Fly Fishing Mendoza Argentina with Gary Borger in Valle Hermoso Malargue day 3 Mendoza Fly Shop

On Tuesday, March 12, we headed over the mountains once again to fish the Rio Cobre, sister river of the Tordillo. Their confluence a few kilometers downstream where we fished forms the Rio Grande, which some distance downstream is noted for its huge browns. We had to cross the Tordillo and drive several miles to access the Cobre. The river is much “softer” than the Tordillo, with long runs, riffles, and pools.

The first evidence of the nature of the day came when we found many trout skeletons on the shore all along the river. A violent flood some weeks past had dumped tons of silt along the river and had cut new channels. The water was milky from glacial runoff, and we didn’t see any significant insect activity all day.

My total for the day was 14 fish, 7 browns, 6 rainbows, and 1 brook trout. One brown and one rainbow were decent fish, just over a kilo; the remainder were pan sized to large pan sized. All my fish but two came from side channels. The main river seemed devoid of all but the very occasional fish. Many of the fish that we caught were scarred with a variety of lines and marks on their bodies, showing evidence of the violent flooding they had recently endured.

Exequiel fished the 10 foot 3 weight Hardy Zenith in the morning and hooked a big brown of about 2 kg., but it broke his 6X and escaped, just at the landing. I fished my new Aguas Claras 9 foot 5 weight in the morning. Lunch was big slabs of ham and cheese pie, which we eagerly ate at streamside. Exequeil and I traded rods for the afternoon, and I was quite pleased with the Hardy’s ability to handle line in the wind and bring the fish quickly to hand.

In the afternoon, a herd of horses worked up river along one of their well work trails, we decided to walk it back to the SUV at the end of the day. As we were leaving the river, a gaucho met us. Not speaking Spanish, I could do no more than shake his hand and take his picture. He did talk with Polo and Benito, and explained that he lives in a yurt just upriver from our stopping point for the day. The area is summer range for cattle and horses, and he cares for the livestock in the area.

The hike out took an hour and a half of quick time walking, and the bottled water and folding chairs were most welcome when it came time to take off our waders and prepare for the hour and a half drive back to Las Lenas. Tomorrow we head south in Patagonia to fish the Rio Cordihue.

The Tordillo in the foreground, the Cobre along the mountain in the distance.

To reach the Cobre, we had to cross the Tordillo and then drive cross country about half an hour.

The valley of the Cobre is “softer” than that of the Tordillo, making it good grazing country.

Reaching the river was an easy half hour walk from the SUV.

The Cobre is a lower gradient river than the Tordillo, and evidences pools, riffle, rapids, and side channels.

Recently deposited mud, covering the rocky shores, evidenced a flash flood from heavy rains in the mountains.

Fish skulls and skeletons littered the mud banks. A great loss for this beautiful river.

Most of the fish we took from the Cobre were pan sized to large pan sized–both browns and rainbows.

Mmmm, ham and cheese pie makes a hearty lunch along the shores of a beautiful river.

A couple of bigger fish–in the 1 kg size–came after lunch to a nymph and indicator fished on the Hardy Zenith.

Although we took fewer fish on the Cobre than on the Tordillo, the ones we caught were very healthy.

The country around the Cobre was good grazing for both cattle and horses.

The cattle and horses along the Cobre are cared for by a gaucho.

Folding chairs most definitely have their place when it comes to taking off waders at the end of the day.

The snow village of Las Lenas was our headquarters for fishing the Tordillo and Cobre.

Gary Borger
http://www.garyborger.com/2013/03/26/argentine-fishing-day-3/