Villa Maria

Summary

• Space for only 6 anglers and private access to 20km of the best fly water on the lower Rio Grande, an exclusive haven for small groups of discerning anglers.
• Each week starts with an evening warm up session--most anglers will catch a trout or two the first night they arrive.
• Villa Maria is a spey anglers paradise--long flat pools means less casting and more fishing.
• The longest pools with Sea Run Trout fresh from the sea.
• The most pools per angler per day--Only two anglers and their guide per beat-and three to seven pools per beat-different beats morning and evening.
• Extensive beats make it possible to find a pool where wind is a help--not a hindrance.
• In order to maximize your time on the river, there is a cabin on the river bank for lunch and siesta, a stunning setting in the wilds of Tierra del Fuego which allows angles to fish more and drive less.

Location:

Villa Maria Lodge sits on the lower Rio Grande in the Tierra del Fuego region of Argentina.

Fishing Program:

Guests will leave the lodge around 9 AM after breakfast each day, fly fishing until around 1 PM. Following lunch at the streamside mini-lodge, anglers will enjoy a traditional siesta (the hours of which will depend on the season) with guests returning to the river between 4 and 6 PM to fly fish until dark. Please be sure to bring your headlamp!

The first brown trout were stocked in Tierra del Fuego by John Goodall in 1935. Shipped from Puerto Montt in Chile, 60,000 “Salmo Trutta” eggs survived the arduous journey, to be planted on the Candelaria and McLennan Rivers, both tributaries of the Rio Grande. These fish eventually found their way to the sea, possibly attracted by the rich nourishment of the estuary. These sea-run brown trout now complete the yearly migratory cycle of salmonids, spawning during the summer months in freshwater.

Salmo Trutta remain in the river for a period of time which ranges between 1 and 4 years until their first migration to the sea, where they will feed and grow for about 6 months before their first return to freshwater, weighing approximately 6 lbs. Researchers have found trout which had spawned more than 6 times. A trout which as completed 4 cycles of returning to freshwater can weigh over 20 lbs. The frequency with which they return to freshwater is also an indicator that the fish face very few threats. Whilst also providing a very real example of the benefits of Catch and Release. Guided are equipped with nets and will assist guests in weighing and releasing fish without damaging them.