August 5, 2016

August 5, 2016

Weekend Fishing Forecast.

You need to check the weather site in which you have the most confidence. I had overheard a guy in the Picabo Store stating that there is a 30 percent chance of rain on Saturday and a 60 percent chance on Sunday. However, the Weather Underground site lists a more conservative 15 percent chance. There will be some wind for the next 3 days. The air temperatures sill moderate somewhat, which I am thankful for given that the air conditioning in my truck pooped out and I can’t get it recharged until Tuesday afternoon. With the possibility of cool morning air temperatures and maybe periodic overcast skies, I would keep an eye out for Blue Winged Olives; if a BWO hatch starts and then is diminished by the wind I would consider fishing a BWO nymph, a BWO emerger and/or a BWO cripple pattern.

This morning it was 42 degrees when I got outside to feed the cats. There was no wind to speak of, so my sense was that we might have a nice Blue Winged Olive hatch early morning. When I got out in the field just about all beats were taken so I ended up fishing Beat #9. I pretty much just sat there for a half hour. Then I started to see a few BWOs drifting by my float tube and some rises. At one point the wind came up from the west and the rising trout were confined to a 10 foot wide calm stretch over against the road side of the creek. You take what she gives you. I tied on my favorite BWO dun pattern in a size 20 and cast in a manner that dropped the line on the water parallel to the bank, so that I would get an extended drag free float. I could actually see the fly at quite a distance. I landed 3 trout and missed a half dozen other fish. The Trico hatch did not start on this beat until 9:45 a.m. and was short lived. When it subsided I switched to a #18 Rusty Spinner and had a couple of trout charge the fly before changing their minds; it as nerve wracking.

The thing about fishing the Double R these days is that one has to be observant, checking the spider webs to figure out what are the likely suspects and then watch the water surface to identify the offending culprit.

This morning I was surrounded by about 20 fish feeding off the bottom weeds which looked like Whitefish. I had heard that the creek had a population of Whitefish years ago but that the Browns had made them extinct. I checked with Greg Loomis and he educated me. The fish were “Bridge Lipsuckers” and one sees them in the deeper sections of the creek. Keep an eye out for this Brown trout food.

Doug Andres, Stream Keeper, Double R Ranch