My Q&A's started as an idea to interview some of the memorable people I've met in fly fishing, both online as well as offline. Rather than a true interview I decided to keep it simple by asking a few Q&A's.
I first heard of Jorge Trucco in the early 2000's when I had contact with the Argentinean bamboo maker (retired since the mid 2010's) Marcelo Calviello. Marcelo was making bamboo rods, not using Tonkin bamboo like most but using the native bamboo, most probably Guadua. Later on I saw Jorge in the wonderful documentary 'Finding Joe Brooks' where he talks about the early pioneers of fly fishing in Patagonia.
Founding his guiding business Patagonia Outfitters in 1978, it's the oldest running guiding service in Patagonia. Being one of the first guides in Patagonia, Jorge has fished with and guided many well known names in fly fishing. Being part of history of fly fishing in Patagonia, Jorge is for sure a living legend.
We haven't met yet but it's on my to do list for the future. Let's get to know Jorge a little better!
“Since I was a child I felt attracted by the mystery of the water, whether rivers or seas. I had an attraction for fish in general. As a child I used to surf fish in salt water with bait. That’s the only form of fishing that I knew.
Until I discovered the existence of fly fishing by reading American Magazines and British publications that I found available in certain book stores in the City of Buenos Aires. I was a teenager and I tried to find people in Argentina who fly fished. Until in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s I found a small fraternity of fly fishers who would congregate at Palermo Park in the City of Buenos Aires on Saturday mornings.
“The Chimehuín was probably the first
Patagonian River to become world famous”
Some of them were the ones who brought Joe Brooks down in 1955 for the first time and were mentored by him. I learned from them. Their names were Jorge Donovan (he was the one who first met Joe Brooks at a fly-shop in New York and invited him to come down), Bebe Anchorena and Prince Charles Radziwill. They were much older than me (in their 50s then, I guess). They sort of adopted me, we became great friends and we would make a point in visiting the Patagonia Region several times a year, as often as we could, since that’s where we could find trout and salmon and fly fish for them.”
“Jorge Donovan and Bebe Anchorena were my first mentors, they were mentored by Joe Brooks. It was a time when there were no lodges, no guides, no outfitters and nobody floated the rivers. It was great.
Shortly after, I met Mel Krieger and we became close friends. Mel also mentored me: he taught me how to teach. I also learned a lot from Art Lee who I guided several years in a row in the ‘80s. Art was probably the finest dry-fly fisherman I had ever seen.
I also learned a lot from Lee and Joan Wulff on my visit to their place in Roscoe in the early ‘80s. I spent the entire day with them and they showed and explained to me countless things I had never seen: from “Triangular Taper” fly-lines that they were developing, to certain flies Lee tied, fishing techniques (i.e., the riffling hitch), rod styles, casting styles, etc.
“It was a time when there were no lodges, no guides, no
outfitters and nobody floated the rivers. It was great”
Lefty Kreh also inspired me greatly. I met him at a FFF Conclave in Steamboat Springs in 1979. We became good friends. I guided him in the rivers of Patagonia and I fell in love with his casting style which I carefully copied and replicated to the point that he was impressed.
I don´t want to forget Don Williams who I guided several years in a row starting in 1980. He was a professional guide in Livingston, Montana, he had a small fly-shop and he had been a close friend of Joe Brooks’. He may have even guided Joe Brooks. He was a phenomenal angler, and this is even an understatement. I was immensely impressed and so were Jorge Donovan and Bebe Anchorena when they saw him fish at the Boca of the Chimehuin. While guiding, I learned a lot from him, especially his way of reading the water.”
.jpg)
“Salmonids belong in the Northern Hemisphere, there were no salmonids in the Patagonian waters prior to their introduction that started in 1904. Francisco Moreno, a surveyor and enthusiastic explorer, fell under the spell of Patagonia early and occupies a pre-eminent place in the annals of the National Parks of Argentina as well as in the story of its fresh water fishing.
Moreno noted that relatively few interesting fish populated the lakes and streams, observed that the potential for a freshwater fishery was enormous. He suggested to the government that introducing fish to the area would be a wise venture.
The first introduction included whitefish, brook trout, lake trout, and landlocked Atlantic salmon. The whitefish disappeared. The following years through many shipments the rainbows, brooks and Atlantic salmon were planted widely and indiscriminately throughout Patagonia and flourished in almost every lake and stream into which they were introduced.
In 1910 this introduction program was halted for 20 years. However local established hatcheries continued raising and planting salmonids throughout Patagonia. Only in 1930 were the brown trout brought into Patagonia, and they came from hatcheries in Chile through an arrangement made by both the Argentine and the Chilean governments. The brown trout did indeed extremely well too. Also, it is said that some of the brown trout introduction came from Chile as the result of private initiative.”
4) Q: I first heard your name when I had contact in the early 2000’s with the now retired Argentinian bamboo rodmaker Marcelo Calviello. What was the goal of the collaboration?
In late 2003 I went to visit my friend Marcelo Calviello, whom I hadn’t seen for over a decade, at his home in Bella Vista, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. To my surprise he was making some very fine cane rods with an unusual ferrule of his own design.
The rod was made of native Argentine cane, and the ferrule was made of bamboo, pure bamboo; much like graphite rods are designed, the female portion of the ferrule was continuous with the butt end of the tip section by means of a hollow swell, whereas the male portion was simply the tip end of the butt section. Simple yet impressive! As soon as I saw this, I became very excited, I couldn’t help but to start giving ideas, improvements on ferrules, possible new tapers and what not.
The actual goal was just the joy and excitement of making fine rods with Argentine native bamboo and Marcelo’s ferrule system. He was the real rod maker; I was the tester. The canes we used to make the rods with came originally from somewhere in China or near China over 100 years back and were planted in areas around central Argentina and then left alone. They grew and spread throughout a vast area. I do not know the purpose or reason why those canes were introduced. Marcelo found them and started using them instead of classic Tonkin cane that was hard to come by.”
“That’s a tough question since there are so many great rivers, and so diverse. However, I would say that maybe the Chimehuin River envisions the essence of fishing in Argentina.
The Chimehuín was probably the first Patagonian River to become world famous and Joe Brooks played a key part in this. He started fishing and writing about the wonders of the browns and rainbows of the Chimehuín back in the 50s and 60s.
Historically it is the Chimehuín River that gave fishing in Patagonian its fame. Stories of great rainbows and monster browns were told and heard of repeatedly. The Chimehuín became a legend. I spent great part of my youth wading and fishing the Chimehuín in all its length, with dries, streamers and nymphs, and some of the biggest trout I’ve ever caught have come from it, as also some of my most unforgettable memories. This is also a magical river where monsters dwell, and one never knows when it's one's turn to catch them.”
6) Q: What is in your view the single most important skill to improve to become a better fly fisher(wo)man?
“I think the double haul is the most important skill if you want to improve to become a better fisherman. I think presentation is paramount, and the double haul gives you much better control of your line, even in short casts; and good line control enables better presentation.”
7) Q: It’s a bit odd to ask someone who lives in Patagonia, but maybe we might be surprised. What is your favorite fly fishing destination and what makes it so special?
“We anglers know that all rivers have their own traits, stories, legends: their own mystic. Throughout my life I’ve fished many of them and sometimes felt I was fishing with ghosts. The Traful, which Ernie Schwiebert called ‘The River of Spirits’ in his book ‘Remembrance of Rivers Past’, the Boca of the Chimehuin, the Malleo and have written and told stories about them all. “The Alta is a river of mystery and imagination,
magic and surprise, sacrifice and reward”
Nevertheless, one outshines them all: the River Alta in Northern Norway. There are various reasons why I believe the Alta is the most mystic and intriguing river I´ve ever fished. Firstly, it holds the largest Atlantic salmon on the planet; not easy to beat! Although its remoteness makes it hard to reach and access is difficult since most of it is private, it’s without a shadow of doubt an unforgettable experience. Mystery shrouds its overwhelming landscape, its striking rock formations, birch forests, aggressive rapids, deep pools and above all its incredible fish.
Alta in June, July or August means being in the land of the midnight sun. It never sets so fishing is from 8 pm to 4 am with a midnight lunch break, making it all the more mystifying. The Alta is a river of mystery and imagination, magic and surprise, sacrifice and reward. It’s definitely a river of memories. The spirits are there, with you, in every bend and pool. When you fish the Alta the feeling that something extraordinary is about to happen is always present, and it often does.
Everything is special, including the boats which are like very long wooden canoes worked by two guides. The one at the bow rows and helps as does the one at the stern, except when anglers aren´t fishing and he runs the engine. Fishermen usually share the rod and fish one at a time, taking turns on each beat or each fish landed. The size and strength of the Alta salmon is really incredible. To me, the Alta is the most exciting river.”
8) Q: Describe your ideal fishing day (type of water, species, alone or with a friend, etc.)
“I love to fish in salt water; I love to fish for salmon. But if I have to describe my ideal fishing day, I’m afraid I’ll have to say that it would be dry-fly fishing for browns and rainbows on some beautiful stream in Patagonia or the American west. Either sight fishing or prospecting by reading the water. I often fish alone; I love that feeling of solitude without loneliness. But if I had to fish with someone else, I may say that I really enjoy fishing with my son and grandsons.”
9) Q: What dish or food can we wake you up in the middle of the night?
“I love Patagonian lamb barbeque (asado); when we have it at our lodges for dinner, I often eat more than I should.”
10) Q: Final question. Where would you fish if it was the last time you would be able to fish?
“I’d fish the River Alta in Norway, for the reasons described above.”
Thank you Jorge!
Listen more what Jorge has to tell in this podcast by the Venturing Angler.
3) Q&A with Edoardo Scapin
4) Q&A with Hoagy Carmichael
5) Q&A with Jorge Trucco
6) Q&A with Per Brandin
7) Q&A with Jack Dennis
8) Q&A with Charles Jardine
9) Q&A with Christopher Rownes
10) Q&A with Leon Hanson
11) Q&A with Joe Messinger Jr.
12) Q&A with Mike Valla
13) Q&A with Larry Kenney
