June, 12, 2016

June 12, 2016

Church of the Immaculate Deception.

Sunday morning on the Double R Ranch water. No worshipers in sight. I am out driving my truck, in homage to its majesty, scoping out hatches. What I ran into this morning was an illustration of just how important prevailing weather conditions can be. Lately, and by that I mean the opening weeks of the trout season, a number of mayflies have been potentially present and which species hatches has depended the weather. We’ve had a smattering of Blue Winged Olives, Pale Morning Duns, Callibaetis and a few rogue Green Drakes. Each morning the question has been, “What will hatch today?” and the answer has frequently been a mystery.

During the past week of sunny and sometimes hot weather we’ve seen the Callibaetis hatch begin to establish itself and become a daily event. However, this morning I was greeted by a blanket overcast gray sky and it was a bit chilly. When I drove the creek early morning with a tumbler of coffee I was a bit surprised to observe a hatch of Blue Winged Olives on The Pond and all over the field water (from the bridge down to Beat 4) with fish rising everywhere. In contrast, during the previous sunny weather the BWOs had been isolated and in lesser amounts. When the sun came out later in the day yesterday, the Callibaetis took over, albeit with a sparser hatch. If I was a betting man, I would say that Monday morning the Callibaetis hatch will resume its dominance due to the forecasted clear, sunny skies. It is the nature of aquatic insects to thrive when their particular needs are met. We should all remember that maxim.

Doug Andres, Stream Keeper, Double R Ranch