During our time at Chochoy Mallin, we fished two different beats on the Rio Trocoman. I hope you read yesterday’s post where I shared out experience on a section farther upstream. We decided to spend the night and enjoyed our fly fishing around Trocoman House with SET Fly Fishing.
That’s right, we’re wearing our waders and boots and ready to cross over to the other side of the Rio Trocoman.
Whoa…let me back up…
We were unable to stay and fish at Trocoman House last year because the river was too warm and the fish weren’t biting. So when Danny asked if we’d like to stay the night, we jumped at the chance.
SET Fly Fishing’s Chochoy Mallin experience includes an option to spend a night in a very remote location. The setting of Trocoman House is spectacular. Look closely and you’ll see the green roof between the Lombardy poplar trees.
We noticed these trees from the helicopter in other areas as we flew from the Lodge to various rivers. They are commonly used as windbreaks in Patagonia.
Why is this a special place? Trocoman house is remote, without any roads or double-track trails leading to it. You can only arrive by horse…or in our case…helicopter.
Here is the story of Trocoman House from SET Fly Fishing’s website:
“The house is actually a secondary home on a huge ranch. The main house, at least an hour’s ride on horseback across the far side of the river, is still occupied by the owner. The property was acquired in the 1980’s, and from the beginning, the owner’s intention was to minimize the impact to the environment while building the houses. Today, most access is entirely by horse.
The Trocoman House was designed as a temporary living and work studio for a member of the family who was an artist, to provide a secluded and inspirational environment surrounded by nature. Walking into the house is like stepping back in time. Its rustic construction, antique furnishings, a functional layout with the kitchen and dining area with a wood stove, and a fireplace in the heart of the main room. There are two rooms, the main one supports two guests and has another fireplace and a wonderful view of the river.”
While remote, it does have running water, bathroom with shower, and electricity thanks to solar panels.
After fly fishing in the morning, we enjoyed the view drinking a cerveza while waiting for lunch.
Later, we were able to check out the house.
Below is the small kitchen with wood stove and the indoor wood burning oven.
Our bedroom for the night with fireplace for heat, which we didn’t need.
A little eclectic, right?
Don’t forget the hot water heater in the corner of the bathroom!
After being dropped off by helicopter at Trocoman House, Dancingtrout is talking with Juan Carlos about the plan for the day.
Juan Carlos and Andres were our guides.
Upon our arrival at the river, I was surprised to find insects floating down the river. We haven’t seen much of this on other rivers or last year.
The Trocoman is where we found Willow Worms last year. I looked several times on the streamside vegetation, but only saw the cocoons. The Willow Worm image is from last year.
I was casting a streamer Andres had tied on to my tippet and noticed he reached down in the water and pulled out this catfish. Needless to say, I was surprised!
The catfish was in the shallower section of this run.
We caught fish, but it was a challenging day. The cooler water, high winds, and limited room for back casts made it difficult. We were grateful to pull a few of these out.
Late in the afternoon, we finally noticed a few rising fish on the far bank under the willow branches. I wonder if they were beginning to eat Willow Worms? Our guides tied one on my line and I did have a rise to the fly.
I wore my casting arm out as I tried getting the fly to turn over and land under the branches. When I thought a cast would work, a huge gust of wind quickly thought otherwise.
I managed to catch this nice Rainbow after timing my cast between wind gusts.
We fished both sides of the river and used an unusual method of getting to the other side.
They utilize horses to pack supplies to the house, so why not use them to ford the deep river?
Below, dead branches help to secure the fence line among the poplar trees.
I hope you are able to get a taste of this special place with the images I shared.
This experience is one of the reasons we enjoyed our fly fishing at Chochoy Mallin. It’s unique, and Johnny and his son really made us feel welcome. They cooked, cleaned, and were expert horsemen!
Enjoy…go fish!
Loved it, a memory for all time.