Villa
Maria Fishing Report (January 20th to 26th 2012)
We've just wrapped up our fifth week of fishing
here at Villa Maria and the fishing has just continued to get better! We landed
an amazing number of fish along with quite a few large fish, including a pair
that tipped the scales at 24 lbs. We shared this great week with a wonderful
group of five Swiss anglers that have been coming here for years as well as one
new addition to the group who we hope to see again, same time same place next
season for another great week of fishing and friends here at Villa Maria.
The river
is low and clear, other than on those days with high winds. On these days the
river becomes off color due to the wave action along the banks. These
conditions have really concentrated the fish in the lower part of the river,
which includes the water of our beats, and when you find them it's easy to make
the cast and get the fly where it needs to be.
Fishing the
fly low and slow has been our primary approach this week, but with the low
water we're not using the really heavy tips to accomplish this. A good
selection of poly leaders are sufficient to get the fly where it needs to be in
most situations. We also had a number of guests who experimented with floating
lines with some success. For flies; we fished a variety of rubber leg and bead
head nymphs and buggers through most of the day and then went to darker leech
patterns and tube flies for fishing last light.
Our Swiss
anglers put an amazing number of quality fish in the net during the week, good
job you guys! We had 29 fish of 15 lbs. or better and an astounding 15 big,
beautiful sea run browns of 20 lbs. or better. Unreal numbers! On top of this,
every guest put at least one fish of 20 lbs. or better in the net, great
fishing and anglers are a fantastic combination!
Tight Lines,
Sean
Blaine, Villa Maria Lodge Fishing Manager