ESTANCIA MARIA BEHETY LODGE
&
LA VILLA DE MARIA BEHETY LODGE
March 11 – 18, 2017
Estancia Maria Behety Lodge Report, March 11 – 18, 2017
End of another week here at Estancia Maria Behety Lodge. We had great fishing the first two days of the week and the last day. On Sunday we had a very heavy rain, and by Tuesday morning the river went up about a foot and a half and got very dirty. By Friday morning water visibility was a few inches. We landed 50 fish, with 9 fish over 15 pounds and 2 over 20 pounds. Carsten Dogs landed the fish of the week at 22 pounds and the two top rods were Herbert Witowski and Ernie Denison.
Water Conditions
Water color and visibility: River was at a good level the first two days. Due a heavy rain on Sunday, the water came up about a foot and a half and got very dirty by Tuesday. By Friday morning visibility was about 5 – 6 inches.
Water temperature: 42°F to 50°Fahrenheit.
Water level: River came up a foot and a half the third day. Starting Tuesday evening it started to drop down a little every day – still high, but visibility good enough to fish.
Weather Conditions:
Wind speed: West wind mostly. On Monday the wind went up to and over 50 mph.
Air temperature: 35°F to 66°F
Fishing Conditions:
Flies that are working the best: We fished mostly big flies, leeches, Intruders, big tube flies, Skagit Minnows, and Paul Millers. By the end of the week we used smaller flies, Medium size buggers, Tdf Taxis and Yuk Bugs. We landed some fish on top with sunray shadows the first day of the week.
Fly lines (tips, heads, lengths, densities, etc.):
Light tips and Scandi heads for low water conditions, Poly-leaders and Spey Versi-leaders.
Heavy tips and Skagit heads for high water conditions, looped to different lengths of T-14 and T-17. We also used some T-20 tips in some pools.
Length and strength of tippet and leaders: Short leaders for heavy tips, 2 to 4 feet and long leaders for lights tips, 10 to 15 feet
Fish Catch Statistics:
Number of anglers for the week: 10
Total number of fish landed for the week: 50
Weight of the biggest fish: 22 pounds
Number of fish landed over 15 pounds: 9
Number of fish landed over 20 pounds: 2
Notable Catches:
Carsten Dogs landed a 22 pounder and Ernie Denison landed a 21.5 pounder.
La Villa de Maria Behety Lodge Report, March 11 – 18, 2017
Another week just ended at La Villa de Estancia Maria Behety. On the second day of the week the river got high and muddy, and the fishing turned slower. We had only one day of clear water this week – Sunday. 41 fish were landed with 20 fish over 15 pounds, 3 over 20 pounds and average weight of 12.2 pounds – another great average.
The river was high and dirty all week. We didn’t find many fish in the lower beats, with this rise in water and the fish moves to the middle and beats.
Top rod of the week was Carl Behnke with 12 fish on the net.
Paul Senior landed the biggest fish at 23 pounds.
Water Conditions:
Water color and visibility: Dirty all week.
Water temperature: 7⁰ – 12⁰ Celsius (45⁰ – 54⁰ Fahrenheit)
Water level: high water all week, higher than November.
Weather Conditions:
Wind speed: the wind blew south and east all week. On Monday we had winds as strong as a 100 kmh (62 mph).
Air temperature: 4⁰ – 12⁰ Celsius (39⁰ – low 54⁰ Fahrenheit)
Weather observations: low temperatures, heavy rains, and east winds.
Fishing Conditions:
Flies that are working the best: Intruders, Leeches, Tube flies and big flies for the last hour of fishing. Best flies of the week were Skagit Minnows and, tubes flies.
Fly lines (tips, heads, lengths, densities, etc.):
Skagit heads with different lengths of T-14, T-17 and T-20. We used heavy sink tips, even T-20, up to 15 feet.
Length and strength of tippet and leaders: 3 to 6 feet of 12 to 15 pound Maxima.
Most of the fish were in the middle and upper part of the river, we didn’t get many in the lower beats of the river.
Fish Catch Statistics:
Number of anglers for the week: 6.
Total number of fish landed: 41.
Weight of the biggest fish: 23 pounds.
Number of fish landed over 15 pounds: 20.
Number of fish landed over 20 pounds: 3.
Notable Catches:
Great session on Friday morning with Carl and Paul; the water was dirty and they got 10 fish to the net.
