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Text and
Images By Efrain "Tornillo" Castro |
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| Atlantic Steelhead of Rio Santa Cruz Patagonia, Argentina |
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| Before I start this exclusive article for the Fly Fishing Forum, I would like to thank the Forum editors for giving me the opportunity to engage our friends to the North, and recount some stories from our small fly fishing world here in Patagonia. It is my hope that these encounters will be frequent and they will serve to enrich everyone's knowledge. | |||
| The Santa Cruz River is
located in the southern portion of continental Patagonia. Two hundred kilometers to
the south of it, after crossing the rivers Coyle and Gallegos, one arrives at the Strait
of Magellan -- the end of the continent. All that lies to the south is the island of
Tierra del Fuego and, beyond that... Antartica. The Santa Cruz is born some 400 kilometers to the west , at the feet of the Andes in Lago Argentino, a huge freshwater lake that cradles in its waters one of the world's most beautiful natural sites, the Glacial Perito Moreno. |
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 Click photos to enlarge |
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| One could say that, with
the discovery of steelhead in its waters, the Rio Santa Cruz forms a perfect trio,
together with the adjacent waters of Rio Gallegos and the Rio Grande, for fly fishers
seeking anadromous trout in Patagonia: atlantic steelhead and the largest searun
browns in the world. Its waters are cold and somewhat discolored due to glacial
discharge. Its color is a very particular bluish grey, not seen in any other
Patagonian rivers. This discoloring generally reduces visibility to about two feet. The Santa Cruz, a rather large river, carries a massive volume of water. It's like a lake with a current --in some sections as wide as 700 meters. In its lower reaches, near the city of Comandante Luis Piedra Buena it is almost impossible to make out runs, riffles, pockets or any other normal features. Upriver, its course is somewhat more boxed in, with fast currents and some pools with depths of up to 50 feet which can inspire fear in the wader. Much caution should be exercised when wading these waters. |
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| However, the experiences relayed here occur in the vicinity of Piedra Buena, some 40 kilometers upriver from the city. In this location the tides have a great influence, producing fluctuation in water levels of about six to seven feet between high and low tide. One is fishing with water flowing from left to right and, suddenly, the flow slows down and the level begins to rise. | |||
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| The Fish: Its
History and Biology Little is known about these faboulous and combative trout, and taking one is not a simple task. Their explosive nature and the acceleration of their fight make fishing for them extremely exciting. The basin of the Rio Santa Cruz was one of the first rivers in Patagonia to be stocked with salmonids (none of the salmonids in existence today are native to Patagonia). Plantings, which began in 1906, consisted of rainbow trout, coho and chinook salmon and landlocked salmon (Salmo salar sebago) eggs from the United States, as well as brown trout and atlantic salmon from England. Further introductions continued until 1970, with many reports of rainbow trout being taken throughout this period. Within the last few years there have been some reports of chinooks being taken (of which only two have been verified).
It is likely that the
original strain of these Argentinian steelheads was made up, not of steelheads from the
Pacific Northwest, but rather from other freshwater rainbows which developed anadromous
behaviour over time. There are some substantially different characteristics between the
two, which leads one to suspect this is learned behavior. The steelhead of the Pacific
Northwest remain in freshwater for about two years before going out to sea, where they
spend a few more years before returning to spawn. Santa Cruz steelhead only remain a few
months feeding in the Mar Argentino (Argentine Sea) before returning to freshwater.
An even more astonishing difference is that Atlantic Santa Cruz steelhead are known to
return to freshwater to complete their reproductive cycle as many as six times
(documented) as opposed to twice for steelhead of the PNW. |
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| The Fishing It is important to note that steelhead behavior in these parts is still somewhat of an enigma. Much of the information I have compiled comes from local fishermen and biologists, as well as my own experience in fishing for them. We traveled during the first week of April to take advantage of the very large (12 meter) tides expected at that time, and because literally all locals and biologists expect a large number of fish to come in during this larger than usual flux. However, our catching did not necessarily reflect the expectation when compared with results obtained by others a few days before our arrival. I recently commented on my new steelhead experience to my friend Luis Nasim, and he told me there is a saying by a Canadian steelheader (Glenn Baglo) that reflects how tough steelhead fishing can be... |
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| The reason for these lines
is simple. This is a river in which we search for trout by fishing to lies and not spotted
fish. We need to cover water with relatively little effort, without any false casting.
Additionally, it is imperative to put the fly right in front of the fish, as the water is
always turbid. Since I don't own one, I can't really say much about the use of double
handed rods, except that I have tried them and find them to be excessively heavy. I can
often equal their efficiency in saving energy and maintaining the fly in the water longer
using the aforementioned tackle and technique. I also enjoy the fight more with a one
handed rod. A floating line or a slow sinking line will leave the fly far away from the steelhead's line of sight, therefore fast-sinking shooting heads of some sort are a must. Fly selection, and especially color selection, is closely tied to contrast with the stained glacial water. Black is it. Of the ten steelhead I took in six days, nine were taken on a black #6 woolly bugger, and the remaining one on a #2 Black Rabbit. After the fourth day of fishing I became convinced of the efficacy of the woolly bugger and began using it exclusively. Also, it soaks up less water than flies with rabbit strips. I would recommend smallish unweighted flies which will facilitate long distance, repeat casting. |
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| The first Santa Cruz steelhead I lay my eyes on was taken by a local on what appeared to be very heavy saltwater tackle... like a lamppost with guides. I picked up my line and approached the fellow to observe the fight, and what I saw gave me goosebumps. He was using thick monofilament with a spoon at the end. Despite the heavy equipment and the pressure he applied, he had little control over the fish's movement over the first 15 minutes of the fight, at which time the steely charged upstream and then zoomed by us downstream, like an Indy car in a frenetic race. When the fish was near shore and saw us, it took off once again, spraying water in all directions, peeling off a hundred feet of line in no time. When the fish was finally beached onto a soft grassy shoreline, I was amazed to see that it was a female of only 7 or 8 pounds. At that moment I started thinking what I would do if I ever hooked into a 12, 15, or even 18-pound fish! | |||
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| Next year, I will travel
from the Andes again... in search of a larger Atlantic steelhead, capable of ripping the
rod off my hands in its first run. Efrain "Tornillo" Castro is a writer, professional graphic artist and cartoonist, and certified fly casting instructor who lives in the city of Neuquen, Patagonia, Argentina. He can be reached at |
