Chilean Kilt Fishing Chaos (Hardwear Sessions)

By Timothy I Metz

It was time for an off-season Southern Hemisphere jaunt and no one has lived until they've strapped on a Mountain Kilt and waded in an ice cold Chilean coastal river in search of wild trout. To make things more exciting, try racing a rapidly approaching high tide that is threatening to drown you and the pool you are working and then you are talking about some fun!

We started the day just trying to find the river itself. It was running out of a wide fjord that was loaded with channels, so trying to pick the right one was shall we say...a challenge. Of course we could have hiked the banks, but bushwhacking through deadfall and boulders in a thick Chilean bamboo forest...with a Mountain Kilt on no less...was a challenge in its own right. At least we were heading in the right direction...upstream and away from the boat that got us there in the first place. That is because my buddy found out the hard way that there is no holding tank to keep things contained when one flushes the onboard toilet! Needless to say, we did not gather any mussels for dinner from the downstream rocks after that little adventure!

Finally we came to the mouth of the river and saw some fat salmon and trout holding in the channel. No sooner were we rigged up and casting when the tide started ripping in and FAST! We pulled in the lines and high tailed it up river as fast as we could go. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing beat the tide to the pool before it buries it. We finally came to a nice pool at the base of a beautiful cobble strewn riffle. Swinging streamers off the lip into the clear, green water of the pool brought some fat rainbows to hand for all of us. After getting our fill of the fish (and very sore arms to boot), it was time to head back to camp and the hot springs that were waiting for us there.

There is nothing like pounding your body all day long and then wrapping it up with an ice cold cerveza and a dip in a natural hot spring. The bliss session was on as we sank the tired bods into the soothing hot waters. As the stars filled the wide, clear southern sky ("Hey, why is Orion upside down? Oh yeah.") we drifted off into a dream state.

So to answer the classic question...does one go commando when fishing in one's Mountain Kilt? Aye Laddie...but with the privacy flap closed of course!

Cheers Mates!