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.

Canyon is Coming Back Into Shape

April 25, 2016

The Yakima Canyon is coming back into shape this week after a tumultuous few weeks following the Skwala Stonefly hatch. Currently there are Salmon Flies hatching throughout the system with a few Caddis here and there and some March Browns hatching mid day in the upper sections surrounding Cle Elum,

The NOAA forecast is the best available science, but even it missed by quite a bit on its prediction:

Over the next 2 weeks we should start to see a variety of Caddis hatching. The American Grannoms Caddis is by far the biggest hatch of the year, and if we get water that is relatively clear and stable it will make for some absolutely incredible dry fly fishing. Here is a shot of what this hatch looks like.

At times, EVERY fish in the river will be up near the surface feeding on dry flies and emergers. At other times... it can leave you scratching your head! On hot days the key is to fish till dusk for the best shots at rising fish.

Nymphs to Fish Prior to this Caddis Hatch

I'll hit you up with lots of intel on what dry flies work well, but over the next 2 weeks here are some ideas on nymphs.

Moorish Super Pupae Caddis Larvae

Beadhead King Prince

Yeager's Tungsten Beadhead Soft Hackle Nymph (great dropper under a dry fly!)

Chartreuse Copper John

Rendezvous Recap

We had a great event this weekend, and thanks to the 200+ folks that showed up throughout the day. We hope you learned a lot, had fun, and are as excited as we are to go fly fishing!

The winner of the Non-Pro casting competition was John Phipps (seen here attempting a reach cast around the closest rings), he took home a new Sage MOD 5 Weight fly rod/Sage Click Reel that was generously donated by Sage Fly Rods! This combination of rod and reel is one of the finest casting and lightest outfits on the market. It is a wonderful rod to cast and fish. Here is a complete package below available for purchase, we'll pay the sales tax and ship it free! Its RTF - Ready to fish!

Sage MOD Trout Rod/Reel/Line Outfit

At the end of the day, we did an informal "pro division" contest that had us casting at 60' and 85' for accuracy in gusty 10-20 mph head winds! Russ Miller from Sage Fly Rods took the prize and beat us on our home turf. It was really fun to watch many of the great casters perform there. It was hard to appreciate just how tough those casts were until you stood in the bow of that Clackacraft on the lawn and threw some 80' casts into that wind with a 5 weight and a floating line.

It was great to see so many nice folks from all ends of the fly fishing spectrum. There were beginner's, kids, and more pro's per capita than any event we've ever seen. Having lots of friendly experienced pros that simply want to help others (and each other learn) is pretty special. I personally learned a ton by watching other guys cast and got to eavesdrop on a few indoor seminars that were full of great info!

Sage On the Water School - National Tour

Sage kicked of their national tour by doing and ON THE WATER School yesterday which I got to be a part of. It was a great chance to cast all the Sage rods and learn from the pros. Russ Miller's clinic on European Style Nymphing was exceptional. what a great class and it has me VERY motivated to learn this skill. The methodical approach and the potential upside to just how many fish you can catch is quite startling. This technique was born out of competition, which suggests that it is VERY effective! I am getting a new rod, line, and moving forward on this!

Joe did not take credit for teaching an excellent class on Sunday on how to fish the Yakima River in spring and summer high flow conditions. It was really useful to hear that we should consider getting out of the boat and bank fishing in the higher flows. Russ Miller's workshop on Euro Nymphing and Trout-Spey were interesting and informative. Thank you, Joe and Russ!