Puelo River, Chile

As it tumbles down from Argentina, through Chile in route to the Pacific Ocean, the Puelo River picks up a dozen tributaries which provide habitat for trout and spawning beds for salmon. In the area closest to the sea, migratory rainbow trout, brown trout and chinook salmon can be very abundant. The Posada del Puelo Lodge is located 180 Km. to the east of Puerto Montt on the edge of the Puelo River. Guests stay in cozy double or triple cabins with on suite bathrooms. The emphasis is always on creating a quality experience. Comfortable lodging, great food and wine, warm and attentive personnel and great fishing will make a stay at the Posada del Puelo one of the best fishing vacations you will ever have.

Its privileged location near the mouth of the Puelo allows us to fish the entire lower part of the river between Lake Tagua Tagua an the Seno de Reloncavi. Here the density of the trout population and returning chinook salmon can be double or triple that of other areas of the river farther upstream. In this area, fishing is primarily for rainbow trout, Atlantic, coho and chinook salmon. Undoubtedly, chinook salmon is the primary draw for many fishermen. Here we fish for dime bright kings fresh from the sea in sizes ranging from 15 to 50 pounds.

Amazingly, as king populations have declined steadily throughout much of North America, the situation has been the opposite in many rivers of Patagonia. While chinook runs tend to vary in timing, they have grown consistently over the years to the point that the chinook fishing in many Chilean rivers such as the Puelo has come to surpass that in many of the well known rivers of Alaska. From the lodge, we can also access numerous other rivers and lagoons with excellent fly fishing for rainbow and brown trout. Spin fishing with lures is also allowed.

During the fishing season in Southern Chile, you can expect quite a few rainy days; It rains approximately 50% of the days. However temperatures tend to be mild varying between 12 and 25 degrees celcius most of the time and rains often are light and intermitent. In any case, we do recommend good rain gear and an extra set just in case. In the temperate rain forest of Southern Chile, there are no dangerous insects, snakes nor any other type of dangerous animal.