The Yelcho carries a name that travelled well beyond Chile after the record rainbows taken near its mouth put the river on the world map decades ago, and while those exact glory days are history, the water that produced them hasn't changed — a big, cold, glacial-volcanic flow out of its own lake, running fast and clear through forested valley. Streamers, bunny leeches and sculpin patterns fished with weight and patience are still the way to move a serious fish, though dry-dropper rigs take their share in softer water. Brown and rainbow trout both grow large here on a rich baitfish diet, and the scale of the river rewards those who fish it properly rather than hopefully.

• Volcanic glacial