Red's Fly Shop | Power Hour Fishing Report - Yakima River Fly Fishing Report

Red's Power Hour Fishing Report
May - June 2002

The Power Hour Fishing Report is brought to you exclusively by Red's. The content of this report is not the generic "fishing has been good in the morning, and afternoons, and later in the evenings, too." Rather, when we go fishing, we will analyze one session and report the day, time, location, fly, number of fish caught, species, and size (if we caught any). We'll also write up the method we used. Keep in mind that the fishing report is based on a prior day's fishing and weather conditions.

The windy conditions today prevented the caddis from taking flight this evening, so we went nymph fishing. The river is still in great shape, although as I am writing this (Sun AM) it has come up to 5135 cfs again – thanks to some more dam releases at Easton. Visibility is still good in the canyon and will continue to be, as it is a cleaner surge of water that comes from these releases. We expect flows to drop rapidly and then stabilize throughout the day. Yesterday saw mixed reports on the fishing. Dry fly fishing was slower due in smaller part to the rising river and larger part to the windy conditions. Anglers caught fish on nymphs throughout the day with the lightening bug being a major producer.

We recommend fishing a dry fly or a dry fly with a dropper (dropper dry at 8” or dropper nymph at 24” distance b/t flies) or a streamer when you are floating and covering water. When you anchor up and fish from the boat or get out and wade, then you can switch to a full nymph rig (strike indicator, larger, heavier top bug, and a smaller dropper). The reason we use this method is because when you are floating, the depth of river changes constantly. If you are using a full nymph rig, it is likely that you are going to float into some shallower water and snag up on the bottom. We sell flies here, and are happy that people come in and buy them, but we don’t want you to spend more time tying bugs on out there than fishing!

The clouds rolled in yesterday, accompanied by some light rain. Overall, the weather was actually fairly pleasant and the fish were not seemingly bothered by the rain, slightly rising river, or cooler weather. The river spiked up to 5155 cfs yesterday and is currently down to 4697 this morning. Visibility wasn’t really a factor, even at 5155 cfs. The PMD and caddis activity was fairly good all day, and should hold through the weekend.

We had pretty much been targeting some prime times for our report slots, but no one can accuse us of that yesterday. Yesterday we fished during the working man’s hour - the thermometer read 101 degrees when we walked down to the river. We were each taking 5 casts and then rotating – sitting in the shade between turns with a pitcher of ice cold lemonade waiting for us in the shop. We saw a couple of fish roll along the seam, but nobody hooked up.

Dave camped Tuesday night and then floated yesterday. He caught a lot of small fish until about 2:30 and then things kind of slowed down. Look for evening fish activity to pick up again as soon as the sun starts to disappear behind the hills (which starts about 6:00 pm) – fish the shade. The water was THICK with caddis about the last hour of daylight last night. The river is up about 100 cfs this morning (4605), but I don’t see it getting out of shape. It held yesterday, and I would expect the same throughout the week.

The river continued to drop all day yesterday, despite a 98 degree thermometer reading. We are supposed to see 100 degrees today. Currently the river is under 4500 cfs and is coming up slightly this morning. Visibility is about 3 feet at our place, and caddis and PMD’s continue to dominate the bug activity. Although the dry fly fishing during the day slowed down a little bit these past few days with the rising and falling river, look for that to pick up again as things stabilize. The caddis have been showing up in numbers for the last hour of daylight. We mowed yesterday and saw a lot of small grasshoppers, which will be growing rapidly as this hot weather continues.

It looks like the river had one little spike left in it. It was back up to 5000 cfs yesterday, and appears to be heading back down this morning (4734). Visibility was not a factor, as even yesterday it remained at about 3 feet. We’ll be fishing this afternoon and have a power hour report updated for tomorrow. I would expect that this river will continue to drop for the next couple of days and then stabilize around 4000 cfs. If you can make it out and catch this river while it’s dropping, the nymph fishing could be phenomenal!

The fish were definitely there. We had about a dozen fish up on the CDC emerger. There were a lot of caddis on the water, and the fish were feeding. It sounded like the upper part of the canyon (Ringer to Red’s) was more productive than the lower canyon (Red’s to Roza) for dry fly fishing during the day.

The river was in great shape again. The river started its morning at about 4000 CFS. It rose a little today, but no major change. Tomorrow should be another great day!

Ellie caught two rainbows (10” and 12”) and Fred landed one. This was definitely the most productive time of day for us yesterday. There were more fish up in this time period and this section than the rest of the float. We did not fish until dark, and towards evening there were more caddis showing up, so it may be turning on again for the last hour of light.

The river is in great shape. Make plans and swing on over! I expect the afternoon dry fly fishing to start picking up again now that conditions are stabilizing. We mowed yesterday and saw some hoppers.

Flies: 20” Stonefly nymph (sz. 6), Golden Stone (sz. 6), Lightening Bug & Pheasant Tail (Droppers)

Steve landed (4) fish in this hour: Two small rainbows, one rainbow that went 17”, and one whitefish, which I thought I could sneak in and release before Johnny identified, but his eyes are better than I thought! Johnny landed two fish and had to be reminded that the size of fish one catches is pure luck. All an angler can do is put the fly in a spot where fish live in a manner that looks natural. The angler has no control over what sized fish eats the fly. The bigger fish I caught was one of the hottest fish I have seen on this river. Granted, with the river flowing at 5200 cfs, the fish had a little assistance, but it had been a long time since any fair-hooked trout took me to my backing like this one did.

As the river continues its’ descent (now about 4600 cfs at Umtanum), conditions continue to improve dramatically. Visibility is a solid 2-3 feet in the lower canyon. The dropping river, the fact that it had been 3-4 days since the fish had really seen any food, and the higher water level has kept them in the softer pocket water which is fairly easy to get a cast and drag free drift in are all factors that contributed to some excellent nymph fishing last night. We only saw two fish rise last night, and it may take another few days before the fish start really looking up. If the river continues to drop, or at least stabilizes, we should see some excellent fishing this coming weekend (PMD, caddis, Golden Stones). Keep an eye on the river flows these next few days, as the weather is supposed to be hot again. If we can make it through the rest of this week without seeing another big spike, the coming weekend could be great!

Flows at our place are now down to 5178 cfs and still dropping. The weather has cooled considerably which should enable these flows to stabilize a bit, and the fish to move back into their favorite feeding lanes. Visibility is about 1 foot this morning, but that will improve as the day goes on. We’ll have a fishing report to add by tomorrow morning.

The river appears to have peaked at just over 7000 cfs and is now on its way down. It has a ways to go in order to be fishable, as visibility is currently about 6”.

Happy Fathers Day! The river is flowing at nearly 7000 cfs at Umtanum right now. It looks like the dams are full and the snow melt is being passed through as it comes down. We’ll let you know when conditions change.

We got into a few pods of feeders, which on this particular day seemed to all be smaller 8-12" fish. This was the first bright, hot, sunny day (85 degrees) we've really had this year. There continues to be lots of bug activity with caddis, PMD's, Yellow Sallies, and Golden Stones. The river is in good shape right now, and there are dry fly opportunities in the "right" spots. The caddis and PMD hatches will continue, as conditions seem to be steady and favorable. The time of year is coming to start casting the big bugs tight to the banks to search out the big fish. Those fish like structure and feel safer feeding with that brush over their head. If you're fly is 3" from the bank on those steep runs, then it's probably 3" too far. You're going to lose some flies, but you'll probably catch some nice fish, too!

Flies: Sz. 8 Golden Stone nymph w/ sz. 14 pheasant tail trailer (approx. 20" back)

Even though the river is still high, visibility has improved dramatically. I fished one little current break for an hour, and it appears as though the fish are definitely on the feed. There is still a lot of,Golden Stone adult activity, and the reason I went with the pheasant tail trailer is because it is the right silhouette for a may fly pattern. There have been TONS of brown may flies, size 14-16 (Mahogany Dun) coming off at our place. Any given time of day, I can walk outside the shop and see 50-100 of them on, the side of the building. Although I haven't really seen fish eating the dries actively, the nymphs have got to be very active. With the river at this level (5200'ish), the fish are definitely moved into the softer water. Pay close attention to the little grassy islands right now. The bottom end of them offers a nice soft current break and that seems to be the best spot to locate feeding fish in these water conditions. We had two groups of campers who floated Ringer to Red's today, and they, too had good reports on the fishing using Golden Stone nymphs. As the water drops and weather warms, which looks like the forecast for this week, I expect to see the fish back on the caddis, PMD routine. Make your plans and get over here this week.

Well, the river is high and a bit on the dirty side. Visibility is about 1 foot and the flow is ranging between 5400 and 5900 cfs at our place. This morning (6/6/00), things look to be cleaning up a bit. Even though we did not have any luck a couple of nights ago, there are still a lot of bugs coming off. Caddis and PMD's have remained strong in the afternoon and we've been seeing Golden Stones and Yellow Sallies on a daily basis. Two mornings ago I even walked out of my house and saw a Cicada on the side of our house. Talk about the last thing I'd expect to see out here...! (I wouldn't recommend stocking your box with that pattern!) Anyways, the snow is melting and the
report I hope to be giving on the phone soon is "dropping and clearing." Hopefully these conditions
have caused a pent up demand for the fish as well as all of you anglers out there!

NOTE: We did enjoy a nice boat ride in our new Clackacraft drift boat. We had (2) boats come in last
week. They are available for rent on a daily basis. Cost on the drift boats is $119.00/ day, which
includes us hauling the boat to the put in, shuttling your vehicle, and picking the boat up at the take out.
Call to make a reservation today - we have one low profile model and one standard model with the fly
fishing bench.

The last two weeks have been simply outstanding. Until today (5/20), the river flow has been steady in the canyon at 2500-2800 cfs. Caddis have been starting around 2:00 pm with prime time being from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm. These past three days, PMD's have started coming off, which will only get better in the weeks to come. It started raining last night at our place around 10:00 pm and didn't quit until early this morning. The river is currently up to 3500 cfs, and visibility is down to about 6". The weather is expected to break and we are hoping the river will settle back into the sub 3000 flow for the weekend. As with most early season hatches, the fish have not been too particular with size or color of caddis. The size 14 peacock body elk hair has been the best for us, but when the fish are feeding like they have been, just give them the fly - they'll eat it! Expect them to get a little more color and size sensitive in the coming weeks and don't be afraid to fish some emerger patterns if you put a few drifts through feeders with no results. The hatches have been the strongest around the Beavertail (between mile posts 19 and 17), the last mile above the Slab, and also in the smoother water just above Roza.

Strike indicator 6’ above top fly (double bead Skwala is heavy enough not to require split shot) and then 18" from top fly to trailer. Even though the water I’m fishing is only 3-4 feet, the 6’ of leader between my indicator and top fly ensures that I get a good drag free drift and gives me a little more line to work with when mending. When a fish grabs the bug, the indicator is still going to go down quick enough to react.