The season is slowly coming to an end over at Las Buitreras, reading this report which breaks down just how well the amazing month of February was for Sea Trout, has really got us missing those waters more than ever. We will now hand you over to the guide for his write up on the week.
Dry Flies and Sea Trout
For some time now we’ve been wondering if a dry fly is something that you wanna have in your fly box in case you’re so very lucky to have the perfect conditions and fish raising for them, or an actual option for some times when it works, perhaps, better than the rest…
There are two particular times when fishing dries for sea trout work as well -or better- than the rest. The easy one to expect: a river dropping and clearing up after a flood. We all know fish are extremely active and aggressive. It could be a time when most flies work some may say, and it’s real too. Counting on fish that will hammer basically everything that comes around gives you a great shot for skating dries. When you have this opportunity, take it.
Besides that, that other moment is nothing more than low water. During the middle of the summer rivers get to their lowest levels, going also extremely clear as in the case of the Gallegos, and together with it, water temperatures rise due to long sunny days.
Normal behavior of fish in this river dictates that when it drops to its lowest, the safest is to move into the deeper pools leaving even the faster but shallower runs that have the more oxygenated water too. In the pools and now with a number of fish gathering, fish tend to move, roll and jump probably because there’s competition for the best spots, etc…
Over the years we’ve figured that under those conditions when you may only want to extend your leader to the longest, take your tippet to the thinnest and put the smallest of your nymphs (a nymph many times meant for fishing other places that was somehow still in your box), there’s another way, hence dry flies.
During February we were able to test this by having the chance to go through those pools over and over again, dry fly winning every time. Not skating it, not twitching it, but on a dead drift as in the most traditional way. This was the case of 75, 80, Old Bridge, Flats, etc. With fish hitting a size 6 black bomber more often than you imagine, not shy and not scared at all.
There’s another great use for dry flies and this one opens more spots to the fishermen. A dry fly can cover the narrower channels in between plants and shallow parts without getting stuck at all. After trying this you will figure how -at times- sea trout can be anywhere, leading you to fish all the water, not only the more obvious structures.
Back to the fish, we were able to see good numbers of 10-13lb fish in the system along February. As mentioned before its been zones 1, 2 and 3 the ones that worked the best and the big pools the ones that were holding most of the fish. The lower part of C-pool keeps getting deeper and holding good numbers of fish.
Weather wise, it’s been really warm (several days of +25ºC) and sunny during the whole month, with some wind only for the last week. Days are slowly getting shorter here as we start getting closer to fall.
Contact Us
Las Buitreras is a paradise for fly anglers! If the sound of this trip interests you, take a look at our Las Buitreras tour page for even more info, Alternatively, you can request a free brochure or simply call us today on 01603 407596 with any questions you may have.
Tight lines,
Peter
