Austral Kings-2025 Season Report

As we close out the 2025 season at Austral Kings Camp, we take a moment to reflect on the year behind us, the challenges we faced, the highlights, and what made this season one to remember. 

Throughout the season, king salmon continued to enter the system consistently, an encouraging sign of a healthy run. Fresh fish moved steadily through the river, providing regular opportunities for fishing. However, unusually stable water levels limited changes in flow, which made the fish more challenging to provoke. 

Since king salmon don’t feed once in freshwater, success relies on triggering aggressive territorial or reaction strikes. Fresh kings, just entering the river, often hold at depths typically between 10 and 30 feet, so reaching them requires precise control of sink rate and presentation depth. 

Anglers who adapted by carefully managing their lines, adjusting their leaders, and timing their presentations, while reading the subtle behavior of the fish, had the best chances of success. Minor adjustments in boat positioning, presentation style, guided by daily river conditions, proved critical. Of course fly selection it’s very important too, as the river changes we have to adjust size and colors, but, with the given conditions of this season, our picks were mostly small and colorful flies such as Comets, Frances, Tinsel, even small Intruders, mostly on Pink, Chartreuse, Orange and Silver. Which was the fly of the season? Let’s just say… It remains the guides’ best-kept secret. 

Patience, precise presentation, and faith in the process were what turned opportunities into memorable battles and landed fish. Every year, we continue to learn more about these magnificent fish. Their behavior, strength, and mystery never cease to surprise us; it’s part of what makes chasing them so special. 

Many anglers come to Austral Kings chasing the fish of a lifetime, and this season, that dream remained very much alive. As in previous years, the average king salmon weighed in around the 30-pound mark, with numerous decisive and memorable battles along the way. 

Roughly 90% of the fish we catch are bright silver—a testament to how fresh they are from the ocean. Why? It's because we fish within the first ten kilometers above the tidal zone, where most of the salmon have entered the river few hours/days before. 

Several beasts were hooked this season, including a remarkable 47-pound King landed by our longtime friend Matt H., fishing the Bermudian Pool for the first time. 

Another memorable moment came from Kristjan R., who caught a stunning 38-pound king—his first of the trip—on the exact same anchor point where he landed his first King the previous year, and with the same guide!!. What a funny twist of luck! 

The largest kings of the season tipped the scales at a whopping 48 pounds—a true standout and defined the trip for the anglers who landed them. 

As part of our ongoiung attempts to improve and refine every aspect of anglers trips to Austral we made several significatnt upgrades in time for the 2025 season

Accommodations: In addition to the three guest cabins completed last year, we renewed the main dining tent, increasing both its size and comfort to enhance the shared experience at mealtimes. 

Expanded Water Access: We consistently explored and fished new pools, thereby extending the fishable water and providing anglers with more variety and space. We plan to continue developing this in 2026 to enhance the experience further. 

Our returning team remains one of the cornerstones of the Austral Kings experience. With combined experience across Argentina, Iceland, Russia, Bolivia, the Seychelles, Iceland, and the UK, they bring a deep knowledge, adaptability, innovation, a passion for teaching, and a great many tales and stories!!

Knowing the river is however absolutely fundamental.  The fishing at Austral is unique, for a great many reasons and the river has just about every sort of pool, run and pot imaginable.  Some of the fishing is from large beach like bends with an absolutely traditional swung fly presentation, whist in other sections it is working out how to get a suitably deep presentation in the deeper pockets.  These challenges mean that different techniques need to be constantly considered and what might have been effective one week needs adapting in another.

Strategies are adjusted daily, tweaking setups, presentations, and positioning to help anglers connect with these elusive fish. Good river sense, a commitment to each guest’s success and a straightforard passion makes, we very much hope, even the difficult days rewarding.

But when the days are succesful...we also believe that there are very very few destinations in the world that deliver the quality of fish that we land each season at Austral

Every season brings new lessons, and this season reminded us of the value of flexibility, persistence, and faith in the process. Even in challenging conditions, guests came away with more than just big fish—they left with an unforgettable experience: the uniqueness of the nature around the Camp , great food, cozy accommodations, powerful salmon, and a team that truly cares about your experience. 

It’s always a pleasure to welcome back familiar faces. Seeing returning guests is a significant part of what keeps us going, and we’re grateful for your ongoing support. 

We’re already planning for 2026 excited to share more of this amazing place. Bookings are open, and we look forward to seeing you at Austral Kings. 

Thank you to everyone who joined us this year. 

— The Austral Kings Camp Team