From: 05/09/2014
To: 05/11/2014
Type of Water: Freshwater
Species: Steelhead
We set a trip for the second weekend of May to check on the fishing in the lower mid section of the Santa Cruz river, down at Estancia Los Plateados, at Tres Amigos Outfitters operation.
During May, temperatures drop and can be cold in the morning with some frost on the roofs, yet not too bad as to stop any angler from chasing the fish of their dreams. Temperature by noon raises enough to have nice and mild fall weather, with little or no wind.
With the river low and dropping -also getting as clear as it gets- it was time to search for different spots and runs.
We started the journey by Guanaco’s Bay, one of the main fish holding pools in this river. While the level only let us fish the tail out of it, the far top was on the right level. Still Guanacos delivered two smaller fish righ View more...We set a trip for the second weekend of May to check on the fishing in the lower mid section of the Santa Cruz river, down at Estancia Los Plateados, at Tres Amigos Outfitters operation.
During May, temperatures drop and can be cold in the morning with some frost on the roofs, yet not too bad as to stop any angler from chasing the fish of their dreams. Temperature by noon raises enough to have nice and mild fall weather, with little or no wind.
With the river low and dropping -also getting as clear as it gets- it was time to search for different spots and runs.
We started the journey by Guanaco’s Bay, one of the main fish holding pools in this river. While the level only let us fish the tail out of it, the far top was on the right level. Still Guanacos delivered two smaller fish right away, between 5-6lb. Good start for the day.
With the water moving nicely and even on the top run, a solid boulder bottom and a depth that didn’t exceed 3-4 feet along this run, we tackled down to work better on shorter line, lighter tips and a better presentation.
The selection of flies included some low water summer flies combined with some big winter patterns like Squidroas, Intruders and some large orange Shrimp patterns.
It took me around an hour to cover it but when reaching the end I got a good take. A nice 8 lb hen already with a bit of color on its side. Real beauty.
After that first day we decided to take the zodiac and head upstream searching for bigger fish. After an hour we reached an area we used to fish very often some years ago. We focused in the main spots, and it was the Power Plant pool which delivered a couple of fish. Best one, a nice 12lb fish for Leandro, dear friend and one the most experienced guides in this river. We decided to spend the rest of that day searching for new spots… guides duty every now and then.
For the third and last day we focused again in Los Plateados area. Rainbow Alley was the main target in that cold morning. 6°C in this deep pool that the fish clearly liked. After the first 5 minutes we had a good fish on that by the second jump took off. It just took another half hour to connect again. A chrome male over 14lb was landed and immediately released. Intermediate Skagit head with 15’ of T-14 and a pink and black Squidro fly.
It was clear how a new run was reaching the area. It happens continuously along the Feb-June season and shows the quality of fishery the Santa Cruz is.
Number of rods: 3
Total number of fish cought: 7 over 4lb in 3 days.
Biggest fish: 14lb at Rainbow Alley pool.
Fly: Pink and Blk Squidro; Blue and Blk Intruder.
