End Of May Double R Report

Thursday, May 29, 2014:

When I launched in the lower field water around 8:30 a.m. there were fish swirling subsurface rather than taking bugs on top.  There was a #14 Pheasant Tail soft hackle on my 4X tippet from my last session so I went with it, swimming it in front of the bulging trout.  I hooked 10 trout and landed five, all feisty rainbows.  Around 12:30 the duns finally emerged and turned out to be Baetis in a miniscule size 22.  I was too lazy to rebuild my leader to accommodate small dries so I quit for the day.  I did not see any PMDs or Green Drakes. 

Friday, May 30, 2014:

The same warm sunny weather as yesterday, but today there were bugs on the surface all morning as I fished the lower Ranch water with a friend.  The insects were Baetis, but today they were much larger, running from a size 16 to a size 18.  Not only duns, but spinners with gray wings and brown bodies.  They were prolific and had the trout rising until I had to leave around 1:00 p.m.  The fish were difficult to hook and land.  We were able to interest the fish with #18 Olive Hatchmatchers, #20 Hackle Stackers, and #18 brown bodied Hatchmatchers.  I’m sure that BWO emergers and Olive Sparkle Duns would have worked as well, provided they were tied sparsely.  As we left I noticed the beginnings of a PMD hatch and there also were a few Green Drakes on the water. 

The Brown Drakes were hatching well down by the Picabo Bridge and in the fields along North Picabo Road.  I had dinner at a friend’s camp at Point of Rocks and while some bugs were in the air, very few anglers hooked up.  I suspect a good bet for Saturday would be the Point of Rocks area, but try swimming a Brown Drake soft hackle or a Pheasant Tail soft hackle, in size 10 or 12, in front of visible feeders as there will be few spinners and the nymphs will be emerging into duns.

Saturday morning could be an epic BWO day on the Double R if last night’s cloud cover persists.