There must be relatively few places in the world where one can expect to catch bright silver fish in the same sort of numbers, as one would expect mid-season. With just a few weeks before the close of the season we once again had a good run of ‘chromers’ however as always at this time of the year it is always a mixed sized run of fish.

The week started cold and windy incontrast to normal conditions at this time of year when the wind usually drops away and is replaced by generally colder and calmer weather.The river dropped from 0 to -15cm and the water temp fluctuated between 5-10 C. The first 3 days saw some fantastic fishing and good numbers were caught although the catches mysteriously dropped away on Wednesday only to pick up again on Thursday. This may well have been due to a change in the colder conditions to warm and breathless with crystal clear water conditions.
I have oft mentioned the need to change tactics and to be successful with these wily and sometimes fickle Sea
Trout this is exactly what was needed. Long, lighter leaders and small flies replacing the heavy workhorses that had been used earlier.

Our group this week was of split origin with Tim Pask leading a group from America, or was that the ‘WildWest’, and Gisli Ásgeirsson with a team from Iceland. A new experience for our 4 Icelandic guests however it did not take them long to adapt techniques from their fast flowing waters to those of the Rio Gallegos.By the end of the week the weather started to be more seasonal with less wind and colder cloudy nights.Fleece Jackets were required however intermediate lines remained suitable for most situations with the exception of very cold nights, when a sinking leader or a fast sink tip would be required. Flies must be slightly bigger for this time of year however anything with Rubber Legs seems to work best. Andy ”pretty fly” Turner was a late convert however after loosing a monster, in Norwegian Bank, on a fantastic looking “eight legged creature” he was happy to change his ways. At the end of the day however this is a wild and remote part of the world and conventions rarely hold true for long so be prepared for anything.

Last night in town I heard from the guys at the petrol station that the tides are high and a big run of fish just entered the river………