Here is what we, at Southern Exposure believe you should
bring to fly fish in Patagonia.
We suggest you to visit our online store Chilemoscas.com
if you want to check on prices or for placing an order.
Fly Rods:
Multi-piece 7, 6 or 5 wt. rods will cover most of the fishing
situations you will encounter in Chile. We strongly recommend
bringing a minimum of 2 rods. One for streamer fishing (ie.
7 wt.) and the other for dries and nymphs (ie.5 wt).
Fly Reels:
Good quality, lightweight fly reels, with simple disk drags
or pawl drags are the best choice. Reels should be filled
with fresh 20 pound backing.
Fly Lines:
You will basically need two fly lines, a weight forward floater,
for dries and nymphs and a sink tip fly line (Tiny 200 or
similar) for streamers.
Leaders and Tippets:
For a week’s fishing you will need no less than four tapered
leaders 9 ft. 3X, for your floating line and four 7ft. 2X leaders
for your sinking fly lines.
For tippet you should bring fresh spools from 6X to 2X.
Flies:
Dries and Attractors: Chernobyl Ants and Dave’s
Hoppers, 6, 8 - Parachute Adams, 12 to 18 - Blue Wing Olive, 14
to 18 - Hares Ear Parachute Hi-Vi's Dry Fly, 12 to 16 - Elk Hair
Caddis, 12 to 16 - Humpys and Royal Wulff 10 to 16 - Black ants,
12, 14 - Griffith Gnat, 18, 20 - Black beetle, 14, 12. Streamers: Buggers and Zonkers, black, green, brown
and white, with and without beads, 2 to 6. Nymphs: Hare’s Ear, Bird’s Nest, Prince
Nymph and Pheasant Tail, with and without beads, 10 to 14, Black
and Golden Stoneflies, 6, 8. Emergers: Non-weighted Hare’ Ear and Bird’s
Nest, work well 12, 14. And of course, include your favorite weapons.
CLOTHING
& EQUIPMENT
Clothing:
The weather in Chilean Patagonia is constantly changing. One
day it can be 80 degrees and sunny and the next day rainy,
damp and in the low 40’s or cooler with a stiff breeze,
and all these can happen in a matter of hours. Therefore,
clothing strategy should be based on the “layering system”.
Start off with a polypropylene type fabric or silk next
to your skin (thermal underwear).
Your second layer could be a medium weight wool or polypropylene
shirt, sweater or pull-over.
Your third layer, if needed, can be a fleece or wool jacket.
Your fourth layer will be your rain jacket. High quality
Gore tex type products and oiled cotton jackets are a fine
choice. Also good rubber coated jackets are a good bet,
although are not breathable. Try to buy the best rain gear
you can afford , as being wet is no fun.
Now you are ready to what ever Mother Nature dishes out.
You can easily adjust and adapt to the weather’s changes
as they arrive.
Waders: Chest waders are the only way to
go. Good quality Gore tex and Neoprene waders are good options.
Wading Boots: Felt soled wading boots. Wading
cleats or studs are not needed and tough on boats and rafts.
