Saturday, 29 December 2012

Baja Colours, Santiago

When a Canadian winter strikes there is an absence of colour and even light. Cool colours predominate to match the temperatures: greys, whites, faded-out browns, ice blue. Here are some contrasting warm Baja colours and some marine blues and greens in the brillant Baja light that were captured in past seasons while Rooster fishing the East Cape; and of course a few fish shots.



santiago baja
 
A closed store front (above) with peeling paint in Santiago a charming inland Colonial town about one hour north of San Jose del Cabo and Los Cabos airport. Check out the hand prints on the window. Few tourist visit Santiago except those interested in Colonial history and religion. There is also a fresh water desert spring nearby that pulls some people off of the trans-peninsular highway and trekking in the nearby Sierra de la Laguna mountains. It is a beautiful little town with some interesting architecture ( historic buildings), lots of up and down contours to it (character), trees and a classic hotel. Green agricultural fields surround much of it. The people are friendly and polite. The town is kind of a little oasis in the Baja desert. It is fairly close to the Sea of Cortez. From Santiago you can be on an East Cape beaches in 20 or 30 minutes. Every year I try and take a 2 or 3 hour morning or evening break from fishing to visit. Some years I get to it, some years I don't. I'm never disappointed when I do. On a rare occasion I've spotted a traditional Mexican casita for sale or for "Renta", and dream about what it would be like to Winter in this authentic town. It might be challenging as there are not many Gringos inland. Most are tucked along the coast. And my Spanish, "No Hablo Espanol", is poor. Then again, a different culture and language would be an experience. Santiago also seems affordable and is within striking distance to some of the most beautiful beaches the East Cape has to offer. Dreams.....

santiago baja
santiago baja
santiago baja


cabo pulmo
los frailes bay



colorful la ribera cemetery

rooster fish

medio-sized (medium) rooster fish

Tuesday, 25 December 2012

Snowshoeing, Baja and Rooster Fish

 
  
 
 
It has been cold in SW Alberta all week long: -20C for several days. I got a chance to go snowshoeing today, Christmas day, and took some pictures: winter scenes. While plodding through the snow I thought about warm places and especially Baja where I've gone fly fishing for Rooster fish the past five seasons (Spring). Each year I've learnt a little more about angling Baja beaches for these amazing fish. Two books helped me along the way in my DIY pursuit.

 
The first, Fly Fishing Southern Baja, by Gary Graham, is very helpful in respect to where to fish and had other basic information.


The second, Fly Fishing the Baja and Beyond, by Mike Rieser, has detailed information on all aspects of chasing Rooster fish, with a lot of insight on beach fishing and Rooster fish behavior. Mike Rieser has also done two radio shows on the sport on: askaboutflyfishing.com. Listening to these shows really helped me prepare for Baja and his angling insights (radio and book) played an integral role in me catching a couple of Roosters. I re-read sections of the book before every trip.

If you are considering a Rooster fish trip to the Baja check out these two resources.

Plodding in the snow. Plodding in the sand. It all makes sense.

 
 

Saturday, 22 December 2012

Patagonia, Futaleufu River, Part 12

The Futaleufu is the biggest and most dangerous trout river I have ever been on. It is more aggressive and powerful river than the Bow, the Madison, the Elk, or the Yellowstone. It has a big push to it and a significant gradient in many sections. It rumbles and tumbles through the Patagonian Andes down to the Pacific. Its size is respected in Argentina where it is called the Rio Grande, not to be confused with the one much further south in Tierra Del Fuego. It has many class IV and V whitewater sections and deep gorges, especially in Chile. It is probably more well known in the daredevil kayaking community than in fly fishing circles. Jim warned on my first float, " Face your danger!" Not a bad mantra on a powerful river.

The Futaleufu is a tailwater river. It exits a huge reservoir in Argentina. It is the first tailwater river I fished consistently. It is diverse water with many features: runs; strong rapids; giant flats and pools; islands; side channels; shoals; huge sloughs; back eddies; foam lines, even a wonderful waterfall. Water with features is good when hunting for trout. Features mean opportunity.

The gradient on the section I floated was manageable. The river meandered quite a bit. It still had many hazards: thickly lined willow banks; many downed trees in the water; giant boulders; whirlpools, some the size of a baseball diamond; hard angle turns with hazardous sharp outer edges; etc. Make a mistake and the Futaleufu could gobble you up.

Three or four times a week I rowed a durable raft from the Argentine border into Chile. It was about a five mile float. We accessed the river through a barbed wired gate of a large Estancia where I cut my hands on more than one occasion on a rusty spur. Once on Estancia property we'd drive a dusty cattle trail a quarter mile down to the river. The Futaleufu would appear in the distance: broad, willow lined and aquamarine blue. On a steep embankment we used gravity to side the raft off the trailer into the cool flow; like a child descending a park slide.

The flow and water temperature on the Futaleufu was always excellent even though when I was there Patagonia went through a severe drought. There were forest fires on both sides of the border. It always seemed sunny and dry. I can only remember one or two days of rain in the five months I rowed the river. I liked the consistency: water flow and temperature, and the sun above. The fishing became predictable due to these consistencies. Almost as predictable as the Patagonian winds which kicked in everyday at around 1 pm.

The Futaleufu was dominated by rainbows but also had a fair amount of brown trout. In the Fall some Pacific salmon showed as did some Atlantic salmon. After a couple of floats I learnt several locations which became my bread and butter spots for consistently finding surface feeding trout. Being a tailwater river I learnt quickly that most of the insect life was small stuff. You could fish the river throughout most of the season quite successfully just with a Midge pattern, a small Adams or a tiny Caddis.

The big rivers of Chile, I learnt from afar, had the reputation of being streamer fisheries.You could throw streamers on the Futaleufu and some of the largest fish landed were caught this way. Large attractor dries with droppers could also be productive when fishing blind. However, day in and out if you wanted to consistently catch fish, small fly patterns were the way to go, especially if you liked sight fishing. Small stuff is what the fish sipped on.

On the slower parts of the river where bugs collected you could sight fish. The Futaleufu offered these opportunities all season long. Big and small back eddies, foam lines some 60 yards long, sloughs and a side channel provided a lot of sight fishing possibilities. If you check out the subtle current lines entering slow sections of the river and you'd see fish: there was a side channel we called Spring Creek, a slough section we called Bonefish Flats, a small eddy near the lodge we called Jamitos corner. All had cruising and sipping trout.

People who travel across the globe often expect fish to be everywhere and easy to catch but this was not the case on the rivers I fished in Patagonia. You had to fish well to catch consistently. And fly size often mattered especially with active surface feeders. Throw a bushy Wulff pattern to a 20 inch rainbow feeding in a bubble line line behind a dangling willow branches and you would get a cold shoulder....not always, but usually. Tailwater fish are tailwater fish. I'd often tell clients to fish smaller stuff when casting to sipping fish only to be ignored. After several casts and refusals they'd look at me and say, "Ok, what did you want me to tie on?" A size 18 midge would take that large rainbow.