Highlights
Bella Vista season final report - Highest average weight in the history of the lodge!!
A truly memorable season has just ended at Bella Vista Lodge, a perfect way to celebrate the fifteen years since we first opened its doors to visiting anglers from around the world. During this time a huge effort has been made to preserve and enhance this unique fishery and this past season is evidence of this hard work bearing fruit.
From the moment we arrived in January, the water level continued to be almost perfect for the majority of the season, only during two weeks in March did we experience very low water levels. We had three big rises during the summer, with the immediate consequence of huge fresh sea trout running into the Gallegos from the Atlantic.
The average number of fish per rod per day was almost 30 % better this season compared to last! Every single week of the season has been better in terms of numbers and average catches per rod.
Even more remarkable was the weight of the fish. We had only one week with an average weight of 9.5 lbs and the remainder had an average between 11 and 14 pounds. This is the best average weight in the history of Bella Vista lodge and is the perfect way to celebrate our first 15 years running the lodge and protecting the river, these results provide fantastic encouragement for us to continue doing so.
Encouragingly, the Gallegos fished consistently well from start to finish of the season. The first three guests to arrive at the lodge in January caught thirty-two fish with an average weight of 12.5 lbs. Fast forward to the 3rd week in March and a group of anglers, who have been guests of the lodge for many years, experienced the best week of the season. They caught twelve fish between 15 and 20 pounds and two greater than 20 lbs. The average weight was an astonishing 13.9 lbs! There are few other fisheries in the world that can produce such consistently big fish.
However, we should not let the main river steal all the limelight! The Gallegos Chico is a 25 mile long spring creek that runs into the main river and our guests often rate this as one of the best brown trout fisheries they have ever visited. The river offers technical dry fly fishing for large resident browns and for some it is one of the highlights of their trip and for others it provides great sport when conditions on the main river are difficult. We caught many large browns during the season, the largest weighing between 5 and 6 pounds.
The Gallegos is not primarily a numbers river and should not be compared to any other anadromous fishery in the world. Where else can you catch fresh run sea trout averaging 12,5 pounds on 50 miles of double bank access river between only 8 anglers? And don´t forget the world class dry fly fishing for huge browns within 30 minutes of the lodge.
A special thanks to all of our guests, many of whom come year after year, for making this season such a memorable one.
As before, Team lax-a will offer rods in the Rio Gallegos
For all further bookings and information, please contact..
Axel Óskarsson axelo@lax-a.is
Direct tel nr in office +354-531-6108
Direct mobile nr +354-895-5202
