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Yakima River Conditions Links:
Yakima River Water Temperatures NOAA's Hydrologic Prediction Service Yakima River Basinwide Flow Site Yakima River Basin Storage Diagram -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. -December 31st, 2005 -I hope everyone had a great Christmas and remembered the real reason for the season. I love Christmas time and today being New Years Eve I'm excited about what is approaching in 2006. Celebrate the new year with the ones you love and I hope that your resolutions include an increased fly fishing parameter. 2005 has been an incredible year for our little family. We are still living in our new home here in Ellensburg with cowboy Dean (age 4.5) and Ila (age 14 months). Jaclyn is expecting a new addition in August, so that's good news. I interviewed for a very competitive natural resource management position working in Northern Yakima County, and I was hired. Getting the great job was an incredible Christmas present. I will continue to guide on my days off, please call or email anytime. We are taking reservations for the 2006 season. I'm also still working on my Master's at CWU in Resource Management. My thesis research involves a dietary and known life history analysis of the mountain whitefish in the Yakima River above Roza dam. It's an exciting topic, as little is known in the fisheries and natural resource management world about the little buggers. The Yakima River is an incredible resource and our little fly fishing niche has a lot to be grateful for. I've fished rivers throughout the West and the Yakima remains my staple for quality and quantity fly fishing. I love guiding the river and sharing with you my fly fishing and research experiences. -The Yakima currently is fishable. It's higher in volume than it was after/during the ice period we experienced, but clarity is improving and the hydrograph shows a falling limb, meaning lowering water. This is more good news, because honestly before all the ice wildness before Christmas we were having a ball out there chasing the rainbows and whitefish. I got in a few guide trips in December, and I thank you all for your support. When you run a guide service it's all about the clients, it's their show, and as guides we're excited to lead the experience. -December 15th, 2005 -I got one last guide trip in earlier in the week before/while the river was icing up. Fishing was tough, but the wildlife viewing, food, ice spectacle, and the bend at the end of the rod a few times, and fish to the boat, helped us warm up a bit during the chilly day. It's good to get out and enjoy the river, even if it's 12 degrees when you start, and you have to break ice to launch, and push the boat across ice to take out. Let's let it warm up a bit and let the river de-ice a little before trying it again. I've cancelled my one guide trip on the books for this weekend and as far as I can tell with the forecasted weather, it may be a while until we can get out there again. Fishing was good before the ice ups (see the previous report). It's time to cyber fish, tie flies ,and fish the westside of the mountains, Rocky Ford, or flyfish somewhere tropical. If you're going for the tropical fishing option, please take me with you. -December 12th, 2005 -It's cold outside, very cold. Dress warm and fish hard, it'll warm you up. I was out guiding over the weekend and will be guiding again today. Fishing is worthy. I've commented several times to clients that I've had summer days where we caught less fish. Nymphing is my mainstay currently in specific water at specific depths. I've been positioning the driftboat in spots where the fish are concentrated either at drop offs, seem lines, or nice deep troughs. There's been a few spots where just about every cast got a bob. It's fishing for the hearty though as night time temperatures have been in the teens and day time highs in the upper 20s. The rod guides are icing up constantly, and in the morning chunks of ice are floating in the river. By mid day fishing is at its best, especially in the 1 to 3pm window. Ice flows will get worse and we may have to give the YAK a break if passage becomes a problem. Below Umtanum at the smiley face rock is where we first see an ice barrier across the channel. Let's hope for some warmer temperatures as fishing can be good during the winter, and it's nice to have a stream option to calm the winter blues. Both John and Mike captured the triple crown over the weekend catching the notable rainbow trout, mountain whitefish and bridgelip sucker. One more notable experience that occurred the other day; I saw a really nice rainbow slurping midge adults as they landed in his lane between chunks of floating ice, that's cool. -December 5th, 2005 -I fished the YAK over the weekend and caught fish. Nymphing with a brown stone nymph and a beadhead dropper worked, swinging a small leech worked and a few small winter stoneflies were hatching. Sometimes you can hit windows in the winter time during the warm periods of the day, say 1 to 3pm where you can toss small black stoneflies to the occasional riser. Midging fish can also be found surface feeding during the warm periods of the day, but boy oh boy can they be picky. Presentation is everything. Winter fishing on the Yakima can be an incredible experience when you consider the beauty, wildlife viewing, solitude, and tug at the end of the line. High catch rates can be had on the warmer days, especially if you find a good zone to swing the fly. Bring a type three sinking line, a floating line and warm clothes and let's hit the YAK this winter. I have availability in the weeks to come and welcome any and all inquiries. -November 21st, 2005 -Thanksgiving is almost here and late fall is upon us. There is snow in the mountains and it looks like we will get more. Let's hope it's a wet winter with plenty of slow released runoff in the spring and summer. I haven't been fishing that much lately, as much of my time has been spent on my MS thesis. I'm researching the affects of sustained releases of high flow on Upper Yakima River sport fish diet. I'm hoping to write the thesis this winter and be finished with the MS degree by next summer. My coursework is just about done, let's keep our fingers crossed. As for a fishing report, here goes. My boy and I fished a local lake a week or so ago in my pram. We brought some hoggs aboard. Seeing my kids face light up at the sight of a 26.5 inch hatchery broodstock rainbow was a kick. The fish had a 15.5 inch girth at the dorsal. We caught another right at 26 inches and a 20 inch buck that day. Realizing that that's pretty darned good fishing I went back the next day and my neighbor and I boated 8 broods measuring 21 to 24 inches. I like eating fish, so we had a filleting party and have been enjoying the catch ever since. Jaclyn and I just smoked 6 of the fillets over the weekend and it turned out pretty good. We caught the hoggs on bloodworm patterns under strike indicators and by trolling large baitfish imitations. It pays to check WDFW's weekly stocking report. I fished the Yakima River for a couple of hours over the weekend and had success with nymphs and streamers. I fished dries to a few glassy water risers, but boy were they picky. I caught a beautiful 14 inch cutthroat and a handsome 16 inch rainbow buck with several other whacks swinging streamers, but nymphing was the trick for numbers of fish. I was using a stonefly nymph as a lead fly with a small trailer beadhead nymph 18 to 24 inches below the larger fly. Flourocarbon tippet works well for nymphing. Adjust your depth so that your nymphs hit the bottom every once in a while. Get the nymphs in front of the trout and whitefish, meaning fish likely inside seams, drop offs and don't overlook the slow tailouts. My favorite strike indicator is made by Spirit River, it's the Hot Head. Life is good, let's live it. Give me a call if you need a late fall or winter fishin' fix. -October 31st, 2005 -Happy Halloween everyone! We have a dusting of snow in the mountains here in Ellensburg and we've received needed rain in the valley. The recent cooler weather hasn't turned the fishing off, but our catch rates have gone down, but who's complaining about 20 to 30 fish days. It's not 30 to 40 fish fishin', but we're catching them still. Fishing small nymphs to likely drop offs, inside seams, current lines and to even some non descript deep slow water holes has been my preferred method for getting numbers of fish to the boat. The mayfly emergence is continuing, but the cooler weather is starting the hatch later in the afternoon. Depending on the day and air temperatures look for small blue wings (size 18 to 20) and mahoganies (size 16 to 18) in foam lines and pocket water. Fish will key on the nymph, emerger, dun and cripples during the hatch. A two fly set up is a good method for fishin' and catchin'. We've had some good days tossing large fall caddis, but none lately. We're still seeing a few out there flying around so toss em while we still can. We've also mixed in some streamer pulling to fill in slow periods of the day and have got some larger fish. Just as the large trout are fattening up for the winter many of us are trying to get in as much fishing before the snow really flies; to get us through the winter months. -The basin lakes are also a good option as fall is prime time out there. Try Lenice, Merry, Nunnally or Lenore. They're good November options. We'll be out on Lenore chasing lahontan cutthroat again tomorrow. Our trip there last week went well. One fish took, no joke here, the entire fly line and 30 feet of backing out before turning. Usually I'm not that impressed with the fight of these lake bruisers, but lately they've been fighting hard. It's probably the optimal water temperature, and incredible food supply. Tomorrow is a full moon, let's keep our fingers crossed that we'll land the monster! Last fall we got a 26 to 28 incher, this fall we want to surpass it. -This has been our best September and October for bookings, we thank you for your support! We've worked hard to reach a level of service that will attract the most discriminating angler. We are there and 2006 will be even better with more guide trip options and destinations. Look for a clean look on the website sometime this December as we'll be improving the site. -October 24th, 2005 -Well we've continued to be at it on the Yakima and the results are pretty much as noted below. I'm talking stellar fishing, good company and even a heard of 40 cows with one bull elk seen riverside. See below for more information, it's still good/pertinent to what's happening currently. I have openings and the fishing continues to be great, give me a call at 509-962-5523. -October 15th, 2005 -Have you ever wondered what a Yakima River 21 incher looks like? Look at Cam and you'll see his hogg. Plain and simple the river is fishin' and I mean fishin'! I've guided the last three days and we've been whacking them. I'm talking high number fish to the boat totals and some hoggs. Small dry flies, big fall caddis dries in the farmlands and upper river, and light nymphing techniques have worked for us. We've even thrown a few streamers to fool a few hoggs. The best of fall fishing is here and we have a good window until mid November to catch some fish. I have availability in the weeks to come, so quit wishin' and let's go fishin'. -As a side note we hit the Methow River for steelhead earlier in the week. We had fun fishin', but we didn't whack steelhead. We hooked 4 steelies, caught a big chinook and LDR'd another, whacked a bunch of trout & whitefish and wore out our arms. The river needs some rain to bring more fish up and a rest from the pressure. I was very surprised at the number of anglers out on a Tuesday. I know of one special hole in particular that was hit a number of times. We kept trying to drive back and hit it, but it was never free. The Methow is getting a lot of pressure, which is good for harvesting the hatchery fish. Keep them for the BBQ. -As another side note I fished with the president of the Washington State Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) today and a prior national FFF chairmen. I need to get more involved in this great organization and so do you. Our local group is called the Yakima River Fly Fishers, but we need to get the group jumpstarted. Let's get involved. -October 9th, 2005 -The Yakima has been really impressing me lately. We've been out guiding the lower Canyon and farmlands near Ellensburg and have had really high fish to the fly, fish on, and fish to the boat totals with quite a few large fish mixed in. I just about lost it yesterday when a 20+ incher nudged a size 18 dry fly but didn't eat. Life is good. I'll say it again if I were you I'd call me for a fall outing on the YAK. I'll be up on the Methow River the next two days chasing steelhead, so wish me luck. After I get my steelhead fix, I'll be back to fish n guide the YAK later in the week. -October 2nd, 2005 -What happened yesterday on the river in the farmlands? Simply put it was the best blue wing emergence of the fall. We tossed dries to risers for three hours. Cool weather and rain makes it possible for a strong emergence of my favorite foul weather friend: the blue wing. I guided the lower canyon and we whacked em on shallow nymph rigs and small dries earlier in the week. Toss in two more guide trips through the farmlands above the KOA and below and it was a great week. Flows have come up a tiny bit, but that's good, we needed more water in the system. Let's pray for the Cle Elum river flows, as there are a ton of spring chinook redds and the Cle Elum Reservoir is too low to release much more water. That river needs some water. We'll be at it again this next week and fishin' should be rockin'. I'd call me if I were you. -September 27th, 2005 -What a beautiful day. It's gorgeous outside and I'm excited to get out there to chase a few on our half day guide trip. The river has been good to us lately. We had 6 guide boats out last week and we had a ball. We've been nymphing in the am, tossing small dries to risers, secret flies to likely spots, October caddis in the afternoons, watching the salmon spawn in the upper river and eating like kings. Jaclyn has turned it up two notches lately for our meals. She's a peach. Life is good and the best of fall fishing is still to come. We've been floating everything from the lower canyon near Lmuma Creek, to the farmlands near Ellensburg, and the upper river near Cle Elum. We have access to a beautiful river. Flows are perfect for continued good fishing. I'd call me if I were you. Plus we have great stillwater options, creek fishin' until the end of September and steelhead options currently and around the corner. Let's hope the Methow opens and November 1st be thinking about some of those special Snake River steelhead tributaries. Let's get out there. -September 19th, 2005 -The river is low and flowing at a great fall flow. The Yakima fish are transitioning to fall staples as the October caddis are starting to hatch in the evenings. We had our first solid action the other day on the big dries in the farmlands. The mayfly hatches are still evolving as we've had some guide days where the conditions were right (cloudy and cool) and the small dry fly fishin' was rockin'. Look for the small bugs to play a larger roll as fall progresses, but be ready as it takes a good presentation with no drag and fine leaders. Keep in mind that the fall baetis are smaller than the spring baetis. Have 16 through 20s tied up and ready to go. We were working some very selective fish the other day and watched the transition from emergers to adults over the course of the light rise fest. Don't forget about the swing too, a small soft hackle, or even a beedless pheasant tail on the swing, will get attention pre hatch and early in the hatch. Nymphing during the slow periods as always is working, try stone nymphs and small 16 through 20 dropper nymphs and decrease your tippet and depth as shallow water nymphing is great for fall fishin'. We pulled streamers the other day as well and had a ball. Work the boulders. You can't beat a JJ. I've got Tuesdays, Thursdays, half days on Fridays, and Saturdays available this fall for guiding, many dates are booked but please call or email. Let's go fishin'. -September 6th, 2005 -Wow, August flew by. Labor day weekend is behind us too. Life is good. It's time to get ready for fall fishing and enjoy the last little bit of summer fishin'. Get out there and toss your dry stone flies and hoppers, it's still working. Over the weekend I guided a creeks trip and a Yakima River float. The creek fishin' was on fire and the Yakima fishin' was good, but holy cow was it windy! It was windy enough that it was just about dangerous. We tossed large dry flies on the move on our float. The river is dropping and should be down to fall base flow by the end of the week, to the beginning of next week. People always ask me what times of the year I like to fish the Yakima. Well the standard answer I give is, I like it year round but especially in April and May and again in September and October. Now is the time to get in on quality low water (almost) fishin'. I have some openings available and want to put a plug out there for this Friday (the 9th). It's short notice, I know, but I had a cancellation, and have an open September day that needs to be filled. If you've wanted to fish Grandma's Lake, the time is now as last week I had an incredible fishing report from Dick Carle up in Omak. He runs an outfit called Cascade Outfitters and is a good friend. September and October is prime time up at this stillwater gem, plus it really has not been utilized this year by anglers. The fish will treat you well! Let's get out there and fish. -August 24th, 2005 -There are some anglers (perhaps reading this) that have had the chewed up thumbs to show that the recent bass fishin' has been good. To you men I salute you and give you my thumbs up. Now is a great time to hit your favorite bass pond. My boy and I just got back from a great outing locally here in the Kittitas Valley. As for trout fishing, the river temperatures are doing well as early in the week cool air temperatures and plenty of flow helped the situation. I even felt good about floating an evening on a guide trip the other day. We had a ball. Jim and Mel tossed large and small dry flies and we caught fish! We've got summer flows for another week or so, so get out there and fish those dries tight to the bank. High flows are great for knowing where the fish will be. They'll be over on the bank and half the fun is gettin' a good drift right in the magic zone. If the forecast is in the 90s and your in the lower canyon for your fishin', I'd recommend fishing early in the am. -Our vacation to Utah and Oregon was a hit. I love brown trout! -August 12th, 2005 -It's been hot here in the Kittitas valley. Our guide trip today started bright and early in the morning. Throw in a nice shore brunch, some good dry dropper fishing, two really big fish and a bunch of nice fish and we had quite a day. I've been on the water fishin'/workin'/guidin' everyday this week and life is good. August is the month to be careful with the Yakima fish as the water temperatures will get warm. For the conservationists out there focus on the early morning fishing. Flows have backed off from the Cle Elum system, while increases from Lake Kachess have kept the upper river flows at 3100 and lower Yak at 3400 cfs. If you fish near Easton, say around the Ensign Ranch, you will notice the flow increases. It's still a drift boat game, but let's get excited for what's ahead. We will be casting dries to risers just around the corner this fall. As a side note, if you've heard of or want to check out Grandma's Lake this year, please call or email as this stillwater gem is/has not been utilized very much this year. It is an incredible fishery. Yeah it's a long drive up there, but well worth it. I also have many open dates in the last half of August for Yakima and walk and wade trips, let me know if you need a fishin' fix. Tomorrow I'm off to fish some great tailwater and freestone streams in Oregon, Idaho possibly and Utah. I'll have a report and photos when I get back. It'll be a brown trout festival! -August 1st, 2005 -Summer is plugging along and we've been busy guiding folks down the Yakima and beyond. I'm happy to announce that every available open day for guiding was booked in July. I was a workin' and guidin' fool and enjoyed every minute of it. Everyone that fished with us in July, thank you so much for the memories. I got home the other day from an upper Yakima float with a guy from Colorado and told my wife I felt bad about taking payment for such an enjoyable trip. We've been fishin' dries on the move and dropping nymphs back behind when I've felt the need. Various stonefly adult and hopper patterns have been working as well as caddis. I've been mostly guiding the upper river lately. Water temperatures are approaching 65 degrees up there and probably higher in the lower canyon, so be careful with your catch and consider the fact that water temperatures are cooler in the early am. Check out the current photos page for some updates and be sure to check out my 21.5 inch Yakima Hogg. -July 18th, 2005 -Wow, July is flying by. This has been a great summer so far. The Yakima bows are really starting to turn on to the big bugs fished on the move from the drifter. Focus on early or late fishing for the best large dry fly success. I like tossing foam bugs, but the good olle stimulator was working on a guide trip the other day. I had Dick and Anne out from Maine and we chased brookies, cutties, and bows on a combo. walk and wade and Yakima trip. The Kittitas valley and surrounding freestone creeks and alpine lakes have a ton to offer the adventurous light rod owner. I'm a big fan of the 0 to 3 weight fishin' on small streams, where the highlight can be a 12 incher, but put into perspective with the light rod and size of the stream and it's a trophy! As a side note I fished the Snake and Columbia the other day for shad, channel catfish and smallmouth. It was a ton of fun and I've got some great fish to eat! Washington is an incredible and diverse state that offers anglers of all backgrounds and techniques a great fishin' playground. I have one more available guide day opening in July and many August openings, please email or call so we can fish together. Let's get err done on the Yakima and beyond. -July 4th, 2005 -Happy 4th of July! It's a great day for fishin'. I think I'll take some kids out to a little bluegill lake for some fun, set off some fireworks, and eat way too much food. The Yakima River is fishin'. I was out everyday last week (except Sunday) and we caught fish on each float. Nymphing is the go to producer currently on the Yakima, but we planned one trip around the late evening bite and were rewarded with some caddis takers anchored up and some large dry fly takers on the move from the drifter. The best of the big bug fishin' is yet to come! We mixed it up on a guide trip last week and hit an alpine creek for cutties and brookies, an alpine lake for cutties and came on down to the valley for some YAK fun. It was a great trip, thanks for coming Bob. If you lost a 9 and a half foot Sage on the Yakima recently give me a call as I found it dangling in a tree on Friday the 1st. Life is good, fishin' is definitely worthy and it's not that windy today, hallelujah! -June 29th, 2005 -The Yakima flows are in summer mode. Summer flows will push the fish tight to the bank and the accurate caster will be able to pull fish off with large dry flies, especially late in the evening. Try a dry dropper, double nymph rig (but think shallow and lighter bugs if you're fishing on the move from a drift boat), cover some water, look for select pods of pmd or caddis eaters (caddis in the evening, pmds in the upper river), pull streamers for something new and for an adventure try some new water. We can fish the catch and release section of the river from lake Keechelus to Roza dam. The higher fish counts will come in the lower canyon, but that's not to say you can't have a spectacular day if you spread it out a little. We've been floating the lower canyon below Ellensburg, farmlands near Thorp, upper river near Cle Elum, and way up high near Easton and have had a ball. I personally got my largest cutthroat the other day, an 18.5 inch measured fish. He ate a size 18 adams parachute. A small emergence of rusty brown, light winged mayflies came off and he was rising. 5X tippet and couple of drag free drifts fouled him. I've had people catch larger cutties, but this was my personal YAK best. As a side note the other day I guided out in the basin. We hit two different little spring creeks and had a ball. One creek was a 5 and 6 foot rod, 1 to 3 weight gem and we caught some beauties. A 12 incher fish in this creek is a trophy, especially on a homemade 5 foot bamboo, nice job Don! The other creek we hit is Rocky Ford. It's always fun for a few 20 inchers. Stop in to see Darce at the Desert Fly Angler in Ephrata when you head out to the basin. -June 19th, 2005 -It's been a good week. The last four days including today have been beautiful with little wind. For a while there I was wondering if the wind would ever die down. We've been floating the river this week near Cle Elum, Thorpe, and yesterday down in the lower canyon. The guide trips have gone well. I fished with a father-daughter duo the other day and had a ball on the upper river. We learned fly casting at the put in and went to work catching fish. On a trip yesterday we had two boats out for some father-son celebrations. We had a high fish number day and our highlight was a measured 19.5 inch rainbow from the rock garden near mile marker 18. Nymphing has been my go to fish producer. The hott ticket set up has been a beadless stone nymph with a dropper beadhead. The lightning bug, zug bug, prince nymph and copper johns have worked for the droppers. Adjust your depth when you're nymphing, cover some water, use fluorocarbon, and fish with an indicator set up that will help you detect any and all takes. Set the hook on everything and fish like wild men/women! My wife has been turning it up a notch or two with the lunches for full day trips, wow it's been nice. We'll be at it again this week, call or email for openings, let's go fishin'. Happy fathers day everybody. -June 11th, 2005 -Well we've had fun trips on both the upper Yakima for trout and the lower Yakima for smallmouth lately. Let's talk about the smallmouth first. We caught mostly males on streamers, poppers and the like. Most of the fish we caught were small (8 to 10 inchers), but we did get them up to 18 inches. The males fight incredibly hard and often tug, tug, tug, jump, tug, dig, run, jump and bury in the weeds. It looks like most of the larger females that head up the Yakima to spawn have headed on back down to the Columbia. The lower Yakima smallmouth fishery is for the fisherman who can mix it up a bit too. Toss some gear at them or stick to fly fishing, but your arm will get worked. It's a busy task as it requires a ton of casting, and the fly needs some movement/jerks, especially the poppers-pop em hard! Check out some pics from the smallmouth fun here. The upper Yakima trout fishery is receiving input from the Cle Elum River (see last report) in addition to the normal irrigation flow. They're hoping to push a few smolting fish out. It's still a nymphing game and fished pretty good for me yesterday on a half day guide trip. Dick and Harry brought their motor homes over, stayed at the good olle KOA and we had a ball tossing stone nymphs and droppers. High flow does not mean the end of fishing, in my opinion it can make our summer fishing better as we know where the fish are (tight to the banks), and it's just a matter of presenting it to them. If you would like to learn some nymphing techniques come on over and let's fish, plus we'll toss some large dry attractors and turn some heads, especially as we get closer to July. Let's keep our fingers crossed for some warm weather too, it's been fairly winy and cool, with spitting rain at times. -June 7th, 2005 -The Yakima is nymphing really well with a variety of bugs. On a guide trip the other day I really didn't have one hot ticket bug. The bobbers went down, I yelled, "set the hook", and we caught fish; nothing huge (10 to 14 inchers). We hooked two hoggs that got off. Additional flow has recently (as of yesterday) been released from Cle Elum reservoir to help push the out-migrating smolts to the Columbia. You'll see the rise in the hydrographs from the additional flow. It is a Bureau of Reclamation release for fish out-migration and is one of the only releases for that purpose that I have heard of, plus we have endangered spring chinook and summer steelhead that need the water to return up the system, hold up, and spawn later in the fall. I'm guiding some lower Yakima smallmouth trips this week, and will have an update on the upper YAK trout fishery too. We've had clients up fishing Grandma's Lake as well. That place continues to be a producer. We have a lot of bookings for June and I am very grateful. We are mixing it up with some smallmouth fun, desert lakes trips, creek trips, private lake bookings, and the YAK attack. Thanks for fishin' with us, let's go get err done! -May 30th, 2005 -The upper Yakima River has been receiving needed flow from the Cle Elum Reservoir. The flow will meet irrigation need throughout system, but more importantly to our little fly fishing niche, the cool water will help the fish. On a trip over the weekend the fish fought incredibly hard, and it's got to be the increased dissolved oxygen available due to the decreased water temperature, plus there's plenty of bugs for the fish to eat. Golden stoneflies are hatching in low numbers, but the Yak fish will key in on large dry attractors fished close to the bank, especially early or late in the day. The caddis dry fly action will be mostly a late evening bite on the warm days. We've had summer weather lately with daytime highs reaching the 90s. The dry fly fun is available, but it's timeframe specific. If I had 2 or so hours to fish I would go out from 7:30pm to 9:30pm, and fish dries. If you are out for the day then nymphing is your best bet for catching fish. Make sure your bugs are getting down to the fish, add some weight if needed, and tie some special flies up. The hand tied flies will usually out do the usual Kauffman's beadhead stone, or flashback pheasant tail. Use those patterns as your guide and tie something cool! -I want to share an experience I recently had. My boy Dean is 4 and is a wild man. The other day we were fishing. It was an hour or so past dark, but we were still hooking fish. I knew he was tired and said, "are you tired?" He said, "yes", but he didn't want to go home. He made my day when he said, "daddy can we sleep here?" Fishing is a beautiful thing, get out there! -As a side note we've been chasing smallies in the lower Yakima and have been having the time of our lives! I got a 22 incher with a 16 inch girth last week; it's calculated weight is 6.45 pounds. That's a trophy smallmouth, and I intend to make a replica for the wall. Give me a call at 509-962-5523 or email: david@dreamflyfishing.com and let's go fishin'. Check out the lower Yakima page, click here! -May 18th, 2005 -I guided a float yesterday through the farmlands and we had a ball catching fish all day. The nymph game was working so we stuck with it for most of the day. Stone nymphs, copper johns both copper and red colored, lime caddis pupas, and the ever productive worm produced for us. The limited dry fly fun we had was on dry stones, caddis and pmds. Blue wings, pmds, caddis and midges were hatching in the afternoon, but we found little as far as fish keying in on them. We saw one golden stone flutter by, which gets me very excited about future fishin'! We fished likely inside seems, drop offs, and what you may call, "fishy looking water" with our nymphs 3 to 6 feet below our bobbers. Thanks for the trip John and Beth-Anne. The other day I guided out in the basin and can report that both Lake Lenore and Rocky Ford Creek are producing large fish. We did not catch a ton of fish but the smallest was 19 inches and the largest measured 2 feet plus. At the lake we nymphed chironomids, and at the Ford it was a dry blue wing, and tiny nymph sight casting affair. Ephrata has a new fly shop owned by Darce Knobel; it's called the Desert Fly Angler. Stop in there and visit with one of the most accomplished anglers around. -May 9th, 2005 -A quick update on the Yakima River. We were out over the weekend and can report that the YAK fish are still looking up for the Caddis, PMD's, baetis on the cloudy days, limited salmonfly fun, and the start of some golden stones. The nymphing for us has been better than the dry fly activity, but that's mostly dependent on where you are and when. Shake off the out-migrating chinook, and look for larger risers. Work the large risers and move on if they get to picky. It's raining currently, so let's keep posted to the river's flows, we'll be OK if we get a slight rising limb on the hydrograph. I updated the flow links above, so they are good to go for your predictive use. The rainy weather will be great for our mayfly hatches. I'm not expecting flows to be a big issue. -I spent some time the other day searching other guide service websites, and was surprised at how much a guide fee is on the Yakima River. We've offered the same great rates for five years. 2005 will be the last year to take advantage of the most reasonably priced guide prices on the river. In 2006 our rates will increase. -Grandma's Lake fished well the other day. One angler commented that the rainbows in the 16 to 18 inch category fought extremely hard, were acrobatic, and that he caught a 26 to 28 inch rainbow that really surprised him. I like to hear reports like that. We need to get the word out about this incredible fishery. It's like your own private Chopaka Lake. Imagine a private stillwater full of large trout that do not see very many flies or people, plus a beautiful setting. -April 30th, 2005 -Holy cow, we've had some good fishin'. The caddis, pmds, and beatis have been hatching, and we've been catching some beauties. We've been out for 3 different floats this week on three different sections of the river. The other day on a single angler guide trip we whacked fish, and I mean whacked fish; one after the other. Today we whacked fish, and I mean we whacked fish; one after the other, and they've been big. I'm not lying. The fishing has been really good! Today we honestly boated at least 6 over 16 inches, including two at 18 inches. I don't know how many total fish we boated, but that doesn't really matter. It was a lot. The day had a story of the one that got away as well. The 20 incher got off right at the boat after a long fight at the end of the float. I don't know what else to say, just get out there, and please call me if you need a guide. I am not staying as booked as I can be. Fill up our calendar, and come over as soon as you can. I am available for guide trips Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays throughout the spring. The caddis action is on. -I often wonder who's out there reading this report. Feel free to email me, introduce yourself, let's shoot the bull, and fish the Yak and beyond. -We spent some time up at Grandma's Lake recently, and holy cow I love that place. Why, because it's beautiful, secluded, and full of large trout. I got sore armed the last time I was up there, and can't wait to get back. We have bookings coming in so please let me know when you'd like to get up there, it's on! Opening day is May 1st at this private gem. I should have a fishing report from the lake from the weekend, keep posted.
-April 25th, 2005 -We've had several trips down the olle Yakima lately and have had great success. On one trip we hit an explosion of Caddis action from 10am to 1pm with risers in likely spots, and caught better than 20 for the day. The guide/me even got into 4 including a nice 16 incher, thanks for that Jim. When the fish weren't whacking on top the nymph game was the ticket producing a beauty of a 17 incher on the stone nymph. On another guide trip over the weekend we put on early and nymphed our brains out until the risers really got busy around 1pm or so. We then tossed caddis and baetis, as well as limited pmds to risers, and ended our float right before the rain storms dumped. Don and Bob come out each year and they're 87 and 75 respectively. You guys fish like wild men, nice! Today it's gorgeous outside with sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s. The river has come up a bit in volume with the recent rains, but it will be short lived. Cooler temperatures are forecasted for later in the week, and I'm confident that there are floats on the YAK that will definitely produce during this higher flow. -We spent some time up at Grandma's Lake recently, and holy cow I love that place. Why, because it's beautiful, secluded, and full of large trout. I got sore armed the other day and can't wait to get back. We have bookings coming in so please let me know when you'd like to get up there, it's on! Opening day is May 1st at this private gem. -April 18th, 2005 -Baetis, a few march browns, start of caddis action, limited and better in certain sections skwala action, and good nymphing is what we've experienced lately on the YAK. Our guide trips have gone well, and we've boated some big fish. As the caddis action intensifies over the next few weeks be ready with various elk hairs, x-caddis, poly wing jobs, and emergers tied in 14 to 20 with tan to green, to gray, to brown, to black bodies. Get busy at the vise, and let's go fishin'. I've also seen a few pmd's lately, so be ready. Look for the aggressive groups of feeders out there, and move on if they are too selective to fool. Also be ready to shake off a few smolts. The out-migrating spring chinook need a good push of water to send them out. I do not know if we'll get a good freshet or two with this year's low snow pack. -We're heading up to Grandma's Lake this week to get a few things ready for the 2005 season, so get with your buddies, and let me know if you can make it up there this year. We just had ice off last week, so let's give it a week or so, and please call or email to book. The lake has become fairly popular among Washington and Oregon's stillwater enthusiasts, so we are expecting this to be a banner year. Earlier in the year I was maybe thinking we'd pull off a short late 2005 season up there, but the new owners of the lake are jazzed, and the fishery will be revamped (restocked) with a focus on large browns and kamloops. Call or email if you want to get in on some of the action. Honestly G-Ma's Lake is the ticket. It's one of my favorite places to fish bar none! -April 9th, 2005 -We've been out for a few guide trips between the last post, and have this to report: the Yakima is fishin' great! The mayfly hatches, both marchies and baetis have been strong in the afternoons, especially on the cloudy days. Lately the baetis have been stronger, while the march brown hatch has been sporadic and fairly intense for short periods of time, when you are in the right zone at the right time. When the dry fly fun is slow we've nymphed and pulled streamers lately to fill in, and have had a lot of success. Today's fishin' in the nuclear winds was tough, but we got some nice fish, including a beauty of a cuttie. 20 to 40mph winds (with gusts over that at times) was what we had to put up with today on the upper YAK, and it stunk because the march brown hatch was fairly intense around 1pm, but the wind never ceased. Ahh another day will come, and the famous Kittitas county wind will calm down. -We will be offering a full featured season up at Grandma's Lake this year, and it's going to be goooood. We just had ice off last week, so let's give it a week or so, and please call or email to book. The lake has become fairly popular among Washington and Oregon's stillwater enthusiasts, so we are expecting this to be a banner year. Earlier in the year I was maybe thinking we'd pull off a short late 2005 season up there, but the new owners of the lake are jazzed, and the fishery will be revamped (restocked) with a focus on large browns and kamloops. Call or email if you want to get in on some of the action. Honestly G-Ma's Lake is the ticket. It's one of my favorite places to fish bar none! I take my little pram out there and it's heaven on earth for the day. -April 5th, 2005 -I guided a float today, and we whacked big fish on small baetis, both duns and emergers, march brown duns trailed by emergers, skwalas on the move and micro caddis. Did you catch that-it's the first week of April and we whacked several fish on small dark caddis patterns, whoaa! Dry fly fun at its finest is here. We boated many bows over 15 inches (best fish = 17 inches), and many under, down to around 9 inches. The two that will keep us going back for more are the 18+ incher that got off at the beginning of the day and the 18+ incher that got off at the end of the float. Those big fish keep you wantin' more, got to love em'. I have openings available over the next 2 months, and encourage you to call or email to get in on the action. I am available for guide trips on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. -We may be opening Grandma's Lake earlier than expected this year. I was maybe thinking we'd pull off a short late 2005 season up there, but we might be able to swing a full on season starting asap. The new owners of the lake are jazzed, the fishery will be revamped (restocked) with a focus on large browns and kamloops. Call or email if you want to get in on some of the action. Honestly G-Ma's Lake is the ticket. It's one of my favorite places to fish bar none! -March 31st, 2005 -We've been out for both floats and wading outings on the Yakima this week. The march brown and bwo festivities continue. I've had some personal time to fish as a couple of guide trips were rescheduled with the nasty weather, and mountain pass situation. We are getting some needed snow in the mountains, yeah! One day I was able to take my little 8 foot pram out for a float. I had the time of my life; what a cool little boat. The march brown and bwo action was all the more sweet when I looked over at that little gem. Those of you with prams or who have restored any boat know what I'm talking about. For the hatches, have your spots pegged out around noon, and wait for the hatch, you will not be disappointed. The cloudy cool weather lately has made for some intense action. Some of the hatches are short lived while on other days the hatch will go on for quite a while. We had a solid rise fest in about every likely spot along the river between 11:30am and 3:30 pm the other day. Between 3 of us we caught 250 fish. No just kidding, but we did do very very well! Fishing the dry skwala continues to be a good option, but it's been hard for me to get these YAK fish to commit to the bug. We've had chases, wakes, light takes, and a few full on grabs. Be patient when you fish the big bug, and decrease your tippet size if needed. -For those of you who like a good fish fry now and again the put & take lakes around Ellensburg are producing. I got a fry pan full for tonight's supper on an outing earlier today. -March 26th, 2005 -Okay it's on, we're fishin' and experiencing: rise fests, BWOs, marchies, some drakes, skwalas, bows, cutts, and dry fly fun. My open dates are filling, call or email if you are ready to get out there! It's good to be back in the saddle again. I'm fired up to guide you down the YAK. Here's a bit of information to salivate over. We floated the upper YAK yesterday and boated 5 fish over 16 inches, and everything we got to the boat was on dry fly. I won't tell you how many fish we caught because you wouldn't believe me. I'm telling you what, early 2005 will be great for fishin'. We will have very manageable flows until June with strong hatches, especially on the cloudy days. -March 18th, 2005 -This is more an update on my guiding availability than a fishing report. I just accepted a fisheries biologist position here in Ellensburg, so I have more open days to guide now in 2005. I can breathe fresh air again. I'm itchin' to fish you down the YAK. If you've fished with me or our guide service in the past, please come back this season. If you are a new client let's get you out on the river, and we'll fish like wild men/women! Here's the fishin' report: it's cooled off a bit in the valley, but the cloudy days will bring the baetis up in numbers in the likely spots on the river. The skwala game will continue mostly in the afternoons. The last float we took was through the farmlands. The bows responded to the increase in air and water temperatures in the afternoon, and we whacked em on large dry flies. Prior to the dry fly fun we did well on stone nymphs (be creative with peacock), and droppers like the lightning bug. We probably finished the day with close to 20 fish to hand, and the highlight was a 17 inch beauty. It will not be long until the march browns will be hatching in numbers. Focus your efforts in a few weeks on this hatch from roughly 11:30am to 2:20pm from Bighorn Access up. -March 9th, 2005 -Spring has sprung and the YAK bows are looking up. It's time to fish. I wish I had more time to get out there, because the baetis are emerging in the afternoons, and the skwala dry fly game is on! They were not too picky yesterday, as a nicely presented large dry fly in likely water produced great action for my famdamily out for a little float. Check out the pics on the recent photos page. I'll try Lenice tomorrow after work to see how it's doing, and be thinking about carp outings, as this is quickly becoming a hunt I'm interested in! Fly flingin' fun is here, say that ten times fast! Fish On, David -February 5th, 2005 -I needed a trout fix so I joined a couple of my buddies and we hit the YAK. It went well, we all felt like "Captain Awesome". We boated a handful of really nice fish on streamers, the swing produced better than the strip, and fooled 3 or so on tiny dries. The nymphs were the ticket though, with most of the fish coming on the small droppers. A size 18 beadless flashback pheasant tail was the best producer. The Yakima is an incredible river. Where else can you have good to great catch rates in the middle of the winter from a drifter? Most western trout streams are lucky if things are rockin' & rollin' by mid May, while the YAK is on fire by mid to late February each year. You've got spring baetis to hit when your not searching with skwalas; a little later in March and April the march browns will be out, and holy cow look out for the caddis, their hatches will be exploding in May. I will not have as much time for guiding over the next several months compared to the last 4 years as my first priority is to fulfill my work responsibilities (fish studies on the Columbia), but I'll be dreaming of YAK trout, and will hopefully have a day off or two to chase a few. If I am unavailable to take you down the YAK on the date you need a fishin' fix, we will send you out with one of our top notch guides. -January 29th, 2005 -Well we are back to fishin' again on the YAK. The river is in good shape for some late winter nymphing, streamer swingin' & strippin', and dry midgin'. We floated today and found more fish willing to eat our nymphs than anything else. Toss a stone nymph in a size 8 to 12, and drop a beadhead to your liking off the back in the 14 to 18 size range. The weather has been very nice and the river is on the drop from last weeks high flows. We can retain whitefish until February 28th, so huck a few in the boat for the smoker. If your itching to fish, remember the YAK is always a good winter option to calm that cabin fever. -January 6th, 2005 -Holy cold outside batman! I wouldn't come over and fish the Yakima until it warms up a bit. Last year at this time the same thing happened; ice sheets, frozen shelves along the river, and all. When it brakes though we'll be winter fishin' again. Previous to the cold snap we had good and OK days tossing nymphs, streamers and tiny dries. Winter fishin' can be a little hit and miss, and one day we just missed a midge hatch that would have turned our good days catch to fantastic. The boat just ahead of us commented on "whacking them one after the other". We missed it, but we'll be back! -Happy new year to everyone. I hope your holidays went well and you're busy researching for the upcoming fishing season. Escape the winter blues and cyber fish for a while. The other day I searched some of our previous years photo pages, and I had a ball. We've had the pleasure to fish with some of the finest folks around from all over the country and a few from beyond our borders. We've had one solid TV appearance, 2 radio program exposures, and have even been featured in a magazine, not to mention the newspaper blurbs and cyber recognition. It's been fun! Thanks for your help in making this life's dream come true. Feel free to call me at 509-962-5523 or email david@dreamflyfishing.com anytime to shoot the breeze. |
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