Bariloche is the easiest place in Argentine Patagonia to get to and one of the hardest to fish well without help. The water is spread across two watersheds, the seasons run in opposite directions on each, and the difference between a good day and a blank one is usually knowing which section to be on that week.

Juan has run Bariloche Fishing Services single-handed out of Dina Huapi for years. He guides every trip personally — there is no roster of staff guides, no chance of being handed to someone you have not spoken to. That matters more than it sounds: the person answering the brief is the person in the boat.

The Upper Limay is his headline water. It is divided into roughly four sections of about 15 km each, which is what makes a two- or three-day float possible: different stretches on consecutive days, with the option of one or two nights camping on the riverbank. From mid-March through May the river turns over to large migratory browns and rainbows moving up from the Alicurá reservoir. It is a technical fishery and Juan is direct about who it suits — intermediate and advanced anglers who can put a fly where it needs to go.

Late November through roughly the third week of January is the other half of the season, and a completely different kind of fishing. The Manso and the smaller lakes and rivers of the Pacific watershed inside Nahuel Huapi National Park fish best on dry flies then, in water clear enough to watch the take. Alicurá Lake itself — a large reservoir on the Limay system — makes a good add-on day for anyone who wants a change of scale.

Juan also manages a small boutique hotel on the lakeshore, which is the quiet advantage here: airport transfer, a bed, the fishing and every piece of local logistics can come from one person instead of four.