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 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 5TH Double R Fishing Report "Transition"

Thursday, September 4, 2014:

Members (and other readers) I apologize for the one month drought in blog entries but the “mother board” of my old computer busted and it took me quite a while to purchase and set up my new lap top.  But, I’m back at it, whatever “it” may be.

FISHING REPORT:

We are now smack in the middle of the “transition” period of the season, i.e. between summer bugs and fall insects.  Many years that portends pretty marginal and unreliable fishing but that is not the case this season.  The trout are rising all over the field water of the Double R and up on The Pond, all day in the absence of wind.  With the great variance in weather one day to the next, we are experiencing an ever changing assortment of mayflies.  There also are 2 inch long grasshoppers next to the field water and some anglers are scoring on large black beetles in the wind.  But, the unanswered question is, “Where are the damsels?”   

Callibaetis has been my favorite hatch to fish these days.  Provided the wind does not get too strong, we have been experiencing Callibaetis action starting as early as 11:00 a.m.  Some days the action begins with a spinner flight followed by a hatch of Duns, some days the order is reversed, and some days they occur simultaneously.  The “naturals” currently are about a size 16.  One tip:  If you are fishing the Callibaetis dun hatch or spinner fall in “glass” conditions (which happens many days around noon for an hour until the wind picks up) one will have greater success with a pattern that is one size smaller, these days a size 18.  I have been using a size 18 Callibaetis Hatch Matcher followed by a size 16 Harrop Callibaetis No Hackle with a salmon colored body.  I’ve heard that Members have been scoring with Callibaetis Emergers. 

Blue Winged Olives (aka “Baetis”) can be a troublesome hatch to fish these days.  The “summer” Baetis have been on the field water for a month and most of us did well with them until the uncharacteristic overcast even rainy conditions of this August became a daily reality.  There are nearly 50 species within the Baetis family and those in the summer group thrive in the heat but hate the cold, rainy overcast weather which makes Fall Baetis explode.  Last night’s frost in Picabo may well be the “opening day” for our Fall Baetis, as I have observed dark gray spinners with brown bodies which are characteristic of some Fall Baetis species.  Tie or buy some spinners with this coloration (if you can find them) or drag out your favorite Rusty Spinner pattern, especially for those after-the-hatch “bank sippers.”

Mahogany Duns are my favorite fall insect and they have just started to appear on the water.  This bug will be the feature of a future blog entry.  They are a size 16.  They are most often seen in the quiet calm margins along the (true) bank or a patch of aquatic vegetation.  On the Ranch they are present both on the field water and on The Pond.  

“Pistachio” Duns.   Members have reported sightings of this unusual Baetis which we see each Fall on the field water, but generally not on The Pond.  You can use just about any dun pattern (Comparadun, Sparkle Dun, etc.) to imitate this unique mayfly, provided the body is made using Rene Harrop’s “Professional Dubbing” in his “Caddis Green” color (or something pretty close tending towards a chartreuse coloration).  Currently the “natural” is running around a size 18 but in the weeks to come the bug will appear in size 16.  

2nd annual “Stream Keeper’s Paella Party.”

Members of the Double R Ranch Fishing Club are invited to my annual Paella Party set to begin at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 13 at the Gazebo.  I will be serving my infamous Paella together with a tomato salad, sliced watermelon, Epi bread and a dessert of Grilled Peaches with Vanilla Ice Cream.  

If you live under a bridge and haven’t encountered Paella before, it is a spicy Spanish rice dish.  I load the rice up with boneless chicken thighs, spicy Italian sausage, shrimp, scallops, crawfish tails and mussels.  

Bring your own adult beverage, soft drink or bottled water.  

If you really feel that you MUST bring something else (always appreciated) an appetizer would be fine.

Come and celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of fine fall fishing.

Silver Creek Opening Day

Strategies For Opening Day:

The flow of Silver Creek through the Double R Ranch has stabilized at what I estimate to be in the 75 to 80 cfs level, compared with the usual springtime level of 120 to 180 cfs.  No one can recall the creek being so low.  The aquifer has not recharged to its usual spring level and the Deputy Water Master questions whether it will this season, due to the lack of significant rain or snow melt.  On the Ranch there are exposed mud flats along some of the banks and at several of the access points.  You will want to scout out your entry and exit points with your physical capabilities in mind, and enter the creek carefully.  On most stretches of the Ranch water the deepest channel is in the middle where the trout are likely to hold, as a refuge from the winged predators; habitat for bank feeding trout is greatly reduced.  You are going to have to float down this deep channel, meaning that dry flies will have to be drifted directly downstream to rising fish.

All is not gloom and doom.  To the contrary, I view it as a rare opportunity to fish structure.  The observant angler will focus attention and casts on the deeper channels, on the holes, on the “buckets” and “bathtubs,” on the remaining troughs along the banks, and on trout rising to bugs on the shallow flats.  This season the program will be more like reading water on a freestone stream.  When the creek is at full pool and nothing is hatching I am often frustrated by not knowing where to swim my soft hackle or small dark nymph, but this year I will be running subsurface flies through these areas of structure and covering this water thoroughly instead of making a few casts before floating on.  The bottom line is that at the beginning of this season no one will really know by experience exactly where the trout are going to hold or feed, or what flies or techniques will be successful.   We will all be experimenting and relying on our powers of observation.  It is a great time to be sharing information with fellow anglers, and I will endeavor to do so in this daily Blog and on the Stream Keeper’s Board in the Sign-In Wagon.           

It quite possibly may turn out that the most productive and easier fishing will be found on The Pond.   This past winter’s renovation produced a lot of deeper water that will be cooler and hold fish.  There is much more fishable water on The Pond than in past seasons because it is deeper and much silt has been removed.  The new islands mean more bank water to target with our casts.  We will be constructing a gravel road that will provide access further up The Pond all the way to the bottom of the now restored channel along the north bank.  An extended boardwalk with steps and handrail is planned near the Dam and we will be installing additional handrails along the bank to improve access.  I am optimistic that there will be good hatches of Callibaetis, Tricos, Mahogany Duns and Damsels on The Pond.

The trout have started their annual move onto the Ranch water.  Many people don’t realize that the fish migrate and move around Silver Creek on a seasonal basis.  It is my observation that much of the trout population doesn’t move south of Highway 20 until the Brown Drake hatch wanes and the water gets too warm for them down at Point of Rocks.  There already are some nice trout on the Double R, including the return of the two foot long “Tiger” trout and a bunch of 20 inchers which have been hanging out above and below the gazebo bridge.  Some large fish have been rising in The Pond as well.  A few are wallowing in “The Hole” at the beginning of Beat #5.  We just need to be observant and cover the water thoroughly.

What will you encounter on Opening Day? 

The Blue Winged Olive hatch started a week ago and has begun to intensify, although it is still a sparse hatch.  The BWOs are small bugs, so plan on fishing sizes 18 to 22.  The creek is clear and the fish spooky, so the wise angler will tie on sparsely tied dry fly patterns including:  BWO Hackle Stackers; olive bodied Hatchmatchers; BWO Sparkle Duns; CDC winged rusty spinners; Harrop emerger patterns and the like. 

There are still a few midges hatching anywhere from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.  The adult midges are of the gray persuasion and are about a size 16 or 18.  If your BWO patterns are not being taken by feeding trout, you might want to switch to a wet or dry midge pattern.  

Yesterday, I saw trout rising to the first Pale Morning Duns of the season.  Again, the bugs are running small, a size 18 or 16.

When nothing in the way of flying insects can be seen at the very beginning of a hatch, one might want to swim a pheasant tail soft hackle or dark olive nymph in small sizes like 14 to 18 through the deeper channels, over bathtubs or into holes.  

As far as specific stretches to fish, at this early point in a low water season, your guess is as good as mine but I have some thoughts:

·       Wade in and fish the pool and run immediately below the Dam with a dark Woolly Bugger, leech, streamer or bead head nymph.  Proceed down the right hand channel and cast to the trout that currently are hanging under the bank immediately behind the Gazebo.  Then wade around the corner and cast to the trout that are holding in the troughs and hole above the bridge and exit at the bridge.

·       Launch your float tube below the bridge (access point #14) and take a shot at the large trout hanging out on the shelf of the deep pool, using a soft hackle or small nymph containing some sparkle.  Proceed to your right and make longer casts that thoroughly cover the deep channel.  When you get back to the main channel, position yourself on the left hand side and cast back to the deeper water on the right or south side of the creek.  Exit at access point 13 (where my trailer is located), 12 or 11 (if your scouting makes you confident that you can exit at #11).

·       Launch your float tube at access point 10 and fish the troughs with a soft hackle or small dark nymph if the trout are not rising.  As you move into Beat #9, be sure to thoroughly cover the holding water which is in front of and behind the logs.  As you approach the end of the beat, position yourself in the middle of the creek and fish back to the north bank along the reeds.

·       A fine choice would be Beat #8 which features some deep channels, particularly the extended hole at the beginning of the float.  It is a nice stretch to swim a small soft hackle.

·       The fish have been rising daily above and below The Hole at the top of Beat #5.  The low water level likely has created a lot of “bathtubs” in the straight stretch downstream of The Hole and I would thoroughly cover the left or west bank right above the takeout. 

·       Beat #4 should be productive where it deepens at the narrowing of the creek. 

·       Launching at Beat #2, one might cast soft hackles, pheasant tails or small dark nymphs and swim them back across the creek.  There are some nice bathtubs in this stretch that will hold trout. 

·       It could be that the easiest float and deepest holding water will be encountered from Beat #1 back down to Highway 20, requiring a car shuttle. 

·       Then there is The Pond.

Reminders: 

·       Due to the low water situation this year we are continuing the restriction that Members and their Guests are prohibited from fishing rods lighter than a 4 weight. 

·       Starting just below the gazebo bridge, Members and Guests may only enter and exit the creek at the numbered, designated access points; no “bush whacking” is permitted.

·       A gazebo reservations calendar is located on the refrigerator of the gazebo.  You may also call me about a reservation; I will check the calendar and confirm availability for you.

For those of you who like to participate in the Brown Drake Madness at “The Willows,” Point of Rocks and along North Picabo Road, the prevailing wisdom is that the hatch should come off earlier than usual this year because of the Creek’s low flow.  If you want to rent a beat for an evening of Brown Drake fishing, contact John Huber or Nick Anderson at Picabo Angler.

On Opening Day there will be a barbeque at Picabo Angler. The shop opens at 6:30 AM and the BBQ will start at 11 AM. The store will be open to 8 pm.

Stop in at the Picabo Angler fly shop for last minute essentials and to pick up your hang tag for 2014.

I’d love to hear about your trials and tribulations.  You can flag me down or contact me at my trailer near the brown barn.  My phone is (503) 939.7657.  Email is:  dougandres.whenpigflies@gmail.com.

Also:

The Sangers and Halversons are having an informal start-of-the-summer cookout at the gazebo this Friday night. Cocktails at 5:00 p.m. and then we will eat when we feel like it. Anyone who wants to come please bring your own dinnerware, your meat of choice, a side dish, and whatever you wish to drink. Potluck! A celebration of the beginning of the season and why we live in this valley.