Maria Behety Fishing Report December 31, 2013– January 10, 2014
River conditions: The first day of the week we had a big rain, so the river rose about 10 inches the second day. The river started to drop after 2 days of high water. The water did not get very dirty so it cleared very fast. Cold water for seven days (between 45° F and 50° F) and little warmer the last days (around 55° F).
Weather: Very cold in the morning and the last hour in the afternoon the first days. Air temperature went from 38° F to 60 ° F with a couple of warm days by the end of the week.
Lines: Skagit lines with 10´, 12´and 15´ of T-14 and T-17. In some pools we used floating lines and the Sunray Shadow tube fly worked well. Scandi lines for fishing on the surface are the best!
Flies: We caught most of the fish on tube flies.. By the end of the week small nymphs (EMB, TDF prince, red butt bomber) and small wooly buggers started to work very well. For the last hour of the day big leeches, intruders or tube flies did best.
Average weight of the fish landed was 8,5 pounds. 15 fish were over 15 pounds and the biggest for the week was 17 pounds.
Our top rod was Nigel Badiozzaman with 43 fish landed!
Most of the fish were very fresh from the ocean and much stronger than any other season I remember.
Federico Molinolo
Head guide Maria Behety Lodge
