On the far side of the river we traverse on a battered ranch road past weatherworn driftwood fence posts that look overmatched for the harsh Patagonian weather. Here and there sleek horses eye us from the shade of Lombardi poplars or sheep blurt and scatter in dust clouds through the sparse yellow vegetation. This is the steppe, the hard, arid stretch of land that defines the east slope of the Andes. Nature has provided little more than wind and a small collection of sparse thorn covered plants. Few are the gauchos that brave the elements to eek out a living raising sheep and cattle on this hostile landscape. Those that have spent a lifetime riding the steppe look as hard and tired as the landscape itself.
Passing through a rickety wire gate we pass in front of the ramshackle house of a gaucho. It’s made from a combination of brick, driftwood, half a billboard, and sheets of rusted out corrugated metal that’s used for both roof and walls. We park under a row of 150-foot tall poplars five feet in diameter at their bases. These poplars, planted as wind blocks, are strewn across the landscape denoting all the locations these souls once tried to make a go of life on the steppe. More often than not the only thing left around the trees are broken down corrals and the square foundation of a bygone dream.
Richard has taken me to one of his favorite spots. From the gaucho’s house we follow sheep trail along a steep hillside bank. With the high afternoon sun we should be able to look down on the broad flat stretch of river and spot fish. As we walk Richard tells me he hooked thirteen fish in the run one day late last season. He also tells me the smallest was 2.5 kilos, about six pounds.
The Limay doesn’t have the name recognition of Tierra Del Fuego’s Rio Grande, but it does have comparable fish to the huge sea run browns at the end of the earth. Like most Argentine rivers the Limay begins in a lake. The Limay’s headwaters are Lago Nahuel Huapi, the largest lake in Northern Patagonia. Size seems to matter according to Argentine fisherman who claim that the bigger the lake feeding the river the bigger the fish in the river. Limay trout, both rainbows and browns, can run up to 20 pounds. Fish from 8-12 pounds are more common and even though the sea run browns of TDF are bigger, more than a few guides who fish both areas prefer the hard fighting Limay browns.
With weather into the 80’s the past week and water running low and warm after a dry summer in Patagonia we only see a few dark outlines hunkered down in the depth of the run. Even low and slow the Limay is big water. The valley forces the river into one deep narrow channel.