To say the least this was a very enjoyable trip from the time Rebecca and Alex showed up till the time they said goodbye. Everything went as planned from the get-go and the weather was fantastic.
Arriving in Palena we decided to work off the rust by fishing the afternoon on the Rio Tigre. The river was in prime condition and the fish were taking dries.
Day two Trevor took Rebecca and Alex for a float down the Rio Palena. Rebecca started off the day landing a large Brown that came up and sipped her rusty Chubby Chernobyl. Later that day while floating around in a back eddy that has always produced nice fish the group witnessed small rainbow leaping out of the water against the rock wall. A giant brown was chasing it down and the rainbow was leaping for its life!
Trevor instructed Alex to lay his dry in the vicinity. With a well placed cast, Alex got the large brown’s attention and it turned and it sipped his dry fly. In all the excitement, the hook set was a little hurried but the fish was pinned only to come unbuttoned after a few seconds of glory. Bummer! Alex was left with a story of “the one that got away”.
In the La Junta area the weather had turned and it had started to rain. Manager and guide Chris Price took Alex and Rebecca to one of his favorite rivers of all time. While setting up the boat it started raining so hard that the guides and guests jumped back in the truck and listened to music and told jokes. The squall only lasted 20 min, but it was a lot of fun staying dry. The river was a little off colored and seemed to be on the rise so Chris made the call to postpone the float for the next day and walk and wade the upper section instead. This would give us a chance to monitor the river through out the day for the next days float. There were a few showers throughout the day but all in all a decent day of fishing.
The next day the float was on and the river was in fantastic shape. Just minutes into the float the group stopped to fish a riffle which was full of fish. After fishing what seemed to be two hours there, Rebecca returned to the boat and remarked this as “The best day of fishing in her life”. Both Alex and Rebecca caught lots of rainbows and some nice browns, a banner day of trout fishing with almost all fish coming on dry flies.
In the Coyhaique area the weather was excellent. The group fished some smaller streams here, again some of the favorite waters. Guide Trevor Covich showed off some fish spotting skill, pointing out some nice rainbows in the first pool. Alex presented his dry fly with “perfect casting” and the fish came up to tussle.
The couple brought down some of their own flies they fish in Montana. The “North fork special” was a great dropper nymph and coaxed up lots of trout through a canyon walk and wade. Alex expressed that some of these places were hands down some of the finest fishing he had experienced. After another “best fishing” day, dinner was followed by a sampling of the local night life at a small venue. Live Chilean music, great margaritas and Salsa dancing ensued. The dim light in the room and candles at every table set the tone for the band that put on a great show.
To cap the trip off, a good drive to a small spring creek was in order. We passed defined rock formations not seen anywhere else on the trip. Rebecca showed off her skill laying down great casts in a small creek where good casting was imperative as reeds lined the bank and wind complicated matters, but no matter – it was a stream full of browns that were more than happy to eat.
Rebecca had a large Brown come up and do a slow turn behind her fly. The whole sequence seemed to take forever as intensity grew waiting for the take but the fish rejected. Rebecca and Alex finished the trip catching numerous browns all on dry flies.
The guides took Alex and Rebecca to do some last minute shopping before it was time to head to the airport. When everything comes together it makes for the trip of a lifetime.
The Andersons had such a great trip they re booked for next season, and we can’t wait to see them again.
I don’t want to wear out any welcome I might have had in commenting, but I am delighted, (not a strong enough word!) but I use too many anyway, to tell you that these stories are a kind of lifeline, (once again, not a strong enough word!) for me. This week I lost a best friend whom I have known for 31 years to cancer, about my age, (64), and I’m imagining him sitting down on the riverbank of glory, meeting my own Dad who died a day after he turned 64, and beginning an eternal conversation about things on the Miramichi, which my Dad never saw when I was living in Saint John, New Brunswick, but I did and fished down to the Nashwaak and Southwest Miramichi, and things on the Stamp in British Columbia down to the Cowichan, which I have seen with my son Jacob French, now of Ottawa, Ontario, and who has been my inspiration. Matt King of Victoria knows what a big fan I am of his own prowess and my affection for things Deneki Outdoors even if I can only dream of it living here in West Java, Indonesia. But I want to tell you this, as though you still can stomach another sentence, … this article warmed my heart because of the description it gives of the “COMPANIONSHIP” of fishing that is the trademark between fishing partners, guides and all those that evidently make up Deneki fly-fishing such a quality experience. I would trade ANY fish, any river, any rod, any reel right down to my St. John Hardy given to me by a friend in the first half of my life, just to be able to spend such a trip as this with a friend in this life. I’m begging, no I’m shouting, get out there with a friend and fish with this crew, and it will turn into the most memorable week of your life when you are able to measure the missed opportunities that Deneki puts in front of you. Cover the mortgage and sell the hybrid car or wait to buy the latest model, but don’t skip the fishing with a friend. If you do, neither one of you will ever know what you missed, but I have a hunch you do. Thanks for listening. I’m reading a letter of condolence to me right now in the loss of this incredible man I knew who described being in a prairie field goose blind with his own father nearly ninety, but who died just three months ago at one week shy of 99, accompanied by his own son as they sat under the cold grey skies, sippin’ on a Thermos cup of coffee, sitting on a straw bale surrounded by fresh cut willow branches staked in like Jacob trying to genetically alter Laban’s flocks, Genesis 30:37, (his were more “Poplar” than willow, but let’s not quarrel over words and make an aspen out of me!) waiting for the Canadas to come home to the sweet taste of peas shelled out in the normal harvest. No one, no how, no way can take that away from them, and it really isn’t just about the Thanksgiving dinner or venison stew or salmon steaks on the barbie, it’s about the COMPANIONSHIP that will just be a foretaste of heaven. Don’t miss it. Get ready, Deneki.