10/08/2026
Back in February I was fortunate to go on a vacation that truly was so much more than a trout fishing trip! R & R Fly Fishing hosted a group of us to Patagonia - the Chubut Province of Argentina.
I’ve always wanted to visit there - to see the Andes Mountains, find the Southern Cross in the night sky, and feel the famous Patagonian wind on my face. This trip was that and so much more.
The fishing was incredible ! But what I wasn’t expecting was to come back with a new definition of hospitality and effort from the people I met there.
The trip was hosted by my friends Ian and Charity Rutter. They partnered with El Encuentro Flyfishing and we were catered to like I would have never imagined. The lodges were beautiful, the food was local and delicious, and the staff was so attentive!
The fishing guides and staff set a new standard for me. Not only did they tirelessly put us on many, many, quality trout, they helped me get better, learn a ton, and showed me around their towns. I felt like I got the best of both: a trophy fishing trip and a cultural tour of one of the most unspoiled places left on earth.
Huge, huge thanks to Eddy Kevin and Hernán Arizcuren for taking Stites Whatley and me over mountains, bushwhacking through bluelines, rowing over windy lakes, changing the fly 30 times for Stites for that fish on the Corcovado, patience with our group each night at supper when you set the plan for the next day, and putting us on incredible fish ! A Lucas Gajardo y Santiago Steinkamp - for 100km/hr over gravel roads, Yerba mate, steak lunches con tinto, stopping for our tourist pics, offering not to use the gas motor, not losing my 6 weight, los chistes, just laughing when we broke off big fish, re-tying our flies 100 veces / dia, huge rainbows, browns, y Brook trout!
Now that I’ve had several months to reflect on it, if anybody is foolish enough to ask me about it, I tell them that Argentine Patagonia is like a combination of Yellowstone National Park and the landscape from the movie the Sound of Music. If you ever have a chance to go, go. I would love to go back one day.