2015 season fishing reports for both Estancia and La Villa Maria Behety

March 7-14, 2015:  La Villa Maria Behety

Another good week came to an end at La Villa de Maria Behety. Walt W., Kelly W. Ryan M. all from the USA had their first experience fishing the Rio Grande. Phil D. from the UK, visited us again after two years. Unfortunately Steve E. and Kathy E. had to cancel a week ago due to health issues. We all hope that Steve E. gets well soon.

Their place was taken by a couple from the UK. John B. and his girlfriend Katherine P. on her first ever experience fishing and casting.

The conditions were the toughest so far this season. The week started with a low and clear river, and for the first time, the river turned muddy and also rose about 25cm (9.8 inches). The water temperature was between 6° and 13° C (43° – 55° F).

A total of 96 fish were landed of which 27 were 15 pounds or more, we only had one 20 pounder, caught by Katherine P. in the last session, in the last 5 minutes. The average weight was very good, 10.3lbs.
The weather was rainy, sunny, overcast and quite windy, the temperatures were nice, between 19° and 4° C (66° – 39° F) .Phil D. from the UK was the top rod with 24 fish, Katherine P. had the biggest fish, a 20 lbs hen.

The fishing was interesting, we had fish on dry flies, riffle hitched tubes on top, and as the river got muddy, big flies fished deep were a must to connect with the fish.

Sinking lines between 2.5ft and 15ft. were the most used.

The windiest day of the season with wind gusts of 120 km. but we still caught fish in these extreme conditions.

The Sun-ray shadow, big articulated leaches, EMB, Tarantula, Aurelia Prince, Egg sucking leech, Scuds, micro-tubes and small nymphs on strong #12 and #14 hooks were the best flies.

February 21-28, 2015: La Villa Maria Behety

We had another group of repeating anglers this week at La Villa; Jim R., Mark B., John D. from the USA, Steve W. from Scotland and Jon S. from Syria. Unfortunately Fred M. couldn’t make it this year and cancelled due to health issues. We are glad to hear that he is better now. On behalf of the guides and staff we hope that he gets well soon.

Fishing improved at la Villa de Maria Behety this week. In fact it was one of the best weeks of the season. The water temperature was between 7° and 14° C (45° F – 52°F)

The weather was rainy the first couple days and the river rose about 15cm (6 inches), but the water remained crystal clear. After this, the weather was rather nice with temperatures between 22° and 3° C (72° F – 37° F)

Steve W. from Scotland was the top rod with 30 fish; he also achieved a place in the NBSC (No Blank Session Club), the second angler to make it this 2015 season. John D. from the USA had the biggest fish, at 25.5lbs. This was his biggest fish ever on the Rio Grande, a great trophy after 21 consecutive years fishing this river. Congratulations!

A total of 97 fish were landed of which 25 were 15 pounds or more, it was a good week of fish over 20lbs, we had 9! The average weight was outstanding, 10.9lbs.

A special mention has to be mentioned. Jim R. nicknamed “The Icon” by the guides, had an outstanding week. His first and last fish were both 20 pounders. He had 7 fish over 15 lbs. and performed very well in the most demanding situations. Congratulations for such a memorable week!

Floating lines and sinking lines between 2.5ft and 10ft were the most used; the fish were very keen on taking on the surface. John D. had a fantastic 15lb pound fish on a floating line with a Villa’s Tarantula, a black variation of the original Turk’s.

The Sun-ray shadow, EMB, Villa’s Tarantula, Aurelia Prince, Egg sucking leech, Scuds, micro-tubes and small nymphs on strong #12 and #14 hooks were the most successful.

Estancia Maria Behety Lodge

Last week 149 fish were landed. 31 fish over 15 pounds, 6 of these were over 20 pounds. The avera
ge weight was 9.7 pounds.

It was a good fishing week at Estancia Maria Behey Lodge. The river is in excellent conditions, low and clear water. We had a heavy rain on Wednesday; and by Friday morning the river rose 2 or 3 inches but started to drop down again on Saturday.

We experienced cold temperatures in the morning, warming up in the afternoons. Air temperature was between 34° F and 61° F. Water temperature was between 41° F and 54° F.

Rods, lines and tips: 6 to 9 weight spey rods. Skagit and Scandi with T-11, T-14 and T-17 in different lengths. MOW tips are a very good choice to use with a Skagit line. For Scandi lines poly-leaders or versi-leaders worked well. With the low water we are experiencing, single handed rods worked excellent in some of the pools.

Flies: Nymphs like EMB, Aurelia Prince, Red Tail, Tdf Prince, Prince Nymph, Chartreuse and Green Scuds. Also Green Machines & Titanics grassed some fish.

Black and olive wooly buggers, Yuk Bugs, Tube Flies like the Sunray Shadow and monkey. Big leeches and Intruders worked well during the last hour of fishing.

Top Rod
Nick Warren landed 22 fish.

Notable Catches:
Nick Warren landed a 26 pounder

Hakan Undin landed a 24.5 pounder on a single handed rod

Chris Lashinski landed a 24.5 pounder and a 20 pounder

John Burne landed a 20 pounder

February 13-20, 2015: La Villa Maria Behety

This week we had three anglers enjoying their second consecutive week at La Villa de Maria Behety: Brian Y., Michael K. and John C., and also repeating guests who joined the two-week fishermen, Kevin K from the USA, Michael H. and Jonathan H. from the UK.

Fishing had improved since last week, but some sessions were still tough. The water temperature was between 7° C and 12° C (44° F – 53.5° F). The weather was rainy the first days and the river raised a little, but the water remained crystal clear. After this, the weather was rather nice with temperatures between 19° C -1°C (66° F – 34° F). As it happened last week we had a frost one of the mornings.

Michael H. from England was the top rod with 25 fish, Kevin K. and John C. both from the USA, had the biggest fish, a 25 lbs. each! Congratulations! Jonathan H., Brian Y. and Kevin K. have tested the new Winston Boron III TH 8wt. 13’6″. And they all loved the Winston feel, even in windy conditions.

A total of 82 fish were landed of which 19 were 15 pounds or more, it was a good week of fish over 20lbs, we had 5! The average weight was very good, 9.8lbs.

Floating lines and sinking lines between 2.5ft and 15ft were the most used; the fish were very keen on taking on the surface. Michael H. the top rod, had most of his fish on floating line and tubes. The Sun-ray shadow, EMB, Turk’s Tarantula, Aurelia Prince, Egg sucking leech, and small nymphs on strong #12 and #14 hooks were very successful.

Estancia Maria Behety Lodge

Fishing improved slightly this week. Weather was similar to last week, cold in the morning and warming up in the afternoon. Air temperature was between 30° F and 58° F. Water temperature was between 33° F and 55° F. Windy some days.

155 fish were landed. 31 fish over 15 pounds, 6 of these were over 20 pounds. The average weight was 9.5 pounds

Rods, lines and tips: 6 to 9 weight spey rods together with Skagit and Scandi Lines with T-11, T-14 and T-17 in different lengths. MOW tips are a very good choice to use with the Skagit heads. On the Scandi lines poly-leaders or versi-leaders worked the best. With this low water single handed rods work excellent on some of the pools.

Flies: Nymphs like EMB, Aurelia Prince, Red-tail, Tdf Prince, Prince Nymph, Chartreuse and green scudds. Green Machine, Titanic. Black and olive wooly buggers. Tube flies like Sunray Shadow, Monkey, Big leeches and Intruders.

Top Rods:
John F.: 18 fish landed
Martin L.: 18 fish landed

Notable Catches:
John B. landed a 26 pounder and a 21 pounder
Steve W. landed a 23 pounder
Ray B. landed a 20 pounder
Derek F. landed a 20 pounder
Bill E. landed a 21.5 pounder

January 17-24, 2015: La Villa Maria Behety

Week number 4 is always a classic as we had the group headed by Alfred B. and Roger Y. that fish here since La Villa opened its doors back in 2004, Keith C., Colin G., Arthur M. and Roger C. completed the group.

Alfred B. had his birthday party on the Rio Grande, and blew 88 candles. Happy Birthday!

Things improved this week, not only in the number of fish landed, but also on the average weight that was very good. Despite these facts, fishing was still hard work in some sessions. The weather was extremely hot for Rio Grande, every day the maximum temperature was 20° Celsius (68°F) or more, being 28° C (82°F). the hottest day in years! Of course water temperature remained way over average, between 10° (50°F) and 18° (64°F) Celsius. Often, there was a lot of activity on the surface, and fish jumped in the most strange ways due to the warm water temperature.

The weather was too good to be true, with some windy days but calm most of the time. During the week the river level kept dropping. Some of the anglers were convinced that the level is even lower than in 2002. That season, my first one on the Rio Grande, the river was down to bare bones.

We are happy to announce that Colin G. got the biggest fish of the season so far, a 24.5 pounder.

The NBSC (No Blank Session Club) is still vacant, we hope this next week we can have a first member for 2015!

Arthur M. and Roger C. had a memorable session, on which they landed 7 fish between 15lbs. and 19lbs. Congratulations!

A total of 78 fish were landed of which 20 were 15 pounds or more. The top rod was Roger Y. with 24 fish landed. The average weight really improved to 9.5 lbs.
Floating lines were perhaps the most successful lines, the fish were keen on taking on the surface, but in some pools the key was to go deep with short fast sinking tips.

The Wonder Bug nymph was one of the top flies, the Green Machine, Sun-ray Shadow, Collie Dog, EMB, Aurelia Prince, Turk’s Tarantula, Intruder, and olive wooly Buggers, were the most successful flies.

Estancia Maria Behety Lodge

We landed 122 fish for the week. 20 fish over 15 pounds. The biggest was a 20.5 pound male.
Fishing improved this week. The river is getting full of fresh fish.

The river is in excellent condition – low with very clear water, and dropping a little every day. We had wind some days (up to 50 mph).

Air temperature was between 50°F and 77°F.
Water temperature between 50°F and 65°F

Rods, lines and tips: 6 to 9 weight spey rods. Skagit and Scandi lines with medium, heavy and extra heavy mow tips. Floating and intermediate tips were used for some pools.

Flies: Nymphs like EMB, Aurelia Prince, Red-tail, TDF Prince, Green Machine, Titanic, Black and olive wooly buggers. Tube flies like Sunray Shadow, Monkey. Big leeches and intruders moved some fish in the evening and connected.

Top Rod: Gary Dyer, from the US, with 20 fish in the net, four over 15 pounds.

Biggest fish: 20.5 pounds, landed by Duncan Morrison.