Ranquilco has arguably the best, and least-known, fly fishing in Patagonia for wild and plentiful rainbow trout up to ten pounds. Ranquilco was purchased by the current owner in 1978 precisely for the water. The quality of the fishing has been preserved ever since. With only a very few who have ever seen the rivers, it is not yet legendary, but it is a rare hidden gem.

The access is minimal and Ranquilco controls the entire central portion of the Trocoman and Picunleo rivers. Fortunately, they are of the exact size which does not permit rafting, which plagues many of the rivers in the famous centers to the South, but also have a perfect flow for both sustaining large trout populations and inviting great wading situations. There are two large canyons on Ranquilco, where the waters are seldom fished, which provide days of excellent fishing and sightseeing.

Our season begins in December and ends approximately on the 15th of April.

The Trocoman River is the main river which runs from the South to the North - a rarity in Patagonia, and good news because it is not prone to the sometimes vicious winds which predominate out of the West and bother the casting on other rivers. Below the confluence with the Trocoman, it is a mid-sized river, averaging 100-150 feet across, and maybe 2-3 feet in depth. Wet flies, wooly buggers and Pancora imitations bring up big rainbows. It is not unusual for one fisherperson to catch 25 fish a day, a bunch of which are over 3 pounds. The river is filled with personality: cliff pools, long runs, falls of water, and boulder fishing, one never has to walk far to continue fishing.

The Picunleo river, which melds with the Trocoman river upstream about an hour and a half from the HQ, is a delightful, smaller, and predominantly dry fly river. Trout up to 6 pounds can be taken in the almost unlimited pools and runs of this mountain river, which flows down from the high Andes, originating on the border with Chile. In its middle reaches, there are places which we still have never fished, as it stretches for some 20 miles through the wild canyons and mountains.

Both rivers are filled with Pancora, a crab sort of critter which gives the trout so much of their strength and condition, as well as providing their flesh with a bright red-orange color, there are hatches along both rivers as well. The rivers are wonderfully fishable, with the trees and brush behaving themselves pretty well on the banks, and a ton of personality to the waters, which almost always run clear.

The main lodge gazes down at the Trocoman river a couple of hundred feet below, it is a short walk to the "lion pool", and the "sauna run". One can begin an entire day of fishing either upstream or downstream right from the HQ, or ride or walk in either direction, arranging to be picked up later. Lunch can be cooked riverside by the guide, or enjoyed on the patio overlooking the river at the lodge.

Reserve your spot!