Patagonia is a vast region of dramatic landscapes that most commonly refers to the Andes-influenced areas of both Argentina and Chile. Reaching from the Barrancas River in the north, which borders Argentina's famed Mendoza wine country, all the way south to Tierra del Fuego at the continent's most southern reaches, it is a region of wildly diverse geography. Depending on where you are in Patagonia, you might find yourself surrounded by desert, steppe, canyon lands, fluvial plains, glaciated mountains or dense rainforest. In Chile's Los Lagos region, you'll find the latter. Verdant, green rainforest predominates, rich with every imaginable form of coniferous growth and Jurassic deciduous flora.
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Ever present and looming above are the steep, imposing, glacier-strewn peaks of the Andes, keeping watch over the forests, rivers and lakes which draw their life from the mountains. Above, the Futaleufu River courses through a tight canyon before rounding a bend (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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Anglers ply the waters of Lago Yelcho, not far from Yelcho en la Patagonia Lodge, which sits on the lake's shores (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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Towering above the lake is the Yelcho glacier, from which the lake and the nearby river draw their names (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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Fishing the almost 50 square mile, fjord-shaped lake is accomplished almost exclusively by boat and often involves casting into deep, translucent blue-green waters that bathe logjams and other structure along the shore (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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The Yelcho and many other glaciers which cling to the Andes peaks that overlook the lake create a seemingly endless array of silted creeks and streams which flow into the lake. The union of these opaque, glacially-influenced flows with the lake's crystal-clear waters provide another angling target (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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In the nearby Yelcho River, the situation is reversed. Rio Yelcho's deep, swift, glacially-tinged flows frequently meet with the clear waters of feeder creeks (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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Areas of the river where clear inflows and structure coincide can be trout hotspots, where anglers from Yelcho en la Patagonia and other nearby lodges frequently pluck stunning rainbows like this one (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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The Andes keep watch on the pastoral Palena, too, where one of its peaks periodically emerges from rolling storm clouds (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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In the Palena, big, streamer-eating brown trout predominate (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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Though the mountains are always looming throughout the region, it is easy to imagine that it is the mighty Futaleufu River—prized by anglers and rafters alike—for which they hold the highest regard (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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Throughout its course, the Andes guard the Futaleufu with towering ranges and steep cliffsides (photo: Chad Shmukler).
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With the magnificent glaciers, rock faces, cliffsides and escarpments of the mighty Andes constantly drawing the eye, were it not for the region's bounty of trout—whether those that cruise the shores of Lago Yelcho in hope of a plump damselfly to pluck from the surface or the aggressive rainbows and browns that patrol the Rio Yelcho and Futaleufu—it might be hard to find a reason to look down.
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