SEA RUN BROWN: Argentina - Tierra del Fuego

Once you arrive at the Rio Grande Airport, you’ve only 15 minutes before you arrive at Estancia Maria Behety and are welcomed into their deluxe fishing lodge.  The lodge was built about 10 years ago, and has 8 rooms with a capacity of 16 people; however the number of anglers is restricted to only 12.  Estancia Maria Behety Lodge offers extra rooms for guests wishing to room alone.  All bedrooms have two comfortable double beds and private bathrooms with deluxe showers.

The spacious living room at Maria Behety features a centered fireplace and open bar packed with almost every beverage desired.  There is also a full fly shop, cigar room and telephone and internet service.  Meals are an important time at Estancia Maria Behety, especially mid day asados which are eagerly anticipated by all.

La Villa is a second lodge built on the property to provide more private and luxurious accommodations. It has a maximum capacity of 6 anglers per week.  For a few more dollars a day, anglers can enjoy amenities like single room occupancy, a Jacuzzi, pool table, radiant floor heat, private chef and a huge wine cellar.

Estancia Maria Behety was founded in 1897 by Jose Menendez and today it is the largest sheep operation in the world with a sheering shed capacity for 7,000 animals and 40 sheep sheering stations.  The ranch produces approximately 200,000 kilos of wool each year.  Tours of this facility and the entire ranch are available anytime for guests at the Estancia Maria Behety Lodge.

Fishing at Maria Behety Lodge
The greatest asset to Maria Behety guests are the 100 prime pools on 32 private miles of the lower Rio Grande. This means anglers and their guides can move to where the fish are, be it down in the estuary or in the upper reaches of their property.  Guests at Estancia Maria Behety can also fish both sides of the Rio Grande.  No other Tierra del Fuego fishing lodge has this much access to the Rio Grande.

Private access to the estuary makes fishing in December that much better.  During the winter, these fish remain relatively close to the estuary so it’s common to start seeing good numbers enter into the river mouth in early December.  Very few anglers venture to the Rio Grande during this time, but the powerful, bright chromers are there.  Even up to early January the fishing can be phenomenal and the entire 32 miles of river is shared by the very few who take advantage of this early season fishing.

Catch rates obviously vary with weather, skill levels and return numbers, but it’s safe to say the average angler catches somewhere around 5 fish per day, averaging 12-13 pounds.