Villa Maria End of Season Report

A long season has just finished at Villa Maria Lodge and I can now say that I am sad it passed so quickly. This season was one of the best ever, not only in number of catches but also in sizes. We have seen weekly average weights as high as 12.62 lbs, with the total average of the season rounding the 11.2 lbs. We landed lots of personal records such as the huge male I caught in Francisco Pool that was 1 meter long and 62 cms width and took the 30 lbs scale to the bottom, another 30 pounder was caught by Mario Tiedeman in Horseshoe Pool. 

The number of catches of fish over 15 lbs was unbelievable and even harder to believe was the amount of fish over 20 lbs, not to mention the fish landed that weighted between 28 and 30 lbs!! This season we caught 1137 fish, with a maximum of six rods fishing each week from mid December to mid April. Out of this total number of fish caught, 231 fish were 15 lbs or bigger and 117 fish were 20lbs or bigger. 

As for the conditions in which we fished, the 2008-09 season was defined mostly by the low level of the river, with very little rainfall from November to March. It was not until late March that river increased its level considerably, after a couple of weeks of consistent rainfall. Then, at the beginning of April, the river started to come up giving us the chance to finish the season with high water and fresh runs of silver fish coming into the river. 

Today, Villa Maria Lodge staff would like to thank all those guests who visited us this fantastic season and we are already looking forward to seeing you again next season here at Villa Maria Lodge! 

Alejandro Bianchetti 
Fishing Manager 
Villa Maria Lodge - Rio Grande