Hello and welcome !
Just wondering , what can you tell us about lago Strobel and the surounding area ? It looks amazing !
It appears as if there are quite a few lakes in the vicinity of Strobel , are they similar in being jam packed with monster rainbows ?
I would like to venture there on my own rather than pay Loop 4000+ Euros for a few days.
Thanks !
First of all, never fished that lake, but I know a couple of things about it.
It is absolutely of public domain, the problem is access.
It is surrounded by many farms and in general, their owners have no problem at all to let people access the lake through some vecinal roads as long as you ask them before.
Loop operation is only at the discharge of Barrancoso river on the lake which, by the way, is against the regulations as you may see on the pdf file.
The roads are usually closed by wooden fences with chains and a lock. The key for that lock is in the hands of the farm owners who live in Puerto San Julian, Rio Gallegos or Gobernador Gregores. Some fences may be open all the time anyway.
If you wish to get there on your own, you sure need a 4x4 truck. Roads are full of deep bumps and volcanic stones.
The lake has trout since 40-50 years ago taken from Cardiel lake but the "huge trout" are what we call danish rainbows and were introduced about ten years ago. These fish are stocked fish, not my preference if you ask me.
The reason behind this particular introduction is that they grow like a genetically manufactured pig and a company called Arengus once expected to harvest them.
The business apparently didn't work so sport fishing was next.
Here you can visit the blog of a good friend who went there just asking the proper permission.
http://gigantesdesantacruz.blogspot.com/Surrounding Strobel there are many smaller lakes and lagoons all of volcanic origin. Some of them with big trout but perhaps not that big.
The basin is endorreic and the food is basically scuds. The question remains whether Strobel will suffer the same fate of Cardiel. A lake once filled with huge trout but today, full of small, slim fish due to food shortage. Happens that all these lakes never had a single fish before trout introduction. Instead of the "biological sensation" portrayed by Loop, there are good chances this is a biological disaster.
Bottom line, can you get there on your own?
yes and perhaps for free, but you should know someone in the area taking care of these permissions beforehand.
Again the problem is access. Being waters of public domain, we all should have an open access to the lake. Cardiel Lake, in the vicinity, does have one. But public officers are sitting on their hands meanwhile.
This is not to say: hey go there on your own, dont pay Loop that much money!
Everyone knows what is willing/ unwilling to do.
All this is to let you guys know the full picture of things so none can pull your legs.
Guille
Author
Topic: Jurassic Lake - Patagonia (Read 10056 times)