Kau Tapen Lodge, Argentina

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Kau Tapen Lodge, Rio Grande, Argentina

First opened in 1985, Kau Tapen has been improved every year by the Carreraas family, who enjoy a loyal and almost fanatical clientele. At the foremost list of the world's best fishing lodges, Kau Tapen boasts spacious guest rooms in addition to convivial living and bar areas where guests will find elegant refuge from the out of doors.

This award winning lodge offers amenities such as massage, sauna and a steam room and drying rooms for wet gear. An acclaimed chef and house staff are experienced and anxious to serve. Fine Argentine wines are chosen to compliment each meal and menus will delight even the most discriminating palette.

Nothing could be more fitting than to successfully seek the rarest and most prized of anadromous fish--the giant sea-run brown trout--while enjoying a week of the "good life" that somehow belies your occupying the southernmost fishing lodge on earth. Reminiscent of the best salmon lodges on other grand rivers, Kau-Tapen, or "fishing house" in the native Ona Indian tongue, continues to hold great promise. The fishing here for sea-run brown trout is the very best the world has to offer, period. Tierra del Fuego itself is an awesome and beautiful land, and the view from the comfort of Kau-Tapen is of grasslands that roll and sweep across unbroken terrain, halted only by the jagged spires of the Andes that separate Argentina from Chile sevral miles upriver. 

The Fishing 
Unlike some anadromous fish, the sea-run brown trout tend to ascend the river in small schools, not in one or two large defined runs, so the fishing is productive throughout the season. In recent years, early weeks have typically produced 175 or so trout to 6 rods; on the high side, 400-600 to 8 or 12 rods. However, it should be noted that, like steelhead or Atlantic salmon, these are anadromous fish, and cycles of weather and conditions at sea still affect fishing productivity. Several days of hard rain could make the river unfishable, but it heals itself very quickly, usually overnight.

Accommodations
Kau-Tapen’s guests enjoy the exclusivity of an attractive wood-paneled lodge that is warm and beautifully appointed. Located within minutes of the best pools on the Rio Grande, it offers eight comfortable bedrooms, each with private bathroom, and is limited to twelve anglers per week. During "off" hours and between fishing sessions, guests congregate in the attractive living area, where stories are told, cocktails are served, and the productive flies of the day are discussed in comfort near a central fireplace. The dining schedule revolves around the most productive fishing hours and fine meals are served, exemplifying the hospitality of gracious Argentine hosts. 

Location
Built by its owners, the Carreras family, the lodge and its adjacent 25 kilometers of the Rio Grande is in the middle of the enormous working ranch that lies between the border of Chile and the sea. The Carreras property neighbors the huge holdings of the Jose Menendez and Maria Behety ranches, which are on the lower river, stretches where Joe Brooks and notable Argentine anglers first explored this fishing over forty years ago. 

2008 / 2009 Cost
For January, February, March and the first 2 weeks of April, the cost is $7,895 / per person, per week (prices subject to change) based on double occupancy accommodations and each two people sharing a guide. During this timeframe the minumum stay is 7 nights. For December, the cost is $5,400 per person. Please note that this price does not include Buenos Aires hotels and transfers. 

Single occupancy (single room / shared guide) cost is an additional $800 per week (subject to availability) and non-fishing is 40% less than rates noted above.

Season
Usually November through April, with prime time considered Christmas through late March. 

How To Get There
By air from Buenos Aires to Rio Grande, served by Aerolineas Argentinas and LAPA with flight time of approximately 4 hours.

Facilities and services

  • Capacity: 12 rods
  • Rooms: 9 en suite bedrooms 
  • Dining room, sitting room, bar, wading room, fly-tying table
  • SPA: sauna, finish shower, relax and massage area.
  • Telephone and internet access
  • Gourmet dining, with Argentina’s famed beef and fine wines, traditional Asados (BBQs) and delicious desserts
  • Maid and laundry service
  • Fly shop fully equipped with flies, rods, reels, lines, and suitable clothing and Argentine crafts
  • First class Professional international and Argentine guides. All our guides are able to give casting tuition with single and double handed rods (Spey casting)
  • Comfortable 4-wheel drive trucks fitted with rod racks and VHF radios
  • Unparalleled bird watching and rich wildlife ( flamingos, foxes, llama-like guanacos)

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