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This
is our current fly fishing report for destinations
throughout Washington State, focused mostly on our
main attraction, the Yakima River. The
previous years fly fishing reports (linked above)
are also a great resource for you. We've
been at it for 8 great years.
Roman's summer 2008 bow
The one that's still out there is this big...
-July 18th, 2008
-I'll be on the river guiding again tomorrow, so
three days straight is mighty nice! I've
been in the Yakima River Canyon lately, but we'll
see how the upper river treats us. It's been
good nymphing and good large dry fly fishing,
especially when the sun is low in the horizon or
gone for the day. Early mornings and
evenings are prime. Let's get out there this
summer, give me a buzz.
-June 28th, 2008
-It's been a great June for guiding. Almost
everyday I had available was booked and the fish
were treating us mighty fine, especially on the
Lower Yakima River for smallmouth. How would
you like to catch 55 fish? It can be done,
let's get down there. A fun trip for several
groups has been Yakima River Canyon trout for day
1 and Yakima River smallmouth action for day 2.
I'll be out guiding again today and I think we'll
sneak one more good trip in before we'll have some
increased flows with the heat advisories melting
snow and our 100% full reservoirs in the basin
probably needing to release some water for
irrigation. Last night our guide trip went
well in the canyon. Its mostly been a
nymphing game for trout, with small fish and a
couple nice ones mixed in to the mix. Mr.
northern pikeminnow has been active. We
broke my all time record the other day when we
brought 8 aboard. One 17 incher gurgled up a
nice sized spring Chinook smolt. Predators
in action! We've got availability throughout
our summer months, so let's get you out there.
Keep posted to the website for what I'm personally
very excited about; guided Eastern Washington bass
boat bassin! Let's jump in the bass boat,
throttle that 110 hp Evinrude up and hit some
Columbia River and beyond hot spots!
-May 13th, 2008
-We've got a day or two left of fishing on the
Yakima River before the warm weather hits us and
the river blows. We are expecting 80 and 90
degree days by the end of this week. Our
massive snow pack may be coming off for a while.
The river fished for us yesterday. Nymphing
has been the name of the game, but we got a few
takers up top during a caddis hatch too. We
saw a few salmon flies, and our nymph imitations
produced pretty well. The other good fly for
me was a variation of the prince nymph. It
must have resembled a caddis. Caddis pupae
will work all summer long as a dropper.
Other notable insects that are out and about are
the blue wings and March browns. The fishing
is still pretty tough and will benefit from a week
or two of runoff and recovery from the spawn.
The runoff is going to put a delay on our
smallmouth fishing on the lower YAK, but we've got
the basin bass lakes to hit, so I'm excited.
The warm weather will bring some great conditions
to hit some trout lakes too. I can't wait!
Keep the bookings coming, we are off to a banner
year. Thanks for all of the referrals and
support.
April 30th, 2008
-Well we've been fishing all over lately, from
stocked lakes for fun, to Yakima River trout up
high and smallmouth down low. I'm writing
this from a hotel down here in the good olle
Tri-Cities. I'm dreaming of smallmouth.
I've caught the bug and twitch. It's like
when I was a kid awaiting that dream fishing trip.
I used to not sleep at night when awaiting the
next hike into the Quincy Lakes.
Fishing remains slow everywhere with the cool air
time temperatures, but keep a good attitude and
keep fishing. Things will get better!
Bookings have been heavy this spring, and I wish
our fish totals were higher, but conditions have
been tough. For trout fishing on the upper
Yakima I was enthused by a solid march brown hatch
the other day that got me pretty darned excited
about tossing dry mayflies. Caddis hatches
should be getting good soon, if our river holds.
Keep posted to the hydrographs. Our guide
trip bookings have been inquiring about the
conditions, and I've been having people keep in
touch; if the river is blown we'll be rescheduling
our trips. For bass fishing on the lower
Yakima we hooked what I exclaimed at the time was
the state record smallie. He tried to jump
just after he hooked up, but was too big. He
made some good runs and tried to jump again, but
gave Bob a quick wink and sent the hook a flyin'.
We almost cried. A 7 to 9 pound smallmouth,
as this is honestly what this fish was, is a fish
of a lifetime. The one that got away will
keep us headed back for more. I can't wait!
We'll get him either tomorrow or the next day,
please, please, please!
-April 13th, 2008
-I would love to sit here and type away about how
great the fishing has been on the YAK, and about
how we've been catching 20 to 30 fish a day like
previous years, but I can't. Something's
wrong with either the fish or our conditions.
We've had to work really hard for the handful of
fish per day we've been gettin' on our guide
trips. We felt pretty good with the 5 trout
and one whitefish we landed yesterday.
Nymphing has been a mystery! The blue wing
and march brown hatches have been light to the
point that I've only had a couple of spots that
have produced takes during the hatches. The
mayflies are coming off at 2pm like a clock, but
must be really intense on only the cloudy days.
The dry skwala has been my saving grace if fished
precisely and drag free in foam lines off the
bank, undercuts next to the bank and along
structure like rocks, logs and branches hanging
in. That little pocket and the current seam
that continues right downstream of an overhanging
branch is your money maker. Hit those on the
move or anchored up from the drift boat. It
got warm enough yesterday that we were actually
fishing caddis to rising fish late in the evening.
That was fun, but where are all the big fish?
Our water temperatures have increased which will
help! Spring is actually here now with the
recent warm weather, but as predicted the river is
on the rise. She's probably still fishing,
as she's not too high yet. Keep an eye on
the hydrograph, if she stays under 3K in the
canyon I'd still fish. We need a runoff
event, and hopefully a really big one to give the
river and fish a boost; a rest from fishing
pressure. Think about it from the fish's
perspective. The water has been low and
clear from September through what's now the middle
of April. These fish have been whacked by
avian predators everyday (what's up with the
pelicans this year), and fished to heavily in
clear shallow water. They need a break, a
chance to recover from the spring spawn and a
runoff event will help.
-March 29th, 2008
-Is this the winter that will not end, as it sure
seems like it to me? We were all out die
hards yesterday braving the elements. We
were rewarded with a dozen or so fish, including
Neil's largest Yakima River rainbow ever, a
beautiful, actually a stunning 18 inch perfectly
colored, mouth watering striped rainbow. I
was surprised by how good the nymphing was.
When I say die hards here I mean it! The
snow came down heavy from the start of our trip at
9:30am to about 4pm. We had 3 inches in the
boat, and kept fishing, rowing and moving our feet
back and forth to warm up. At about 5pm we
called it a day. It was time. What an
adventure. I'll be out guiding again today
and the weather is forecasted to be a little
better, but not by much. The river is in
great shape, and will be for the next week or so
with the cool night time lows, but at some time
runoff will be hitting us. We'll keep you
posted.
-I attended a natural resource managers outreach
to Yakima River fishermen and guides last night
and thought the key not speaker was on a role
explaining the history and condition of the Yakima
River. Many of the habitat improvement
activities that are and have occurred were
highlighted in another good presentation.
We're on our way to helping the fish we love.
WDFW did a good job showing us the potential for a
world class trout fishery. I'm all for
increasing bank habitat by implementing
boulder clusters, LWD importation, log vanes where
applicable, as well as side channel restoration
and development in appropriate reaches. We need a
program focused on implementing instream habitat
features where the data indicates a need in the
catch and release section we all fish. The work
done by the species interaction team (WDFW Eburg)
is helping as we work to increase fish numbers.
We will be developing a fund here at
dreamflyfishing.com in partnership with other
guide services on the river in helping to earn
money for habitat improvement projects. This
will be a partnership with the Mid Columbia
Fisheries Enhancement Group and act as cash match
for future grants. More information will be
coming soon.
-March 9th, 2008
-The good old Yakima is fishing well. Spring
is emerging and each day the fish have been
looking up more and more. We brought close
to a dozen up to skwala dry flies on a guide trip
yesterday. We've tossed some variations of a
local favorite/secret fly and some good old
standby bullethead patterns. Skwala dries
are working in sizes 8 and 10. I can't tell
you how nice it is after a long winter to see
grabs on the dry fly. Nymphing stone nymphs
and small droppers has also been good. A
brown double bead stonefly nymph or a Pat's rubber
legs has been my staple for a large nymph and
nothing's beat a flashback pheasant tail for a
dropper, in sizes 16 and 18. Water
conditions are ideal for some spring fishing,
let's hope they stay low and clear for a while.
Runoff may be wild this year.
-Our trip to Montana went well and we're home
fishing out of our new
2008 RO Drift Boat.
It's nice!
-February 23rd, 2008
-Time flies when you're having fun! It's
been nice to get out more with the warmer weather,
and the fishing is getting better each day.
Warmer air temperatures are helping us shed the
heavy coats in favor of a light fleece. In
fact on our float yesterday there was a period
where it was shirt sleeves, sunny and almost warm.
What a beautiful time of the year. We
haven't been boating a ton of fish lately, but
we've had a ball. It's been mostly a
nymphing game, with san juan worms, stonefly
nymphs and egg, pheasant tail, and lighting bug
droppers. On our last guide trip we did have
some dry fly opportunities; actually 3 in fact.
We tossed skwala dries over a feeder, and then
midges. We had a solid hookup on a very
consistent feeder with a dry midge. If dry
fly fishing really gets going then I will be a
happy camper. This winter thing needs to go
away!
-We're headed off to Bozeman to pick up our new
2008 RO drifter soon, so I'll bring back some
pictures of hoggs from the Clark Fork and lower
Madison Rivers.
-We've revamped the website. If you have a
minute can you shoot me an email and let me know
what you think? My email address is
david@dreamflyfishing.com.
-February 9th, 2008
-Well we're back to business on the Yakima River.
Our float yesterday went well. Nymphing
remains the technique of choice, with our best
nymph trailing 16 or so inches under a stonefly
and some weight; a size 18 beadhead flashback
pheasant tail. Small tippet will produce
more strikes, so be thinking 5X or so.
Conditions are pretty good for some winter
fishing. The river is still in good shape
and all of the boat launches from Red's Fly Shop
through the Canyon and near Ellensburg appear
accessible. Don't plan on taking out or
putting in at the Slab for a while! Shelf
ice is high in the lower canyon and full ice jams
are still impassable from Roza upstream a few
miles. The flow volumes will offer wading
anglers access to most of your favorite spots.
-Here's my early 2008 forecast: bookings don’t
really get going until the first few weeks of
March, and this year will be wild with runoff.
Early spring fishing, from March 1st to April 15th
may be what we have to work with, meaning gettin’
in some fishing before runoff. Flows may be
hit and miss between the middle of April and 1st
of June, but it's all weather dependent. The
rain on snow events are the most challenging to
flow conditions. The snowpack is shaping up
to be stellar, but each year it comes off at
different rates. Late February and early
March can offer some great afternoon midge and
baetis hatches in the canyon. As March
progresses the spring stonefly, the skwala stone
fishes really well, and it’s a hoot to toss large
dries to likely water triggering strikes.
Late March to early to mid April offers my
favorite hatch, the march browns. The march
brown is at most a 2 hour hatch, but if you are in
your spot and ready it can be stellar!
That’s a good run down of what spring 2008 will
offer, let’s get out there.
-January 19th, 2008
-Don't plan on fishing the Yakima until the ice
flows and full on blockages clear up. It's
going to need to warm up. Our day time high
temperatures need to be above freezing and night
time temperatures a little closer to freezing than
the single digits we've been seeing. Tie
some flies, hang out with the family and get
geared up at all of the Sportsman's Shows and the
Fly Fishing Show next weekend in Bellevue. I
drove over Snoqualmie pass yesterday and I'll tell
you what it was hairy, defensive driving at its
best.
-January 19th, 2008
-Well it's not every day that the good olle Yakima
produces a 24 inch rainbow for a lucky angler, but
today it did, for me. What a fish and what a
river, check it out above. I nymphed several
good holes today in search of rainbows and
whitefish. A good buddy showed me his glory
hole, and hallelujah, what a time we had. We
caught fish after fish and surprisingly more trout
than whities. Shortly after lunch I had
chunks of ice floating by and snagging my line,
but later in the day from 2pm to dark the ice
wasn't a problem and that's when the fish really
turned on. Toss your favorite nymphs and
focus on the highlight of the day, which appears
to be from 2pm to 5pm. Wow what a day, I'm
still jazzed about that big one. As long as
the wind doesn't make a showing, winter fishing
lately has been really good. The warmer days
need to be the focus, and ice flows can be a
problem if it's been cold, so shoot me an email or
give me a call for an update. 2008 bookings,
continue to come in, so snag your calendar and
let's book some trips.
-January 11th, 2008
-Happy new year everyone!
I hope the holidays fattened you up as much as me.
It was good times with the family, and it's time
to recuperate with some fishing exercise.
The good olle Yakima River is fishing pretty good.
It's been an afternoon game with nymphs,
streamers, and I've seen some midgeing fish, but
not enough to get to excited about switching.
On my last walk and wade outing I concentrated on
the 1 to 4 pm window and did very well on a small
stonefly nymph and a copper john variation.
On my first cast of 2008 I hooked and landed a
really nice Yakima River rainbow trout, he was
about 15 or 16 inches and beautiful. I was
grinning from ear to ear. After that initial
success it took me a while to find out what was
working. The fish made me search through my
box for the right fly, but when I found the right
patterns things went well. I think I hooked
almost 20 fish. Winter offers us a really
nice window in the afternoons to get out and catch
some fish, so keep it in mind and give me a call
or shoot me an email for information. Keep
the bookings coming. We're looking forward
to a busy 2008 guiding season on the Yakima and
throughout Eastern Washington. I would say
we are 1 to 2 months out from good consistent
daily fishing. |
