I received a phone call yesterday from the general manager of Mawidako Lodge in Northern Argentina. Mawidako means “water from the Cordillera Mountains” in mapuche which is the traditional Indian language in the Andes and Mawidako is a unique eco-friendly fly fishing lodge in the Mendoza Province of Northern Argentina that will be starting its first season of operation in January 2011.

Located 2,000 meters above sea level and surrounded by the magnificent scenery of the Andes Mountains, the lodge can accommodate up to 6 anglers in Mongolian yurts that sleep 2 people each and it is located alongside rivers in an undisclosed location that is only accessible by horseback from January through April.

Getting to the lodge is an adventure in itself as the trip begins with a 5 hour drive by 4×4 from Mendoza. At the end of the drive guests then switch to horseback and are taken the final steps into the valley guided by local gauchos. Pack horses are used to transport all the necessary supplies for the stay and the staff make sure nothing is overlooked in terms of creature comforts, gourmet food and fines wines from the region.

The lodge is furnished with leather carpets, oil lamps and natural wool blankets with service done in traditional dress. Indeed, nothing has been left to chance as this lodge was created with comfort in mind.

The rivers running through this region have virtually no fishing pressure and they are full of brown, rainbow and brook trout that are fished with dry flies, sinking nymphs and streamers. The general manager explained that while anglers will catch larger fish elsewhere the typical day at Mawidako is 20-30 fish per angler that average 1-2 lbs. He also noted that professional fishing guides from Mendoza are assigned for every 2-3 anglers and the lodge supports catch & release.

The lodge is still working out final details regarding pricing but it will include all transfers to and from Mendoza to the lodge, hotel accommodation in Mendoza heading in and coming out, food, alcohol and fishing guides.

Watch our site for details about this lodge in the coming months and remember that if you book this or any other destination through WILSON’S you pay the same as booking direct with the lodge but we give you a gift certificate worth 10% of the trip value to spend in our store ! To qualify for our travel incentive all you have to do is send us an email explaining where and when you want to go and we will have the lodge contact you directly to book your trip.

For details on Mawidako Lodge please go to www.mawidako.com/index.htm

I am pleased to see more frequent references to fly fishing in both advertising and mainstream media and the latest story to appear was an article in Saturday’s National Post entitled “Just You and the Trout” by Shelley Bindon. www.nationalpost.com/Just+trout/3453918/story.html

I received an email from a friend the other day explaining that if we had purchased $2,000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth about $98.00. If we had purchased stock in Enron, we would have had $33.00 left of the original $2,000.00.

With WorldCom, we would have had less than $10.00 left. Think about that… If we had purchased $2,000 of Delta Air Lines stock we would have less than $100 remaining.

But, if we had purchased a good fly rod and reel, a fishing license, all the flies we need for the season and $1,000.00 worth of wine, we could have spent the last year fly fishing, drank all the wine, then recycled the bottles and would still have the rod, the reel, great memories of relaxing days, lower blood pressure and about $100 to spend on more flies from refunds through recycling the bottles.

Based on the above, logic would dictate that in the event of economic downturns we should all cash out our stock portfolios, take up fly fishing, drink good wine and recycle!

This season’s Atlantic salmon runs to many rivers throughout Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces are breaking recent records according to counting facility reports by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). For further information please see http://asf.ca/news.php?id=561

“On Tuesday, the Pacific Salmon Commission dramatically revised its forecast for the Fraser River sockeye return this year. That would make this year’s run the strongest on the river since 1913. The bounty is especially welcome after a disastrous 2009 season when a little more than one million salmon made their way back to the river. In July, the commission had estimated the run – the peak of a four-year cycle – would number about 11 million. The new forecast cleared the way for the 32-hour commercial fishery on the river starting at noon on Wednesday. It will be followed with an aboriginal fishery this coming weekend. The unexpected bounty not only caught officials off guard but is testing the mettle of a once mighty industry…”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/huge-fraser-river-sockeye-bounty-catches-everyone-off-guard/article1685772/