Steve Edge takes on Patagonia

Steve recently got back from a fishing expedition in Patagonia, Chile. He had an incredible time! The photos he came back with were jaw-dropping, but it seems the realities of the trip were far less pretty…

Steve was going to Chile to catch the big one – the King Salmon. He’d heard tales that they lived in deep pools at the very bottom of tempestuous riverbeds. When Steve saw the river – a beautiful aqua marine blue, but frighteningly fast flowing – he panicked at the thought of landing what lay beneath.

Getting to camp entailed a three-day journey – an expedition in itself! From London, Steve flew to Sao Paolo, then to Santiago before taking a third plane to Puerto Montt. Once there, he alternated between ferries, cars, trucks, boats, horses and mountain climbing before reaching his final destination.

The environment was incredibly hostile. One moment the sun would be burningly ablaze, and the next a teeth-shattering wind would whip up while it poured for days. There’s no middle ground in places like these but, if you’re lucky enough not to fall victim to the extremity of the climate, the horse flies will be sure to get you! As big as bumble bees, a posse of about 100 constantly buzzed around Steve as they attempted to penetrate through layers of his clothes to reach his skin. His hands were constantly covered in blood – his own, unfortunately – not theirs! The horse flies really were unstoppable.

The extreme and ever-changing weather conditions meant that Steve had to arrive prepared for anything. His kit had everything from a selection of rods, reels and different types of layering systems to climbing equipment ranging from a toothpick to a tube of Savlon. As you can imagine, there’s no local supermarket if you found you’d forgotten something…

Fishing in a Jurassic landscape

Finally, Steve was ready to start what he came there for. The fishing was tough, he said, but the stunning surroundings made complaining hard. It was a truly Jurassic landscape and the prospect of landing a monster like the King Salmon played teasingly on Steve’s mind.

A monster was indeed caught! And luckily for Steve, he caught it, on the first morning of the trip. But the salmon knew every trick it the book; touching on 75 pounds in weight, it took all 350m of Steve’s fly reel backing. After what felt like an eternity, Steve eventually landed it!

The fish was as big as the tunas you may have seen on TV. One of the differences being that he caught the salmon in sweet water, not salt. After cooing and awing at the reality of the mythical monster he’d caught, as always, Steve put her back in her rightful place where she belonged.

That night, Steve and his fellow fishermen celebrated into the night fuelled by the excitement of having landed such a legendary fish. When Steve returned back to London, he was still in shock over his big catch.

He loved his trip to Patagonia. It was incredible, he affirms, but also incredibly painful and tiring; it demanded a lot of endurance just to tackle such extreme conditions.

He won’t be returning back in a rush but there’s no denying that it was all worth it.