http://kyle1.s3.amazonaws.com/CincoRiosRealLg_Prog001.flvThere are very few places left in the world where a great lodge, food and fishing all meet to create an exceptional situation. The lodge at Cinco Rios, itself, is a new building that sits on a ridge overlooking the Rio Simpson. It is located about 10 minutes from the town of Coyhaique. The lodge is fantastically appointed with wonderful bedding and hot showers every night before dinner. The food is flat out as good as lodge food gets. If you read our criteria for a lodge you know what a stickler we are on food. It must be really, really good. At Cinco Rios it is really, really good! The Chileans love their meat and they do it as well as anyone. You will have a mixture of beef, lamb and chicken. The veggies and fruit are fresh and you will not go away from the table hungry. Oh yea desserts are out of this world! I know I am spending too much time on the food, but it is really that good.

Guides are an important part of the equation. Cinco Rios has a set of guides I would be proud to fish with anywhere. They are English speaking mannerly and helpful to say the least. The staff has a great mixture of guides and each have their own twist on things. One thing they all have in common is that they love to dry fly fish. If you enjoy dry fly fishing then this is the place for you. The fishing consists of mostly large terrestrials. Southern Chile has 500 species of beetles, some of them big enough to carry off a cat. Well maybe not a cat, but you can allow me this one fisherman embellishment. The Rainbows and Browns here live to eat bugs and they can sometimes eat them all day long with little regard to change of conditions. Don’t get me wrong it is still fishing and some days are better than others but it is mostly good in Chile. You will wade fish and float fish rivers like the Manihuales, Simpson, Guillermo and the fantastic Paloma River. You will fish deep cold Lagos that hold HUGE trout, also caught on dry flies. It is without doubt the most divergent fishing for trout we have ever done. This simply rates as our favorite overseas destination.

The fishing is outstanding with Browns topping out around 24 inches with bigger fish there; most Browns will run 18 to 22 inches. We have seen fish in the 28 to 30 inch range chase a 7 inch streamer. Truly large Browns live in these rivers but are not commonly going to eat a bug. While the fishing is 90% dry fly fishing you need to take a big rod and big streamers. The guides love it when someone really wants to hunt big fish and will be more than willing to float a bang the bank with big nasty streamers.

The rainbows are less populated than the Browns but in some instances are just as big and just as aggressive as the Browns. We have caught several nice Rainbows in the 18 to 22 inch range. The Guillermo and the Simpson have terrific Rainbow populations. While most of the Rainbows in the Guillermo are small in the 10 to 14 inch range there are a bunch of them and fishing a small rod in this spectacular small stream is a must!

The Chinook Salmon fishing is becoming ridiculously good. The numbers of Salmon smolts in the river is astounding. The size of the adults rival Alaska Chinooks. This is a viable opportunity to catch an enormous fish and it wouldn’t hurt to go down prepared with a 10 weight.

It also doesn’t hurt that Cinco Rios and its sister lodge Estancia Del Zorro is owned by Jay Burgin, Mary Jaques and Sebastian Galilea. Many of you are familiar with Jay Burgin and his lodge in Dillon Montana, Five Rivers Lodge. See our section on Five Rivers for more info on that great destination as well. Jay Burgin and Mary Jaques are the finest people in the fly fishing lodge business and would recommend anyone getting to know them. If you do you will be better off for the experience.

One thing is for sure there are very few places you can fish for beautiful fish and the scenery actually surpasses the beauty of the fish. This is a signature trip for Wildcat Creek Travel and one we think of very highly, in other words it is a no brainer.

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   The Week: Fishing Itinerary

   - 2 days fishing by jet sled

   - 2 days wading

   - 2 days fishing by raft.

   Note: If there is something you really prefer and the lodge can accommodate they normally do. For example if you like wading the Rio Emperador Guillermo then they can add more time there. If you prefer wading the Simpson for Salmon then you can do that instead of something else. Claudio the head guide is very easy to work with.

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   Species

   Brown Trout, Rainbows, BIG Kings Salmon, and occasional Silver Salmon

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   Season at Cinco Rios

   The season begins in December and goes through the middle of April. The early season fishing in December can be really good but weather can get in the way. We consider anytime in January, February or March prime time. All 3 of these months can be outstanding terrestrial/dry fly months. Late in the season in April you can fish to big lake run fish and this is the time to probably get the biggest fish of the year. This is becoming a more popular time to go.

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   Travel Insurance

   We are a Sportsman Travel Insurance agent and highly recommend travel insurance. Most lodge policies are written to encourage a travel to buy insurance. If you have an issue shortly before your trip you will be very thankful you purchased it.

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   Deposit and Cancellation Policy

   - A 50% deposit is due to confirm your reservation.

   - Full payment is due 90 days before departure

   - Deposits refundable (minus a 100.00 handling fee per package up to 60 days before the trip.

   - Within 60 days of your trip your deposit is non refundable unless your spot is rebooked.

   - No funds are available for unused portion of your trip

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   Currency

   The currency in Chile is Chilean Pesos and can be exchanged upon entry in to the country at the Santiago airport. Most Chilean shops will take US dollars. We do exchange currency instead we use our credit cards in Coyhaique. The credit card companies will do the exchange automatically.

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   Lodge Capacity

   The lodge takes 12 anglers per week.

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   Included in the Price

   6 days fishing and 7 nights stay in the lodge and all food, wine, liquor and soft drinks. The transportation to and from the airport is included.

   Not included in the price:

   Tips and Gratuities, reciprocity fee and airfare are not included. Gear like rods and reels. The guides are terrific but somewhat limited on gear. They own good gear but need customers to bring their own.

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   Duration of Stay

   There are no partial weeks available at Cinco Rios. All trips are 6 days 7 nights. You arrive on a Saturday and leave on a Saturday.

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    Rates for Cinco Rios

    Price for 2009 season is $3675.00 for 6 days fishing and 7 days

    Note: We believe this to be the best bargain going and a steal at this price. You can compare a bunch of lodges in Patagonia to this one that are as much as $1500.00 more and they are not as good as this trip!

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    Transportation

    Flights to Coyhaique Chile

    American, Delta and United all fly into Santiago Chile. Typically your flight will go through a gateway city like Atlanta, Miami or Los Angeles. The second leg form your gateway city to Santiago is an overnight flight and will take about 10 hours. The last leg of the flight from Santiago to Balmaceda will take about 3 hours and will touch and go in either Concepcion or Puerto Montt. You won’t have to get off the plane they are just picking up more passengers at those stops.
    Transportation to Cinco Rios from Balmaceda

    Sebastian or some else from the lodge will be there to pick you up at the airport in Balmaceda. This is included in the price of the trip.
    Passport for Chile

    A passport is required for entry into the country. If you need assistance in renewing your passport or you need to acquire a passport then either call us or go to http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html
    Reciprocity Fee

    There is an entry fee of 131.00 to enter the country. It is a one time fee and if you have paid it previously on another trip to Chile you will not be required to pay it again.

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    Equipment List for Cinco Rios

    We make lists of suggested tackle for all our trips that are very comprehensive. Please do not think you need all of it. I just try and leave no stone unturned and I believe customers enjoy trips much more if they have what they need. Also, consider that you are half way around the world and can’t just run to the fly shop. Take what you need so you get the most out of your trip.

    Rods

    8.5-9 foot 4 weight or 3weight

    9 foot 6 weight

    9 foot 7 weight or

    9-9.5 8 weight

    Rods – Some of this fishing is on small streams and a 4 weight would come in handy on the Guillermo and a couple of other small pieces of water. Also remember these fish are big and there can be wind at times that requires bigger rods. So bring along at least one big rod.

    9’0” 6 weight for general dry fly and terrestrial fishing. This will be your standard go to rod.

    9’0” 7 weight is a great choice for windy conditions and streamer fishing. I would have a 7 or 8 weight definitely.

    9’0” or 9’6” 8 weight for the same issues of wind and streamer fishing. Also consider the large Salmon that will be present during our stay there. The third week of January is prime time for Chinooks and Silver Salmon so make sure you have a rod to at least take shots at these brutes. They have weighed Kings up to 60 pounds!

    Most rods should be fast action; wind and the size of the rivers make high line speeds important. You can do a better job of that with fast action rods.

    Reels

    Lamson Lightspeed, Ross Evolution and Redington’s CDL is a tough one to beat at 179.00 to 239.00. Sage’s new 4500 Reel is 325.00 to 355.00 but extra spools are only 60.00 to 75.00 so if you are getting a reel with two spools the low cost off the spool offsets the higher cost of the reel. We really like the new Sage reel.

    Lines

    Weight Forward Floating

    Type 6 Sink Tip or

    Versi-tip system

    Weight Forward Floating - The basic line is going to be a standard weight forward floating line. The Rio Grand is the best all around line for fast action rods they float super high and are very slick. I have used this line all over the world and it is pretty much bombproof. I also tested a new Sharkskin line in Chile last year and really liked how far it cast in the wind. It is an expensive line but really worked well.

    Sink Tip- This is important for streamer fishing and we recommend taking a 15ft type 6. This will allow you to get the streamer deeper and it makes casting a streamer easier in the wind.

    Versi-tip – This is an option that takes care of everything. It is the cost of 2 lines but has 4 lines in one. You merely change the front part of the line out as you need to. It comes with a floater and 3 other sink tips, very easy to deal with.

    Leaders

    9foot 0x, 1x and 2x leaders with flourcarbon tippet.

    This is pretty straight forward keep the tippets big and strong, no need to get a bunch; I will carry extras for the trip. I would get a couple of each.

    Tools

    Nippers

    Forceps

    Wader repair kit/will save your trip!

    Good polarized sunglasses

    Clothing and Bags

    This is an area that preparation really pays off.

    -Waders

    -Wading Boots

    -Socks 6 pair- I don’t wear these multiple days!

    -Capilene 1 tops and bottoms 3 pair each. No need for a bunch of pairs, I wear them -multiple days.

    -Capilene 3 bottoms

    -Synchilla Pants or some kind of fleece pants.

    -Fleece windproof jacket. This will really pay off, plus it can be used as a jacket around here as well.

    -Baseball cap

    -Beenies for cold mornings.

    -Fingerless gloves, if it is cold these are nice.

    -Fishing Shirts

    -Fishing Vest or Chest pack

    -Boat Bag, something to take with you in the boat that can handle all the stuff for the day you want to keep dry, like camera equipment or additional clothing.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 4:52 pm and is filed under Featured, South America. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.