![Reds Fly Shop [logo]](/img/reds-fly-shop/logo.png){kind=logo}
"Be Prepared"--and a Yakima River fishing report
June 26, 2014
A Fishing Report and some advice...
I was only a cub scout, but I know the boy scout motto is ?Be Prepared.? This applies to fishing as well. Yesterday, fellow guide Mike Milligan and I grabbed an early dinner and jumped in the boat to preview the ?Twilight Highlight? floats that Red?s offers. Grabbed the boat and we were on the water at 5:45 PM. If you are like me, the opportunities to fish for fun can be scarce this time of year. I have a big family, work responsibilities and just general stuff to do! So when the opportunities come, be ready!
Go grab your gear bag and make sure you have things ready to go. Know where your caddis flies are, maybe even put them all together in the same row in your box so you can grab one when needed. Have 2 rods ready to fish--One can be stonefly or nymph ready and one with some caddis pattern for you to grab quickly and keep fishing. Buy a fresh tapered leader and make sure your tippet is fresh and not from that trip you took 3 summers ago. It will tangle, break, and you shouldn't be replacing old tippet knots while fish are rising!
We put real, actual flies in our reports! These are the flies that the guides are using every day. Last night we caught fish on a CFO Chubby type Chernobyl (big dry), the Red Yeagers tantrum, and a couple of different stonefly (Solitude Stone/Hopper) patterns.
When the caddis got so thick you couldn't open your mouth, we swapped to the caddis rods and things got crazy fun! Rising fish everywhere. Usually 2-4 feet out from the banks just gulping caddis. X-Caddis, that one caddis with the little pink puff on top, elk hair all were great! (more tan than brown or black)
Finally when it got too dark to see the caddis (930!) we switched back to big profile stones (chubby) and Milligan HAMMERED a 19? rainbow that ran off some line 3 times! If a fish can put that kind of pressure on a Sage ONE rod?you know its big!
anyway?fish till dark, get your stuff ready Ahead Of Time, keep mending and extend the drifts and have fun
Oh..pinch the barbs down tight and keep the fish in the net?no more fish pics?it will help us all catch more fish?don?t be lame Get some good hemostats, not surplus surgical types that you see at Bubbela's
Coach Brian
I was only a cub scout, but I know the boy scout motto is ?Be Prepared.? This applies to fishing as well. Yesterday, fellow guide Mike Milligan and I grabbed an early dinner and jumped in the boat to preview the ?Twilight Highlight? floats that Red?s offers. Grabbed the boat and we were on the water at 5:45 PM. If you are like me, the opportunities to fish for fun can be scarce this time of year. I have a big family, work responsibilities and just general stuff to do! So when the opportunities come, be ready!
Go grab your gear bag and make sure you have things ready to go. Know where your caddis flies are, maybe even put them all together in the same row in your box so you can grab one when needed. Have 2 rods ready to fish--One can be stonefly or nymph ready and one with some caddis pattern for you to grab quickly and keep fishing. Buy a fresh tapered leader and make sure your tippet is fresh and not from that trip you took 3 summers ago. It will tangle, break, and you shouldn't be replacing old tippet knots while fish are rising!
One of the best things you can do to make fishing easier and more fun is a fresh fly line. It floats and will help you mend a small x-caddis fly in the riffle better, so you can catch a fish or 3. I LOVE the Rio perception lines I am using. No stretch and they float high and dry all day. I might be imagining this, but when inches on your cast mean the difference between hookups or not - the fact that there is no give to the fly line makes me feel more precise. Like I said, maybe I am imagining this but at a minimum it gives me confidence. Go on the Red?s website and read the guide reports and see what the pros are using.
Here is a serious tip?not just something generic.
Here is a serious tip?not just something generic.
We put real, actual flies in our reports! These are the flies that the guides are using every day. Last night we caught fish on a CFO Chubby type Chernobyl (big dry), the Red Yeagers tantrum, and a couple of different stonefly (Solitude Stone/Hopper) patterns.
When the caddis got so thick you couldn't open your mouth, we swapped to the caddis rods and things got crazy fun! Rising fish everywhere. Usually 2-4 feet out from the banks just gulping caddis. X-Caddis, that one caddis with the little pink puff on top, elk hair all were great! (more tan than brown or black)
Finally when it got too dark to see the caddis (930!) we switched back to big profile stones (chubby) and Milligan HAMMERED a 19? rainbow that ran off some line 3 times! If a fish can put that kind of pressure on a Sage ONE rod?you know its big!
anyway?fish till dark, get your stuff ready Ahead Of Time, keep mending and extend the drifts and have fun
Oh..pinch the barbs down tight and keep the fish in the net?no more fish pics?it will help us all catch more fish?don?t be lame Get some good hemostats, not surplus surgical types that you see at Bubbela's
Coach Brian