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

Red's Power Hour Fishing Report
October - December 2004

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.

Flies: sz. 10 Double Beaded Skwala, sz. 12 Kaufmann's Skwala, sz. 20 Brassie, sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 14 Scud, sz. 20 Para Midge

The first 30 minutes when we started was very active, even picking a couple of feeders up on Midge dry flies. Although we didn't fish any streamers yesterday, that tactic has been effective as well - utilizing a strip retrieve and the swing with a sink tip line. As far as nymphs go, we have been about 50-50 on picking fish up on the big fly and the smaller trailers. If you don't see fish actively feeding, then you're probably just practicing your casting to attempt dries. We have had sporadic periods of snowfall over the past 2 days; but overall, the weather is calm, relatively warm, and very pleasant to be on the water. There are only a couple inches of wet snow on the ground, and the road down the canyon is clear. River levels remain around 900 cfs with good clarity. We wish all of you and your families a Happy and Safe New Year!

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Flies: sz. 6 JB's Yellow and Black, sz. 10 Seal Bugger, sz. 10 Double Beaded Prince, sz. 20 Brassie, sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 20 Para Midge

A cold front did move in as predicted yesterday. The sunshine burned through the fog in the lower canyon around 11:00 am, but the section we floated remained in the fog and frost all day long. Water temperatures dropped to 36 degrees, and the air temperature remained cold enough that our guides were icing up every 5-10 minutes. We were pleasantly surprised to spot a pod of nice fish Midging about 2:30. We casted some parachute patterns at them and hooked one nice one on the second or third pass. We have a fresh blanket of much needed snow on the ground this morning and more in the forecast.

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Streamers on the go was the tactic that proved most productive this afternoon. We did stop and swing one spot with sink tips and hooked 1 fish, but the rest of the time was spent stripping conehead buggers on a floating line set-up targeting the structure along the banks. Despite a large number of Midge in the air and some warm afternoon sunshine, we only saw a couple of rises. Often this time of year, cool water temperatures cause the fish to be lethargic, but these fish that committed to the streamers were anything but! They ate the fly aggressively and put up a great scrap. Water temperatures have remained consistent between 37 and 39 degrees. The weatherman is calling for a chance of rain or snow on Wednesday, but his forecasts the past 2 weeks have been a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic.

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Flies: sz. 8 Beaded Olive Stone w/sz. 16 Beaded Prince, sz. 10 Beaded Prince w/sz. 18 Brassie

It was a beautiful day here in the canyon. We had sunshine with a temperature in the high 40's. Thankfully, we did not see the 50 mph wind gusts that were forecast. We saw a fair number of midge flying but very few actively feeding fish. Around 2:30 pm the temperature starts dropping, and it gets cold fast. Once again, the Olive Stone was the most productive pattern. The weatherman is forecasting some cloudy weather on Saturday and the possibility of snow on Sunday. Daytime temperatures are to remain about the same in the mid 30's to mid 40's. We will be closed on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 24 & 25, but will be back in the shop on Sunday the 26th. All of us here at Red's wish you and your families a very "MERRY CHRISTMAS."

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We finished the shuttles around noon, and I got a chance to slip out of the shop and do a little wade fishing. The temperature was in the mid 40's, but let me tell you, it was pretty chilly in the shade on the river. I had a hard time keeping my hands out of the pockets on my dry coat. The fishing, however, was fair. I had a number of take-downs as well as the two fish I landed. The Olive Stone seemed to be the bug of choice. The weatherman is telling us that it is suppose to cool down mid-week with daytime temperatures dropping to around 33 degrees on Wednesday and staying in the low to mid 30's through the weekend. High winds with gusts of 60 mph are also forecast for this evening and tomorrow. The river is in great shape with the current flow at 1141 cfs.

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Flies: sz. 10 Bouble Beaded Prince w/ sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 10 Skwala Nymph w/ sz. 18 Hares Ear

We got enough done in the shop this afternoon that we were able to spend the last hour of good light wade fishing. Although we were behind what has been the prime window of opportunity (11:00 am until 3:00 pm), Rod managed to break one fish off, and I managed a pair of cold feet! The river has been steadily dropping since it went out of shape last Saturday. Even though we have seen a fair number of Midge flying, there have been very few fish feeding on the surface the past two days. Nymphing has been the most productive method to catch fish, with a sz. 10-12 stonefly pattern attracting most of the attention. The extended weather forecast looks favorable with high temperatures in the 40's and partly cloudy skies.

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After peaking late yesterday at nearly 2500 cfs, river levels are on the drop and should clear quickly with the cooler evening temperatures we have forecast. There is approximately 24" of visibility at the shop this morning - don't leave your streamer or big stonelfy nymph boxes in the car!

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Flies: sz. 6 JB Black & Yellow Bugger, sz. 8 Root Beer Bugger, sz. 6 Gold Fruit Fly, sz. 10 Bouble Beaded Prince, sz. 10 Skwala Nymph, sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 20 Brassie, sz. 20 Wd-40, sz. 18 Silver Lightening Bug

With a high temperature of 58 degrees yesterday, it felt more like October on the river than December! The fish were not as active as we had anticipated, even though the water temperature (42) was 3 degrees warmer than on Monday. We spent time anchored and nymphing slots, and pulling streamers on the move. We swam and hooked a few fish with streamers, including one dandy that came off right at the boat, but the nymphing was not very productive. We also had a Midge rod rigged up, but never found an opportunity to use it. The warm weather, coupled with some overnight rain, has caused early meltoff in the mountains. The river flows doubled in volume overnight and clarity is under 2'. The weather forecast is calling for a chance of rain today and tomorrow, and then snow early next week. This colder weather will freeze things up and the river should come back into shape within a couple of days. If you're ready for a little solitude away from the Mall crowds, come on over and pull up a riffle!

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Flies: sz. 6 JB Black & Yellow Bugger, sz. 8 Root Beer Bugger, sz. 6 white Fruit Fly, sz. 10 Skwala Nymph, sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 20 Brassie, sz. 20 Para Midge

The snow we had mentioned in our previous report did finally arrive. We awoke yesterday morning to 2-3" of soft white snow, most of which was gone by noon when the sun peaked out. The float was both productive in terms of fishing and beautiful in terms of scenery. We split things up between casting at several pods of fish sipping Midge, pulling streamers, and indicator nymphing. Norm got the first shot at pod #1 and had several fish eat the fly, hooking 2 or 3 and losing them. Rod was next with much the same results, and after a bit of heckling from the peanut gallery on being slow, not seeing well, etc... they gave me a shot. The fish would come up and eat the fly, but the hook set was just not getting it done. We'd either feel nothing or slight resistance and then slack. Believe it or not, this went on for about 45 minutes before I happened to look at the fly and notice the hook shank had broken off - probably where the barb was crimped. Oh well, it gave us all an excuse for what could have easily happened with a hook intact! We have a skiff of fresh snow this morning and more nice weather in store.

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Flies: sz. 10 Prince Nymph, sz. 10 Skwala Nymph, sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 20 Brassie, sz. 10 Olive Bugger

We apologize for the delay in posting reports - our satellite system has been down for the past 10 days and we finally have things back in order. We have been splitting time fishing the river and bird hunting lately. The fishing has probably been more productive than the bird hunting, but the exercise has been great and the pups are getting better each day. We have enjoyed some particularly nice weather these past 2 days. On the fishing end of things, we have been running a medium sized Stonefly nymph with a sz. 16 - 18 dropper (Red Copper John's and Brassies have been the best). We are still running a fairly shallow indicator at about 4', and fluorocarbon tippet is an advantage. Snow was in the forecast, but we have yet to see a single flake in the canyon this season. We hope we get some winter soon, as the reservoirs have plenty of empty storage space that will be next years' river flows.

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Flies: sz. 10 Prince Nymph, sz. 10 Skwala Nymph, sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 20 Black Sparkle Dun, sz. 22 CDC Emerger, sz. 10 Seal Bugger

All of us here at Red's hope that you and your families had a blessed Thanksgiving holiday. We decided to take advantage of the fact that we were hanging around the canyon over Thanksgiving and went fishing. Except for the wind that kicked up to around 30 mph, it was a beautiful afternoon. Everytime the wind quit we would see fish eating midge, but they were very picky and would stop with each gust. Nymphing with the Prince and Copper John in tandem was the most productive tactic. The river flows have increased about 500 cfs over the last two days. The flow this morning is at 1263 cfs. The visibility is good with very little change in the color. The weatherman is forecasting some colder weather beginning Saturday evening. The temperature is suppose to dip to below 20 at night with daytime temperatures in the mid 30's and stay that way at least into mid-week.

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Flies: sz. 10, 12 Teeny Leeches, sz. 10 Skwala Nymph, sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 20 Brassie, sz. 20 Para Midge, sz. 22 CDC Emerger, sz. 18 Stillborn Midge

We enjoyed another beautiful late Fall day in the canyon. We caught fish swinging streamers, nymphing with an indicator, and targeting some risers with Midge patterns. Nymphing was the most productive technique, with nearly all of the fish coming to the smaller dropper patterns. However, the Midge hatch lasted for a solid hour and a half, and even though the fish were tough, it generated lots of excitement. Flows have continued to drop and are currently just over 800 cfs. At this level, there are some long stretches of water that won't hold fish - don't waste any time fishing through these sections. Get on the oars and push to the infamous "next good spot". Another factor to think about this time of year is the sunshine. Plan your fishing to maximize your time in the sun, especially late in the day. A high bluff on the West side of the river means early shade, so fish those areas earlier in the day. Once the sun goes down, it cools off in a hurry!

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Flies: sz. 10 Seal Bugger, sz. 12 Teeny Leech, sz. 10 Skwala Nymph, sz. 16 Copper John

We had a goal in mind of swinging some streamer patterns, so we grabbed our 130 grain & 175 grain lines and headed out. As is the case with swinging streamers, we had a fair number of pulls that didn't result in hookups. We had a lot of excitement when we hooked into Suckers in 2 diffferent spots that we fished. The first spot was in some "frog-like" water, so it wasn't a real surprise when we landed a couple of them, but the second spot was in fairly fast moving and shallow water that you wouldn't expect them to be holding in. Of these 5 fish, 3 of them were fair hooked and 2 were foul hooked, which can be the case with fishing sink tips. When we put on at Umtanum, there were quite a few fish feeding and we certainly could have cast dry flies with some success, but we remained true to the original goal. We do have to admit, when we first hooked a couple of those Suckers, we were thinking we had some big trout on the line. The initial run, especially in that shallow water is pretty good, then they tire and come in without much resistance.

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Flies: sz. 6 JB's Black & Yellow, sz. 6 J&J Special, sz. 12 Dbl. Beaded Prince, sz. 10 Skwala Nymph, sz. 18 Lightening Bug, sz. 20 Brassie, sz. 16 Copper John, sz. 16 Para BWO, sz. 18 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 20 Purple Haze Emerger

The fishing yesterday was a bit on the slower side. We had our best luck stripping streamers, and managed a few fish on nymphs, but the productive window was shorter overall. We saw one or two fish feed on the surface, and none with enough consistency to have much success with dry flies. The water temperature was 42 degrees at 2:00 pm, which is down slightly from the past week. With this change in water temperature, expect the most productive fishing to be from about 11:00 until 3:00. The weather forecast for the next week looks consistent with temperatures ranging from 45 during the day to the low 30's at night.

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The weather has remained favorable, and our extended Fall season continues. We pulled some streamers yesterday and had a few dry fly opportunities, but nymphing the ledges and riffles produced the best results. We did get a short window of BWO activity around 1:30, but other than that, it was all subsurface action. We are starting to see more Midge throughout the day and particularly just before dark, which is a difficult time to try and rig up a sz. 20 dry fly set up. As the water temperatures cool, we expect the morning fishing to slow down. There's not much reason to be on the water before 9:00 or 9:30 right now, and the fishing is the best from about 11:00 am until 3:30 pm.

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Flies: sz. 6 JB's Black & Yellow, sz. 6 J&J Special, sz. 12 Skwala Nymph, sz. 16 Copper John, sz. 16 Para BWO, sz. 18 CDC Baetis Emerger

As seems to be the norm, we frequently switched tactics between dries, streamers, and nymphs and had some success with each method. The slowest window was the first hour, and then things started picking up. There were a few BWO's in the sky and on the water, and more trout eating them than we had seen the past couple of days. The large, easy-to-spot pods of feeders seem to have disappeared, and you should look for very suttle singles and doubles for your match the hatch dry fly opportunities. The weather has been beautiful, and the Rainbows are taking on their vivid red winter colors.

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Flies: sz. 6 JB's Black & Yellow, sz. 6 J&J Special, sz. 10 Dbl. Bead Prince, sz. 12 Skwala Nymph, sz. 16 Copper John, sz. 18 Bird's Nest, sz. 20 Brassie, sz. 18 Lightening Bug, sz. 20 WD 40, sz. 16 Para BWO, sz. 18 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 18 Purple Baetis Emerger

It was another nice late-Fall day in the canyon. We changed tactics a lot throughout the day, catching fish on streamers, nymphs, and dry flies. The BWO hatch, even with the calm and cloudy weather, was not as strong as we have seen during the previous couple of weeks. We did find fish feeding between 2:00 and 4:00 pm, but it was just one or two fish in each spot - not the larger pods we had gotten accustomed to. We landed a couple of nice fish on Streamers going to a slightly slower retrieve, and indicator nymphing was good from noon until 2:00, when we switched to dries. One fish we found sipping dries was tucked tight to the bank under an overhanging branch. Shaun's cast went a little long and snagged the limb. Instead of rowing in and disturbing the water to retrieve the flies, he gave it a hard tug which produced the all-to-familiar SNAP! sound. We reached for the fly box, expecting to re-rig, but low and behold, Shaun's line had not only his double fly setup, but also 3 others attached! Ahhh - the little things we find satisfaction in...

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Flies: sz. 16 Para BWO, sz. 18 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 20 Stillborn Midge, sz. 20 Para Midge

The calm, cloudy conditions for fishing dry flies were too good to stay in the shop, so I snuck out to see what was going on downriver. There were a fair number of fish working with good consistency, but they were not as eager to eat the BWO offerings we've had success with over the past month. A few fish took the emergers, but all of the fish landed were on the Midge patterns. We are at the time of year where you need to be prepared to fish both BWO's and Midge when you find an active pod. The river flows spiked up about 300 cfs last night, but clarity and wading access remain favorable this morning.

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Flies: sz. 16 Para BWO, sz. 16 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 18 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 12 Lightening Bug, sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 18 Silver Lightening Bug, sz. 18 WD-40

The cloud cover that was supposed to materialize never made it, but the wind that was forecast certainly did. At 2:00 pm, there were lots of bugs hatching and trying to cling to the water, but the wind got the best of the BWO hatch yesterday. We did have some success nymphing on the move, and there were a few opportunities when the wind let up a bit that we were able to target some feeders. We're looking at another sunny day in the canyon this morning and mostly cloudy skies through the upcoming week. River flows have continued to drop, and are now on the South side of 1000 cfs. We expect the BWO dry fly fishing to hold up as long as the air temperature remains above freezing during the daytime hours, which looks favorable over the extended forecast.

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Flies: sz. 6 Brown Zonker, sz. 4 J&J Special, sz. 10 Dbl. Bead Prince, sz. 12 20"er, sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 18 Silver Lightening Bug, sz. 18 WD 40, sz. 16 Para Adams, sz. 16 Purple Split Wing, sz. 16 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 18 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 8 Phat Fly, sz. 10 Orange Bugmeister

We had one of the longer BWO windows of the season yesterday, with fish active on the surface from about noon until 4:00 pm. These fish were anything but easy, as we picked most of them up on the Emerger patterns with a drag free presentation. At one point, there were so many naturals on the water that it made getting them to look at an imitation difficult. We had our best luck towardfs the end of the hatch when the number of bugs started to decline. We picked one nicer fish up on a streamer, and ran nymphs on and off throughout the drift. Nymph fishing was slower than we had experienced over the past couple of weeks.

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Flies: sz. 16 Para BWO, sz. 16 Purple Split Wing, sz. 16 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 18 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 8 Phat Fly, sz. 10 Orange Bugmeister

It was another beautiful Fall afternoon in the canyon. Despite the bright sunshine, the BWO hatch came off at 2:00 and offered 1.5 hours of great dry fly fishing. After the hatch subsided around 4:00, we switched to October Caddis dries on the move and had 3 or 4 nice fish come up before the takeout. Flows have continued to drop slightly, but not enough to worry about getting a drift boat down. Some sections are skinny, but there is a deep enough slot in each section to get through without bumping rocks. The weather forecast looks like cloudy skies and temperatures around 50 degrees for the weekend.

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We got caught up on shuttles and boat cleaning, so we grabbed a streamer rod we had rigged up and made a short drift. We did have several good visuals of fish chasing the fly, but we may have been better off taking the rod with the BWO set up on it; as the hatch was still on and fish were coming up consistently. Rod seemed to get most of the action - he might say it was good casting, but I think it was superior rowing! The river has dropped slightly to 1109 cfs this morning, and has remained in great shape. The BWO hatch has been coming off around 2:00 in the afternoon and lasting about 2 hours. Nymphing and streamer fishing remain productive and these patterns should hold for at least the next week, as we have a steady weather forecast with cloud cover and high temperatures of 50+ degrees.

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Flies: sz. 18 & 20 WD-40, sz.18 Bird's Nest, sz. 10 Big Hole Stone, sz. 12 Dbl. Bead Prince Nymph, sz. 16 Purple Split Wing, sz. 18 Split Wing BWO, sz. 18 CDC Gray Baetis Emerger, sz. 6 J&J Special, sz. 8 Brown Zonker, sz. 8 Orange Bugmeister, sz. 10 October Bar Fly

We enjoyed another beautiful Fall day with mostly cloudy skies and calm conditions. The BWO hatch came off a little later (about 2:00 pm) and was a bit less intense than we had seen these past 2 days; but it was still exciting and offered plenty of opportuinities to cast to big fish. Prior to the BWO hatch, we had success fishing nymphs under an indicator and streamers with a floating line and fairly fast retrieve. We went to October Caddis for about an hour in the afternoon and didn't have any luck; although others have reported some good action with the big Orange dries. We woke up to the first frost of the year at the shop this morning. If we get several cold nights in a row, the morning bite may get pushed back some, but the fishing should remain productive, and may even improve, as the cool mornings followed by a warming trend tends to "compress" the hatch activity during the day. For example, instead of having some BWO's hatching at 11:00, and more at noon, and then the biggest wave of them coming at 2:00, when the temperature warms the right amount at say 1:00, all of the BWO's will hatch together at that time.

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Flies: sz. 18 & 20 WD-40, sz.18 Brassie, sz. 12 20"er, sz. 12 Dbl. Bead Prince Nymph, sz. 16 Purple Split Wing, sz. 18 Split Wing BWO, sz. 16 Para BWO, sz. 18 CDC Gray Baetis Emerger, sz. 6 Root Beer Bugger, sz. 6 J&J Special

We stuck with what has been pretty standard protocol these past few days: alternating between streamers and nymphs until the BWO hatch comes off (this took place from 1:30 until 3:30) and then switching to small dries. We hooked a couple of nice fish with streamers that spit the hook and swam several others. Nymphing was pretty consistent right up until about 4:00, when everything seemed to slow down. We have been running the strike indicator at only 3'-4' above the top fly. With the water conditions we are seeing, these fish are very active, and too much distance between the indicator and flies can result in the fish grabbing and spitting the nymphs without ever pulling the indicator down. The BWO hatch, although not as good as we saw on Thursday, was still fantastic. There were lots of big fish eating up and down both banks. A drag free presentation is crucial for being successful and tricking some of the bigger fish on small dries. Although we didn't fish October Caddis in the evening, we did see 4 or 5 adults flying during the day, which should perk late afternoon interest in the big dries.

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Flies: sz. 18 & 20 WD-40, sz.20 Brassie, sz. 12 Pearl Lightening Bug, sz. 8 Prince Nymph, sz. 18 Split Wing BWO, sz. 18 CDC Gray Baetis Emerger, sz. 6 Root Beer Bugger, sz. 6 Yellow/Black Conehead Bugger

Yesterday was one of the best BWO days we have had. The conditions couldn't have been any better. Cloudy, calm, and just a hint of a sprinkle with plenty of bugs on the water by about 1:00 pm, and the fish were definitely active. There were sipping rings on the water in front of us and behind us. We tried a little bit of everything on this float. We started the morning with streamers and missed a couple of nice fish. Then went to nymphs and landed 3 or 4 fish on the Brassie and Prince Nymph. The rest of the day was spent casting the Split Wing BWO with a CDC Emerger behind it to rising fish. The forecasted weather conditions for the rest of the week call for more of the same, which means that the dry fly fishing will hopefully continue. The river has dropped a little and is currently flowing at 1185 cfs this morning.

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Flies: sz. 16 Orange Soft Hackle, sz. 16 Gray Soft Hackle, sz. 18 & 20 WD-40, sz.18 Bird's Nest, sz. 12 Pearl Lightening Bug, sz. 18 Split Wing BWO, sz. 18 & 20 CDC Baetis Emerger

Boy, did we ever get a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon! Complete with lightening, thunder, and buckets of rain. The fish were sipping Baetis just before and during the worst part of the storm, but they were very picky. The ones that we got to look at our offering were on the Baetis Emerger. We spent the rest of the day fishing a nymph rig mainly on the go. The WD-40 was the most productive pattern throughout the day. Don't forget trying the center of the river at this time of year. The weather forecast for the majority of this week is calling for temperatures in the mid 50's, mostly cloudy skies, and a chance of rain at times. Perfect weather for more BWO activity. The river is currently flowing at 1252 cfs.

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Flies: sz. 16 Orange Soft Hackle, sz. 16 Silver Lightening Bug, sz.18 Bird's Nest, sz. 16 Purple Split Wing, sz. 18 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 18 Olive Split Wing, sz. 8 Orange Bugmeister

The weather report called for overcast skies and wind gusts up to 40 mph. We got the clouds but barely felt a whisper of wind. Our fishing started off great with Tiff landing her first fish swinging an Orange Soft Hackle across from Red's Campground. We continued fishing nymphs, catching most of our fish on the swing. At about 1:00 we had a good Baetis hatch below Wymer. The fish seemed to key in on smaller Baetis emergers rather than the adults. When the dry fly fishing slowed down, we went back to nymphing and continued to have some activity. Through the Miracle Mile, we didn't see much activity on top, but we did get a few fish up on Purple Baetis patterns. All in all it was a perfect Fall day to be on the river!

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Flies: sz. 16 Orange Soft Hackle, sz. 12 Pearl Lightening Bug, sz.18 Bird's Nest, sz. 16 Purple Split Wing, sz. 18 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 8 Root Beer Bugger, sz. 8 Orange Bugmeister

We utilized a lot of different techniques on this drift including pulling streamers, swinging soft hackles, small dries, big dries, and drifting nymphs under an indicator. Weatherwise, we had what appears to be the last of the bright sunny days that we will see for a while, which offers a favorable outlook for the BWO activity. We did find one nice pod of fish on the surface around 1:30. Outside of that, we had our best luck nymphing on the move. We did hook a couple of nice fish on streamers that came unbuttoned during some hard fought battles. We expect the fishing, particularly the dry fly fishing, to pick up as the weather cools and cloud cover remains consistent.

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Flies: sz. 16 Orange Soft Hackle, sz. 8 Kaufmann's Stone, sz. 12 Pearl Lightening Bug, sz. 18 Pheasant Tail Nymph, sz.18 Prince Nymph, sz. 16 Split Wing Adams, sz. 18 CDC Baetis Emerger

Nymphing with small bugs was the most effective technique we used on this trip. The weather forecast is calling for a cooling trend and a few more clouds over the next few days. On the down side of that, they are also predicting some higher winds (20 to 35 mph with gusts up to 40) for tomorrow. We can hope that they are wrong about the wind and right about the cloud cover and cooler temperatures. The problems we have had with the weather station data updates are fixed and it is currently updating properly on the website. As for the river, it is in great shape and currently flowing at about 1400 cfs.

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Flies: sz. 8 Root Beer Bugger, sz. 6 Gold Fruit Fly, sz. 8 J&J Special, sz. 16 Orange Soft Hackle, sz. 14 Soft Hackle PT

We took advantage of another beautiful Fall afternoon and put in a short streamer session. Overall, the fishing was pretty good and the trout were active and aggressive to chase the streamers. We were using floating lines and utilizing a fairly fast retrieve. We did pass a few spots where we saw some decent fish sipping dries; and we spent 10 minutes swinging soft hackles and had a couple of takes. Right now you can use a variety of techniques and methods to catch fish. Despite the bright sunshine we have had and will continue to have the remainder of this week, we have seen enough fish working BWO's that even the die hard dry fly fishermen can find enough targets throughout the day to keep occupied. I know it sounds like a broken record, but the best of the Fall is still to come. We are starting to see more October Caddis in the evenings, and several days in a row of cloudy weather will really bust these BWO's loose.

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Flies: sz. 16 Orange Soft Hackle, sz. 14 Beaded Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle, sz. 12 Pearl Lightening Bug, sz. 12 Silver Lightening Bug, sz. 18 Bird's Nest, sz. 18 Beaded & Non-Beaded Flash Back Pheasant Tail, sz. 18 & 20 WD-40

We started the day with the right kind of weather and high hopes for some good BWO activity. That never materialized for us. We saw some but the afternoon wind took care of any hopes of casting to podded fish eating them. We nymphed the entire float and swung some soft hackles at 2 or 3 select locations. The WD-40 was the most productive pattern. Two of the Whitefish we landed were as much fun as most Rainbows. They ran and did some aerial acrobatics. In fact, I thought one of them was a trout until we got it to the net. It rained here last night and the flows increased approximately 100 cfs but not enough to impact the fishing. We have been experiencing some problems with our weather station data. Don't give up on it. We will get it fixed. In the mean time, the web cam is still current and updating every 5 minutes.

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Flies: sz. 16 Orange Soft Hackle, sz. 16 Copper Soft Hackle, sz. 14 Green Soft Hackle, sz. 14 Beaded Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle

I got a chance to slip out of the shop in the evening and swing some soft hackles. There is nothing quite like feeling that tug at the end of a swinging line. I fished the Orange Partridge Soft Hackle on a dropper of about 18" behind the Beaded PT Soft Hackle. This gives it just a little more depth and can be effective at times. Both of the landed fish were on the Partridge trailer. The weatherman is forecasting lower temperatures in the mid to high 60's and cloudy skies for the remainder of the week. This change in the weather should help improve the dry fly fishing.

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Flies: sz. 8 Kaufmann's Stone, sz. 10 Beaded Prince, sz. 18 Green & Brown WD-40s, sz. 20 Beaded Brassie, sz. 16 Silver Lightening Bug, sz. 8 October Caddis Nymph, sz. 10 Orange Ugyn Bug, sz. 16 Split Wing Purple Haze, sz. 14 & 16 Parachute Adams, sz. 18 & 20 CDC Baetis Emerger, sz. 8 Royal Stimulator

Brian and his friends got a chance to play hookie from school and take a short afternoon float. Nymphing in this section was a little slower then it has been. They happened to find a pod of actively feeding fish and were able to hook several smaller fish using the Adams and CDC Emerger combination. The largest fish of the evening didn't make it to the boat. Temperatures have started to cool a bit with today's temperature forecasted at 75 degrees and more of the same predicted for well into next week. Night-time temperatures have been in the 40's.