| The Seasons at Bailey
Creek Lodge
Even though the waters at Bailey Creek are
rich with insects and filled with trout it is surprising how selective
its trout can be at times. It is not that you might have
a hard time catching the ranch's many fish, it's just that one would
think that they would jump all over any fly you offered them.
Not so- you must do some things right and we think that anyone going
to any private ranch should be aware of this point. Knowing why
trout do what they do will go a long way in helping your catch rate
on any body or water. You will find a few tips and why certain flies work at certain times described below. There can be slow fishing
days on any body of water, but at Bailey Creek even the rare slow days can
bring you fish that will really put a bend in your rod. These quality,
deep bodied trout will take you more than a moment to bring to hand,
and will result in memories that will last a lifetime. Information on each
of the seasons at Bailey Creek is presented below, and you will
find a very complete fly list under equipment
& flies.
Spring Time- March, April & Early
May
Cold & high water is the norm for this
early part of the season. You can be fishing in rain and
occasionally snow, or in beautiful sunny weather. It will be cold
to cool at night and you may need to dress warmly during the day,
although sometimes all you will need is a light shirt, and this
can be especially true as you get into late April & May. Usually
hatches, especially in the first month or two, will be few and far
from prolific. None of this means that the fishing will be poor;
on the contrary, some of the best days of the season come in these
months. The fish are coming off of a long, cold winter and are ready
to take on some calories. They are hungry, this hunger making them gullible at times, enough to make even novice anglers feel like a pro.
They can be tough at times as well, and knowing a few techniques
for lake and stream fishing will really pay off during the early season.
March will mean off colored, cold water and only the lakes can be legally fished. Anglers may not
see many rising fish, though the trout are often aggressive towards streamer
type flies so you will want to have a good supply of various buggers and baitfish imitations.
The larger sizes (#6-#8) can work at this time, but be sure to have
some of the smaller patterns as well. Midges seem to be a factor
every month of the season, so having midge nymphs, emergers and some
dries will be necessary. Something to remember is that when you
are faced with cold water situations a slow to slower retrieve can
be the ticket. That can be true when using these streamers and also
with some nymphs. You can get away with heavier tippet in off colored
water, but keep that slow retrieve in the back of your mind.
By late April and May
the Callibaetis mayflies begin to hatch, so you will want dries, nymphs and emergers
of that large mayfly species. Crippled patterns seem to out fish dries by
quite a good margin. There can be other mayflies hatching and usually
these will be small (#16-#18) and light yellow, tan or sulfur in
color. There is one insect event you could see in May and that is
an ant or termite flight. You will know it is going on because every
fish on the ranch can be feeding on the surface and you will catch
more trout during the flight than at any other time on the lake.
Carry winged ant patterns in May!
The stream opens to legal fishing starting on the last Saturday in April. Bailey Creek has a good population
of Golden Stones and Green Drakes. You may have action on Stonefly
drys and for certain of the nymph patterns of both. Big attractor dry flies such as yellow humpies and stimulators work well, too.
Summer Time- June, July & August
Summer is always associated with warm to
hot weather which means light weight clothing while on the
water and maybe a warm jacket or shirt for the evenings, which are
usually cooler. This warmer weather also means that every kind of
insect in the lake and stream is becoming active. June is considered
Callibaetis month in this country, but you will see mayflies, caddisflies,
midges, dragonflies, damselflies & the terrestrials (beetles
& ants) throughout the summer season.
June and a good part of July can bring an
amazing cast of insects doing their thing at Bailey Creek
Ranch. We left off with a tip on the early season about always carrying
winged ant patterns & that goes for the month of June as well.
We have found that using callibaetis cripples is the best dry fly
pattern for the callibaetis hatch. Midges are active every day of this season
and here is another tip- watch carefully during this hatch and you
will see that the trout are most likely taking the midge before
it comes to the top of the water. They will almost always eat the
midge when it is stuck in the bottom of the surface film (meniscus)
and will ignore anything sitting on top of it.
Fishing mayflies and caddisflies
in the surface film (using cripples or emergers) can sometimes mean
the difference between success and failure. Streamer type
flies will work, especially those that mimic damselfly nymphs, but
you must use the smaller patterns. This season is terrestrial time
and you will want to have beetle and ant patterns in your fly box. Beetles
in size 14 and ants in size 16-18 seem to produce the best. These
patterns will take fish anywhere, but all terrestrial fishermen
know that these insects seem to like to fall off of trees and bushes
that hang out over the water- enough said! One last thing you might
keep in mind is to use a loop knot to attach your streamers or nymphs when fishing the lake,
since it will help keep the fly looking natural and you can use
a size larger tippet. Many anglers like to use a dry fly and hang
a nymph underneath it, especially on the creek. Also, keep in mind that just going down to
smaller size nymphs can really pay off in the stream and lake as
well.
Fall Time – September, October
& November
All the information above about summer time
fishing will hold true for a good part of the fall season.
As the nights get colder and colder the hatches will get fewer and
fewer, with the exception of the midges. They seem to hatch out
everyday, sometimes for just a bit and sometimes off and on all
day. Callibaetis will provide some action much of this season, but
the flies themselves will be a size or two smaller than the June
variety. Terrestrails will work in at least the first month of the
Fall. During the first part of this season you can almost always
get action early and late in the day. However, as the colder weather
comes you will find that midday fishing is great.
A great tip from our shop manager, Tim Fox,
is to always use fluorocarbon for your tippet when fishing any lake
and just as your fly and leader settles on the water given
the whole thing a tug strong enough to pull the fly under (if you
are using top water flies), then pause and the fly will pop up to
the surface (if it’s been properly treated) but the fluorocarbon
will stay under and will be almost invisible. Your refusal rate
will go way down as a result.
To make a reservation,
please give us a call at 800-669-3474 during business hours
any day of the week. We can give you the answers you need or the
detailed explanations to questions you might have, or check on guide
availability and confirm your guide reservation in minutes.
If you prefer to correspond
on-line simply e-mail us at info@adventuresinflyfishing.com
and we will respond promptly.
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