Jurassic Lake
Looking to target some of the world’s largest rainbow trout?
When we fished Jurassic Lake, we found ourselves split between Lago Strobel (commonly referred to as Jurassic Lake) and the Barroncoso River – the lake’s main tributary. We were fishing for rainbow trout – the only species present – but it felt like two completely different fisheries.
The Fishing
The lake offers world-class fishing from wind-swept shorelines; along craggy cliff structures and gravel beaches, blind-casting (and sometimes sight-fishing) for massive rainbow trout. The Barroncoso River, which drains into the lake where Jurassic Lake Lodge is situated, offers world-class fishing in beautifully, swift pocketwater and excellent nymphing and dry fly fishing opportunities for massive rainbow trout. The fact that Jurassic Lake Lodge has access to 90% of the Barrancoso River, in addition to the best beats in the lake itself, makes it THE lodge to fish if you’re nuts about rainbow trout.
Jurassic Lake’s rainbow trout grow big – up to 25lbs and more, on a diet of small scuds. They can be caught on all manner of flies and techniques, however. And this makes the fishing worthwhile. There’s always that 20lb+ trophy fish to look for, but you can always mix it up and do your own thing. That’s what we did: We caught so many fish that we ended up fishing big dry flies exclusively. And we experienced some of the most spectacular dry fly eats we’ve ever had. How often do you get to catch immaculate 15lb+ rainbow trout on dry flies?
The Gear
Generally speaking, 9,6 – 10’ #6-8 fly rods that are capable of handling turbulent winds will be useful, but if you’re lucky enough to experience calm days, you shouldn’t rob yourself of the opportunity to fish a 9’ #4/5 – so bring one just in case. If you’re rather unexperienced when it comes to fishing in heavy winds, you might consider heavy shooting heads – if necessary, in combination with switch- or light double-handed rods. Because even though the fish usually patrol the shorelines, sometimes they’ll hang around the drop offs, and then you’ll need long casts to reach them.
The fly reels should have stable, low-inertia brake systems, and they should be able to pack a WF-fly line and 100-150 meters of backing. You’ll mostly be using floating lines, but intermediate lines are great when fishing streamers or nymphs in heavy seas. When doing that, you’ll typically be using fluorocarbon leaders with 0,20 – 0,28mm tippets. Otherwise, when fishing dries, nylon leaders and tippets are to be preferred. Bring along even lighter tippet materials for the odd, windless and sunny day, but never fish lighter tippets than necessary. Remember: Jurassic Lake produces enormous fish, and they are super-powerful!
The flies, that are typically used at Jurassic Lake, are a mix of olive-, white-, grey-, and black streamers ranging in size from 2 – 10, and #8 – 14 nymphs and scud imitations in similar colours – preferably with lively rubber legs. The best dry flies are big and buoyant. Chernobyl Ants and similar foam-dry flies with rubber legs and big, white wings of deer hair work impeccably. At the same time, they’re highly visible when fished at a distance. The common denominator for all of the flies is that they need to be tied on X-strong hooks. Otherwise, they will get straightened out by the bigger fish in the lake.
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