(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part V - Bariloche, continued! Conquering the Rainbows!

This morning our fly fishing guide, Nico, arrived at the hotel and whisked us off to our first ever fly-fishing expedition.  Along with his cousin, we hopped in their van, pulling along a raft and headed to the Limay River with a stop at the local convenience store to get our fishing licenses for the today.

Nico told us all about nymph versus dry flies (dry ones sit on the surface) and how 90% of the eating happens underwater which is why we’re using nymphs – to maximize our chances of landing a fish.  At minimum, he hoped we’d get at least 2 strikes by the end of our half day together.  Our expectations were appropriately set.

We put on our gear and set out near the mouth of the river, the outflow of Nahuel that headed to the Atlantic Ocean.
The river was called Limay as we found out because that means clear – we could see straight through to the bottom of the river – at some points nearly 15 feet deep.  In some cases, we even saw some Brown Trout just sitting along the bottom awaiting food to float on by.

Obviously, I opted for the "skinny leg" waders.

We were in a part of the river where the rules were quite strict – only catch and release, only barbless hooks, and no motor boats or trolling motors at all.  The purest form of fishing.  We learned how to cast (sort of) and then Nico spent the time controlling the raft in the current while we cast.

Clearly, i have everything under control back there...

It was extremely windy which made for quite challenging beginner conditions.  I was definitely getting frustrated as my line ended up wrapped around anything and everything in the boat.  It seemed like GG was really getting the hang of it and about 45 minutes in, she hooked a rainbow!  She pulled it in with her hands (not the reel, as instructed) and Nico scooped in up in a net.  He called it a bambino – was a baby trout, but it was a catch nonetheless!

GG's first catch!

Another hour or so passed by and then I got my first strike.  I set the hook and pulled him in – not a super challenging fight – and we scooped him up.  A decent catch.  At that moment, we took a break on the shore, sheltered from the wind, for a quick snack of fruit and potato chips.  It was nice to be out of the biting cold wind.

This guy could use a little fattening up (the trout of course)

After that break we headed into the home stretch…I hooked another one and this time I got cocky and started to play with him a bit.  He jumped out of the water a couple of times and then after a couple of minutes, he flipped and spit out the hook.  I lost him.  Then, I got another strike and this one I played with for a bit and reeled it in. Nico scooped it up and this one was a decent catch – bigger than the first.

A little more meat on the bones here!

And with that, we headed back to the banks to call it a (half) day.  Great success!

We finished up the day with a swim and then dinner with our friends Lee and Andy from our white water rafting excursion.  We went to the most famous and touristy parilla – Alberto’s – in town for some more meat and heaping plates of French fries.  It lived up to the populist hype.  

meat and fire at Alberto's...

That serving of meat was for 2 barilochians or 4 non-barilochians. The french fries were just enough for me.

After dinner, we defied the biting cold winds and (at my urging, along with Andy’s) visited Jauja – famous for it’s sheep’s milk ice cream in something like 50 flavors.  I opted for a dulce du leche brownie and Andean chocolate double scoop.  We had a lovely time with British traveling compatriots – it was a really fun evening and a pleasant surprise to share a meal with two new friends as our paths randomly crossed on a rafting excursion in Bariloche.  We hope to remain in touch and pay them a visit in London one of these days!

Next on our travels - a brief stop in El Calafate.