Argentina: no reason to cry

 

Dear Simon, The truth is I really do not know where to start about my trip to Argentina – I went for the fishing but came back with so, so much more. I guess my knowledge of Argentina is scant at best, being part of a generation that grew up with the Falklands War, South American dictatorships and headlines of hyperinflation on a scale of the Weimar Republic. None this was helped by the more recent unpleasant, and horribly jingoistic, 2014 edition of Top Gear on tour in Argentina. So, that best forgotten, let us start with the fishing. The Tecka Lodge Estancia and river as far as the eye can see

It was amazing but not perhaps for size or quantity of the fish. Yes, we caught plenty (fifteen in a day did not buy you many bragging rights at dinner) of big, small and medium browns, brookies and rainbows, the latter as fighting strong as any I have caught anywhere on the planet. Nor was the fishing overly technical; one guide fishes almost exclusively with a Sebastian Special, a black foam beetle of his own invention. Essentially, if you managed to bang the fly in the right place as often as not you would get a rise, though missed strikes greatly exceed successful strikes. But and here is the super big but, banging that fly down in the right place is no easy task for the open plains of Patagonia are windy. Really windy. Relentlessly windy. To remake a Baldrickism, “Lord Blackadder it is more windy that the windiest place that has ever been windy.” And then some. In the six days we fished it was relentless. Occasionally the Fishing Gods would smile on you with some unexpected shelter, or halleluiah have the wind to your back, but generally you cast into or across the teeth of the wind. If you could not single haul on day one you would attain world class expertise by day six. Apparently, the fishing is better for the wind according to the guides and my experience tells me this to be true. In those few moments of calm the fish were easily spooked and very wary of the fly; the wind encourages them to be both bold and greedy.

All sorts of flies work! So, would I go back just for the fishing? No. Afterall, it is a bloody long way, something around 45 hours door to door including the overnight in Buenos Aires. But would I go back to fish on the plains of the Chubut Province? Yes, yes and a million times yes. It is hard to comprehend the scale of the Tecka Ranch we visited. It is 435,000 acres (roughly the size of Berkshire); some days it took a drive of 90 minutes across dirt roads to reach the fishing from the lodge, and we never left the confines of the ranch. A ranch so vast that it has its own ecoclimate: one half has annual rainfall 8 inches more than the other half. It has 96 miles private river including the continental divide where in the space of a few yards one river starts its 200km journey to the Pacific Ocean whilst the other heads 900km to the Atlantic Ocean The only living souls you ever see are gauchos on their horses, with a motley crew of sheepdogs, herding sheep from one grazing area to another. The ranch has 80,000 sheep reared for merino wool. Overhead, condors examine the ground hundreds of feet below for carrion, mostly dead sheep – about 15% of the herd die annually. Families of lamas (I forget the name of the Argentinian version) graze on the hillside. If you see a bush running across the tundra, it is a rhea, a sort of small ostrich. Hares graze contentedly along the riverbank just a few feet away; there is no hunting on the ranch, so they have little fear of humans. Foxes, both our European red ones and the South American grey types, insolently stare you down. Armadillos, who can run amazingly quickly for such oddly made creatures, scuttle back to their burrows. The 8,000 Hereford cattle are forever grazing, interspersed with roaming gaucho horses who do the same.

Not a bad lunch spot. Note water powered rotisserie BBQ. And all this amongst the silent vastness of the Patagonian plains defined by the snowcapped Andes to the west with no planes, trains or automobiles to hint at the existence of the 21st century. It is, as you will have gathered, a working ranch but the operation seems to touch gently on the landscape having only been what it is since 1920. Before that it lay pretty well undisturbed since the melting ice cap made it what it is, empty until populated by the native Indians who knows when back in time. The only modern history to pass its way was made by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid who had a gunfight here with the local police having bought a ranch nearby having fled North America. I could go on and on. The Argentinian hospitality. A level of service you had probably forgotten ever existed. The amazing fishing guides with special thanks to Frederico, Nacho and Mattia. The food. The local wine. The stars at night; no light pollution here. The wafting smell of barbequing lamb. The only thing I would avoid is the local matte a ceremonial tea that the guides drink morning, noon and night. It tasted to me like the essence of bonfire. They claim it is simply a super caffeinated hot drink though I suspect we were not being told the whole truth. But hey, coping with groups of less than perfect casters in Patagonian conditions probably requires some sort of special stimulant! If you want to check out the Tecka Lodge to travel independently visit their website or join an Orvis trip.

Clockwise: Drift boat day. How many guides does it take to choose a fly? Bank fishing day. Beautiful rainbow from the Monster Lake.

Tales from The Mill - third date added! You have bowled me over with your enthusiasm in anticipation of the publication of Tales from The Mill. Thank you! The first date here at The Mill sold out in a trice, with the second not far behind. So, I am delighted to be able to add a third on Monday 8th June with a special tour of The Mill and book signing. The event runs from 11 - 2pm and tickets cost £25 which includes:  A special signed copy of Tales from The Mill The rare opportunity to tour parts of the historic mill and surrounding water meadows Chance to feed the fish Book readings and Q&As A glass of English sparkling and a light lunch served by the water Whether you’ve heard about the Mill, fished its pristine waters, or are discovering it for the very first time, come and enjoy the many tales to be told! Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment. Event dates: Friday 5th June 2026 : Sold out Monday 8th June 2026: Buy your ticket here Friday 12th June 2026: Sold out Tales from The Mill is now available to pre-order at an early discounted rate via the Fishing Breaks website. Books will arrive with you 19th March. Pre-order your copy of Tales from The Mill here

Good. Better. Best  As an ex-bookie I love data, so it has been fascinating to translate your feedback into a statistical analysis that allows me, and more importantly you, to apply star ratings to our fisheries. You will know that for many years you have kindly taken the time to supply your comments on the fishing and our service to which, two years ago we added a rating question, inviting you to rate your day on a scale of 1 to 5. Some might argue this is a crude measure, but customers have a right to know the experience of others distilled into a readily understandable metric. Of course, not everyone likes it. I have lost one fishery because the owners did not like the truth and it exposed some repeated egregious behaviour by the river keeper, but such is life. Three beats achieve an overall perfect 5/5 With two seasons under our belt, I believe we now have enough data to provide star ratings for nearly everything we do. In summary, there is a rating for 2024 and 2025 with the combined rating for those two years prominently displayed by the entry for each fishery, course and cottage on the web site. If you want to do a deeper dive the results are displayed in table form here. You may sort them high to low or examine whether a fishery is improving or worsening year on year. As ever, all data comes with a health warning. Sometimes the sample is very small or skewed by exceptional events, such as the record wet April/May of 2024. But with more ratings over a longer time those jagged edges should disappear and I think we are all wise enough to recognize some of the pitfalls of being too literal.  In time I will add a more extensive data table to the web site but in the meantime I hope you find the Star Ratings a useful tool when exploring where to fish and, as ever, I will welcome any further thoughts you might have to improve the information we deliver to you. Let it rain, let it rain …. OK, stop! As you well know St Valentine’s Day is something of a watershed for chalkstream river keepers. On this day they will know, to a fraction of an inch, the state of their rivers six months hence. For it is the winter rains that are crucial for recharging the aquifers that will supply the river through the summer and autumn. That is not to say that later rains are not useful or unwelcome, but they are not pivotal as is the precipitation in the months October-February which is why last year, with one of the driest January’s on record we struggled on the headwaters and smaller chalkstreams once we hit high summer. I hardly need inform you that this January is a complete inversion of last; a look out the window tells the tale with rainfall nearly twice the January norm in the southern region and four times that of 2025 with a similar tale across all the chalkstream regions. So, if you see a river keeper with a smile of his face tomorrow it could be just be for the love of rain! Wallop Brook pretending to be a river A History of Fly Fishing in 50 Innovations. No. 4: Waders Waders? They are such a staple of fishing it is hard to imagine that they never existed but actually the first commercial production of rubber waders by the Hogson River Company of America in the 1850’s more or less coincided with the growth of recreational fishing. Nobody seems to have much of a good word for the Hodgson waders which were heavy and prone to leaking but they were, at least, an improvement on leather waders. For the most part it seems that these early iterations were thigh boots, production reaching a peak during WW1 when they were standard British army issue to the troops fighting in the trenches.

WW1 packhorse laden with rubber waders

It was between the two World Wars that chest waders, as rubber technology improved, became available with the next leap forward coming in the 1950’s as synthetic materials, neoprene in particular, revolutionized wading gear as they became lighter and more durable. However, the fundamental problem with neoprene was that, though it was a great insulator in cold water, in anything else it treated its wearer like a slowly boiling frog. But along came Simms in the 1980’s, adopting Gore-Tex, a material waterproof yet breathable, which has now become the industry standard. Since then, the greatest advances have been in boot technology. There was a time when wading boots closely resembled the footwear of Herman Munster, even the shortest walk painful and blister inducing. However, today boots are more akin to walking trainers, comfortable enough to be worn all day over many miles of varying terrain.

Your nominations so far, in no particular order. New additions in blue. Do keep them coming! simon@fishingbreaks.co.uk

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Quiz The usual random collection of questions this week inspired by the date and the Newsletter topics. 1)     Which British boy band announced their breakup on this day in 1996? 2)     When was the first Winter Olympics held? A) 1904 B) 1914  C) 1924 3)     If you suffered from chionophobia of what would you have an the intense or irrational fear? The answers are below.

Have a good weekend.  Best wishes,

Check & book dates here

Simon Cooper simon@fishingbreaks.co.uk Founder & Managing Directorwww.fishingbreaks.co.uk

1)     Take That 2)     1924 3)     Snow and ice