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Last month my wife and I returned to Argentina for some fishing and travel adventure. The fishing part was in Tierra del Fuego, fishing the Rio Grande and staying at the Despedida Lodge (booked through The Fly Shop). This was my fourth trip to the Rio Grande as I'm definitely "hooked" on catching big trout on a spey rod. This year didn't disappoint with seven fish between ten and fifteen pounds, seven fish between fifteen and twenty and three fish over twenty pounds.
The water was low and clear; most fish were caught on small nymphs during the day and "monster" string leeches in the evening. One morning I tried something different and fished a tributary of the main river that was about the size of Soquel Creek in Capitola. High-sticking nymphs with a single hand rod produced a sixteen and a seventeen-pound fish with others lost on the jump. Ten days later I met my wife in Buenos Aires and connected to the city of Mendoza in the wine country along the Andean border. We finished the trip exploring the area via back roads and horseback. Good food, great wine and nice people! - Richard Rubin