San Antonio de Areco, Argentina

I was just in Argentina for a few weeks and spent a majority of my time in Patagonia. In lieu of spending my final three days in Buenos Aires (I spent my first two and a half days of this trip in Buenos Aires) I was told about a great little town a few hours drive from Buenos Aires. I found a hotel in San Antonio de Areco and canceled my room in Buenos Aires...

My hotel was, Posada de la Plaza. It's a charming hotel and San Antonio is a wonderful small town. Men, older generally, went out of their way to start conversations with me when I was out in town and often either asked me to join them at dinner or lunch or joined me for a cafe con leche in the late morning at an outside table in front of a bar.

Argentine food is also a real treat. With Spanish and Italian influences, the food in Areco is fantastic.

It was a surreal experience. From the architecture to the people, I left San Antonio de Areco absolutely blown away and wanting to go back...

Here are images from my short time in San Antonio de Areco:

Empanadas & Malbec

A feast with Diego and Antonio. They are kind and gracious men who went out of their way to show me their town. Antonio (pictured on the right) owns this restaurant on the outskirts of town and hosted me to an asado lunch. Empanadas as starters followed by a tortilla (think quiche) and then asado...

Asado

Hotel Posada de la Plaza

The FlyFish Journal Issue 7.4

I'm excited to have a bunch of work in the new The FlyFish Journal including a feature (photography only) on Cuba. The Cuba piece was shot last February on a trip to Havana and the Cuban marine archipelago, Jardines De La Reina. It was my second trip there.
The piece was written by Sarah Grigg who happened, I believe, to have done the same trip as me a month prior.

A feature story (photography) in issue 7.4, summer 2016, of The FlyFish Journal on Cuba. Written by Sarah Grigg.

Here's a larger version of the above image. The shot was taken along the Malecon in Havana on a relatively cool winter's day. I like that the driver is looking forward and that the hand of the driver's side passenger is slightly visible.

Malecon. Havana, Cuba. 2016.

Cape Blanco, Oregon

I just got back from a week long camping trip on the Oregon coast. Lots of wind and a bit cool but beautiful in so many ways.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

East Cape. Baja, Mexico

I just got back from a quick 4 day trip down to the East Cape in Baja, Mexico. We were on a quest to catch roosterfish from the beach without a teaser rod. This was my fourth trip like this and to put it simply, it just is not easy to accomplish getting a rooster from the beach. We knew that though and that is perhaps one of the greatest parts of the trip. Put in your time before the trip tying and researching. Spend every minute you have with good light on the beach hoping for something to happen and then hope the fish are responsive.

We saw quite a few fish but had no bait in the way of sardines or mullet. The roosters seemed pretty interested in tracking down the large schools of ladyfish though. We had papa gallo (big roosterfish) crashing within feet of the beach, combed up, and on a mission to track down ladyfish multiple times. When it happens, it happens fast. We just could not seal the deal with our fly...

It's still a great trip though. The people in Baja Sur are friendly. The fact that it's such a hard feat--getting a roosterfish from the beach--to accomplish, makes it even more worthwhile to me.

East Cape cactus.

Mini Super and last light. La Ribera.

Portrait of a man smoking in La Ribera.

We had clouds and some wind which made spotting fish a bit more challenging.

A woman, panga and mangos. La Ribera.

The ubiquitous needlefish.

Sunrise

An East Cape dirt road.

Roosterfish within range...

Hands of a fisherman. Cabo Pulmo.

Cabo Pulmo sunrise.

Moonrise

Our first night in a cheap hotel in Boise. One of us lost the coin toss and was relegated to the floor.

Cuba B-Sides

About a year ago I first visited Cuba and after that trip I put together a group of black and white images I called B-Sides. I just got back from my second trip to Cuba and here is my collection of B-Sides from this year.

To me, the B-sides are images that I did not select my first time through. I generally look at my images a little different my second time. I whittle them down by trashing a bunch and fewer are left standing and I'm generally looking for something more subtle that will work in black and white. For whatever reason fewer fishing images end up in this group.

Click on any of the images to enlarge.

Jardines de La Reina Cuba I

Planes, boats and automobiles. I just got back from my second trip down to Cuba and Jardines de La Reina marine archipelago. For a country that is located so close to the US, it's still two entire travel days to get from my home in Idaho to Jardines. Is it worth it? If you are dying to get to Cuba and visit Havana for a few days and you also happen to love saltwater flats fishing your answer is probably yes. Things can go wrong in Cuba beyond the standard food poisoning though. Hotel reservations lost. Unplanned and long travel delays. Stolen luggage at the airport. Don't get me wrong, Cuba is a relatively safe country but these kinks seem to be more prevalent in Cuba than elsewhere.

If you are willing to cope with these relatively benign, albeit painstakingly frustrating, bumps in the road you may find that fishing uncrowded flats with just your friends in sight is well worth the hassle. Also, Cuba is bound to change with the increased interest, mainly among Americans, to visit. Major changes seem imminent and getting a glimpse now or even a few years ago will undoubtedly be substantially different than whatever the Havana will be in 15 or so years.

With all of that said, bumps in the road often lead to better stories and wilder memories... I have just started to sort through my images from the trip and here are just a few. Double-Click any of the images to enlarge:

Bonefish

Winds were 55 knots on our way back from Jardines.

Woman. Júcaro, Cuba.

Young girl. Júcaro, Cuba.

Bar. Júcaro.

Sunset and horizon. Jardines de La Reina.

A bow to the tarpon. Eric Lyon hooked up in the mangroves.

Artist Ed Anderson strums his custom, tarpon-skin ukulele. Jardines de La Reina.


Chilean Patagonia Images

Here's a slideshow from my recent trip down to Chile. I stayed at Los Torreones Lodge with the owners, the Salas family, and was blown away by their kindness and work ethic. They brought me into their lives for over two weeks and tolerated my energy and busting into their kitchen looking for mate and coffee each morning.

A small lodge with a lifelong dedication to fishing, it's located on the Simpson River, Los Torreones is also a small ranch with chickens, geese, pigs, sheep, goats, alpacas, horses... Pancho Salas, the owner and patriarch has been guiding in Northern Patagonia since 1984 and his four kids were all raised in the Simpson River Valley. Three of those kids are guides themselves and probably wouldn't take kindly to being called, kids... Grown and confident and knowledgeable and just fun to be with, I would gladly spend a week or more on the water with any of them.

I am working on a story on the Salas family and Northern Patagonia that will be published in the months ahead. More to come...

A Patagonia Moment

The days are long in Patagonia during the summer months. There's hazy predawn light just after 5:15 am and it's easy to be on the water with plenty of light to see at 10:30 pm. When the days are warmer in late December and early January there is an evening hatch and it's worth postponing dinner until 11:15 or so and that Chilean wine tastes even better after having witnessed sippers eating caddis and mayflies...

A well prepped moment during an evening hatch. Angler John Mullen got the right idea from Chilean guide Pancho Salas.

Chilean Patagonia II

I just got back from a trip down to the Chilean side of Patagonia. I'll be posting many images in the days to come from the trip. I stayed at Los Torreones Lodge with Pancho Salas and his family who let me into their day to day lives. The trip was incredible beyond just the fishing and without the kindness and generosity of Pancho's entire family I would never have seen many aspects of life in Patagonia.

A typical Patagonia dirt road near Los Torrenes Lodge.

Guide Sebastian Salas, after putting us on a rising rainbow, rowed the pontoon boat over to a patch of sweet yellow raspberries. Sebastian was born and raised in the Simpson River Valley in Patagonia. He is one of three brothers who guide this area.

When something needs to get done, it gets done. Pancho Salas gives his son Sebastian a hand at shoeing a horse.

The ubiquitous ibises. Their call could be and can be heard from all over Chilean Patagonia.

Matte. While it's not as de rigueur as in Argentina, it's still consumed a bunch in Patagonia.

Pancho Salas nets a rainbow at the end of a great and long Chilean summer day.

Cuba B-Sides II

Here are a some overlooked images from my trip to Cuba earlier this winter. Double-click on any image to enlarge:

Central Cuba Highway. Two lanes with more pot holes, walkers, bikers and horse-carriages than cars.

Woman. Jucaró, Cuba..

Two Men. Jucaró.

Portrait Of A Man. St. Louis Cardinals Fan. Central Cuba.

Jucaró, Cuba.

Bemba. Fly Fishing Guide. Jardines De La Reina, Cuba.

Woman. Havana, Cuba.

Man & Cigarette. Vieja Habana. Havana, Cuba.

Vieja Habana (Old Havana. A Neighborhood in Havana).

Havana

A Havana Taxi.

Capital Building. Havana.

Havana. Parque Central.

Woman Waving. Havana.

Havana Bus Stop.

Taxi Subframe. Havana.

Havana Street Corner.