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The Patagonia region of Southern Chile is home to many species of trout and salmon. These include Brook, Rainbow, and Brown Trout, Sea Run Browns and Rainbows as well as Chinook, Coho and Atlantic Salmon.
As peculiar as it seems, none of these species is native to Chile. In the mid 1800's Europeans introduced the German and Loch Leven Brown Trout, with McCloud strain rainbows being introduced in the 1950's. Both of which without much competition, immediately flourished in the rivers and lakes. Over time sea run species evolved due to the proximity to the Pacific Ocean and to take advantage of the richer food sources that the ocean offers. In recent years escapee Salmon from the extensive coastal Salmon farms have developed self sustaining populations in many of Southern Chiles' waterways.
With the abundance of cool clean glacial water, mild winters, good food sources and little pressure, the fisheries have evolved to contain healthy populations of what could now arguably be called wild trout and salmon. When a 16 inch rainbow takes you into your backing in about 4 seconds, it's easy to regard these powerful chrome bright fish as being every bit as wild as the ones you catch at home.
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Patagonia Trout
Chile is home to extremely large rivers and lakes which hold Rainbow, Brown and Brook trout that were introduced from Europe over a century ago. The watersheds
have their origins in the high glacial mountains which abound in this
area. Water quality is excellent and often you can see a dime 30 feet
down through gin clear water. The rivers do not offer the smorgasbord
of food that we see in our western and coastal rivers but there are
Mayfly, Stonefly, Caddis and Midge hatches that can offer excellent dry fly fishing.
Dragonflies and Damselflies provide a
large portion of the Chilean Trout's diet. When these are hatching on
the lakes, it is something to witness as large trout lose all caution
and slash the surface chasing these tasty morsels. If you are lucky
enough to hit one of these hatches, it will be an unforgettable
experience. Many times I have seen huge trout leap high into the air to ambush a low flying Dragonfly. This is an incredible sight that can cause shaky fingers and accelerated heart rates. Even when the adults are not hatching, the nymph forms of these large bugs are always available to
the trout and sub surface imitations can trigger rod wrenching strikes on the edges of the weed beds.
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Patagonia Salmon
 In
recent years the Salmon farming industry has flourished and provided
economic diversity to a region otherwise dependent on mineral and
timber extraction. As with Salmon farms all over the world, many fish
escaped their jail like confines and struck out on an instinctive
search to find suitable rivers in which to spawn and propagate. They
didn't have to go far and now there are Salmon in almost every river
that is connected to the ocean. Initially captive fish, they have had
success in their spawning efforts and currently there are
self-sustaining populations of Chinook, Coho and Salar (Atlantics) in
many rivers. In front of the Valle Bonito Lodge 35 pound Chinook salmon
have been caught which are identical in every way to their cousins in
Alaska. Generally about 50-100 fish make the trip to the Lodge each year where they reside for 2-3 months before spawning. They are very difficult to catch on a fly and seem to take when you least expect it. I watched a friend fight a 35 pound plus Chinook for over an hour on his 5 weight trout rod before the inevitable parting of the ways occurred.
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Chile Fly Fishing