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If you are looking for a way to fish Patagonia on the cheap this coming season, you may want to contact Daniel Etcheverry of San Martin de los Andes (e-mail: meliquinaoutfitters @gmail.com) or Nicolas Botting of Esquel (e-mail: [email protected]). The two are not affiliated in any way, but they are both trying to drum up new business by working directly with small groups of angling clients and offering them a rock-bottom trip price of $350 per day, including accommodations at a nearby townhouse, ground transportation, and a simple lunch on the river. Licenses, gratuities, and other meals are not included. But hold on – the deal gets even better. The angler who can round up three buddies for a paid trip will fish free. Yes, he will fish for nothing, unless, of course, he wants to split the value he receives as trip organizer with his buddies. In that case, here is how the deal would look: $350 per day × 3 = $1,050 per day divided by 4 people = $262.50 per angler, per day. That is a lodging and daily guide rate that is hard to beat anywhere in the world!
Over in Chile, a guide who works out of Coyhaique, Francisco Pancho Vilches (www.chiletrout.com), is offering a similar deal for anglers who book as a group. Again, one angler fishes for free if he brings along three (or more) partners, who will each pay between $400 to $600 a day depending on the specific lodging arrangements they require. The cheapest trips will include lodging at the Patagonia House (www.patagonia-house.com), as well as transportation and river lunch. More expensive trips include lodging at either Salmo Patagonia Lodge (www.patagoniadream.com) or Coyhaique River Lodge (www.coyhaiqueriverlodge.com), along with meals and, potentially, access to private water.
We are indebted to subscriber Jim Carter for word of these trip offers. We dont know the guides ourselves or the quality of the services they provide, but we do know Carter recommends them. If you have more information to pass along about these three guides, or if you fish with them this coming season, please check in. Write [email protected].