Expedition Chile! Part 3.

On our last day in Puerto Montt, me and my brother decided to take it easy... A bit of souvenir shopping in the morning and then we headed off to a little beach in a bay that had a little stream running into it. I had already bought a cheap snorkeling mask and I wanted to swim about and see whats there out of curiosity. There couldn't be just rollizo!
The little beach was surrounded by rocky fingers and also had a couple islands close by so I thought it must hold some little fish. As soon as I dived I could see a large shoal of bottom feeding fish with a general rockfish looking shape but they weren't rollizo... Straight away I swam out, picked up the rod and with the true lrf line on the second spool, tied a 2g cheburashka and added a #18 hook on the clip.
I didn't have any gulp or Isome worms with me though, so I put on a 2" Jackall Peke peke that although a bit large for the fish intended, was being attacked every time. Unfortunately the unknown fish (possibly baby robalos?) had really small mouths and I failed to hook one. I then used a 0.8" Crazy-fish Whitebait lure that didn't manage to arouse their interest though and by then it was time for another quick dive and back to the car for my last fishing session.
I drove down the same way of the past couple sessions and decided to stop first at a small harbour with shallower water and another stream running into it, in order to try and get a robalo. After fishing for about half an hour though I only had one follow (possibly rollizo) and nothing else. Thus I decided to move to the previous day's mark. Although the weather and tide state was the same, the fishing proved much slower (could it be a result of the previous day's many catches?), but after persevering, I got a couple nice rollizo among a few smaller ones. After a while I decided to work only metals hoping for something different and true enough I got a good strike close in and a scrappy fight with strong head-thumps. The fish wasn't very big and I soon hoisted it up. Then I realised that it was the fish I was looking for! A robalo! But as I tried to get my hands around it and take my mobile out, it thrashed and fell, breaking my frayed leader! I was glad that at least got it on video so it still counts...lol

What a fish!

On a crature..

Texas rigged craw.

 The video of the session.

 It was already getting late but I drove further down the road for a last look along the coast. After a couple miles I reached a truly beautiful mark but unfortunately it was too difficult to reach and having limited time I decided to head back and pick up my brother from the beach.

Maybe some other time...

The breakwater of the little harbour.

The little beach.

Lots of fry at the pier's legs. Unfortunately I didnt fish there...

Conclusions.
All in all it was a very enjoyable trip and a proper adventure despite the mishaps and difficulties at times. Fishing for rollizo made me feel as if I was fishing for greenling in Japan (!) and its an extremely fun species to fish for. A true rock fish!
I believe that Chile has much more to offer an angler (with an open mind) than the introduced Salmon and Trout. Obviously I would have like to fish for them as well, and also try all the little estuaries for other species but in the end I'm a rock angler and the ease and fun of rollizo fishing was just what I needed in my holidays. Moreover tackling the salmonids would mean paying for access to waters and license and I just couldn't see the point in that when I realised there was such fun to be had on the rocks, for free! Had I spent more time there though, I would have definitely fished the freshwater as well.. Something for another time perhaps...

Below some notes that may be of use to anglers visiting Chile.

• Bring a heavier, longer rod! Especially away from the fjords the coast is open to the Pacific and the swells can be significant.
• Metals, metals, metals...
• Bring all you gear over and don't count on the local tackle shops! Especially braid, line etc are very hard to find..
• Lip gripper a must, as these rockfish have serious teeth.
• Try the estuaries and beaches as well. I had limited time but I realised that particularly the South is full of fish!
• Isome/gulp worms indispensable for species hunting. Not everything is as aggressive as the rollizo.
• No need for fancy/expensive lures. There will be plenty of losses so a good mix of softplastics/ metals and a few hardbaits should be fine. Best soft plastic sizes for rollizo 2.5"-3".
• Paddletails and curlytails the most effective styles. Creatures were good too but very 'slow'.
• Tides not so big in the North but much more like the UK in the South.
• Fishing harbours that allow access should be taken into serious consideration, especially when the coast is too rough.

Back to UK now and to my usual targets. Already I have been out once and have found the fish in very good condition... I believe this mild winter has helped in that and cant wait to get my heavier reels back from service and get out!

Thanks for reading!

Gear used.
Rod: Spro Mobile Stick 80UL
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000FC
Mainline: Sufix 832 0.24mm 17.7 kg !
leader: Pline Halo 10lbs.
lure: Various

Expedition Chile! Part 2.

The break offs of the first session along with the nature of the terrain and fish, making landing them a difficult task, convinced me that I needed to beef up my mainline. Thus on the morning of the second day we went to look for a tackle shop to buy some braid. Nothing difficult about that you'd think, only you'd be wrong as this is Chile and for the life of me couldn't locate a tackle shop in the whole of Puerto Montt! No tackle shop in a city next to the sea?!
After looking on the Internet I managed to locate a couple tackle shops in nearby Puerto Varas, and since it was in the list of places to visit anyway, we headed there straight away..
Puerto Varas is considered a top destination for the fly anglers that target the salmonids in and around the lake Llanquihue, and being much more touristic explains the presence of tackle shops there. As luck would have it I walked in the first tackle shop just about when the last wheel of braid was sold to another angler (!) and was directed to another shop that might stock braid. On the next shop I cant really say that I was mesmerised by the variety on offer, but I found some Sufix 832 braid, allbeit in a horrendously thick diameter (0.24mm - 17.7 kg)!! This was not gonna be Light Game anymore... lol
After having a drive down the lake and taking a swim and a siesta, we drove back towards the rocky coast, at a mark I spied on the way back from the previous day.
This was a much more easily accessible mark with a narrow path through thick vegetation and down to the rocks. It was clear that it wasn't a virgin spot although it was looking too good not to fish it. This time I carried with me my Savage gear roadrunner XLNT 7' 3-16g travel rod and with the reel spooled with the donkey-rope (!) I felt a lot more confident!
I put on a 12g metal and started yoyo jigging it on the bottom. The first strike came very quickly and a sizeable rollizo was fighting on the end of my line. Having the heavy line allowed me to enjoy the fight and after a while I got the fish on the shore.

First cast!

After releasing the fish, I made another cast and got hit yet again by a good fish. Another fight ensued and I brought the fish near the shore. As I was excited I tried to swing the fish on the rocks with the rod, as I thought the rod could take it.. Only it didn't and broke at the spigot near the tip!
I felt as if somebody had cursed me.. Having the gear that copes with the intended fish only to break it and having to fish UL again..

Rod breaker!

Anyway, I went back at the car to get my Mobile Stick and I was going to use it with the donkey-rope line thus extra care was needed... Not really balanced gear but it got the job done, and for the remainder of the session I had fish after fish on various lures and presentations. I would have liked the extra reach of the heavier lures but there were plenty of fish about and they seemed to be close in anyway.. I fished an hour after high water till almost the ebb and was surprised at the speed the water moved. Moreover the fish seemed to get even more active towards sundown with more big specimens showing then and unfortunately getting cut off from what must have been a couple very serious fish. I'm convinced that these cut offs were not always due to rock-abrasion but also the rollizo's teeth.
Metals seemed to work better with the sun higher up and texas/cheburashka rigged slim curlytail worms being the best performers. Paddletails were not far behind in effectiveness and I noticed that they were working best when retrieved very slowly with a few pauses but no sudden jerks. The fish would pounce on them as they came close in and would then bolt for the nearest cover. They would even attack on straight retrieve, well above the bottom, especially close in.
The larger fish seemed to be more territorial and loners, while at times I got the impression that this fish tends to associate in loose groups at the most favourable spots. This was due to getting repeated catches from a relatively small area.
As mentioned above long casts were not necessary, although I suppose in shallower reefy waters, the longer casts would come in handy allowing to reach more 'holes', rocks etc.
I caught a lot of rollizo that day but unbelievably, not a single other species! I speculate that when the rollizo are in numbers, they dominate the area as I tried many different lures/presentations/retrieves etc to no avail for other species. Cant complain much though as I really had a blast!
Below more pics and the video of the day.

Metals always a good solution in 'new' waters..

The mark from above..

Near the ebb.

Serious rock mark!

Possibly the biggest of the day. Kilo plus...

Japanese pose!

Unfortunately I only had one remaining day in Puerto Mont and I would have to try and get a robalo somehow..


Tight lines

Gear used.
Rod: Savage gear roadrunner XLNT 7' 3-16g and Spro Mobile Stick 80UL
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000FC
Mainline: Sufix 832 0.24mm 17.7 kg !
leader: Pline Halo 10lbs.
lure: Various

Expedition Chile! Part 1.

Its been almost a week now that I've returned from my holidays in Chile, reluctantly so I must add...
The opportunity was given to me, as a close friend of mine lives in the capital Santiago and invited me and my brother there.
We were to have our base in Santiago but obviously with them being in summer now and us haven't experienced summer at all the past year, it was imperative that we would visit the coast! Moreover a trip to the South had to be made as well since it would have been a mistake not to get at least a glimpse of Patagonia and water systems very similar to the ones I fish here in the West coast of Scotland...
Therefore we decided to head to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar on the central coast of Chile as it is where most of the tourists go for their summer holidays!
Now on the fishing prospects of the trip, in reality Chile seemed like a blank chart! Nowhere could I find serious info about fish species and angling in general. This is because there hasn't been enough research done on the fish species there (especially in the south), the information being mostly in Spanish and lastly the little coverage angling gets over there (with the exception of the alien salmons and trouts in the South). Now it did cross my mind to wet a line for the salmonids when in the South but to be honest my attention was firmly set once again on the rocks...
Seeing a documentary about sea otters in Patagonia a couple months ago, only seemed to ignite my interest of what rockfish could be found there and all along the coast we were meant to visit. The only species I was able to find easy information on, is the robalo (Eleginops maclovinus) a sort of bass/corvina-looking fish though not related at all to them and being the only member of its genus and the only member of the family Eleginopsidae (!). Thus I was hoping to at least get one of them!
To cut a long story short, I fished very little while in the Valparaiso area. This was because of two main reasons: Firstly, the Pacific swell that rendered most of the beaches in the area dangerous to swim (red flag) for the duration of our stay, and secondly, the realisation of the inadequacy of my light gear for these waters! In any case, I tried a few casts here and there in sheltered marks but only had some success in Valparaiso harbour, by catching a few wrassy/blenny looking fish, that unknowingly at the time, were going to be the mainstay of my catches in all my sessions!
Unfortunately most of the harbours/marinas were working areas and I had limited access to them and that was a real pity as I'm sure they would hold plenty of fish...

Part of Valparaiso harbour.

My first Chilean fish!

Parts of the coast in Valparaiso.

The beach in Laguna Verde. Red flag - no swimming!

Outside Valparaiso harbour. Again not alowed to reach the lighthouse..

Seeing that my 'fishing expedition' wasn't off to a great start, I focused even more on looking for good marks in the South. We had booked a room in Puerto Montt and one area in particular, towards the Southeast stood out. Now Puerto Montt is situated at the northern end of the Reloncavi Sound, thus well protected from the Pacific swells, and the area that got my attention was the coastline near La Arena. It is there that the Reloncavi fjord meets the Sound and from the look of it a typical fish-holding mark, very similar to marks I have here! Moreover the South is very tidal and thus even more similar to here...
On the first day at Puerto Montt, I explained to my brother that we were here for business (meaning fishing) and he should quit his moaning and get on with it! We rented a car (a must in my opinion) and soon headed off to La Arena. On close inspection, the point was looking very fishy, with deep waters close in and rough/rocky ground, but the main problem was that the rocky shore was just too abrupt and the point too heavily forested to allow for easy (or even moderate) access. Not being in a mood for mountaineering, and not having a machete with me (!) we decided to have a couple empanadas (loco queso) which surprisingly doesn't translate as crazy cheese but instead means abalone and cheese! After our snack we headed a couple miles back the road we came from and I picked a precipitous, rocky spot to start fishing. I decided to take only my Spro Mobile Stick with me, just so I could 'scratch' around for what was there. I put on a 7g metal and started casting around. It didn't take long and soon after getting unstuck from a snag, I got a hit, and the fish cut me off straight away! This was repeated a few more times and I had to raise my leaders length and diameter (2m of 10lbs) while only having 0.4 PE mainline... I persisted with metals and soon got a fish on that stuck this time. It fought with short but explosive runs towards the bottom and soon after a dark shape came to the surface thrashing violently. I pulled the fish up by the leader and was looking at it like it was alien.. Something between a wrasse and a blenny, with teeth and soft, leathery skin (though with rough scales if stroking towards the head). Almost impossible to handle/hold with bare hands as well. It was clearly a larger specimen of the little fish I caught in Valparaiso harbour and the place proved to be full of them! After a bit of research I found the fish's name being rollizo (Pinguipes chilensis) or Chilean sandperch in English. I kept fishing for a couple more hours, trying many different lures and presentations, but they seemed to be unfussy fish with a very healthy aggressive instinct. A true rockfish! Below some pics and the video of my first serious rock fishing session.

The rocky point at La Arena.

Too dificult to climb.

The mark I fished! Hairy descent...

My first good rollizo!

Plain coloured curly tails proved extremely successful.

Thick rubbery lips, teeth and an attitude to match its appearance..

 

So my first day on the South seemed to live up to expectations although it was clear that I would have to find a thicker mainline and this proved much harder than anticipated...

To be continued...

Gear used.
Rod: Spro Mobile Stick 80UL
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000FC
Mainline: YGK G Soul X3 braid 0.4PE
leader: Toray premium fluorocarbon, 6lbs then switched to Pline Halo 10lbs.
lure: Various