Picabo Angler

Pee-Ka-Boo is a Native American word meaning "Shining Waters."

Picabo Angler is a destination: A full-service fly shop & outfitter located on the banks of world-renowned Silver Creek

Filtering by Tag: mahagany duns

October 6TH Double R Fishing Report

Monday, October 6, 2014:

The past several days on the Ranch water there has been a Blue Winged Olive hatch around 2:00 in the afternoon and a Mahogany Dun hatch around 3:30 p.m. and the sporadic appearance of those bugs here and there most afternoons before the height of the hatch.  Oh, there have also been some rising fish in the morning, probably feeding on a few BWO duns or spinners.  I suspect that this pattern will continue on these warm days before the weather takes a turn for the south.  Guys are also scoring on beetles.

Yesterday afternoon I went out around 3:00 in search of the Mahogany Duns.  As soon as I hit the water the breeze came up.  I could see a few Mahogany Duns but they were getting blown off and the rise form of the trout indicated fish swirling below the surface.  So, I tied on a #18 Pheasant Tail soft hackle tied with red dyed pheasant tail fibers which made it a good match for the Mahogany nymph.  I ended up having an epic afternoon on the soft hackled flies, hooking 12 trout, landing 8 Rainbows up to 17 inches and missing several nice “tugs.”  I’ll be out there this afternoon!

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper 

October 2ND Double R Fishing Report "WILLOW PROJECT UPDATE"

Thursday October 2, 2014:

The weather was just too nice to spur the fall insects to hatch in force.  It was warm and sunny the first half of the day and just a few Blue Winged Olives were hatching in the morning with a few fish rising to them.  Mid-afternoon brought out a similarly sparse hatch and a buddy and I fished during the rather strong afternoon breeze.  We had just a few rises on a BWO dry then I scored a 14 inch Rainbow swinging a #14 Pheasant Tail soft hackle tight against the bank.  It took a hot shower, several Bourbons and a hot meal for me to warm up.

WILLOW PROJECT UPDATE:

Progress continues to be made on my “Silver Creek Willow Project.”  Members and others have now contributed a total of $4,000, which will enable the Club to purchase the equivalent of 265 five gallon buckets of rooted willows.  

I recently was accompanied in a site inspection by Jeff Klausmann of Intermountain Aquatics, based out of Driggs, Idaho, which will be the vendor of the plants and trees we will install on the banks of Silver Creek on the Double R Ranch next April.  The mission that day was to determine where particular species of shrubs would be planted.  I learned that willows and other native plants used for re-vegetation need to be planted in specific locations along the slope down to the creek bank, in order to achieve the proper amount of moisture.  Jeff advised that, in essence, willows could be planted where the streamside Canary Grass is located and that areas containing Sedge would have to receive River Birch.  The Canary Grass can potentially out compete newly planted willows so later this month Intermountain Aquatics will return to spray round circles in the Canary Grass with environmentally safe herbicide.  I will personally cover the cost of the herbicide spraying and related flagging; 100 percent of the contributions to the Willow Project will go towards willows, river birch and 8 shade trees to be planted, 2 each, at the take outs at Beats 1, 3, 4 and 5.  Your Stream Keeper will arrive in Picabo at the beginning of April so that he is able to supervise the delivery and planting of the willows, river birch and trees.    

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper

September 28TH Double R Fishing Report "Mahogany Duns"

Sunday, September 28, 2014:

Mahogany Duns . . . !

Yes, it rained most of yesterday and this morning it was chilly, overcast and threatening rain.  Plagued by curiosity, I just had to launch the float tube at Beat #8 of the field water of the Double R Ranch around 10:00 a.m.  No fish were rising and initially no insects were on the water.  But within a half hour my buddy and I started to see some extremely tiny Baetis which were more cream colored than olive.  Then we saw a few Mahogany Duns floating by.  Fish started to take the smaller of the two bugs, within the calm margins left by the slight breeze.  My friend picked up a fat 15 inch Brown on a Mahogany Dun dry, but that was all she wrote for a while.  Around 11:30 a.m. the Mahogany hatch exploded.  They looked like a fleet of Chinese Junks floating through the Hong Kong harbor.  A beautiful sight after weeks of size 22 Baetis, for sure.  I finally landed a Rainbow on my favorite Mahogany parachute.  Fish were rising everywhere and the surface was covered with Mahoganies, but we were frozen to the bone and opted to return to my trailer for some hot soup and the last Mariner game of the season.  

The Fall hatches are upon us, guys and girls.

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper