Best Time to Fly Fish in Chile-Patagonia

Best Time to Fly Fish in Chile-Patagonia

The best time to fly fish in Chile depends how you want to fish and what you’d like to catch. Early season can provide anglers the opportunity to fish for big migratory, lake run rainbows. This is very good time to swing big streamers and look for big aggressive trophy fish looking for some action after winter. The dry fly fishing and hatches historically start during early November. With longer and warmer days, the hatches become more intense and the fish start to look up. Between the hundreds of species of beetles, dragonflies, grasshoppers, caddis, mayflies and stoneflies, the dry fly fishing is pretty steady until April. In the Patagonian fall, the weather gets cooler, days are shorter, but the migratory brown trout start to move. There is always a chance to get hooked into one these fish if the weather and water levels cooperate.

Fishing season in Chile starts in early October, and runs through the first week of May.

October to November

  • Early Chilean spring flyfishing finds many rivers prime for fishing.
  • Snow runoff has not begun; glacially fed rivers are in good shape; and spring creeks are at their best. The trout haven’t seen an imitation in months. This is a great time to fish for large rainbows. The most effective techniques are streamers fished on sink-tip lines, but nymph fishing can also be productive. The take can be quite aggressive, producing some of the biggest fish of the year.
  • Spring in Patagonia and prime time for streamer fishing the Rio Blanco. If you love throwing streamers this is the time to go experience Patagonia! The fish haven’t seen a fly in months and are aggressive as the temperatures begin to rise before summer. This river is perfect for throwing streamers and has endless holding water for large trout due to the many downed trees and structure along the banks. The spring creeks fish well this time of year and can offer some surface action on terrestrials or mouse patterns. Spring rains can cause the river to rise but still offers excellent fishing on the spring creeks and creek mouths even if the river were to blow out.

December to January

  • Days become longer and temperatures warmer
  • Insects are on the move, and the ‘winged versions’ begin to play a bigger part in the trout’s diet.
  • The first sight of fish rising to caddis flies happens during these months. Nymphing and dry fly fishing become more consistent, but don’t put away the streamers. All of the many fly fishing opportunities, including lakes, rivers and spring creeks, begin to produce at this time.

February to March

  • Many consider mid summer the best time to fly fish in Chile. This is the premier dry fly fishing time.
  • Predominant are mayflies in the morning and early afternoon and caddis late afternoon and evenings. Hoppers are also prevalent on many of our rivers and spring creeks. Lakes also produce more consistent hatches.

April to May

  • With a hint of autumn in the air, April brings shorter days and cooler nights
  • Summer is almost behind us and we begin to enter autumn. This is the time to view the spectacular Patagonia autumn colors and chase big browns. Lower water levels allow fishing in locations, otherwise not fished. Well placed flies annually produce trophy brown trout.
  • The nights start to become cooler bringing the river down to a great flow for fishing. Dry flies such as big mayflies, caddis, and large terrestrial patterns work well during this time! The opportunity at multiple trophy browns over 20” on a dry fly is very likely during these months. The browns also start to become more aggressive and bring on their fall colors as they near the fall spawn. Streamers also work well to entice some large fish during March and April.
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