Updates, Fly Fishing in Patagonia Chile 2011-12
Of Volcanos and Mouse Hatches
Rivers Running Clear and Normal in Patagonia Chile
There has been concern as to whether Chile’s Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic eruption will affect the fly fishing for trout and salmon in Chile this coming season. Writing from Puerto Varas, in the Lakes Region, some 68 miles SW of the eruption, it’s clear that outside of the immediate 15 miles of the erupting fissure, the fisheries situation is absolutely normal on the Chilean side of the Andes. The fishing season for 99.99% of the outfitters, guides and lodges will not be altered in any way, as only a couple streams and alpine lakes in the immediate area of the volcanic eruptions were adversely affected.
The Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex is located in the Andes approximately 25 miles from the border with Argentina and near the southern limit of the Region de los Rios. Although there is excellent trout fishing in the Rivers Region, and north to beyond Santiago, the attraction for world traveling anglers is the fly fishing further south in the Lakes Region and the Region of Aysen, both completely untouched by volcanic fallout. A recent visit to the Rio Petrohue found a moderate flow and the water transparent jade in color, as usual.
The violent eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex, that sent millions of tons of ash and pumice in plumes as high as 39,000 feet in the first week of June this year, settled down to mild activity within two weeks. Most of the ejecta was blown eastward by typical prevailing winds. The 4200 people evacuated from areas nearest the eruption in Chile were allowed to return to their homes on June 19th. (Photos of the eruption are spectacular and readily found on the Internet e.g. these.)
Fish were killed in Rio Nilahue, a stream draining a northern slope of the volcano complex, when water temperatures reached 45 C. Although a picturesque river in a sparsely populated valley of small hillside farms, the Nilahue was not an important trout fishery for traveling anglers. The Rio Gol-Gol, draining the southern side of the volcanos, has been discolored by ash, which may be detrimental to this important spawning stream if it not washed on down to Lago Puyehue. Water temperatures have remained normal.
Ash from the initial eruptions made an eastward trip around the southern hemisphere by June 18th, disrupting air traffic as far away as New Zealand. Flights in southern Chile are absolutely normal at this time. Just 10 miles south of the volcanic activity, the Cardenal Samore Pass on the highway between Puyehue, Chile and Villa La Angostura, Argentina, remains closed. This important pass for commerce and tourism is ready for normal operation on the Chilean side, lacking only a little diplomacy to open for business as usual.
Fishing Mouse Patterns is the Silver Lining of a Plague of Rodents Cloud over Chile’s River Valleys.
The cyclic floration of the bamboo species Chusquea culeou, an important understory of the humid temperate Valdiviana rainforests of southern Chile, has provoked a plague of rodents in remote areas in the southern half of the Lakes Region and northern half of the Region of Aysen. The colihue or cana colihue, as it’s known locally (often confused with quila), flowered en masse during the austral spring of 2010 (September-November). Flowering is the culmination of its life cycle that starts from seed, then vegetative growth for about 12 years, floration in unison, and finally death of the mature plants as seeds ripen and fall to germinate and sprout the following season. Seed production is massive considering there can be over a half kilo of seed per square meter, and tens of thousands of hectares of bamboo.
Many forest animals benefit from the seed bonanza, but perhaps none more than a couple species of small rodents Oligoryzomis longicaudatus (Ratón colilargo) and Abrotrix olivaceus (Ratón Oliváceo). Their populations increase in the neighborhood of 100 times the norm, and reach peak levels during the following winter, that is to say now (July-August 2011). The rodent plague is a severe hardship for people living in rural areas and authorities have declared a health emergency for many of the smaller towns in remote mountain valleys such as Cochamo, Llanada Grande, and Lago Verde, to name just a few. The thundering hoards of rodents that can be seen on videos taken in these areas are very impressive (use the search terms “plaga ratones aysen chile”).
On the bright side, fly fishing a mouse pattern this coming season is going to be a blast. Rodents have been falling into the rivers and streams since late last summer, and Mr. Brown has been passing fur balls for the past six months. Even as rodent populations start to return to normal as this summer progresses, the taste for mouse meals should stay with the big brown trout for some time (How much weight will they have put on since last season!). So, if you’ve been contemplating a fly fishing trip to Chile, then this may be the time to bust a move, as there’s nothing quite like fishing a mouse pattern and the trout are primed as never before. Of course, if you can’t make it there’ll be another ratada around 2024.
On the darker side, it would be remiss not to mention that perhaps 5% of the colilargo rodents can be carriers of hantavirus. Infection is by contact with their urine, feces, or saliva, so hygiene and sanitation are key to prevention. An experienced guide will keep your chances of exposure down to that of being a triple winner of the Chilean lottery, but this would not be the season for camping in Patagonia. Also with all that dry bamboo in the forests there will be an unusually high risk of forest fires for a couple summers to come.