Rio Grande Sea Trout season off to good start

The sea trout season on the Rio Grande in Argentina is now underway and the Villa Maria water has got off to a good start. Lodge manager Gaston says despite unsettled conditions and some strong winds,  the statistics for the past week, the second of the season, are the best for four years.

Unsettled conditions are to be expected at this time of year, but it's encouraging that fish were being taken on lighter lines and smaller flies and nymphs already.

Gaston's just sent us his report. Here's what he says:

"At the beginning of the week the level of the water was still a bit higher but still clear.
On Monday we had heavy rain showers for one day and two nights, along all the way
of the Grande rivers and the resulting watershed brought about a very sudden rise of
almost 6 inches of clear green water from the Rio Menendez.

The weather was less than accomodating this past week. Some fishing sessions throughout the week were very good and some slow. Changing weather and river conditions seemed to have a negative effect on the fishes' mood. Anyway these adverse conditions were overcome, finishing a week with excellent results. According to our statistics for the same week, the best in the last four years.
So, I am safe in saying that we had a very successful week.

River Conditions: The river is continuing to drop and clear on a daily basis.
Temperature of the water is perfect, about 11 degrees.

Fishing Techniques: As the water temperatures rose as the week progressed, we started
to use smaller flies and lighter lines. In fact, the two biggest fish were caught with
leeches, chartreuse fished with sinking lines and long leaders.

Flies used: At the beginning of the week, with the water still cold, we fished mostly
with leeches. Later in the week as water temperatures rose, flies such as the green
machine and small rubber legged nymphs provided the most action.

Fish: By the end of the week we landed a total of 89 sea trout, however 27 fish were
also lost. The average weight was 9,7 lbs. The average fish a day was 2.7 and the big
fish of the week was 22 pounds.

Conditions of the fish: Most of the fish this week were very fresh. Only a few fish were
turning."

We'll watch the conditions carefully ahead of our two weeks down at Villa Maria in February/March.