The Lakes Region of Northern Patagonia has some of the Best Trout Fishing in Chile


Tres Rios guides will take you fly fishing in Patagonia Chile for strong, wild trout and salmon, in settings of natural, wild splendor, for the type of fishing that you've dreamed of.

We're located in an area of many diverse fisheries and landscapes. Our custom fly fishing programs include several watersheds that begin in Andean river valleys below the peaks on the border with Argentina and wind through the mountains and foothills down to the fjords and the Pacific Ocean. The better known rivers include Rio Petrohue, Rio Maullin, Rio Rahue, Rio Pilmaiquen and Rio Puelo, and, of course, there are numerous lesser known tributary streams, all home to thriving populations of rainbow and brown trout. Mostly we fish flowing water, but there is also some outstanding fly fishing in lakes.

Our multilingual Chilean guides are mature, professional, good humored, and personable, fly fishermen from childhood, eager to share their expertise and put you onto fish. Tres Rios has had the same guides over the past 24 seasons which speaks volumes for our operation and guide knowledge of the waters. Returning anglers, about 65% of bookings, like to know that the guides will be around the next fishing season.

In this photo you can appreciate the incredible beauty of the Rio Petrohue rapids with snowcapped Osorno volcano in the background. For 17 years John Joy was the only fly fishing guide that ran these rapids on a continuous basis and even today there are only a handfull that dare to operate here. These are virtually exclusive waters.
Gerry shows us one of his big brown trout on a float trip down the Rio Petrohue. Gerry is another of the few anglers that have caught 5 or more trout over 20 inches in one day while fishing with guide John Joy of Puerto Varas, Chile.

Rivers Maullin, Puelo, Rahue, and Pilmaiquen also flow from huge lakes at the base of the Andes, each with its own particular character and beauty. A great advantage here is that the lakes are buffers when it rains and the rivers remain clear and in good condition no matter the weather. The steady flow also ensures a stable and healthy environment for trout and their food, allowing them to to proliferate. Trout thrive and grow heavy on the abundant pancora crayfish, puye minnows, salmon fry, insects, and, of course, smaller trout.

In this photo Bruno, an excellent fisherman, shows the guide yet another big brown trout that he hooked in the Rio Petrohue rapids. Bruno is one of the few anglers to catch five or more trout over 20 inches in one float trip down the river.

Most resident trout we hook are in the 15" to 20" range, and it's a very rare day when anglers don't release, lose, miss, or roll fish over 20". From mid-February there are salmon around, and occasionally sea-run browns. Generally fly fishing travelers come for the trout, but it's hard to resist casting now and then to the mighty salmon when you know they are there. Our flagship float down the Petrohue rapids ends with some of the best salmon pools in the river. That's where we combine trout and salmon on one float.

In this image two anglers have a riverside lunch after fishing all morning with their guide on the Rio Coihueco in the Lakes Region. This stream can be fished with nymphs, dries and streamer flies.

We offer a wide variety of fly fishing, from wading small streams with a 4wt rod, floating line and dry flies to searching pools for a monster with a 7wt rod, sinking tip line, and a huge streamer. Most of the time anglers use 6 wt rigs to search the shallows along the banks with size 6 streamers that imitate minnows or crayfish. One can use floating or sinking tip lines for this casting on the float, working to cover as much water as possible while the current pushes relentlessly. You're watching intently as suddenly the fly is savagely smashed by an ambushing trout and the game is on. This is streamer fishing at it's most interactive and intense. The option to fish a nymph is ever present as the river scenarios, currents, and structures are ever changing. Let us know how you like to fish and we're sure we can customize a fly fishing program accordingly.

In this photo we can appretiate a lucky fisherman in beautiful wilderness near the headwaters of Rio Traidor in the Lakes Region, Chile. We have gone here by helicopter and on horseback, as this place is very difficult to reach, but the fly fishing to very large trout with dry flies that can be found here is the best there is.

All the runs we float are on stretches of river that are inaccessible to anyone but professional guides. Heavy brush, steep banks and stiff, deep water makes fishing impossible for bank fishing. Once we put-in we won't see civilization again for 6 to 9 hours when we reach our vehicle at a remote take-out. We pack a delicious hot lunch and all your preferred beverages for a mid-day break, but we don't make a big time-consuming production of it. Only on parts of one river do we ever see a few other fly fishermen. Anglers find it wonderfully unbelievable that we can take them for world-class fly fishing and hardly ever run into other groups!

The season in the Lakes Region runs from the 2nd Friday in November to the 1st Sunday in May.

This image illustrates a fly fisherman's dream. The location is secluded with untamed nature and a stream with a deep channel and fallen logs for excellent trout habitat. This a an unnamed river that flows into Lago Rossevelt in Patagonia Chile.
In this photo you can appreciate the rapids of the Rio Petrohue in the background while a happy fisherman shows the guide a beautiful brown trout taken on a streamer in the calm water at the edge of the rapids. This fly fishing excursion was booked in Puerto Varas, Lakes Region, Chile.
Shannon shows us a magnificent brown trout that she caught on a streamer fly while floating the Rio Petrohue with fishing guide J Joy of Puerto Varas, Chile.
The beauty of this sunset on Lake Llanquihue summed up an entire day of great rainbow trout fishing in the calm waters along the jungle covering the lava fields at the base of Osorno volcano. The fishing guide steers the cataraft back to the beach at Ensenada, Puerto Varas.
In this image Gerry is admiring a fantastic brown trout that he caught using a nymph fly while fishing the Rio Quinto in northern Patagonia near La Junta, Chile.
This photo shows an angler casting in a pool behind a fallen log where brown and rainbow trout take advantage of the cover and only come out for the perfectly placed fly. This is the Rio San Antonio stream, a tributary to the Rio Petrohue. Chinook salmon spawn here in April and May.