About the Author

Joe Rotter

Joe is the "blogger in chief" here at Red's in addition to being our guide service manager and partner here at Red's. He is a father of 3 spunky children his wife Kelly can only be found fishing when the temperature gets above 85 degrees and the fish are gobbling up dry flies.

In addition to being a fly fishing junkie, Joe is a hard core bowhunter, is a volunteer Hunter's Eductation Instructor, and loves riding horses with his kiddos. Joe still guides a small part of the time but spends most of his time working on web marketing, travel, and helping customers find the right tools and information for the job.

Yakima River Fishing Report // Caddis, PMD's, and Golden Stones

May 17, 2021

The hatch continues.... big emergence of Caddis over the weekend spurred by 90 degree heat actually made for some tougher dry fly fishing. We really had to hunt for very sneaky risers tight the shore in the shadows. The PMD (Pale Morning Dun) hatch has been consistent each day and will be prevalent during the cloudy days later this week. The trout like the PMD because it emerges very slowly and is vulnerable on the water's surface much longer than a Caddis which takes off more quickly. The trout see that the emerging Caddis is a greater "flight risk" and typically prefer the PMD when available. As the hatch progresses, trout will be eating spent Caddis and the Hen Wing Caddis is an excellent imitation of a spent adult Caddis. If you have a picky trout... try the Hen Wing. Salmon flies are giving way to the Golden Stonefly which is a big bug as well, it's a #8 or even a #6 and we're seeing the nymphs crowd the shoreline and the adults will soon return to the water to lay eggs.

River conditions wise we have a bit more color in it this morning, which is good! The trout are usually more confident here if the water has a bit of color to conceal them as they rise or sit in the shallow edges. We don't expect the river to spike, peak, or blowout this week. The weather is going to cool off and should make for some excellent fishing this week and reset the bite after abnormally hot weather Friday - Sunday.

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Suggested Flies for This Week:

Partridge Soft Hackle - Fish as an emerger, dry fly, or nymph.

Antonio's PMD Emerger - Fish in flat water where the fish are selective.

Antonio's PMD Adult - This is the preferred pattern to search and cover water with for PMD's.

TNT PMD Nymph

French Dip Chartreuse (the black beadhead model seems to be most effective)

Emma's Golden Stone Dry Fly

Dancin' Ricky Golden Stone Dry Fly

Hen Wing Caddis - Excellent fly for adults that are laying eggs, or "spent" late in the hatch. If you are seeing Caddis on the water that are not struggling or fluttering use this fly!