TROUT FISHING: Argentina - Junin
Intro & About the Area
Junín de los Andes is the birth place of Patagonia trout fishing. It all started when famous fly fishing author Joe Brooks met Argentina angler, Jorge Donovan in New York. Joe invited Jorge to visit and fish with him at his Isla Morada home in Florida. The favor was returned and Joe made an eventful trip in February 1955 to fish with Jorge and his friend, Jose Evaristo Anchorena, better known as “Bebe”.
Jorge and Bebe were legendary trout fishing anglers and fished all over Patagonia. (They eventually founded La Asociación Argentina de Pesca con Mosca, an organization that thrives today). Jose and Bebe introduced Joe to various waters surrounding Junín de los Andes, but none would be as memorable as the mouth of the Chimehuín River, where Joe landed 6 trout over 8.5 pounds and one over 15 pounds. This prompted him to write an article titled Boca Fever, in Outdoor Life Magazine. In this famous article Joe wrote about his success at the boca of the Chimehuín River, his new friends and the unspoiled Patagonia trout fishing in Junín de los Andes, Argentina. Years later, anglers are still coming to fish the Chimehuín, Collon Cura, Malleo and Aluminé Rivers.
Junín de los Andes
Junín was founded in 1883 and is the oldest city in the Neuquén province. It is a quiet town located on the west bank of the Chimehuín River with about 10,500 inhabitants. It is an important cultural center for the Mapuche and Huiliche Indians whose traditions and crafts are preserved on reservations, museums and shops. Junín also draws people wishing to visit the 840,000 acre Lanín National Park and climb it’s 12,300 ft volcano. The northern half of the park is dominated by the bizarre and spectacular Monkey Puzzle Tree whose seeds are still a staple diet of the Mapuche Indians.
