Season opener of our brand new destination – Kooi Noom

BarrettArgentina, Patagonia

November at Kooi Noom, meaning “the fish path” in the native Tehuelche language. Thousands of huge rainbows begin their run from the lakes and lagoons into the rivers and streams that flow across the wild Andean foothills. After several years of scouting, planning, and cultivating strategic partnerships, our first guests are finally able to experience the birth of a destination that …

Dorado Fishing Report – Alto Parana River

BarrettArgentina, Dorado

October is one of the best months to fish the upper Parana. It marks the onset of the dorado spawning season, and the big fish in the river become particularly active and gravitate towards the surface (where they lay their eggs). Head guide Pinti from Amokagny Lodge sent over these pictures from fishing last week as a sampler of what’s …

A Primer to Fly Fishing Argentina, Part 3 – Dorado

BarrettArgentina, Dorado, Patagonia

While the golden dorado has long been admired in Argentina, until recently it was almost completely unknown to the outside world. Only within the last decade or so have dorado become recognized as one of the world’s most exciting and prized freshwater game fish. A unique species that defies categorization, the dorado is rather like a supernatural hybrid between a …

A Primer to Fly Fishing in Argentina: Part 1

BarrettArgentina, brown trout, Dorado, Patagonia, Sea trout, tierra del fuego

Argentina, the world’s 8th largest country, encompasses more than 1 million square miles at the southern end of the South American continent (about 1/3 the size of the US). It extends from the Tropic of Capricorn all the way to windswept tundra in Tierra del Fuego, just a few hundred miles from Antarctica. Given its prodigious size, it’s no small …

Monster Dorado from Parana River

BarrettArgentina, Dorado

Peter Ellis, owner of the venerable hard cider brands, Crispins and Foxbarrel, landed this gargantuan 14 kg dorado two days ago out of Amokagny Lodge on the Parana river in northern Argentina.  As an added bonus, Peter has also been catching Pacu and Pira Pita, and perhaps most importantly, avoiding the dreary winter climate in England right now. I for one …

Villa Maria Rio Grande Fishing Report

BarrettArgentina, Patagonia, Sea trout, tierra del fuego

The Rio Grande is undoubtedly the best sea trout river on earth, though like any river, it will have its ups and downs over the course of the fishing season. To use an already overused phrase that fishermen love to employ in order to justify their occasionally (or often) bewildering pursuit – “that’s why it’s called fishing and not catching.”  But like …

Missing Alaska

BarrettSteelhead, Trout

It is officially winter in the Pacific Northwest. With the return of the neck-bending north wind and never quite finished drizzle, I find myself on the big rivers of Washington State swinging flies for a fish that I believe in as much as my son believes in Santa Claus. Similar to my son’s experience at our local credit union, I …

Doradeada Infernal! Dorado fishing report from Parana river

BarrettArgentina, Dorado

For those in the know, October is widely considered one of best times of the year to target dorado of monstrous proportions on the upper section of the Parana river in northern Argentina. An interesting fact of Dorado biology is that only the females reach sizes of 10+ pounds. Dorado typically spawn sometime in spring, which on the Parana river corresponds to …