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