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

Red's Power Hour Fishing Report
January - March 2007

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: Black K-Stone size 4, FB PT size 14, Pat's Olive size 10, March Brown Nymph size 12

The Yak is fishing very well right now throughout the system and the big fish appear to be in pre-spawn mode and "on-the-take". There were BWO's today and a couple of March Browns and of course a few Skwalas. The hatches were pretty light but the fish are prepared to feed after a lot of tough conditions so far this spring. They are in great shape and the trout population as a whole seems to be as good as it has ever been, perhaps due to the high water over the last 2 years. Be very careful in the Farmlands area of the Yakima right now, especially the section from Rhinehart Park to Ringer. We witnessed a near disaster drift boat accident today that almost ended very badly, so be CAREFUL. There are trees down in places that we never even knew about, in fact it looks like a completely different river in there. Fishing is good, but bear in mind that the flows are up and it is definitely a lot more work than the traditional 2000 cfs we deal with in March/April. On a side note, the movie "Blades of Glory" is a must see. Will Ferrell at his best.

We turned in a relatively short guide day today and decided to take a Busman's Holiday and put in quick float in the afternoon to fish some dries, the fishing was Ok and we landed some nice trout but overall it is fairly tricky. With high flows both rower and the angler need to be in a good rhythm. The nymphing during the day was good and work those Skwalas in the afternoon!

Flies: Chironomids sizes 12-14, Orange Crush, Thin Mint, Carey Bugger, Black Buggers

With the Yakima on the fritz over the last few days, the Desert Lakes have been a good opportunity for some nice Browns and Bows. It is a great reminder of just how many great fisheries that Central Washington has to offer. There wasn't much pressure and it was a beautiful evening to bob around in a float tube. We have had other good reports on Lake Lenice as well, make sure to sign up for the Lake Clinic on April 21st if you are interested in doing some stillwater fishing. As far as the Yakima is concerned, we are back up and guiding again starting tomorrow so you will get some first-hand information by Saturday morning on how the bite is progressing. Thanks and maybe we'll see you this weekend. Over and out.

The Yakima River is coming back into shape more quickly than we expected, flows are reading about 4900 cfs at Umtanum right now and we plan to pick the guided fishing back up on Friday and will do a little fishing tomorrow. Visibility in Ellensburg is about 14-16" and about 12" in the Canyon. We should get about 2' of vis by this weekend down at the shop. Fishing will be challenging with flows around 4000 cfs and cool water temperatures, but we proved last week that it can be done. Ideas: Black K-Stone, Worms, and use a little bigger dropper nymphs than you might normally. Think about using LB's, PT's, CJ's, in the 12-14 size range. Good luck and fish hard! Red's Out.

The rain and warmth caught up with us last night and the river is out of shape again, even above the Teanaway is pretty high and muddy. The Teanaway itself has crested and is starting to drop already, but the Upper Yakima is still on a steep rise. It will be at least a few days before the Yakima River will fish again. Sorry, Red's.

Flies: Bitteroot Skwala size 10, Single Skwala size 10, PMX - Peacock, Black K-Stone size 8, PT size 14

We nymphed for about 45 minutes this morning and hooked a couple of nice fish but lost them both. We were anchored and untangling a nymph rig (imagine that) and saw a fish rise. We threw a Skwala over it and landed it on the first cast, nicely done. After that, we shifted over to a "dry fly or die" program and worked up some really nice fish. One was a 19" Tank, with a few more in the 15-16" range. Overall, I would say that was the hardest I have ever worked for 11 trout guiding Skwalas. With the river the river at over 4000 cfs and water temps in the low 40's, the trout are holding in the soft edges and very weak water. Not like summer flows when they are tucked under fast banks and you can glide the boat along with the drift. That program didn't cut it today, holding the boat back and taking as many as 10 casts into an eddy or a pocket was the trick. Sometimes that meant anchoring but typically all you can do is backrow and hold your position in the river. All in all, I wouldn't call the fishing great but it feels good to work hard and do it with dries when some anglers (myself included) might have thought it impossible today. Unfortunately though, it looks like the river is on a big rise again today and we'll be looking at marginal conditions by Monday or perhaps even tomorrow. The Lower Canyon at 5:30 pm Saturday night still had 3' of vis, so maybe it will hold through Sunday. Call the shop for a visual assessment in the canyon, it looks like the river is going to be out all the way up through Cle Elum the way things keep going the way they are right now. Stay tuned.

Flies: sz. 6-10 Stonefly Nymphs, sz. 8, 10 SJ Worms (Brown, Pink, Red), sz. 12 Lightening Bug, sz. 6 Sculpzilla, sz. 6 J&J Special, sz. 8 Water Street Skwala, sz. 10 Bitteroot Skwala

With conditions once again in bad shape earlier this week, we took the opportunity to fish some different waters including Isaak's Lake, Rocky Ford, and the Upper Yakima at Cle Elum. There is always someplace to fish in Eastern Washington. The ice has just come off of Isaak's Lake, so although the fishing was not red hot, we got an early glimpse of what is to come this Spring. The fish we landed were 20"-22" and absolutely obese! If you have not fished this unique lake shed before, you should put it on your "must see" list. It is a private Lake just East of Banks Lake, and is truly worth the private access fee. We floated the Upper River yesterday, and landed a couple of fish including the nicest Yakima trout we have seen this season. The river is now on the drop throughout the system - for the third day in a row - and conditions are improving dramatically. With visibility right now at the shop at 18" (and water temps up a full degree since yesterday), we are expecting the canyon to be fishing again as early as tomorrow. We are hosting a free nymphing clinic this Saturday morning at the shop and still have a couple of spots open for participants. With the cool weather in the forecast, we expect this river to continue dropping and are looking forward to seeing the trout pick up where they left off on the Skwala hatch.

Flies: sz. 6-10 Stonefly Nymphs, sz. 8, 10 SJ Worms (Brown, Pink, Red), sz. 12, 14 Prince Nymphs, sz. 12 Bloodi Mary, sz. 6 Sculpzilla

Flows have stabilized, for the time being, around 4100 cfs and we're looking at 12" of visibility below the Teanaway. After floating and fishing hard today, it looks like it's still a little pre mature for the fishing to come around. I guess the fish were enjoying their St. Pattie's celebration and didn't want to be bothered by our flies! We're hoping things continue to drop and clear, but after another 70 degree day today, it could be a few days before we start to see some improvement. We'll keep a close eye on conditions and keep you posted as they change.

The Yakima River above the Teanaway is fishing fair, while the lower river is just getting to the point we'll call it fishable. The clarity is still a bit off, maybe 12-18" in Ellensburg, and about 12' in the Canyon. It will likely continue to clear up today, hopefully the beautiful weather doesn't have too much effect on the snowmelt situation. If we can make it through the next 2 days, we have predicted night time temps near freezing in Ellensburg which should keep things slowly dropping and quickly clearing. Recommended patterns: Beaded San Juan Worms, Red/Pink seems to be the favorite. Black K Stones size 4-6, Black Buggers size 8-6, Black/Brown Pats stones size 4-8, Pearl Lighting Bug size 12. Sculpzilla fished slowly on a sink tip is also a good plan. Have fun!

The drop is slowing down and it looks like it will level off soon, but the clearing will continue for another week or so. The upper Yakima (above the Teanaway) is fishable but the catching is pretty slow due to low visibility and cold water temps. The lower Canyon is expected to be fishable on Sunday, with a slight chance of some action on Saturday. The catching won't be anything worth "writing home to mom" about, but you will be in the game. Big black K-Stones and a Beaded San Juan Worm below a bobber is a good bet. With the abrupt cold snap, the fish haven't seemed to take a streamer very well. Only on a slow drift. Game on, Red's.

The Yakima showed us some of the highest water that any of us have seen since 1996, it was truly incredible. The rate at which the volume increased was especially impressive and we saw water in places that we had never seen it before. Like flowing across the paved portions of Ringer Road, many fields that we had never seen water in were flooded, and the log jams... oh my! There will be some pretty big changes with all of the downed timber, some parts of the Farmlands will be tough to recognize at best and will no doubt have some new tree farms to deal with. I am sure there are going to be a few new channels. We are also hoping that between the big water last November and a little help now, it cleans up the left channel below the East Cle Elum boat launch, that has been a problem for a lot of floaters in years past. Although some great dry fly fishing with Skwalas was lost, this high water is rejuvenating to our river system and it is great to see the power Mother Nature first hand. I think she must be an Elk Hair Caddis fan, because this should bleed off some of our snow pack so that it stays in nice shape for the Mothers Day Caddis Blizzard. Purely coincidental, I think not.

Flies: Bitteroot Skwala sz. 8-10, Peacock Paranobyl, size 8, Olive K Stone, Pat's Stone - Green/Brown or Orange/Brown sz. 8-10

Today was the first day of GREAT dry fly fishing over Skwalas, we saw big numbers adults in the air and on the bank at lunch. We started off running droppers in the morning and by 11 am we cut them off and went straight to the dry fly fishing. Fishing was steady until about 2:30 - 3 pm when the massive windstorm began in the lower canyon, upstream gusts to 40 mph plus makes it tough to fish a dry fly. We only rose a few fish beyond 3 pm, I'm not sure if it was the severe pressure change, the wind, or the rising water that put them down. But like they say "all good things must come to an end", the horrible and tragic ending to my precious little story is that the river is rising fast enough right now that I'm not sure if she will hang on through tomorrow, maybe on Stones/worms/buggers but probably not on dry flies and especially not the way it was today. 70 degrees and cloudy in early March is pretty fishing, but you don't get too many days before the river swells up. Give us a call in the morning and we'll give you a visual on water conditions, at 6 pm tonight the Lower Canyon still looked pretty good with 2 feet of visibility... Don't be scared.

Flies: sz. 10 Olive K-Stone, Pat's Stone's Orange/Brown sz. 8, Sculpzilla sz. 4, Sheila's Sculpin, Bitteroot Skwala sz. 10, Skwalameister, Paranobyl Peacock sz. 8, Pearl LB sz. 16, Black K-Stone sz. 10, RCJ sz. 16, CH Zuddler sz. 4, Peacock Stimulator size 10

Great day today, although the fish did not take the dry fly nearly as well as we had hoped. We fished dries or dry dropper rigs most of the day and only brought up about 6 fish including refusals and fly bys. The streamer fishing was fairly active if you could hook the fish when they took, one of us was a little slow on the uptake with today (joe). The nymphing was definately the most productive underneath an indicator with a stone nymph and a tick of split shot. The Farmlands and the Canyon both fished well, I think the best chance for a sneak preview of the Skwala game is in the Lower Canyon though. If you do fish the Farmlands, think about going slow and working the water in detail. Game on, Red's.

I decided it was finally warm enough to put my 3 year old daughter Faith in the backpack today and do some wade fishing near town. It started off great with a nice fish hooked up on the K-Stone about 2 minutes into our fishing day, Faith gave it a kiss for luck. That is her only job aside from some light cheerleading work. A few casts later I missed a nice fish on a dry fly and then had a few other grabs on my dropper nymph. The fishing was pretty active and then Faith had to potty which is a pretty big task when you are wading thigh deep and she is in the backpack. I took her to the bank and it turned out to be a ploy to get out on the bank and throw rocks into my fishing hole. That lasted about 2 minutes and then she fell down and got wet. End of the fishing story, we stopped by Dairy Queen and called a day. It was the best 10 minutes of fishing I have had in a long time.

Flies: sz. 8 Tan/ Yellow Chernobyls, sz. 8 Bitteroot Skwala, sz. 10 Winged Thing Skwala, sz. 10 Water Street Skwala, sz. 10 Double Beaded Skwala Nymph, sz. 8, 10 Pat's Stone Nymph, sz. 16 RCJ, sz. 14, 16 Lightening Bugs (Pearl, Silver)

Once again, we spent a lot of time throwing dries and even mixed in some dry/ droppers action. We had 3 fish eat dry flies, which shows that they're starting to look up - although we didn't see any Skwala adults out. Water temps are looking better this morning and we're just waiting for the right day. We've got a great weather forecast for this week with highs at 50 and lows at 30.

Flies: sz. 8 Bitteroot Skwala, sz. 10 Winged Thing Skwala, sz. 10 Water Street Skwala, sz. 10 Double Beaded Skwala Nymph, sz. 8, 10 Pat's Stone Nymph, sz. 14, 16 Lightening Bugs

We spent a lot of time throwing dries and did get a couple of follows and one good eat, but it was hard to ignore what was going on under the water! The nymph fishing was good, with most of the fish coming to the larger Stone nymphs. We turned over a few rocks and saw A LOT of Skwala nymphs waiting for the right day to hatch - it's going to be soon... The water is in great shape and we're supposed to see 50 degrees this weekend!

Flies: Try Skwala nymphs/droppers, but think about an adult in the afternoon to mix it up.

The river is looking better by the day, flows are dropping and this should improve the fishing and help water temps climb this week. A smaller river will react better to daytime highs. Predicted highs are going to be in the mid to upper 40's Wednesday through Saturday. The weekend is going to push 50 degrees with some cloud cover, that is some fishy weather. We have added a large amount of great new Skwala patterns this year, stop in and grab a few pinches of flies and we can run through pregame warmups at the shop before you fish.

Clarity is back in the lower canyon and the nymph fishing yesterday was good, mainly with a Pat's stone and a dropper. Skwala nymphs are definitely on the move and if water conditions remain positive it won't be long and we'll be throwing stimulators and other big dries. On a side note, there were some very nice trout hooked yesterday. The big rainbows are in a pre-spawn mode right now and will be on the take over these next few weeks. From the banks of the Yakima River, Reds.

River levels have come down nearly 1000 cfs over the past four days and the color has turned from muddy brown to green today. Air temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing in the high country, so we expect the flows to continue on the drop and look forward to getting on the water the next few days. We hope to see some good fishing by the weekend!

The Yakima is still running high and muddy from the warm rains and snowmelt, overall this should help keep the river clear through most of March as most of the low elevation snow has disappeared over the last week or so. We hope to have fishable conditions by Saturday but please stay tuned and check with us before you head out the door. Thanks, Red's

As feared the river went out overnight, the Teanaway and the mainstem Yak are way up this morning so do not expect the upper to fish either. Its a bummer, but be patient. Mother Nature has a plan for us, but apparently its just not fishing!

2/15/07

Flies: Pat's Stone sz. 6-10 in various colors (olive #10 was probably the best), Red Copper John's size 16, JJ Bugger, Olive Sculpin #4, WD-40 Black size 18, PT size 16, Chart Copper John size 16, San Juan Worm, Black K Stone #6

The fishing was a bit slower today than it seemed like it should have been, with warm temperatures and high clouds we expected excellent fishing. Perhaps our expectations were too high! Overall, it was an alright day with most of the trout being pretty thick with lots of spunk. The river is starting to rise pretty hard and it might be out of shape by the weekend. Call the shop for an up-to-the-minute report on clarity and conditions. The Teanaway is on a stiff rise and so is the mainstem Yak. Hopefully it won't affect the fishing too much, but at the same time it might be nice to bleed off some of that snow pack early if we can. We'll get another report up this weekend to keep you tuned in. Oh yea, another one of our guide's was on the river today and fished some dry flies and rose the first fish of 2007 to a Skwala (at least the first that we know of). Kind of exciting, they fished them for quite a while but a trout to the dry fly after a long cold winter is pretty sweet. Thank you, Red's.

2/13/07

Over the weekend the river came up a bit and got a little dirty but is now in the process of clearing up and doesn't look too bad in the canyon, the Farmlands are a bit clearer but the whole river is fishable. Especially with water temperatures that hit 40 degrees yesterday, that is a good indication that the fish will be feeding. We'll get out fishing tomorrow and post a genuine Powerhour for you. Thank you to everybody that stopped by our booth in Bellevue at the Fly Show over the weekend, it was great to catch up with so many people in a single weekend. In case you missed it, there is another Fly Fishing Show in Portland this upcoming weekend. For all the info regarding it, check out their website at: http://www.flyfishingshow.com/portland/

2/06/07

Flies: Pat's Stone Olive size 8-10, Red Copper Johns size 18, Flashback HE size 18, WD-40 size 20, Braided Olive Cone Stone size 8, PT size 20, Olive Sculpin, JJ Bugger (of course)

As predicted, the fishing turned on with the warmer temperature today. On the second cast of the day, under the Umtanum Bridge we landed a nice 13" Bow, what a great way to get started. Both streamers and nymphs produced fish but the nymphing did more in the way of numbers. Most of the fish took the dropper, a size 20 PT with no beadhead was as good anything we threw at them. The fish were fairly aggressive and took readily, the first pass through the run yielded the most hookups. There are times during the winter that you will need to grind away at a spot to hook fish, but not right now! There were a few midge present and we did see several fish rise, can't wait for the Skwala hatch in about month. River flows are remaining steady and the fishing should continue to be good throughout the week and the warmest day looks to be Thursday. It is nice to finally have some predictable winter fishing after such a cold couple of months. See you soon, Reds.

Awesome fishing conditions today and for the remainder of the week, if you have even been thinking about going fishing, this is your time. These are going to be the best fishing conditions that we have seen since October. With air temps in the mid 40's these trout should be on the take. Stop in for some flies, coffee, and good old fashioned BS. We also want to remind everybody about the Fly Fishing show in Bellevue that runs February 9-11th. We will giving a Destination Theatre presentation every day and would love to see you there. We will also be at the Fly Fishing show in Portland on February 17-18th, another crew will be at the Yakima Sportsman's Show on February 16-18th, and of course we'll be at the Monroe Sportsman's show from February 21-25th. Stop by and see us, we enjoy seeing you guys.

Flies: sz. 8 Rubber-legs Stone Nymph, sz. 16 Red Copper John, sz. 8 Olive Seal Bugger, 12 ga. Beretta w/#2 Steel Shot, 12 ga. Mossberg w/#2 Steel Shot

Johnny and I were both off yesterday so we took advantage of it and did a short float. Originally we had planned to just jump shoot some waterfowl, but couldn't resist also wetting a line. It was cold and foggy in the stretch that we chose to float but the river was in great condition, and actually the fishing was pretty good. Johnny nymphed, and I swung a Seal Bugger in a couple of runs. We both missed several fish, with the nymphing taking first place. It is hard to get a hook set when you're gawking around looking for ducks and geese or trying to keep your hands warm. One of the whitefish was a good one. He was about 19 inches, and probably the best we have seen this winter. It is cold and cloudy here today, with the sun trying to peek through the cloud cover. By the way today and tomorrow are the last two days of the Puyallup Sportsman Show. If you get over that way stop in and say "Howdy" to Steve, Joe, and Mike. They would love to see you.

1/22/07

After the cold spell that seemed would never end, we are finally seeing some blue skies, sunshine, and water dripping off the roof! The ice flows have stopped and the river is in great shape at just under 1500 cfs. Even in the Lower Canyon, below the Slab where the river was iced up all the way across, things have thawed out and there's a clear channel flowing through the shelf ice. We're looking forward to getting on the water this week and posting some fishing reports!

1/15/07

Unfortunately due to the weather, we don't have a lot to report as far as the fishing goes. We have been bird hunting for the past week and enjoying that immensely - so long as you dress for the 20 degree weather. There are currently ice flows and build up throughout the canyon. For all practical purposes, the river is unfishable until things warm up!

1/9/07

More warm weather, more high water. It cooled down and dropped nearly 1000 cfs today, but it's still marginal as far as color goes. More cold weather, wind, and possible snow in the forecast... Rocky Ford is a better option, but Andros might be the best!

1/4/07

The recent chinooking has caused the river to jump up to just over 3000 cfs, and the clarity is poor. Actually the color of the river is a little like chocolate milk. The river has started to drop a bit today because it is freezing at night, but it will probably be 3 days or so before it is fishing.

1/2/07

We awoke to a cold wind this morning; however, it has changed to a Chinook breeze outside right now and the snow is melting off the roof tops in a steady stream. A Chinook is a warm breeze from the South that you read about in a lot of old western stories. Air temperatures are up to 49 degrees as we write this, so it may continue to melt all night long. We'll keep an eye on the river conditions, but if it stays in shape, we should see some great fishing this week and possibly even some Midge dry fly opportunities. Happy New Year!