Fishing at Potrerillos Dam

Ever since a while ago, anglers and fly-fishing enthusiasts have heard that Potrerillos Dam -located in the outskirts of the City of Mendoza on the way to the Chilean border- is an ideal fishery to catch large trout. A fishing contest called “One Fly” has been held at this spot for the last few years. This is a real excuse for fans to come along from all nooks in the Province of Mendoza and also from the rest of the country to test the properties of this new fishing environment that is gaining more and more followers and well deserves to be a tourist destination for holidaymakers. Potrerillos Dam is the result of a majestic engineering work that managed to contain the waters of the Mendoza River in a large dam. This river used to have a considerable rainbow trout population that soon became adapted to the new reservoir and even reached unthinkable weights for this species in this area of Mendoza. Unlike what happened in other environments, where it was necessary to carry out exhaustive fish farming and pisciculture works, at Potrerillos Dam nature did its work and as a result, today it is possible to catch large trout. It is usual to see anglers wearing waders, which let them move around and cast from inside the water.

It is years since this site has been approved and controlled by Asociación Mendocina de Pesca con Mosca (AMPM), which in addition to organizing the famous “One Fly” contest is in charge of developing intensive tasks to protect and carry out research in this fishing environment. One of the features of Potrerillos Dam is its crystal-clear light-blue waters. When it comes to fishing, it is curious to see anglers casting their flies in the bays, where the trout usually eat. One Fly In the last competitions held, there were two categories: fishing from the shore and fishing on board. In both of them, each angler was supposed to choose a fly and fish with it, thus placing their luck in only one lure. The lake, which usually features dead calm due to the absence of wind and the surrounding geographical features, starts to get crowded with anglers that concentrate on their job and search for the largest trout ever in order to win the competition. In the last issues of this event, almost 100 fans took part along with their families, who supported them with color and joy from the shores. This way, this singular competition starts to occupy a date in the angling agenda of Mendoza. Brown and rainbow trout were the trouts that bit the flies of the lucky anglers. And the luckiest anglers are those living in Mendoza, who may fish all throughout this province year round in different environments including rivers and lakes. At present, Potrerillos is an ideal destination to fish with the family. Considering the weights of its trouts, very soon this place will be becoming a real cradle of trophies, like many Patagonian environments used to be in the past. Potrerillos is at its zenith. And remember that it is essential to catch and release, so that we can keep fishing forever.