disc drags, and pack a selection of floating lines and sink-tip setups (200-grain integrated tips work great). Back-up rods are always recommended. We recommend rods from Sage.
• Reels: should have a minimum of 100 yards of backing and an adjustable drag. Sage make some of the best.
• Lines: Weight-forward floating fly lines are the norm on the rivers we fish at Northern Patagonia. Whatever you fish in Montana or the Rockies will also work great on our waters. We like WF lines by RIO, Airflo, and SA. Also bring an integrated sinking line or two for streamers fishing. These lines should have anywhere from 10 to 20 feet of 200- to 300-grain sinking tips. For stillwaters, think full-sinking and clear intermediate lines for streamers in deeper water. And always include a floater for dries. We recommend rods from Sage.
• Leaders: Leaders: 9-foot 1X for streamers and 9-foot 3X to 5X for dy flies. You will also need extra tippet spools from 5X to 1X.
• Flies: we recommend a typical Western trout fly selection for local rivers: hoppers, Chernobyl ants, stimulators, humpies and wulffs in #8-12; beadhead nymphs in #14-20, tan and olive caddis patterns in #14 – 16; mayfly parachutes, emergers, and cripples in #14-20; and a selection of streamers (conehead buggers, matukas, muddler minnows, and bunny leeches). We also have some local favorites, including green inchworms and pancora crab patterns available for purchase. We have a fly-tying bench for yoour use and we have all the flies you might need at our shop at the lodge.

About Brown Trout

Brown trout (Salmo trutta) and sea trout (S. truttamorpha trutta) are both fish of the same species. They can be distinguished by the fact that that resident, non-migrating browns live in freshwater river systems such as Chile’s Futaleufú, while the sea trout of Tierra del Fuego show anadromous tendencies, migrating to the ocean and returning to freshwater as massive steelhead-size specimens to spawn.

Brown trout are native to Europe and Asia, but the natural distribution of the migratory forms may be, in fact, circumpolar. Sea-run brown trout are not considered endangered in any location. But in some cases, individual stocks are under various degrees of stress because of habitat degradation and artificial propagation leading to introgression.

Brown trout like cold (60-65 degrees F, or 15-18 degrees C), well-oxygenated waters, especially large streams in mountainous areas. Cover is important, and they are more likely to be found where there are submerged rocks, undercut banks, and overhanging vegetation.

Browns in fresh water have the ability to grow to 9+ pounds. Although in most small rivers a mature browns might average 2 to 3 pounds. The sea-run variations of Argentina are another story, and consistently push the 20-30+ pound envelope—a challenge for fly fishers seeking the biggest, baddest browns on the planet.

Brown trout are active both by day and by night and are predatory feeders. While in freshwater, diet typically includes streambed invertebrates, small fish, frogs, wayward mice, and insects flying near the water’s surface. A brown’s penchant for insect larvae, pupae, nymphs, and adult insects is what makes this trout a fly-fishing favorite.

About the Rainbow Trout

Is there a more beautiful or popular fish? Depicted on corporate logos, ball caps, and gas station signs, the rainbow trout is the ideal symbol combining beauty and sport. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is favored by fly fishers because of its beautiful coloration—for which it’s named—and its fighting ability. Wild rainbow trout typically have olive-colored backs, tails peppered with dark spots, and silvery sides that look as if they’ve been painted pink and crimson. The rainbow trout is actually a member of the Pacific salmon family, and has been stocked on six continents. It can be found in freshwater streams, rivers and lakes, also in saltwater bays and open ocean as steelhead (the sea-run form of the fish, which returns to freshwater to spawn). Trout prefer cold, oxygenated moderately moving creeks and streams with plenty of cover and pools, although they also do well in food-rich backcountry lakes and rivers.

Rainbow size generally relates to the size of the water they can be found in, as well as the available forage base. Smaller creeks are usually home to smaller fish, while bigger rainbows inhabit bigger watersheds. Generally speaking, a three-year-old rainbow trout in a general trout stream grows to 12 inches but can exceed 20 inches if food is abundant and water temperatures are stable throughout the year.

Northern Patagonia Lodge

Rates

Season 2019: December 2018 – April 2019

Single boat: 50% surcharge

Non-fisher rates: $450 per night, subjected to availability.

Full day fishing on arr/dep days: $750 per boat.

Half day fishing on arr/dep days: $550 per boat.

Fishing License: $100 per person

Float trip and Unplugged Camp: 3 days and 2 nights wilderness. Expedition (Limay, Aluminé, Chimehuin or Caleufu River): $2,250 per person

Rates are per person based on shared room and shared guide.

• Included: Lodging, meals, all wine, beer, and local spirits. Professional guide services, transfers from/to San Martín de los Andes airport.
• Not included: Transfers from/to Bariloche, gratuities for guides and house staff, airfares, laundry service and fishing licenses & loaner fishing equipment (Rods, reels and Lines).
• Payment terms: 50% deposit to guarantee booking. Balance 60 days prior to departure.

*Prices are in USD