Packing for a 2026 Patagonia Fly Fishing

We’re finished packing for a 2026 fly fishing trip to Patagonia. This year, we will be with SET Fly Fishing at Rakin Lodge and then on to a new experience with El Encuentro Fly Fishing.

We really enjoyed fishing the Rio Codihue at Rakin Lodge last year as we added a few extra days on to our week at Casa de Campo where we fished a variety of rivers. So we are headed back to fish around the lodge and return to Trocoman House hoping to find some trout eating willow worms.

After our time at Rakin Lodge, we’ll spend a few days resting in San Martin and Bariloche before continuing our Patagonia adventure with El Encuentro Fly Fishing. They are located several hours south in the Chubut province and close to the Andes mountains. We’ll spend our 10 days in three different lodges, moving around the province to experience a variety of water and scenery.

With our extended travel plans, it’s always a challenge to make sure you have everything needed for a fly fishing adventure while managing the weight restrictions on airlines. We upgraded our Fishpond roller bag this year and saved 5 pounds to make room for extra gear.

We’ve limited our combined luggage to the large Fishpond roller bag, a smaller Fishpond bag we plan to check, and a carry-on besides our small personal backpacks.

This is an image of the large Fishpond bag. Three rod cases with five rods are under the wading boots and waders. Four fly reels in padded cases are stuffed in wading boots for extra protection.

Here is the list of fly fishing gear we are taking this year in the large Fishpond roller bag:

There is only one pair of waders on the list. Dancingtrout has a custom pair and I’ll be using waders provided by each of the lodges. We decided to pack our Korkers boots and take felt and rubber soles. Both lodges offer waders and boots, so you don’t need to take yours if you prefer. We walk quite a bit, so taking our own boots makes a difference after a long day of fishing. I’ll use my Devil’s Canyon and Dancingtrout wears the women’s Darkhorse.

The sun in Patagonia can be relentless, so an effective fishing hat to block the sun is important. I plan on taking my Tilley hat. If your trip is in their spring or fall months, a warm hat is a necessity. Ours are packed as we’ve experience strong winds on occasion.

These are three fly boxes I filled for this year’s trip. The guides at both lodges provide all the flies, but as a fly tyer, I like to tie and fish some of my own flies. I’ll leave some with the guides if they like them.

The other gear packed is listed here:

Lastly, how could I forget my camera and lenses. I’m taking the Nikon Z 6iii and a variety of lenses to capture our trip. You’ll see images in the near future.

Enjoy…go fish!