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 10 great seasons.

-August 5th, 2010

-Summer is rolling on!  Fishing has been good in the early mornings and again in the evenings.  During the heat of the day be sure and pace yourself, find some shade to hang out in and nymph away.  We've been on the water tossing large dry flies tight to the bank and have also done well covering water on the move from the boat with our strike indicator nymphing set ups.  Last night we hooked so many fish nymphing that we stuck with it all the way to dark.  For first time fly fishers, catching fish helps boost confidence and builds technique.  I'm loving helping people catch fish.  Folks have been taking advantage of our 1/2 day and evening float rates and I don't blame them. In this troubled economy, get a deal while you can. 

-A few buddies and I had the time of our lives fishing and floating the Grande Ronde River for smallmouth bass recently.  I'll put some pictures and videos up on my recent photos page.  I wanted to thank Boggan's Oasis and Grande Ronde River guide John Sullivan for their help in putting this trip together. 

-If you're itching to catch steelhead, this may be the year for you.  Fish counts over Bonneville Dam remain high.  I thought last year was a good year.  This year should be better.  A trip to the Grande Ronde River, Klickitat River or Wenatchee River (if it opens) is on my "must do list" for fall 2010.  The Methow River (if it opens) should also fish well but gets crowded, so plan a midweek trip if you can for October. 

-July 6th, 2010

-I hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday!  God bless the USA!  The Yakima River is in beautiful shape.  The flows are lower than normal for this time of the year.  Cle Elum reservoir releases will likely increase with irrigation demand with the forecasted warm weather.  High summer flows push our fish to the banks, which helps us know where to cast and helps the trout stay happy and comfortable in their summer time holding positions.  Good consistent fishing should be here for the next couple of months.  Look for the morning and evening bites to be the focus.  If I had to choose a time to book a trip it would be the last 4 to 5 hours of the day.  Call or email and we'll get you on the calendar.  Keep a summer 2 hour evening float in mind too.  For $175 I'll take you out for an evening float when the fishing is hot and the weather is not. 

-June 21st, 2010

-The Yakima River canyon fished really well for us this last weekend.  It's nice to have fishing like the good old days.  All 3 of our guide boats whacked fish after fish.  We had grins from ear to ear on happy clients and happy guides.  The nymphing was good.  Fish to likely holding water, so cast to anything that offers a pocket downstream of it or along a noticeable current seam (created by junctures of fast and slow flows).  Hit those spots where the current hits a large boulder, be it subsurface, or above that creates that "honey bucket" downstream.  That trough is usually deeper and holds fish.  That's a perfect place for a fish to lie and wait.  Cast in there or downstream from a hanging branch, undercut bank or within the velocity refuge right by the bank, on the move or anchored up.  Fishing from a drift boat is the way to go.  You'll be happy.  It's hard to beat the old reliable stonefly nymph with a beadhead dropper.  We also caught fish on large and small dry flies.  PMDs, caddis and some early season summer stonefly action is available.  I recommend that you give us a shout and get in on some of this great early summer fishing.  It's hard to beat sandals, shorts and trout right here in our backyard.  I love the Yakima River and am a bit re-enthused after my last guide trip.  Let's get out there.   

-The main reservoir (Cle Elum) that delivers most of the water during the summer months to the upper Yakima filled recently, so water releases have started.  Summer flows should be around 3500cfs to 4000cfs, which will turn most of our attention to fishing the same type of structure as described above, but closer to the velocity refuge the bank margins provide.  Keep attentive to the hydrographs listed above, especially the reservoir storage diagrams and flow monitoring sites listed.  The Umtanum gage helps us plan our Yakima River canyon trips.        

-June 4th, 2010

-The Yakima River fly fishing for trout game is still a go.  We're seeing some flow fluctuations, but that's expected with the near record wet May we just finished.  On a related note I heard a fun fact the other day about our May air temperatures.  It's been the first May in 60 years that we did not have at least one day time high of 90 degrees.  Wasn't Al Gore saying something about global warming.  I'd be OK with some warming!  Let's get out there and toss nymph fishing rigs below strike indicators in between periods of mayfly (pmd) and caddis emergences.  We're not to far away from good consistent evening fishing with large dry attractors too, plus the caddis dry fly bight is fun in the evenings.  Call or email and we'll get you on a date to fish the Yakima trout game.   

-For something new come out on a bass fishing trip.  We're running bass boat Columbia River trips and lower Yakima River driftboat trips.  To be honest, we've gone bass crazy here at Dreamflyfishing.com, see our dazed and confused faces below.

-May 17th, 2010

-Weekend guiding went well.  The fish seemed quite gorged on the epic caddis hatches, so it made for OK mid day nymph fishing.  The evening bite was worth staying out for!  We anchored on several good groups of rising fish, and caught risers on a variety of caddis patterns in sizes 14 to 18.  It's hard for me to beat a well presented olive bodied X-caddis.  The river has been on the rise and I'd hold off on fishing it again until it begins to recede.  Our warm air temperatures released some snowpack.  The flow fluctuations are good for the fish, and it would be good for the river if angler effort slacked off for a little while.  The fish need a break. 

-The lower Yakima bass factory is the place to be right now, and soon the temperatures in the Columbia River will be prime for spring bass fishing.  These two destinations are growing popular, so let me know if you'd like to hit them with me. 

-We've been catching spring Chinook on the Yakima River below Roza Dam.  I'm not licensed to guide for salmon, and don't have the knowledge yet to put you on to fish, but can recommend two guides that I'd use; Eli Rico and Bob Barthow.  Check out the springer I got the other day in my new raft. 

-May 4th, 2010

-I ended up rescheduling weekend guiding, based on the really, really crazy wind!  In looking at the weather report today I can see light at the end of the wind tunnel.  Yesterday afternoon I went to the store, got out of the truck and almost got blown over by a 60 mph gust, wow.  Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday and you know what that means, presents for mom and hungry trout eating caddis.  It'll be a good year to get out and hit the hatch. 

-The Yakima is experiencing a strong spring Chinook return and their are sections that are open for fishing.  We'll be out trying to fool a few and will let you know how it goes. 

-April 26th, 2010

-The YAK blew out from the Teanaway River downstream and for a period in the upper sections above the Teanaway last week.  We rescheduled our weekend guiding.  This week we have a favorable hydrograph and I expect the river to fish.  I've got one opening left this week, on Saturday.  Who wants it?  Be thinking about bass boat or drift boat bassin', as we're one good high pressure system away from some solid success.  We've caught a few small early season bass, but I'm anxiously awaiting the month of May, which is my favorite bass month.      

-April 19th, 2010

-My two guide trips over the weekend could not have gone better.  We caught fish after fish with tandem nymph rigs, pre and post our mayfly hatches.  We saw mostly march browns in the farmlands, and mostly blue wings in the canyon.  Both hatches were light, but we caught fish on dries.  The river is currently on the rise, and it is likely blown out from the Teanaway River downstream.  I'll explain a few details that will assist you in planning a fishing trip to the Yakima over the next month or so. 

Runoff is beginning: 

-The rising flows, as observed at the Umtanum Gage today, are from low lying snowpack, and are mostly coming from the Teanaway River. No storage releases are occurring, at present. The higher flows are welcome, as it should make it possible to push the high numbers of smolt out of the upper basin. At times over the last month, flow releases from the reservoirs were used to push smolts out.  Currently the natural runoff should help fill the reservoirs.  The reservoirs have a low likelihood of filling this year, and there won't be enough water to meet 100% of the irrigation demand.  The current natural runoff is giving the river a much needed flow pulse to aid in the outmigration of juvenile Chinook, coho, and steelhead (plus possibly some kelting adult steelhead).  I'm going to restate something from my last report.  Be careful wading or anchoring on the tailout gravels, the rainbows are spawning.  If you see a steelhead in the mix, don't harass it!

-To get an idea of where flows may be over the next few months, use this NOAA flow forecast link (see below).  We are within a water short year, so flows are heading up, but will be lower than normal from now on.  To track the snowpack and to get an idea of what our water year is shaping up to be use the snow - precipitation update link below.

http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/stp/station/stpplot/stpplot.cgi?UMTW1   ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/snow/update/wa.txt 

Fishin' and Catchin' in 2010 in our new boat.

-April 12th, 2010

-Low water, hungry fish, there's not much more to say...let's go fishin'.  Runoff will be coming, but for now, conditions are such that our fish our concentrated and feisty.  Be careful wading or anchoring on the tailout gravels, the rainbows are spawning.  If you see a steelhead in the mix, don't harass it!

-April 5th, 2010

-We've had some wild weather lately.  The snow in the mountains will help our low snowpack conditions.  The recent storms have helped us catch up a bit on water supply.  March browns and blue wings are hatching in the afternoons, around 2pm.  The hatch is earlier on the warm days and may be as late as 3 or 4pm on the cooler days.  We brought 5 fish up the other day to march brown duns, so that was fun.  Nymphing remains the mainstay for numbers of fish.  The skwala dry fly will still get eats.  I've got solid bookings for the next several weeks, but have some availability at the end of the month, so let me know if you want to get on the books. 

-We're on Facebook, whatever that means.  Help me figure out how to use this resource.  Here's the link to our Dreamflyfishing.com page, (click here).  It seems online videos are popular, so I'll figure out how to use YouTube, too.  Tight lines, and to you that are technologically up to speed, wow!  I've got some catching up to do.  

-March 23rd, 2010

-The word on the street is that spring fishing is heating up, skwala dry fly fun is available later in the afternoons and a few baetidae mayflies have been spotted.  That's motivation enough for me.  Let's get out there!  I have one opening this weekend, call or shoot me an email.  Bob and Ryan fished with one of my guides over the weekend and whacked em'.  Check our recent photos page for some great pics from their trip and a couple scenery and trout shots from 2 places I fished on my recent road trip to and back from Disneyland (with the ankle biters). 

-If you haven't heard yet, my tackle bag got stolen, bummer I know, but I've rebuilt my arsenal of flies and they're ready to get wet.  We're also featuring new client rods provided by L.L. Bean.  The Silver Ghost series is the finest stick we've tossed, balanced with the new Shearwater fly reel; this is a doozy!  

-March 1st, 2010

-It's finally March.  The Columbia Basin stillwater gems are open!  If I had some time I'd be out at Quincy or Burke or Dusty or Lenice or Lenore or ...... dragging flies around and chironomidae pupa nymph.  Having grown up in Quincy, March 1st was my favorite unofficial holiday.  I actually got more excited about the early season fishing season opener than any other real holiday. 

-I've been on the YAK lately and our guide trips have gone well.  I've been pulling streamers through deep slots, tandem nymphing inside seams and pocket water and excitedly tossing dry skwala stoneflies tight to the undercut banks.  We raised 3 fish this last Saturday to the skwala.  That's not red hot fishing, but to get the rainbows to come up and eat on the surface is fun!  It's what you dream about all winter, right?  Take advantage of my ESB special, see below for the details.  At $225 you won't find a better adventure.  I have 2 openings this next weekend.  Who wants them; call or email?

-February 12th, 2010

-I floated with my guide buddy today, and we had a great time in the Yakima River Canyon.  We got drenched and then had a one hour window of heavenly sunny weather, followed by some more rain and wind.  It was fun and we caught some fish.  I caught a nice rainbow on an olive conehead streamer with my new spey rod, so that was a blast!  Nymphing remains the go to method for producing numbers of trout and whitefish, but today was more of a streamer chuckin' day for us.  We both love the "big yank" after a good strip, strip, wham, fish on!  I talked to a good buddy (former client that's now a proud and able drift boat owner) at the boat launch after our float, and they did really well sticking to nymphs.  The go to for this time of the year is a stonefly and a dropper.  Keep the steak & eggs mentality in the back of your mind.  The stonefly is your steak and a dropper, which could be a small egg fly, or a beadhead pheasant tail, lightning bug or something similar will produce. 

-I'm going to try and stimulate some more bookings by offering an extended winter fishing season.  Let's call it the Economic Slump Buster or ESB.  Our winter rates for guided trips will extend through the end of March, wow!  I've never done that before.  For $225 you'll get me and my 10 years experience guiding the Yakima, or one of my top notch guide buddies, through March 31st at my winter/off season rate.  This deal is offered for 1 or 2 anglers.  Take advantage of this and help me get out on the water more.  I need the exercise, ha, ha.  Tight Lines, David 

-January 30th, 2010

-Winter is usually a good time for me to gear up for the upcoming season, tie some flies and monitor snow pack.  It's also been fun to get out and fish!  The Yakima is in great shape for a float or a wading trip.  I've been fishing a few times over the last two weeks and have done well.  Yesterday I hooked 15 and landed 9, several days before I hooked 17 and landed 13.  I've been catching rainbows, whitefish and a single cutthroat trout.  The size hasn't been impressive, but catching fish from 8 to 15 inches is fun.  Nymphing has been my strategy, but thoroughly working my spots.  I've been fishing in the canyon and below Roza Dam at my honey hole.  The cutthroat I caught below Roza was a first for me.  The fish are located in the holes below or to the inside of a riffle.  Some of the fish have been grouped up in the shallower transitions to holes, too.  I fished the same hole a week's time apart and I'm pretty sure I caught the same sucker each time, or his/her twin.  It was a treat to catch a monster sucker on a light fly rod; when hooked up with a large fish I love that minute or two anticipation going through your mind; it's when you're thinking what the heck is on the end of my line.  That's a fun feeling.  If you spend some time with your head under water you'll see that the bridgelip sucker and the mountain whitefish dominate the biomass of the Yakima River.  The State allows for and I support the retention of whitefish; for two reasons, one, I like to smoke whitefish and eat them, and two, I think as anglers we need to help in the management of the fishery by keeping those we catch.  Most whitefish seasons begin December 1st and extend to February 28th with a size 14 hook size and 15 fish limit.  You can use bait like a maggot, but I never have.

-We'll be guiding in style in 2010.  My new RO drift boat will be hear soon!         

-January 21st, 2010

-I stopped in to one of my favorite holes on the Yakima River yesterday and had a ball catching fish.  I only fished for an hour but landed 6 rainbow trout from 9 to 13 inches and a monster bridgelip sucker that was 20 inches long.  I was nymphing deep slow water with a san juan worm and a dropper egg pattern.  A split shot positioned 6 inches above my lead fly and fluorocarbon tippet from my strike indicator down 6 feet worked for me.  Give this set up a try one of these winter days to help with the cabin fever blues.  Keep us in mind for a 2010 booking and if you're a hearty soul let's get you out there for a winter trip.  I forecast that we are a month and a half away from good consistent daily fishing.  The Yakima gets rocking much earlier than most western US river fisheries.  We're blessed with an early emergence of the skwala stonefly.  Both the nymph and the dry attractors will work come March.  The earliest I have personally caught fish on skwala dry flies is February 15th and I caught a bunch! 

-January, 6th 2010

-Happy New Year!  I hope you had a great holiday season with family and friends.  Some of you possibly even wet a line, that's great.  We are beginning our 10th year of guiding you on fishing adventures!  Over the holiday I fished Rufus Woods Reservoir for triploid rainbow trout and Lake Chelan for mackinaw.  Some of it was fly fishing, so that's good.  Picking up a spinning rod, and for that matter, any kind of fishing tackle the last few years has been a fun guilty pleasure, for this fly fishing guide.  I've loved fishing new places with new techniques.  At Rufus Woods 4 of the 9 rainbows we boated were at or over 10 pounds, so that's hard to complain about.  At Lake Chelan my Dad, son and I fished with Anton Jones who operates www.darrellanddads.com a family fishing guide service.  We had the time of out lives, thanks to Anton!  I inserted a video of our Lake Chelan trip to my fishing reports page, so click the video below.  I plan to do more marketing on facebook and YouTube, to keep up with new marketing technology.  If you have suggestions on how I can use these websites to reach more clients let me know.  Keep coming back to the website often as I also hope to offer a few more fishing destinations for you to take advantage of in 2010.  If you need an immediate fishing fix please let me know as I have availability for Yakima River float trips at our winter rate, which is a really good deal in these crazy economic times.  The best way to overcome the cabin fever of winter is to get out there and fish.