Dear Friends,

I hope that this letter finds all of you well and pursuing rising trout and tight lines wherever you may be. For many of us it’s been a long time since we’ve been in touch and so I’m writing to let you all know what I’m up to these days and what the future may hold here in (currently) rainy and cold southern Chile. I regret to say that after six years I’ve decided to permanently close up shop at Rios Austral Fly Fishing Outfitters. Thanks to my many clients it was a wonderful time – full of many great memories, beautiful fish, and some exceptional days on the water – but unfortunately it just wasn’t paying the rent. Labors of love seem to be that way quite often and I struggled with trying to keep things personalized, affordable and focused on the fishing experience first, the bottom line later. Unfortunately economics of scale eventually won out. However, these past six years were incredible and so to all of you that shared part of this time with me I want to send heartfelt thanks for the many awesome days together.

This is not to say that I’m giving it all up for the 9 to 5 life, however. An incredible opportunity recently came my way and I’m now working as head fly fishing guide for a new operation here called Nomads of the Seas. This is a position that will keep me in Chile on a year-round basis, which is one of the long-term goals that my wife Claudia and I were working toward. Since May we have been conducting a training program in Puerto Varas for our guide staff in preparation for our first departure in October. So far this has been a dream job for me, and I haven’t even wet a line yet!

Visionary is the best word that I can use to describe Nomads of the Seas and our fly fishing/eco-tourism program. Since its inception last year, conceived by noted Chileno businessman and fly fisherman Andrés Ergas, we have strived to become one of the most unique, safe, and innovative fly fishing operations in Chile, if not the southern hemisphere. Nomads features an adventure program designed as much for the non-angler as it is for our fishing guests, and we will access the most unexplored regions of Patagonian Chile while maintaining the highest parameters of safety.

During our adventures Nomads of the Seas is based aboard our “from the keel up” custom designed and built mother ship “Atmosphere”. Unlike many live-aboard operations our mother ship is not a pleasure yacht, but a 700 ton naval grade aluminum and steel expedition vehicle designed to comfortably and safely bring us to the doorstep of some of the most seldom, if ever, traveled rivers and landscapes in the world. Built in Valdivia, Chile by ASENAV “Atmosphere”, which departs from our expedition base of operations at Marina del Sur in Puerto Montt, features a 150 foot LOA and a beam of 33 feet, with a capacity of 28 passengers and 32 crewmembers.

From “Atmosphere” we are capable of launching a variety of watercraft, in addition to our own Bell 407 helicopter, based on current conditions and on the type of destination and fishing chosen for the day. All in all we offer helicopter accessed walk and wade fishing, helicopter supported Zodiac trips, Zodiac and jet boat accessed fishing, wildlife viewing excursions in our custom Rigid Inflatable Boats, or innovative heli-drifting where our Bell takes us to any of 18 strategically placed drift boats on otherwise inaccessible rivers and lakes.

Our operating territory is Chile’s southern coastal fjords located between Puerto Montt at latitude 42º South and Laguna San Rafael at latitude 46º South. In between are literally countless rivers, streams and lakes that have only been fished a handful of times, and even then only during our exploratory expeditions. These are places that I have only, until now, dreamed about fishing – Lago Trebol, the rivers of western Isla Magdalena, the streams of the Peninsula Taitao – and I can confirm that many of them are loaded with trophy browns that have never seen a fly or world-class brook trout pushing 8 pounds. The waters that we'll be visiting are truly on the last frontier of Chilean fly fishing. Just spend some time looking over the region on Google Earth and you’ll see what I mean. Each week during the season we will depart from Puerto Montt with no set itinerary. Our trip is based on the current conditions and desires of our guests, so it’s never the same twice.

Nomads of the Seas is a truly unique and unprecedented operation within the world of international fly fishing travel, and I hope that I can devote my energy to this great company for many years to come. You can find out more about Nomads at our web site www.nomadsoftheseas.com.

Also, you can stay in touch and up to date by visiting my new blog at robertparkerinchile.spaces.live.com which I'll try to update on a monthly basis with photos and stories of the upcoming fishing adventures I'll be having here in the southern hemisphere.

So, until the next report later this year, Claudia and I send our best regards to each of you. I hope that we’ll all be on the water together again some time downriver.