October 27TH Double R Fishing Report "End of Season"

Friday, October 24, 2014:

This is my final blog entry of the season.   I have been somewhat remiss in blogging at times, not because I was too busy fishing, but rather because my computer’s “mother board” self-destructed in August and about two weeks ago I had  trailer fire and have been preoccupied packing the contents to move them to  replacement trailer in Oregon.  I vow to be more diligent next season.  If you get a chance, email any suggestions you might have regarding what information you would like to see in my blog next season.  Is it just fishing reports?  Fly tying tips?  Fly recipes?  Fishing strategies?  Fish tales?  Stories about other Members?

We’ve certainly had an interesting season on the Double R Ranch.  To be honest, I began to tear when I saw how low the creek was upon my arrival in mid-April.  Word was that the fishing would suffer on the Ranch but, in the view of many, we had some of the best June fishing in memory.  While only the lower 6 “beats” were fished early season, the renovated Pond provided expanded water to fish and rising trout were dependable, provided the wind stayed down.  We received a pleasant surprise in the form of a Green Drake hatch the first 5 days of the season.  My opinion is that the nymphs came down with the silt from the Pond Project; now that we’ve “seeded” the Ranch water and lowered the water temperature I believe there is a good chance that the Green Drake hatch will be an annual event.  We got up to normal creek levels at the end of July as soon as the Water Master shut down surface irrigators up valley, and I felt that life had begun anew!  I firmly believe that had the Pond Project not lowered water temperatures by 4 degrees when we moved to 85 percent bottom release, we would have seen fish kills during the summer.  To my observation the Pale Morning Dun hatch was brief but denser this season, and the Trico hatch was scattered but present on the Ranch water for quite some time.  We saw very few Damsels this season, perhaps because of the lower water temperature.  Next season be on the lookout as we very well could experience fishable hatches of “Sulfur” mayflies and Gray Drakes, due to the lowered water temperatures. 

The most difficult fishing of the season was experienced during our two Indian summers when the unseasonably warm temperatures retarded the hatches of Fall Baetis and Mahogany Duns.  But, the cold fall temperatures have arrived and two days ago I ran into what I felt was the first legitimate hatch of Fall Baetis, ranging from a #16 to a #18.

I want to personally thank all the Members who contributed to my “Silver Creek Willow Project” which kicked off at the Members’ Barbecue and continued through the summer.  We raised a total of $4,000 which will buy us 196 five gallon buckets of rooted willows (four varieties) 25 gray alders, plus 8 shade trees (two each to be planted at the access points with picnic tables and the toilet).  Next April the plants will be installed in appropriate locations from Beat 6 down to Beat 1, the willows in the Canary Grass and the Gray Alders in the streamside sedge.  I am optimistic that over time these plantings will go a long way towards providing shade and refuge for fish up against the bank, will help cool the water and will provide wind breaks for the angler.  I will personally defray the cost of spraying rings of fish safe herbicide in the Canary Grass which can often out-compete young willows.

Last week I spread a pound of Wild Blue Flax seed, a native wild flower which has done well when seeded elsewhere along Silver Creek.  Next spring I will be raising yellow Monkey Flowers and Indian Paint Brush from seed and planting them in the moist riparian zone; most spring creeks feature wild flowers like these and they are a delight to me.

Next season, in conjunction with Picabo Anglers, I am going to present two seminars focusing on aquatic entomology pertinent to the Ranch water and related fly selection.  Several Members have told me that they would benefit from information regarding the succession of insect hatches through the season and some fly patterns addressing particular situations.  The Double R Ranch Fishing Club wants to do what it can to maximize Members’ fishing experience.  When we have dates and times we will be sure to get that information out to you.

Over the winter I will be drawing up plans for several access improvements, both boardwalks and hand rails, to be installed along the newly renovated Pond.  Any ideas regarding location or design would be appreciated.  I want to make the Pond accessible to every Member.

If you have any suggestions for improving the experience on the Double R Ranch, pop me off an email or give me a phone call.

Thanks, again, for another great season on the Double R Ranch.  I look forward to seeing all of you next season. 

Doug Andres

(503) 939-7657

dougandres.whenpigflies@gmail.com {C}

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 3RD Double R Fishing Report

Friday, October 3, 2014:

FISHING REPORT:

The first of what I suspect will be an extended period of great fall fishing.  I got on the field water with a friend around 2:00 p.m. and we encountered  a nice hatch of #20 Baetis, which I “matched” with a #20 green bodied Female Trico No Hackle for just one fish.  After some frustration I switched tactics, changing over to a #20 soft hackle which I swung in front of “swirling” fish, hooking up once.  About 3:45 p.m. a really good Mahogany Dun hatch came off and the fish started to get greedy around 4:15 p.m. when my friend had to start his drive to Salt Lake City so I had to leave the feeding fish.  So, the afternoon may be when you’ll want to get down to the Ranch water.

Back by popular demand . . . . . 

ON MISSIONARY POSITION FLY FISHERS.  

Most of us know at least one fly fisherman who will only tie on dry flies.  Some of Them will only cast to rising trout.  Some of Them will only cast in an upstream direction.  Some of Them will only cast to individual rising fish.  Some of them will only fish Dun patterns, eschewing cripples, emergers or even Knock Down Duns.  Some of Them aren’t even English, or of aristocratic lineage.  Some of you are Them.  Some of you aren’t Them but have Them angler friends whom you perceive to be a bit snooty.  And, you can’t understand how a fly fisherman would rather not catch fish, or even cast a line, if a dry fly is not attached to his leader.  You feel the whole thing puts too much pressure on taking a friend out on your favorite productive water.  You’ve tried to communicate the joy of hooking large territorial Brown trout on streamers, large soft hackles and other “meaty” flies.  You don’t know what to think of Them, or how to deal with Them on a consistent basis.

I call them Missionary Position Fly Fishers, because they only fish On Top.

Hey, I’m not one of Them but I’ve known or run into my fair share of Them.  I used to be somewhat intolerant of Them, but have now found Peace.

At the end of productive morning on the Henry’s Fork I asked a guy at the Last Chance access how his day had been.  With a deep frown he told me that he had not made a single cast because “there were no Risers.”  I ran into him the next day around Noon and he related the same experience, appearing a bit more disappointed than the previous day.  On the third day he was elated, having cast to three fish, albeit without a hook up.  

The next year at the Wood Road access on the Henry’s Fork I approached the boat ramp in my float tube and came upon a half dozen dudes from Japan, all standing on the bank obviously on the lookout for rising fish.  I wanted to fish the usually productive water in front of them but didn’t want to cause an international incident, so I just left the river.  I made the same float the next morning and came upon the same contingent engaged in the same observation mode with fly in keeper.  After sitting in my tube for a half hour enjoying lunch and a cigar, I decided to push the tube out past what I felt was reasonable casting range and fished my Who Knows Freaking Why soft hackle further out into the Henry’s Fork, landing a half dozen spirited Henry’s Fork rainbows in 20 minutes.  I heard one guy remark to his companions that I was a very good fly fisher.  As walked past them back to my shuttle car I asked in my broken Japanese whether they wanted to see the fly I had been using.  As they eagerly approached me I was thinking that this could be the start of a bond, then, one of them appeared disappointed and said to me, “Wetto fry.”  I felt like I had been caught fishing a nymph downstream on an historic English caulk stream not wearing Tweed.  

Perhaps my most Immaculate Deception was conversing with recently deceased Bob Evans who fished the Henry’s Fork more than a hundred days a season, but only with the Dry Fly.  Bob was a great mentor to dozens (perhaps hundreds) of developing anglers over the years, taught me a lot and gave me numerous shuttles in return for one of my home baked pies.  But, he was rumored to break off all communication if he found out that you fished the Dreaded Nymph.  Bob died without discovering my affinity for fishing soft hackles subsurface (sometimes blind rather than in front of working fish!)  One of my deepest regrets is having deceived such a fine person (even more so than lying to my ex-wife when it was occasionally necessary to explain my late returns from fishing trips).   

My best friend in these parts is one of Them; he will only cast dry flies to individual working fish and will not run a dry fly through a pod of fish, even during a Trico hatch.  Over the years we’ve had a number of spirited discussions about what I refer to as his “problem.”  We’ve long past the Pedestrian and have elevated the debate to a more lofty search for Truth and a focus on Entomological Integrity.  I’ve taken the postulated that the selection of a fly which does not imitate the current stage of the insect being preyed upon by the trout is wholly lacking Integrity.  (It was relatively easy for us to come to this fundamental understanding because we both disdain “attracter” dry flies.)   I have pointed out that many anglers incorrectly assume that the “ring in the rise” is always made by a trout taking a dun, or at least cripple or emerging dun in the film.  At the early stage of the hatch the rise form is often a swirl made by a trout nipping away at nymphs well under the meniscus.  From this I have urged my good friend that fishing a dry pattern to trout swirling for the nymphal stage of mayflies involves no more Integrity than blindly swinging a soft hackle under hovering clouds of White Miller Caddis or, even worse, blind.  I convinced my friend that fishing a Pheasant Tail soft hackle to fish swirling for PMD nymphs might very well be using a proper imitation of a specific stage of the insect, provided that the presentation was in harmony with the situation and gave him a selection of small soft hackles which he used with success, once.  

The ungainly debate between us rages on, although we become less passionate about The Controversy as seasons come and go.  In the course of these discussions I have learned a lot from my friend, and a lot about my good friend, both about angling and about Life.  While most of us arrive at the juncture where it is not the landing of fish which is important and we are more focused on mere hooking of trout by whatever means possible, my friend has attained a rare purity of satisfaction which comes from hooking a solitary trout on a fly he can see.  While it is either not for me, or I am evolving at a snail’s pace, I respect his Quest and his Arrival.  We should all respect Missionary Position Fly Fishermen, even if their stated preference may not involve my friend’s Zen principles.  After all, it’s just fishing. 

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 30TH Double R Fishing Report "Paraleptophlebia"

Tuesday, September 30, 2014:

In the face of the forecast which called for 17 mile an hour wind, only the strong willed angler fished today.  It drizzled for a while this morning but then the rain subsided, the wind waned and the sun came out and illuminated a partly cloudy sky.  It was a beautiful fall day for maybe an hour before the slight breeze started to climb to gale force gusts.  A few #18 Blue Winged Olives appeared, causing a few trout to rise; no Mahogany Duns were sighted today, much less Callibaetis.  When the wind got strong I switched to a #18 Pheasant Tail soft hackle and picked up a single 15 inch Rainbow by swimming the fly parallel to the bank.  The forecasted wind came up and that’s all she wrote for the day.  Nap time!

MAHOGANY DUNS . . . . !      aka Paraleptophlebia

The relatively large Mahogany Dun mayfly is a welcome blessing each fall after matching our wits with the much smaller Blue Winged Olive and the miniscule Trico.  On Silver Creek this mayfly usually tapes out at a size 14 or a size 16.  Entomologists tell us that water temperatures need to plunge to 50 degrees for several days before Mahogany Duns will hatch but we don’t achieve those temperatures locally.  The daily emergence may start around 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. and can last two, three or more hours, ending between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m.  As with most mayflies, Mahogany Dun hatches last longer on cloudy days and even rainy days, and are condensed into a shorter time period on sunny days.  Mahogany Dun hatches tend to be on the sparse side unless conditions are optimal.

The distinctive feature of this “crawler” mayfly is that it generally resides and emerges along banks, at current seams, in pools, eddies and along the edges of weed beds.  For that reason the beginning of a Mahogany Dun hatch is often not immediately noticed by the angler.  But the Mahogany Dun hatch will often prompt larger trout to move into the shallows and sip daintily.  It is a prescription for exciting and excellent fishing by the more vigilant angler.  

Nymphs.  

The Mahogany Dun nymphs will migrate to the edges of the creek, can live in water just inches deep, and may emerge by crawling out on rocks or vegetation.  The larger and more mature nymphs tend to rest and browse on rooted vegetation and congregate in calmer water where leaves and other detritus accumulate.  The nymphs themselves are such poor swimmers that they may drift a long distance in the current before regaining a hold on the creek’s substrate.  Immediately before hatching the nymphs make an awkward swim to the surface; the duns escape the nymphal shuck in, or just under, the surface film.  The nymphs may make several trips to the surface before hatching.  Thus, there are occasions when fishing a nymph can be productive, including by slowly swimming a brown soft hackle along weed beds and the bank.  Effective nymph patterns include:  the traditional Pheasant Tail nymph; a Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear Nymph; a dark Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle; the Western Red Quill Nymph; the Western Blue Quill Nymph.

Emergers.  

There are times when the angler will notice “bulging” along the shoreline and has to decide whether the rise form involves trout taking emergers or duns.  If you see bubbles in the ring of the rise then observe whether floating duns are being taken or are floating through the feeding lane undisturbed.  If the duns are not being intercepted, then the trout are likely feeding on emergers.  Try one of a number of standard emerger patterns which hold in the film and have dark gray brown bodies, including the “floating nymph” design.  Typical patterns that may be effective in this situation include:  the Western Red Quill Floating Nymph; the Western Red Quill Emerger; the Western Blue Quill Floating Nymph; and the Western Blue Quill Emerger.  Alternatively, one could simply start with a dun pattern and switch to an emerger pattern if the dun pattern does not produce within a dozen casts to the bulging trout.

Duns.  

Duns of this mayfly look like large, slow moving Chinese junks ambling down the creek.  Trout will often take hatched Mahogany Duns in preference to more numerous but smaller Blue Winged Olives.  One excellent strategy is to drift a dun pattern within 6 inches of the edge of a weed bed or the bank.  Due to the fact that the duns hatch in calmer water, it is often beneficial to lengthen one’s leader to 12 to 15 feet and reduce your tippet to 5X or 6X.  Productive dun imitations include: the Mahogany Cut Winged Parachute; the Mahogany Sparkle Dun; the Mahogany Thorax Dun; the Mahogany No Hackle; and the Red Quill and Blue Quill, both of which are Catskill types in design.

Spinners.  

Spinner falls of the Mahogany Dun can be important to the angler who fishes late in the day.  The Mahogany Dun spinners usually swarm in early evening and drop to the water about the time when it becomes difficult to see.  Bring your flashlight and reading glasses so that it is not difficult to change spinner patterns.  Unlike the other stages of the Mahogany Dun discussed above, the spinner can be fished out in open water with equal success.  Two spinner patterns which are effective for just about any mayfly are equally productive when fished at the end of a Mahogany Dun session.  The Blue Quill Spinner’s body is constructed from a stripped peacock quill, its wing is fashioned from white hen hackle tips (tied spent or semi-spent), and the hackle is light blue dun, clipped top and bottom.  The Red Quill Spinner’s body is from a reddish-brown dyed hackle stem, its wings are made from white hen hackle tips (tied spent or semi-spent), and brown hackle is used, clipped top and bottom.           

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper

September 29TH Double R Fishing Report

Monday, September 29, 2014:

Today’s fishing on the Double R Ranch was a mixed bag, in that one’s success depended upon where and when you fished.  A buddy and I fished the field water between 10:00 a.m. and Noon, encountering a few Mahogany Duns and a few Baetis.  We each had strikes on dry imitations for both insects.  I “matched” the #18 Baetis with a #20 green bodied female Trico No Hackle.  After lunch my buddy fished The Pond for an hour and had several strikes on a small olive bodied parachute.  For about 2 hours he fished from the gazebo bridge back down to my trailer and encountered a good hatch of, all things, Callibaetis duns and landed a half dozen fish.  Just goes to show you that one has to be observant and willing to wait out the rain and the breeze.  What tomorrow brings is anyone’s guess.  Look for the hatches to stabilize and become more reliable as the weather improves starting on Wednesday.  

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

September 27TH Double R Fishing Report "Fall Fishing"

Saturday, September 27, 2014:

FALL FISHING IS HERE . .  .!

During out ten days of Indian Summer fishing has been challenging no matter where you have fished Silver Creek.  I felt fortunate on those days when I only landed two or three fish.  But, each day was precious because I figured it was the very last day of sunny warm weather.  A couple of days ago I pulled out my cold weather fishing clothing, just in case the weather would finally change.  

On the Double R Ranch down in down in the field we had been experiencing Baetis  spinners followed by duns starting around 9:00 a.m., and lasting for maybe 2 hours if one was lucky.  In the mid to late afternoon there often were rising fish but all I could identify were size 24 Tan Baetis . . . . the Callibaetis seemed to have disappeared.  Then a few Mahogany Duns showed up but the fish did not exactly key on them.  The fish had developed lock jaw.  When my favorite Blue Winged Olive dun and spinner patterns failed I would often turn to a #18 Pheasant Tail soft hackle or my “Who Knows Freaking Why” soft hackle.  We were in the Transitional Doldrums which plague us on Silver Creek a different week each year as we await the great fall fishing.

Well, the weather changed last night.  The forecast is for gray, overcast snotty weather which should bring out those wonderful appetizing Fall Baetis and Mahogany Duns which appear both on the field water and on The Pond.  Also be on the lookout for that species of Baetis which locally is called the “Pistachio Dun.”  It is distinguished by its lime green body and the trout love them; one can often pick up fish with a lime green bodied dun pattern even if the naturals are not on the water. I saw my first Fall Ginger Caddis the other day, about a size 12.   Terrestrial patterns remain a good choice in between hatches and late in the day.

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper

September 18TH Double R Fishing Report "Indian Summer"

Thursday, September 18, 2014:

INDIAN SUMMER MEANS THE LAST DAYS OF COMFORTABLE FISHING

On the Double R Ranch the hatches have been fairly consistent and reliable the past week, while the cooperation of the trout have ranged from willingness to high level lock jaw depending on the day.  

The most reliable bug has been the Callibaetis.  You can pretty much depend on the Callibaetis starting to come off starting round 11:00 a.m. each morning.  Some days the Duns are the first to be sighted while on other late mornings or early afternoons the spinners appear first.  Some days you will encounter simultaneous significant quantities of both Duns and spinners.  Anglers have had success with Dun patterns such as the Parachute Adams, Callibaetis Thorax Dun, gray or tan bodied Comparaduns and Harrop’s Callibaetis No Hackle.  Effective spinner patterns have included the Callibaetis Hatch Matcher and the Poly Winged Spinner.  A good rule of thumb is to fish size 18 in “glass” conditions, size 16 when the wind creates a slight “chop” on the water surface, and size 14 in breezy situations.  

The smallish (size 20-22) Summer Baetis are still thriving during the current Indian Summer.  Mid-morning you are likely to encounter Baetis spinners and/or and emergence of Baetis Duns.  I have taken most of my fish long the edges of the now substantial weed beds and along the riparian vegetation that lines the “real” banks.  I tent to use olive bodied patterns for the emerging duns and rusty brown bodied patterns for the bank sippers which suck down spinners late in the morning just as the Callibaetis get started.  

I have encountered Mahogany Duns on two early evenings thus far.  They have been running at size 16 and their great visibility is a welcome relief from the bugs that make one squint.  Look for this bug to become the Bug of the Day once the weather cools down towards the end of this month and through October, both on the field water and on The Pond.

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper

August 6TH Double R Fishing Report "Found Flies"

Wednesday, August 6, 2014:

Yesterday there was quite a contingent of anglers fishing the field water on the Double R Ranch.  The best thing about the large crowd for a Monday was that they were Able to spread out on the field water because over the past week the creek level has risen to the extent that we are on the verge of being at the normal level for this stage of the season.  The overcast sky and cool temperature brought out the Baetis.  

I recently read an interesting article in the latest issue of Fly Fishing & Tying Journal, authored by Dave Hughes.  The concept underlying the article was his long standing intention to visit a favorite lake without flies, packing only his vise, tools and thread.  His plan was to scrounge up tying materials found on site such as bird feathers, animal fur and the like.  Hughes calls the resulting insect imitations “Found Flies.”  Of course, the article closes with descriptions of the flies he tied out of goose feathers and the trout he snookered using them.  He indicates that this approach to fly angling has become popular in Europe, the continent which brought us bottle water, several world wars and burdensome tax structures.  Dave, I have loved and respected your work over the years but these days you might lay off the John Barleycorn a wee bit.  

Anyway, this hunter-gatherer approach to fly tying has consumed my idle thoughts over the past week and has affected the way I react to Death in Nature.  Now when I see a mouse or vole carcass streamside my thoughts turn to dubbing a BWO nymph.  When I see a deer romping through the willows I envision its flank hair fashioned into Comparaduns.   I increasingly covet Great Blue Herons for their feathers which I imagine would make great spey flies.  I begin to think that by ignoring the lowly Coot as a source of soft hackles we are missing the boat.  I kick myself for not gathering bear underfur from “scratching trees” and incorporating it into Stonefly dubbing.  I wonder what I gems I could tie if I could just find a carcass of an American Bittern which I see and hear often on the Ranch water.  I look upon the Purdys’ sheep in a new light.   

While the concept of Found Flies intrigues me, there are several reasons why I am not likely to take up the challenge.  First, I’d never bring materials gathered in the wild back to my trailer because I probably have $20,000worth of fly tying materials and fear an invasion of the little bugs that can strip a fine rooster neck, bags of saddle hackles and fur.   Second, one needs to recognize the possibility of contracting flu strains from wild birds and other diseases from animals such as Hanta Virus.  Third, I am too damn lazy.

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper

July 24TH Double R Fishing Report "Invasion of the Callibaetis!"

Thursday, July 24, 2014:

Invasion of the Callibaetis . . .

Okay, it is finally happening, at least to my observation.   The Callibaetis may fly . . . aka the Speckled Spinner . . . is finally becoming a significant insect on the Double R Ranch, both on The Pond and out on the field water.  There were scores of duns and spinners around my trailer last night and this morning.  It is no longer the case where one sees a few spent Callibaetis spinners floating by you early morning making you question whether the trout are really feeding on Tricos and small Baetis.  There are now Duns on the surface and in the air by mid-morning and the trout are taking them.  Sure, Tricos are still causing a riot on isolated sections of the field water and sometimes on The Pond, and the hatch of tiny (size 22-24) Blue Winged Olives are appearing on cool and overcast mornings.  But, the shrewd angler will be on the lookout for the relatively large (size 14-16) Callibaetis.  

If you run into significant Callibaetis activity, you will want to fish sparsely tied dun patterns.  I tend to favor my trusty Callibaetis Hatch Matcher because I feel that the forked tail and extended body are a “trigger” to the trout.  I also like the Callibaetis Thorax Dun, tied with an upright wing of brown Partridge and a long synthetic tail.  The Parachute Adams tied with just a sparse application of hackle is a consistent deceiver of trout.  And, you can’t go wrong with a gray or tan bodied Comparadun.  

Now is the time to ply the water with a nymph pattern, particularly if you see fish which are swirling subsurface rather than rising to insects on top of the water.  Traditional ties such as a Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear nymph take fish year in and year out.  I tend to favor a more flashy offering such as Mercer’s Poxyback Callibaetis nymph.  A slender abdomen is a desirable characteristic for a Callibaetis nymph.  The key on The Pond (or on a lake, for that matter) is to let the Callibaetis nymph sink and make 6 inch strips pulling the fly toward the surface, which imitates the behavior of the natural.  On the field water you will want to drift the nymph in front of working fish or a suspected fish lie, slowing the nymph down using a line mend if necessary.  

If the fish continue to rise when a gentle wind picks up, consider switching to a “cripple” pattern or a dun pattern one size larger.  Under these conditions you can get away with a larger tippet, which is better for the trout as we shift into August.  

Doug Andres 

Stream Keeper 

July 19TH Double R Fishing Report

Saturday, July 19, 2014:

FISHING REPORT 

Saturday morning fishing conditions were rather comfortable as the air temperature was a wee bit cooler than just about every day during the past fortnight and the early morning breeze tapered off quickly so that the hatches came off in reliable fashion.  

While the Trico hatch in the field water was rather sparse, Members reported encountering a hatch of really tiny Baetis, perhaps a size 24.  The problem was being able to see your imitation in the blazing sun and I received a report of fish just “nosing” or otherwise refusing size 20 BWO Hatch Matcher.  My suggestion is to tie on a small (size 22 or 24) parachute pattern or other fly with a high profile (from the angler’s view point!) and cast to fish directly downstream of your position so that you avoid the nasty glare.  Then the Callibaetis made an appearance, both spinners and duns in size 16, but the fish only keyed on the Callibaetis in isolated locations. If you are lucky enough to find yourself in The Red Zone, try a sparsely tied fly such as a Callibaetis Thorax Dun, a Callibaetis Hatch Matcher, a Parachute Adams or something similar in size 16.  If all else fails, you might want to try a beetle or an ant pattern as the trout are used to seeing them by now.  

What can I say about The Pond, other than that we should re-name it “Old Reliable” because it is full of rising fish unless the wind comes up and destroys the hatch.  The more observant angler seems to catch the most fish; the Hatch of the Day could be Trico, Callibaetis or Midges.  If you can’t determine the identity of The Culprit causing trout to rise, get ahold of some gray or tan bodied “Sparkle Dun” dry flies in sizes 16 to 20 which should cover the spectrum.  Keep an eye open for fish taking grasshoppers in the wind as I have seen natural hoppers an inch and a half long in the established grass on the south side of The Pond; soon grasshoppers will become an important factor on The Pond.  

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper   

July 9TH Double R Fishing Report

Wednesday, July 9, 2014:

TRICO MADNESS.

Early this morning in the lower end of the field water the usual clouds of White Miller Caddis were hovering over the surface and fish were working so I made the mistake of assuming that the trout were onto emerging caddis.  I remained under this delusion for an hour, heaving soft hackles and dry patterns with nothing but refusals and the isolated take.  Ultimately, I realized that the beginning of the Trico hatch was overlapping with the caddis, and then I began to see Trico duns on the water.  So, I lightened my tippet to 6X and tried three different colored Trico Hatch Matchers (black, green and sparkly green), to no avail.  The water was too glassy for the Hatch Matcher.  I changed to a size 22 Rene Harrop Trico No Hackle with a green body, my Ace-In-the-Hole pattern for Fussy Finned Trico Gluttons.  The results were immediate and amazing.  I only landed 6 trout but they included 18 inch and 20 inch Browns.  I “missed” or lost another dozen fish, all on the No Hackle.  The working fish pretty much gave it up for Lent around Noon, so I opted for a Mushroom Swiss Cheese Burger at the Picabo Store.  Last night, right behind my trailer trout were rising until dark on “small stuff” which I surmise were emerging male Trico duns, black bodied.  

Evening fishing is becoming interesting; some nights it could be Trico or Blue Winged Olive mayflies, other nights it can be flights of White Miller Caddis.  If no wind is in the forecast, consider coming down for some evening fishing, either on the field water or on The Pond.  

Speaking of which, with no wind to speak of, the trout have been rising all day and during the evening on The Pond.

TRICO ESSENTIALS.

Don’t be the guy who enters a gun fight armed with just a switch blade.  In my view, more than any other mayfly, the hatch of Tricos requires specific tackle, powers of observation and focused technique.

PODS:  Often you’ll find both Tricos and BWOs on the creek at the same time and we all struggle with figuring out which culprit the trout are taking.  A good rule of thumb is that when the trout are “podded up” they are keyed on the Trico.

NARROW FEEDING LANES:   One rarely observes a trout moving any distance to take a Trico dun.  I don’t know why this is the case; perhaps the small bit of nutrition is just not worth the effort.  Trout just sit there and sip what comes directly to them.  As a consequence, the feeding lane is narrow, narrower that is the case with just about any other mayfly.  A successful strategy involves drifting the Trico dry pattern straight downstream to a rising trout; the fish will suck the fly in and turn at least slightly, and that is when you should raise your rod tip.   When casting at an angle to a bank sipper you will want to pile up 2 or 3 feet of slack tippet several feet above the working fish so that your imitation drifts over the trout like a natural insect.         

LONG LEADERS:   Tricos usually do not tolerate the wind, so the monster Trico hatches you encounter will generally be on “glassy” water or, on windy days, in the calm margins along the bank.  The relatively thick fly lines can easily spook trout under these conditions (even a double taper line) so an extra-long leader will enable you to keep an appropriate distance from your quarry.  I’ve said before that my favorite leader is the Trout Hunter 14 foot 6 X knotless leader.  When fishing the Trico hatch I will augment that leader with 3 feet of 7X tippet because 7X readily piles up and is relatively easy to thread into the tiny eyes of size 20 and 22 flies.

DISCIPLINED CASTING:  The Trico hatch on glassy water does not call for sloppy or undisciplined casting; to the contrary, it is the time to bring out your casting “A Game.”  First of all, do not false cast nine million times; you’ll only spook fish by casting shadows over the water.  Second, refrain from casting blindly or right into the middle of a pod of trout; again, you will spook the closer fish with your fly line.  Instead, let you fly line and leader drift out of sight of working fish while you study the water, select a fish to target and figure out where it is best to drop your fly and how you want the leader to lay on the water.  Then, and only then, do you cast.  I often take the approach of pulling back on the fly line just as the leader is unfurling, so that the fly lands on the water gently with minimal disturbance; this also will minimize drag as the fly line, leader and tippet drift downstream at the same approximate speed.   

FLY PATTERNS:  I hate to say it but, as a general rule, when fishing the Trico hatch the specific fly patterns you use are less important than everything discussed above.  You only need an olive bodied dun pattern, a black bodied spinner pattern and a green bodied spinner pattern.  You are better off buying a quantity of one of each of those three basic patterns which have worked for you in the past than carrying a few of 50 different patterns.  The primary reason is angler confidence.  The secondary reason is redundancy.  With that said, there are certain patterns which I feel are a “must” for successful fishing of the Trico hatch; I carry them for the type of situation I experienced this morning.  In no particular order they include:  (1) Harrop’s Trico No Hackle, both olive and black bodied; (2) Shane Stalcup’s CDC Biot Trico; (3) Bob Quigley’s Trico Hackle Stacker in black (or olive if you can find or tie it); (4) any Rene Harrop Trico pattern.   These flies are available at the Picabo Angler fly shop.  

REQUIRED READING:  Get a copy of Rene Harrop’s relatively new book, Learning  from the Water, and digest the section about Tricos.  

TYING TIP:   If you tie your own flies and are getting on in years, consider picking up a box of “big eye” hooks.  They make it a lot easier to connect your fly to the leader, especially if you use a terminal knot that involves threading the tippet through the eye twice, such as the Improved Clinch Knot.  You’ll thank yourself next time you find yourself tying on a 7X tippet in the glaring sun with a big brute of a fish working in front of you.  Orvis makes a Big Eye dry fly hook, but I prefer the Daiichi 1110 because it is a flat eye, big eye hook with a shank that is a tad longer than the standard dry fly hook.

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper

July 3RD Double R Fishing Report

Thursday, July 3, 2014:

We’re in the midst of a week of 90 plus degree weather and a forecast of relatively low wind conditions, a prescription for strong emergences of both Tricos, damsel flies and White Miller Caddis (which have been on flights both morning and evening) in the field water of the Double R Ranch.  Last night trout were rising and jumping clear of the water on The Pond until sunset; consider an evening fishing session.

FIVE WAYS TO AVOID HOOKING SILVER CREEK TROUT:

First, make sure you cast a short line.  Sure there are times when fish are so focused on feeding that you can literally fish right on top of them, but day in and day out on Silver Creek and other spring creeks you will catch more trout if you keep your distance from working fish or likely trout lies.  Wild trout have an innate fear of shadows created by the casting angler and of brightness caused by shiny reels and fishing equipment.  Cast as long a line as is within your abilities; practice and proper equipment will lengthen you cast.  

Second, make sure to fish a short leader.  While there are circumstances where the angler can “get away with” a 9 or 12 foot leader (such as when a “chop” is on the water or when fishing subsurface), Silver Creek veterans will advise you to fish a longer leader; again, to deep distance from the trout and to avoid alarming trout.  To a 2 foot butt section, your Stream Keeper generally attaches a 14 foot, 6X Trout Hunter leader, recently declared the best leader in the industry, which are available at the Picabo Angler fly shop.

Third, make sure you tie on a bushy, heavily hackled dry fly with a high profile.  The slow water of spring creeks affords trout an extended opportunity to differentiate natural insects from your fly offering.  Fly shops serving big western rivers sell heavily hackled and bulky flies designed to float in strong currents.  You will want to patronize fly shops in the immediate vicinity of Silver Creek where you can buy sparsely tied flies.  

Fourth, make sure you cast directly across or upstream of trout.  This is the best way to “line” fish and put trout down.  Experienced Silver Creek anglers cast both wet and dry flies downstream and in front of working fish to suspected trout lies.   Move your float tube to gain better position in relations to working trout.

Fifth, make sure that you “false cast” at least a half dozen times before launching your cast.  With fly floatant and flies constructed from appropriate materials, it is not necessary to “dry” your fly via false casting.  Repetitive false casting creates shadows and movement which only serves to spook fish who have evolved to be paranoid of predator birds.  Instead, let your fly drift directly downstream, pick up slack line with your free hand, pull the rod back and launch your cast in one movement.    

Each of these “no noes” will reduce your chances of consistently landing Silver Creek trout by 20 percent.

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper 

July 2ND Double R Fishing Report

Wednesday, July 2, 2014:

This is one of several times a season on Silver Creek which I characterize as being in “transition,” that is, between strong insect hatches.  The Tricos are just coming on but they are not yet a reliable consistent hatch all across Silver Creek; right now the angler will encounter isolated sporadic hatches of the tiny Trico, and it is a situation where you might not encounter the hatch in the same place you saw it yesterday.  For example, there were clouds of male spinners around my trailer for two consecutive nights but none last night.  The damsel flies are also about to come on in force.  A few adult damsels can be observed hovering over the water surface here and there, but not in the quantity where the trout riot, slashing after them and becoming airborne.  The weather forecast calls for a week of 90 degree plus weather and the sometimes questionable thermometer in my pickup read 105 degrees by late afternoon.  I would be surprised if the hatches of Tricos and damsels do not reach epic proportions sometime this week on the Double R Ranch water below the Gazebo Bridge.  Now would be the time to drop in at the Picabo Angler fly shop and pick up a selection of Trico and damsel patterns 

So, what is happening and what strategies could one pursue.  

FIELD WATER.  Arrive on the field water early and fish the dense flight of White Miller Caddis either with a large dry fly (an X Caddis, Light Cahill, Elk Hair Caddis, Goddard’s Caddis) or by swimming a #14 or #12 Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle under the insect hovering over the surface.  Be on the lookout for isolated trout making gentle rises up against the banks or in mid-stream channels and pursue them with a #18 or #20 Baetis spinner pattern; I use a BWO Hatch Matcher.  I believe that fish can be had by swimming a damsel nymph pattern along the banks and through the deeper channels, and I would bring some Callibaetis patterns along as well.  When all else fails, put on a beetle or ant.    

THE POND.  The Pond was on fire this afternoon.  In 10 minutes I observed a dozen fish clearing the water, their tails as much as 2 feet above the surface.  I suspect that the trout might have been chasing Callibaetis nymphs on their way to the surface, but it might have well been damsel nymphs or even a caddis emergence.  This behavior occurred both when the surface was calm and in the “chop” formed by a slight breeze.  If you want to fish dry, target the sipping trout with a #16 Callibaetis Hatch Matcher or other spinner, or a sparsely tied Callibaetis dun pattern.  To take their more acrobatic brethren, you might cast a Bead Head Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear nymph or other Callibaetis nymph, let it sink to a count of 15 , and make 6 inch retrieves.  Be on the lookout for small Baetis or possibly even Tricos.  I saw an inch and a half long tan grasshopper on the bank of The Pond yesterday, so beware.       

MEMBERS’ REMINDER . . . . The annual Members’ Barbecue starts at 4:00 pm on Saturday, July 5, kicking off with adult beverages, leading to the roast pig and roast beef dinner, and centering on the official dedication of the new dam and related Pond Project.  There will also be a sporting clay competition and an art show (with 10 percent of the proceeds donated to our stream restoration fund).  There are rumors of dancing into the night . . . . 

RV PARK . . . . . It used to be difficult for fishing RVers to get relief from the July and August heat in Picabo, but no longer.  The Purdys have built a 17 space RV park kitty corner across from the Picabo Store, where you register.  Tell your friends that the new park has water, a waste dump, bathrooms and electricity to run your air conditioner.  Hey, a comfortable afternoon nap is now possible!

June 26TH Double R Fishing Report

Thursday, June 26, 2014:

    This blog entry should be of interest to those spring creek anglers who tie their own flies and are looking for a new weapon for finicky trout.

THE “HATCH MATCHER” . . . A HERITAGE FLY FOR TODAY’S SPRING CREEKS & STILL WATERS

As the Stream Keeper for that private stretch of Silver Creek which runs through the Double R Ranch in Picabo, Idaho,, I am privileged to be able to fish this fly fishing Mecca 90 days each season.   There almost never is a session on Silver Creek during which I neglect to tie on a Hatch Matcher dry fly at some point during the prevailing mayfly hatch.    The Hatch Matcher is truly a heritage pattern, one which has inextricably fallen into disuse despite its effectiveness as both a dun and a spinner imitation.  The Hatch Matcher is said to have been invented by noted Catskill fly tier Harry Darbee in the 1930s.  Why it fell from favor in that locale is hard to determine at this late date; perhaps this extremely delicate pattern was not suited to the freestone streams of upstate New York, or maybe the Hatch Matcher was a casualty of the dominance of the Catskill convention of dry fly design.  One wonders why the Hatch Matcher never became established on the limestone spring creeks of Pennsylvania.  In any event, the Hatch Matcher became a trusted fly on Silver Creek when Dick Alf gave the pattern its western introduction at his Sun Valley fly shop in the 1960s.   Ask any old codger and he will tell you that Hatch Matchers could be found next to Pete Hide “flymphs” in his fly box.   

I have fished the Hatch Matcher with great success on other western spring creeks, including Armstrong Spring Creek, O’Dell Spring Creek and Milsinek Spring Creek.  Trout eagerly take the Hatch Matcher in the calmer stretches of tail waters such as the Missouri and on Yellowstone area lakes such as Hebgen and Ennis. 

 The Hatch Matcher is fairly simple to tie once you master a few techniques which may be new to you.  It is a delicate, elegant tie created from just two materials.  The forked tail, extended body and wing are fashioned from a single mallard flank feather.  Back in the day, the fly was tied in various sizes using natural mallard flank feathers and colored streamside with Panatone pens to match the prevailing hatch.  Nowadays, a wide range of commercially dyed mallard flank feathers and thread of varying colors are available to the tier.  The creative tier can also incorporate a variety of other bird feathers into Hatch Matchers, such as the white breast feathers of Wood Duck or Gadwall drakes for small Tricos and PMDs.  The authentically tied Hatch Matcher involves a body of tying thread matching the mallard flank feather.  The pattern calls for an upright hackle collar fore and aft of the wing, however, one can also apply hackle in the parachute style if the feather’s stem is not clipped off.  When production tying, I apply head cement to the tail, extended body and wing of the fly before hackling the batch, in order to make the delicate tail more durable, but one can apply the head cement after a single fly is completed.  

 The completed Hatch Matcher may look a bit oversized in relation to the hook.  Not to worry.  If the hackle is the same size as the hook the fly will tilt backwards, showing fish primarily the forked tail and extended body.  As a fly designer I increasingly am of the view that the vast majority of effective fly patterns feature a component which operates as a trigger, and this is I believe is the effect of the forked tail and extended body.  It is much like the Zelon shuck of the Sparkle Dun or the red floss band of the Royal Wulff.   This characteristic of the Hatch Matcher also serves to make the fly extremely visible to the angler.  The Daiichi 1110 hook may feature a longer shank than a traditional dry fly hook, but it has excellent hooking efficiency and the advantage of an oversized flat eye that makes it easy to attach to tippets too large for a regular dry fly hook with a standard aperture.         

    I no longer apply dubbing over the hook shank as I prefer to keep the fly’s profile as sparse as possible which I feel is a requirement for flies to be effective on spring creeks and still waters.  I use 8/0 Uni-Thread for my Hatch Matchers and have found that this manufacturer’s range of colors is suitable for most mayflies, but sometimes I resort to dubbing or thread from another company.  You can get fancy and apply an over-rib using a contrasting colored thread to achieve the appearance of segmentation.  Rather than whip finishing, I just apply three half hitches and apply head cement right behind the eye, allowing the cement to leach into the thorax for greater durability.  

    Members who are interested in a free one-on-one lesson in tying Hatch Matchers should give me a call or just stop by my trailer on the Double R Ranch.   

TYING INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Wrap the hook shank with the appropriate colored thread, from the eye down to the bend.  Return the thread to the hook point. 
2. With your left thumb and forefinger, grasp the tip of a mallard flank feather.  With your right thumb and forefinger, pull back 5 or 6 flues of the feather, creating the extended body.  Let go of your left fingers.
3. Position the pulled back feather with your right fingers on the hook shank so that the extended body begins right at the hook point.  Switch to your left fingers, maintaining tight pressure.   Grasp the thread bobbin and attach the extended body with or 4 firm thread wraps.  
4. While keeping the extended boy under tension, wrap the thread back and forward to create a thread body of uniform thickness.
5. Grasp the butt ends of the feather; raise the ends straight up.  Wrap the thread in front of the butt end to elevate the wing.  Trim off the butt of the feather, leaving the wing.
6. To create the forked tail, first open a pair of sharp fine scissors.  Poke the bottom scissor through the outside edge of the “fan” (closest to you) and separate two flues (one flue for flies that are size 18 and smaller).Poke the top scissor through the outside edge of the “fan” farthest from you.  Slide the tips of the scissors down to the base of the flues and snip off, creating a forked tail.
7. Trim the forked tail to your preferred length, generally half the length of the hook shank. Behind the wing, tie in an appropriate colored saddle hackle, curved side facing forward.  Apply one wrap of hackle behind the wing and two wraps in front of the wing.  Tie off. 
8. Apply head cement to the forked tail and extended body to make the fly more durable.

HATCH MATCHER RECIPES

Blue Winged Olive Hatch Matcher 

Hook:        Daiichi 1110, sizes 16-24

Thread:     8/0 Uni-Thread: Olive, Olive Dun, Light Olive, Rusty Dun

Body:         Mallard flank feather, dyed in shades of olive

Hackle:      Whiting 100:  Light, medium or dark dun

Pale Morning Dun Hatch Matcher 

Hook:         Daiichi 1110, sizes 16-20

Thread:      8/0 Uni-Thread:  Light Cahill or Yellow

Body:          White breast feather from Wood Duck/Gadwall drake; or yellow dyed mallard flank feather

Hackle:       Whiting 100:  Light or medium dun

Callibaetis Hatch Matcher: 

Hook:           Daiichi 1110, sizes 14-20

Thread:        8/0 Uni-Thread:  Tan, Gray or Iron Gray

Body:            Mallard flank feather: natural or dyed dun or tan

Hackle:          Whiting 100:  Grizzly 

Brown Drake Hatch Matcher 

Hook:             Daiichi 1110, sizes 12-14

Thread:          8/0 Uni-Thread:  Dark brown or Camel 

Body:              Mallard flank feather: dyed medium or dark brown

Hackle:           Cree, furnace or Whiting 100 brown dyed grizzly

Female Trico Hatch Matcher 

Hook:              Daiichi 1110, sizes 20-24

Thread:           8/0 Uni-Thread:  Olive

Body:               White breast feather from Wood Duck or Gadwall drake

Hackle:            Whiting 100:  Grizzly

Male Trico Hatch Matcher 

Hook:               Daiichi 1110, sizes 20-24

Thread:            8/0 Uni-Thread:  Black

Body:                White breast feather from Wood Duck or Gadwall drake

Hackle:             Whiting 100:  Grizzly

Sparkle Trico Hatch Matcher 

Hook:                Daiichi 1110, sizes 20-24

Thread:             8/0 Uni-Thread:  Black

Over Wrap:      Midge Crystal Flash:  Peacock

Body:                 White breast feather from Wood Duck or Gadxwall drake

Hackle:              Whiting 100:  Grizzly

Adams Hatch Matcher 

Hook:                  Daiichi 1110, sizes 14-22

Thread:               8/0 Uni-Thread:  Gray or Iron Gray

Body:                   Mallard flank feather dyed medium or dark dun; quail for smaller sizes

Hackle:                Cree, or blend of brown and grizzly Whiting 100

Mahogany Dun Hatch Matcher 

Hook:                   Daiichi 1110, sizes 14-16

Thread:                8/0 Uni-Thread:  Dark Brown or Camel

Rib:                       Copper Crystal Flash (optional)

Body:                    Mallard flank feather dyed medium or dark brown

Hackle:                 Whiting 100:  Dark Dun, Black, Brown or Brown Dyed Grizzly

Purple Haze Hatch Matcher 

Hook:                    Daiichi 1110, sizes 14-20

Thread:                 8/0 Uni-Thread:  Purple

Body:                     Mallard flank feather dyed purple

Hackle:                  Whiting 100:  Grizzly

Black Hatch Matcher 

Hook:                     Daiichi 1110, sizes 14-22

Thread:                  8/0 Uni-Thread:  Black

Body:                      Mallard flank feather dyed black; Starling for smaller sizes

Hackle:                   Whiting 100:  Black 

June 25TH Double R Fishing Report

Wednesday, June 25, 2014:

Over the past week I have begun to see a few of the White Miller Caddis which usually blanket Silver Creek in early June.  Yeesterday morning there was a bona fide flight of White Miller Caddis down in the field water.  I have no explanation for the relatively late emergence of White Miller Caddis this season.  I would have expected an early hatch this year due to the low creek level which has warmed the water, particularly downstream of Highway 20.  But, I feel the White Miller Caddis is about to become a significant event in our daily fishing.  Keep your eyes open, particularly in the evening.

The term “White Miller Caddis” is a label applied to the family of caddis flies featuring antennae unusually long for a caddis fly, also colloquially known as the Long Horned Caddis.  The species we encounter early season on Silver Creek is the Oecetis.  A similar but somewhat smaller species distributed all over Yellowstone National Park and nearby waters is the Nectopsyche.    

On Silver Creek the initial hatches of the White Miller usually occur during the first week of June but may be present on Opening Day if Spring arrives early.  The conventional wisdom at Point of Rocks is that the Brown Drake hatch will start 4 or 5 days after the onset of the White Miller emergence.  This season the Brown Drakes preceded the White Millers, if the White Millers have yet even came off at Point of Rocks.  

A hot afternoon winding down into a warm evening is the prescription for a dense White Miller hatch in the evening.  One will see swarms of White Millers dancing over the creek surface in the morning, often before the day’s mayfly hatch.  In the evening there can be a thick emergence, often a blizzard hatch blanketing the creek from bank to bank, from the Gazebo Bridge (Beat #14) down to Beat 10 or 11.  

Your Stream Keeper finds the White Miller to be one of the most difficult caddis to bring to the dry fly, at least in the morning.  I’ve had only sporadic success with standard caddis patterns such as the X Caddis, the EZ Caddis or the Elk Hair Caddis.  In fact, my effort to solve the “White Miller dry problem” led me to develop my “Nectarine” series of caddis dries which turned out to work well on every species of caddis except White Millers.  I have much better success with the White Miller flights on Silver Creek by running a #10 Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle subsurface under egg laying flights of White Miller caddis; a size 14 might be a better choice this season given the low creek conditions.  I have a theory that the fish you see swirling below clouds of White Millers or coming out of the water are really chasing White Miller Caddis making their way to the surface.  That could be why swinging a soft hackle can be so effective.  Last year when the White Millers emerged in force below the Gazebo Bridge I had a succession of four nights where in the two hours before dark I landed 21, 17, 19 and 31 trout, respectively.  So, once the White Miller hatch is upon us, don’t hesitate to come down and fish the evening hatch, err flight, of White Millers.

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper

June 23RD Double R Fishing Report

Monday, June 23, 2014:

Only 15 more shopping days until Trico Season. . . .   

This miniscule mayfly, the favorite of many Silver Creek devotees, surely will come off early this season.  There already are rumors of sightings up on the Nature Conservancy Preserve.  Now is the time to re-organize your Trico box, replenishing your inventory of old standbys and picking up some new patterns to make the hunt interesting.  Your friends at Picabo Angler fly shop will assist you in preparations for Trico Madness.  

When one considers just how small the Trico mayfly measures, it is mystifying that huge trout exhibit tunnel vision when the Trico hatches.  The serious fly angler is captivated by the Trico, some following Tricos around the West.  An angler has to be serious if Trico hatches are the quarry as early mornings are mandated; press the “snooze” button a few times and one is out of luck.  Success with fishing the Trico hatch requires a different presentation than other mayfly emergences and detailed knowledge about the developmental stages of both sexes of the insect.  The Trico hatch on Silver Creek is world famous and a supreme test of the angler’s skill set and knowledge.  It calls for 12 to 15 foot leaders with three to four foot tippets of 6X or 7X material, an extremely cautious approach, and skillful presentation.  

Nymphs.  

Tricos fall in the “crawler” category of mayflies.  The nymphs are feeble swimmers at best, always preferring to crawl unless they become dislodged from their hold on rock substrate or lose their grip on aquatic vegetation.  Tricos emerge from the nymphal stage various manners.  Many hatch in open water in the surface film.  Others crawl up weed beds toward the surface, leaving the exoskeleton just beneath the surface.  Some Tricos simply crawl out of the water on rocks or on the protruding vegetation which has developed on Silver Creek by mid-summer.  None of these emergence methods seem to prompt trout to selectively feed on nymphs.  Trico nymphs generally are light to dark brown in color and are only 1/8 to 3/8 inches in length.  

However, trout can be taken on Trico nymph patterns well before the hatch begins.  An effective nymph pattern for Tricos would be tied in sizes 18 to 24, with tan to dark brown fur dubbing picked out at the thorax, and 3 pheasant tail fibers for the tailing.  The classic nymph pattern is Rene Harrop’s Trico Nymph.  If you have reason to believe that the Trico hatch is fairly imminent, make the cast cross stream or quarter it down, mending so that the fly is dead drifted.  A strike indicator can help the beginning angler respond to the subtle takes common with trout taking the Trico nymph, or one can fish the nymph as a dropper off a Trico Dun pattern or terrestrials like ants and beetles.  

Emergers.

All Trico addicts have days when they simply cannot hook a trout despite trying all manner of dun and spinner patterns, the two most common types of flies that anglers rely on for Trico action.  We fail to realize that there are times when trout feed on emergers in preference to winged adults or Trico spinners, as trout do with other mayfly hatches.  What is it about the Trico hatch which causes the piscatorial quarterback to fail to read the defense?   Be on the lookout for rise forms and bubbles which are sure signs of surface takes, then follow the float of a few duns to see if any of them disappear.  If you see bubbles but no duns go down, then it may be time to try an emerger pattern. 

Harrop’s “CDC Trico Emerger” can be very effective in these circumstances, as it will suspend in the surface film.  The abdomen of olive dubbing (synthetic preferable) represents the female which is what trout will see almost exclusively in their early morning feeding) the thorax is dark brown dubbing and the wing is a tuft of white or gray CDC (a great situation to use CDC “oiler puffs,” tied in by the stem and trimmed to one’s liking).  Alternatively, just add a piece of white or gray polypro yarn or a tuft of CDC when tying your preferred un-weighted Trico nymph, so as to represent the unfolding wings of the emerging nymph.

A good presentation strategy for the Trico emerger is to position one’s self directly upstream of working trout and cast downstream directly into the feeding lane in front of a single fish.  Try to cast in line with the rhythmic feeding behavior of the targeted trout.  It is preferable to employ a cast which provides slack tippet so that micro-currents do not create drag.  

Duns. 

Female Trico duns typically emerge early morning and molt into spinners within a few minutes to an hour, the precise timing being temperature dependent.  Most anglers arrive on the creek just in time for the flight of spinners, often not casting until swarms of “spinners” hover over the bank and water surface, resembling medieval towers.  These anglers are missing out on some of the best fishuing of the Trico hatch; get there early.  The color of the female’s abdomen is light green with a dark brown thorax.  When fishing dun patterns In the morning one should use green bodied flies to imitate the (female) dun because the dark brown bodied male dun usually does not hatch until evening (and sometimes after dark).  We’re talking about patterns tied in sizes 20 to 24.  

Female dun patterns which can be very effective on Silver Creek include:  a green or olive bodied Hatchmatcher; the Trico Sparkle Dun; the Trico No Hackle; A.K. Best’s Trico Quill Dun; the Trico Female Dun (tied with wings of light blue dun hackle tips).  On a good day with a thick hatch of female duns the angler can approach relatively close to trout feeding on duns because the trout may be distracted fleets of Trico Duns floating downstream.

Spinners.  

When the female duns complete the molting process they will fly into the often large swarms of male spinners hovering over the creek or forming “towers” over solid ground, and mate randomly.  Male spinners will “fall” onto the creek immediately after mating, before the female spinners.  This is because after mating the female spinners spend a half hour to an hour in the riparian zone waiting for the fertilized eggs to ripen before returning creek to deposit her eggs.  The female Trico spinners are olive in color while the male Trico spinner is dark brown to black.  One should be armed with both colors whether your favorite spinner pattern has white wings made of clear antron, white polypro, CDC, Zelon or hen hackle.  Another twist is to fish double winged spinner patterns which can be tied on #16 hooks!  The Trico Hatchmatcher is an excellent pattern for fishing the spinner fall.

Progressive Strategy for Trico Success.  

1. Get on the creek early in the morning. It can be worth it!
2. Before the dun hatch, fish nymphs.
3. Fish an emerger when you suspect trout are keying on emergers.
4. Then fish a green bodied dun pattern.
5. When trout begin to refuse a green bodied dun pattern which has been working and Trico spinners are in the air, consider switching to a dark brown or black bodied spinner pattern.  
6. Later switch to an olive spinner pattern.
7. Fish a 12 to 16 foot leader with a 6X or 7X tippet.
8. Land and release your fish quickly.  Don’t handle trout.  The heat of August can exhaust trout and kill them.  

Doug Andres

Stream Keeper