Fishing the Rio Trocoman with SET Fly Fishing

One of my favorite rivers while at Chochoy Mallin is fishing the Rio Trocoman with SET Fly Fishing. We fished the river last year and were introduced to willow worms for the first time. We arrived earlier this year, but the higher water and cooler temperatures meant we were too early for the hatch. Our guides Danny and Franco worked hard to find fish and many of the fish hooked were from sight fishing to larger trout close to shore.

The next set of images show the difference one year can make in water level.

On this day, we arrived like normal, with Tomy dropping us off next to the river. Yes, landing close to the river intentionally. If he isn’t staying with us for the day, he lands with his tail rotor over the water to minimize stirring up debris hitting the helicopter.

Below, Dancingtrout is grateful for an arm while wading across the river. Since we wear waders and boots in the helicopter, studded felt soles are not allowed. Yes, felt helps on the rivers we waded, but studded felt is much better in my opinion…hence the extra assistance.

Looks like the other side of the river has fish too!

Walking farther downstream, we arrived at a familiar section of the river. It’s where we found willow worms last year. You can read about it HERE.

We walked to an eddy and found a couple of trout circling and rising occasionally.

We watched the fish for a while before Dancingtrout and Franco slowly got into position. Patiently waiting and placing a cast in front of the trout worked. These were healthy, strong-fighting trout!

Farther downstream, Franco found a really nice Rainbow inches from shore. He was sitting in front of a large boulder where the current created slack water, just out of the current. An occasional bug would find its way close to the fish and it would turn and eat it. The image shows the fish as it sits perpendicular to the current.

Below, I begin to sneak into place below the boulder. Notice the tree branches? This was an unbelievable challenge for me. I needed to cast upstream and try to get close to the bank, under the tree branches, and manage several micro-currents. I tried hard not to place my fly in the tree. I have to say, the odds were definitely in the fishes favor!

Those micro-currents were almost impossible to overcome. I continued to position myself closer to the boulder, use a cast parallel to the water and under the branches only to have the current move my fly away from the fish. I decided it was time for one of my last casts. Either it would work or scare the fish from catching the tree.

The fish gods smiled down on me that day. The cast ended up inches from the shore and the fly floated down, the fish turned and quickly moved to and ate the fly! I couldn’t believe it! After a nice fight, I landed the fish. Here is the team picture!

I’ll always remember this fish.

Here is another nice Rainbow I landed that day.

I mentioned earlier about how our guides would locate fish. Here is Franco on a perch relating information to Dancingtrout and Danny…it worked!

One of the benefits to fishing in Patagonia is finding an occasional gaucho. The one below rode his horse down the steep hill, crossed over the river to our side, and kept riding.

Here is how I try to keep cool on a hot day.

Next up…more of the river during our stay at Trocoman House.

Enjoy…go fish!