Chile West – Your Quiver

Our ‘which rods should you bring’ series continues today with the right selection for a trip to Chile West.

Although there are certainly differences in the fishery while we’re open from November to April, your overall rod selection doesn’t need to change too much.  We’re fishing primarily for rainbows, browns and brookies in rivers from tiny to real big, and that means you quiver should look like…

Must Have

• A 5 weight for dries and nymphs.  The ubiquitous 9 foot 5 weight definitely has a home in Chile since it’ll throw big dries, small dries, heavy nymphs, light nymphs and dry/dropper rigs.  These rods are really versatile and that’s the reason they’re the most common sticks in fly fishing.
• A 6 weight for streamers.  On bigger water like the Rio Rosselot, big fish tend to get caught by throwing heavy streamers and presenting them in a variety of ways.  Your 6 weight with a floating line or a moderate sinktip will cover most of these situations (but more on this below).

Nice to Have

• A 7 weight for dredging.  To really get nasty on the big water, it’s great to be able to throw a 200 to 300 grain sinktip, and you need a rod with some backbone to get that done.  This is not delicate fishing, but the real big boys tend to get caught on the nasty stuff.
• A 4 weight for dries on small water.  Beautiful little streams like the Rio Tigre deliver a really classic small-water trout fishing experience, and small rods even down to 7 feet can easily cover this water.  Besides, fishing the little rods is fun!

Dream Quiver

• A 5 weight switch rod.  On all those rivers where streamers produce, why not fish on foot making little baby spey casts?
• Another 5 or 6 weight.  If you really want to be prepared on any given float, it can be handy to have another rig rigged, with a different dry or nymph or streamer or combo rig.

Just a couple rods will get the job done, but this is a big trip and more could be better.

More Quivers

• August in Alaska
• South Andros
• August on the Dean