NORTHBOUND IN NEUQUÉN

As the setting sun colored the basalt bluffs above the river in shades of orange, I linked arms with my guide, Gerardo Tsuji, and we waded into the frigid waters of the Río Reñileuvú, which were swollen from rain and snow the night before. Moments earlier, a hefty brown had eaten my streamer in the fast-moving current, but the fish had thrown the hook with a violent headshake. Gerardo, one of only a handful of guides in Patagonia’s remote northern Neuquén Province, was convinced that if we could reach the far bank, we would find another willing fish.

Trout are not native to Patagonia, but were introduced from the United States and Europe in the early 20th century under the direction of Argentina’s Ministry of Agriculture, which hired American fishery scientist John Titcomb to lead the effort. With no natural predators and little competition for food from native fish, trout have flourished, growing large quickly.

Today, these trout are widely protected by catch-and-release regulations, and anglers from around the world have flocked to southern Neuquén to chase them, ever since Joe Brooks, an American flyfisher and writer, imported the sport more than sixty years ago. Brooks introduced Argentina to the revolutionary double-haul, which assisted anglers in overcoming the Andes’ constant wind. He also shared innovative fly patterns that landed him and his Argentine cohorts record-size trout from the