We have just finished one of the most challenging weeks on the Rio Grande this season. The problem wasn’t fish—we have the fish!
But the weather divided the week in half–cold and windy and very mild, windless, and warm the second half. In fact we had a couple of the warmest days of the year with temperatures up to 26 degree Celsius!
Generally, it was cool early in the mornings and very warm during the day. This also altered the water temp that was moving like a roller-coaster. And,at the same time, the water was starting to warm up, it’s level was dropping fast. I.e: last monday at 8am the air temperature was 5C and the water 6/8C but around 2pm the air was 25C and the water 14/16C. All these fast changes and the complete lack of wind and blue sky made the fish very unpredictable, shy, and prone to very short periods of activity.
Good casts, better presentations, slow swings, and good dose of patience were the ticket to succeed with Rio Grande’s sea trout.
We had a group lead by women this week, something not very usual to see in a fishing lodge at this latitude. So we were not short on laughters and good conversation. And for first timers in this river, they did a wonderful job!
Every rod in the group got at least one fish over 17lbs!
In these conditions, there was not a special set up to use and we were forced to change lines, tips and flies constantly. The tips varied from 3 to 12ft and from intermediate to T14, depending on temp, pool depth and fish activity. Smaller than usual nymphs and bright streamers of different colors were the first choice of guides and fishermen.
Thanks a lot to Sam, Demetre, Janette, Dennis, Christine and Greg for the patience and for doing a great job in challenging conditions!
Largest fish of the week, 21 lbs.
Fish over 20 lbs: 2
Fish over 15 lbs: 13
Alejandro Martello
Villa Maria Lodge Fishing Manager
