Villa María is a spey fisherman’s paradise – long flat pools means less casting and more fishing. You will never feel crowded on the river.
Villa Maria Lodge sits on the famous lower section of the Rio Grande, where anglers have the good fortune of being first in line for chrome sea-run browns pushing into the system. Just above the tides, you’ll see seagulls whirl overhead and smell the estuary salt. The river here is a seasonal shape-shifter sculpted by powerful flows streaming off the Andes. Endless gravel bars, deep tanks, and massive runs are the norm. As for the fish, well they’re out of this world. On any given day, you can land a twenty pounder – it’s the place where dreams come true. Indeed it’s the site where the largest sea-run brown trout in the world live.
Why Choose Villa María Lodge
At Villa Maria, there is space for only six anglers and private access to 20km of the best fly water on the lower Rio Grande. It’s an exclusive haven for small groups of discerning anglers. Villa María is a spey fisherman’s paradise – long flat pools means less casting and more fishing. You will never feel crowded on the river. Their always two anglers per beat, and there are multiple pools per beat to fish. Each day you will switch beats and have an opportunity to fish new pools, and fresh runs and of course have the chance to swing over fresh incoming sea-trout. A large number of beats make it possible to find a pool where the wind is an advantage and not a hindrance.
Each week starts with an evening warm-up session – most anglers will catch a trout or two the first night they arrive. There is a cabin on the river bank to maximize your time on the river where you can enjoy a wonderful lunch and catch a well-deserved siesta. The location of the cabin to the river allows you to maximize your time on the water. It also provides a stunning setting in the wilds of Tierra del Fuego which enables anglers to fish more and drive less.
Villa Maria provides legendary service and hospitality for our customers. Over eighty percent of our anglers are repeat guests, and the majority of our new anglers are referrals. Villa Maria provides an À la carte menu, five-star accommodations, and excellent equipment, that means you’ll be fishing in both style and comfort. We also provide you with a mix of the world’s best guides, both local and international, to make sure we combine local knowledge with world-class technique. Guides rotate each day – you learn more and enjoy more that way.
The Lodge
Villa Maria Lodge is on the Jose Menendez Estancia. This property dates back to 1894 and once supported a bustling village of family and laborers who operated the sheep ranching business. The Menendez property also played host to a notable employee—slaughterhouse manager John Goodall, who’s famous for planting the first trout in our local rivers. Still surrounded by more than 120,000 acres of grazing land, and is again hosting 40,000 sheep plus 1,500 head of cattle, the property sits close to the mighty Rio Grande river and looks like a tidy movie set, with white picket fences and colorful flower gardens. The lodge building that is now Villa Maria was once the ranch manager’s family home. In recent years it’s been completely transformed into a modern fishing escape.
The lodge features six en-suite double and single rooms, smart furnishings, and spacious and gracious living areas. Delicious meals are prepared daily by the lodge’s dedicated chef.
At the end of each day, a roaring fire and well-stocked bar will welcome you back from your day’s adventures. Villa Maria’s tackle shop carries Sage rods, quality reels, flies, and fly lines, clothing, and other on and off water gifts and essentials. Guests have the full use of the lodge’s fly-tying table and gear storage rooms. If one lodge wasn’t enough, Villa Maria also boasts a riverside day house that’s used to augment the fishing rotation. The day lodge has three cozy rooms perfect for midday siestas. Its convenient location increases fishing time and gives our anglers a place to relax after enjoying midday lunches, such as steak or lamb cooked over open coals.
Food and Drink
At Nervous Waters, our kitchens come to life through the use of fresh and regionally representative meats and produce. By combining these elements, we create delicious flavors and varied textures that harbor hidden stories and package traditions on each plate. A top-notch team of experienced national and international chefs, trained in both classic and avant-garde culinary techniques, execute our food. With an artisan’s touch, chefs prepare every dish from scratch to be served at a minute’s notice. At Villa Maria lodge you’ll enjoy fresh pastas and fire-roasted meats like our famous Patagonian lamb, roasted gaucho-style over charcoal embers, alongside ocean-fresh flavors such as King crab. Don’t forget to save room for dessert. From homemade ice creams to classic sweets and pastries, we have you covered. Finally, we feel that the food we serve and the wines we pour should mirror the sporting opportunities we offer. Wines from Bodega Catena Zapata blend perfectly. These are renowned wines that compete on the world stage. They hold a special place in our culture, and we’re proud to serve them to you.
Location
The lodge is located on the Rio Grande, in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina; just a few miles upstream of the South Atlantic. In the modern era, starting with the opening of Kau Tapen Lodge in the early ’80s, the Rio Grande has become the most productive sea-run brown trout fishery in the world. While trout numbers annually fluctuate with conditions in the river and at sea, a fish or two a day is the norm, and 6- to 8-fish days are a regular occurrence.
The Rio Grande flows from west to east, from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean, through approximately 60 miles of Argentine territory. The landscape of Tierra del Fuego is reminiscent of Wyoming or the Scottish low country. It includes sparsely populated wilderness, large sheep farming estancias, and wild herds of llama-like Guanacos, as well as plentiful red fox populations and soaring condors.
