Fly Fishing In Tierra del Fuego

Yesterday, we visited penguins. Today, we go trout fishing! Marge (not my wife’s real name) booked a guide to take us out. When I found out the price for the day trip (equivalent to what I spent over eight days during my solo bus trip), I was pretty peeved, to say the least. While we waited for our guide to pick us up at the hotel, I sarcastically said– For that price, he better pick us up in a Land Rover Defender 110.

He picks us up in a Land Rover Defender 110. And you know what? The excursion was worth every penny.

Mickey, is the co-owner of Windfly, a fishing outfitter based in Ushuaia. He will be showing the two of us Lago Escondido (Hidden Lake).

We take the highway out of Ushuaia and drive to the top of Garibaldi Pass. Mickey drops us off and we hike down to the lake using a dirt path. 

Once we reach the lake, we wait for Mickey to pick us up in that Zodiac. We had the lake to ourselves the entire day.

Fly fishing is difficult, and we don’t have any luck that morning. But the scenery and the experience eclipsed our fishlessness.

At noon, Mickey drops us off and we take a short stroll next to the lake. This is the first day in two weeks when it hasn’t snowed.

Our destination is a small cabin. Mickey has prepared this spread for us.

While we have the apps, Mickey is grilling lots of meat. The bacon you see there is paper thin. The sausage is home made. It’s four parts beef, one part pork. It is an extraordinarily satisfying and relaxing meal. I can’t believe how fortunate my life is.

After lunch, we fish some more, without success. We rev up the motorboat, and we are booking it. To my right, a pair of birds fly next to us, just ten feet away, for about a quarter of a mile. We never end up catching anything that day.

Images source: Maxichamp

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *