The next couple of days, I floated the Aluminé River, then the Collón Cura River. These are classical floats, usually made from inflatable raft boats. I rented the services of guide and boat with Flotadas Chimehuin, a family-run business where the father, Angél Fontanazza, is the boss. I felt immediately at ease with his guide, Pablo. We had two fantastic days, with regular catches on streamers a la Woolly Bugger, and Pancora imitations. Most fish were rainbows, with the occasional brown trout. Most brown trout had fantastic colors with many dots. Both Pablo and I had a heart-stopping experience with a very large trout (in the 12 lbs range): twice within a couple of seconds we saw it clearly head for my black Woolly Bugger, before it refused the fly inches from it. What an incredible experience! We tried to row back up in order to make a second pass on the fish, but it never showed. Damn it, I felt that was my chance at a big Argentinean brown that I had missed!

 

After some more exploration in the Junín area, I headed south for a few days of fishing around San Martin de los Andes and Bariloche. Fishing there was good, but I preferred the atmosphere and landscapes I had encountered in Junín. It made no doubt: I had fallen in love with this world-class trout fishery. I will have to get back Junín and its rivers, maybe a little later in the season in order to get a real shot at the big Chimehuin browns!

 

I left from Bariloche with a mix of good feelings about the experiences made and the people encountered, and sadness to leave such a nice place. But I had not much time to fumble about it, as I was heading south to Tierra del Fuego. Next angling destination was the fabled Rio Grande…