The winter months from December through March can be long and dreary for the outdoorsman and trout fisherman. These same months are the height of summer and trout fishing season in the southern hemisphere—Chile's Patagonia. Fishing here is unmatched, with aerobatic rainbow, huge brown trout, and king and silver salmon available in a variety of settings and waters backdropped by the spectacular peaks and glaciers of the towering Andes Mountains.

As fantastic as the fishing is, a trip to Chile offers much much, more. Chile is a stunningly beautiful place where the landscape is still as pristine as it was when the first Spanish explorers visited, centuries ago, yet modern technology abounds.

On any givern day in Chile, anglers might cast to rainbow, brown, brook and steelhead trout.

It is a place often described as the best of Alaska and New Zealand combined, with mountain peaks higher than the Rockies and filled with plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth. In the fishing areas it is as common to see a huge waterfall as it is to see a thousand acres of wildflowers. And perhaps most importantly to an angler, on any given day when you present a fly to a rising trout, you are probably standing in a spot where no fisherman has ever stood.

In these pages you will find our recommendations for the two best fishing lodges in all of Argentine or Chilean Patagonia(both are in Chile). Many visits to these lodges (and many others we choose not to represent) have given us the knowledge to make your trip the most productive and memorable adventure of your life.

Please click on “The Fishing,” “Slide Show,” etc. in the tan navigation bar immediately above — these pages contain much more detailed information and lots of photos to better acquaint you with the programs.