The Yakima River

Washington's Blue Ribbon Trout Stream

Yakima River Conditions Links:

Ellensburg's Weather

Yakima River at Umtanum

Yakima River Water Temperatures

NOAA's Hydrologic Prediction Service

Yakima River Basinwide Flow Site

Yakima River Basin Storage Diagram

Mountain Pass Report

The Yakima River in Washington is the finest trout stream in the Evergreen State, offering great rainbow trout fishing, as well as the occasional cut-bow and cutthroat.  The river starts at it's source high in the North Central Cascades and flows for miles and miles through lush forests, both pine and cottonwood, enters the farmlands of   the Kittitas Valley and floats through the famous Yakima River Canyon.  It offers nearly 80 miles of prime catch and release only fly fishing.

Fly Fishing the YAK                                                                                    

"Life is But a Dream" Guided Fly Fishing is proud to offer full day float trips, and half day float trips.  We offer guided trips year round and I will personally guarantee that you'll have a ball on the YAK!  The Yakima is famous for its spring time caddis, PMD, PED, baetis, skwala stones, march browns, salmon fly and other hatches.  The summer months are great for casting tight to the banks with your hopper or dry stone fly, this is my favorite time on the YAK.  Fall offers us great baetis hatches and all year long we'll nymph and throw the big ugly streamers to fool the trout.  Winter midge fishing can also be great for the die hards out there.  For a detailed hatch chart, click here.

Rates                                                                                                                  

Full Day Float (8-10 hours)                   $375 for 2 people, $350 for 1

Half Day Float (4-5 hours)                     $300 for 2 people, $275 for 1

Evening Float (2 hours)                         $175 for 2 people, $150 for 1                                                                        

Winter Float (4 hours)                           $225 for 1 or 2 anglers (Nov. 15th - Mar. 1st)

Booking Policy

A $50 deposit is required to secure your date. 

*Length of float is determined by day light savings time: a full day float starts in the morning and goes to dark, a half day float starts in the afternoon and goes to dark, or hits the most productive timeframe of the day.  Evening floats are meant to hit the last few hours of a mid week summer date.  When you book your date, we'll discuss when and where we'll meet.

Meal Accommodations                                                                                  

We want you to enjoy your day on the water and catch some fish with full stomachs, so we're excited to offer custom catered meals from Joan's Home Cookin' and Confections , a home cooking catering company.  Our full day floats will offer a catered lunch, snacks and beverages, the half day trips will have snacks and non-alcoholic beverages only.  Evening floats will offer beverages only. 

Location                                                                                                              

Ellensburg is located in Central Washington, 1.5 hours from Seattle.  For all of the Yakima River trips we will meet here in Ellensburg.  For a detailed map of where we may float the Yakima, click here.  If you are interested in staying the night in Ellensburg we would recommend the Comfort Inn of Ellensburg (509-925-7037) or the Ellensburg Inn (509-925-9801).

What You Need to Bring                                                                          

Clients need to secure a Washington State Fishing License.  I'd recommend bringing polarized sunglasses, waders, wading boots, a hat, sun screen, camera, rods, reels, flies (I have a ton of flies, but the "bows" love seeing new material), light jacket, and a 4, 5 or 6 weight rod.  It's nice to have two rods ready to fish per angler, a lighter rod for dries and a heavier rod for nymphs and streamers.  High end Sage fly rods and Ross reels are available for a daily rod rental rate of $15

If you have Adobe's Acrobat Reader click here to view our online brochure.

The previous years fly fishing reports (linked above) are also a great resource for you.  We've been at it for 8 great years.