Chi Wulff’s People of Fly Fishing: 10 Questions with Gerardo Ortiz and PatagoniaNation, Santiago, Chile (Part 1)

by Mark McGlothlin on June 17, 2012

in People of Fly Fishing

You know a fly fishing video is good when your less-than-vehemently fishy wife makes a comment days later about it.

Friday night She Who Must Be Obeyed and I were at Jake’s place in Bozeman trying to wash off a bit of road burn from the 700+ mile run from Olympia to Bozeman. We were kicking back with a very nice, locally brewed Salmon Fly Honey Rye and Jake slipped in Connect to run in the background.

While no doubt Connect is very well done, with some great folks and destinations featured, Jake and I were both shocked to hear SWMBO comment that “I really like the movie we just saw from Argentina better”.

Frankly it took me a minute to figure out what the hell she was talking about, which is indeed not an uncommon occurrence around these parts, though finally the mental fog (mine of course) cleared.

Back a few days ago we had the pleasure of posting a beautiful video from PatagoniaNation; the next day we received a kind email from Gerardo Ortiz, one of their Directors in Santiago.

We chatted back and forth a bit and I pestered Gerardo to run through a quick interview with us; he responded with probably the fastest return of information and stunning photography we’ve ever seen. (Much appreciated, Gerardo…)

You and your team live and work in one of the most astoundingly beautiful places on the planet; what do you enjoy about it the most?

Patagonia is probably one of the most beautiful places on this planet, a pristine location that always holds a surprise for whom decides to visit it. It’s a safe place, with no dangerous animals, with a contrasting scenery like no other that you could ever see

Please tell us a bit about the mission and work of PatagoniaNation.

Patagonia Nation is formed by a group of young anglers that seeking to explain to our friends the marvels of Patagonia decided to visually document it. Our mission is to show the world the immeasurable value that Patagonia holds.

Regretfully today Patagonia is threatened by enormous multinational projects, huge by outs of land that put in jeopardy its equilibrium. Patagonia is a world heritage, hence it belongs to all of us, and our mission is to show it in a simple yet shocking way, without falling into defined patterns, but showing it for its own value.

Your team has been producing some great videos/films lately; who’s the talent behind the work?

Patagonia is there, defect free just waiting to be enjoyed and respected.

If I said I could only fish one river with your team, where would you send me today?

For sure it would be the Cochrane River and its whereabouts in the Aysen Region in Chile.

What’s your favorite water in your area and why?

The area of the Baker River in Chile is probably one of the most complete in the world, with marvelous waters, great rivers, marshes, and lakes, full of surprises. Regretfully today it’s being threatened by the construction of 5 dams.

We’ll have the remainder of Gerardo’s responses and more ‘make me really want to go there images’ tomorrow. Both images via PatagoniaNation.