Tierra del Fuego (the Land of Fire) should be renamed Tierra del Viento. Here, when the wind blows, it blows! And it blows all the time! A Black South Easter is a pretty average day in the Rio Grande area. But we went anyway.

Why? Because the Browns in the Rio Grande grow to a whopping 30lbs!

Unfortunately the best water is controlled by estancias and access is not simple. I was lucky enough to gain rather cheap entry to water on Estancia Aurelia – a little too high for early season sea trout but the residents are said to just as big.  A massice thanks to Peter from Angler’s Aventuras Fly Shop in Rio Grande town.

The Rio Grande is a big river, this coupled with the wind and the fact that the water is high this of year meant that I needed at least a 300grain sinker and a two handed Spey Rod – I had neither. Enter Guido. Guido now has the not so important title of being my first ever guide. It was a quite a strange experience having someone carry my rod and tie on flies. I didn’t really like it. But Guido is a classy guide who knows the water and works hard. Unfortunately even his hard work couldn´t summon me a fish and close to 11 hours of fishing later I had fat blank.

I did learn a lot though. Fishing a big river is different.

Double handed rods are a must. With a quarter the effort I was casting double the length I could with the single hander. Because the action is so simple: roll cast, false cast, shoot – one is able to cover more water more efficiently and it doesn´t feel the wind nearly as much as the single rod.

Swinging a fly is a repetative and patient type of fishing – very different to what I´m used to. And it took me awhile to get used to the monotony of it. I found myself losing concentration and having to refocus on the goal at hand. But all part of the learning curve…

I´ll be back and ready!