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.

Good Fishing on the Warmup Today - Yakima River Fishing Report

November 20, 2014

Oh my, the fishing was GREAT today on the warming trend. These trout had been pretty much froze out most of the week and they were ready and waiting for some warmer weather.

We did very well on nymphs right off the bat, well I take that back. We fished streamers on sink tips for about 20 minutes, no grabs, took the sinking leaders off, rigged up nymphs, and then we couldn't keep the fish off the line for about 2 hours. The fish were taking both a Stonefly Nymph but they LOVE the silver beadhead Olive Zebra Midge that we sell.

This is not a joke, you just don't know when a feeding frenzy like this will happen and for the record, this is NOT an attempt to get guided trips for the weekend haha. Seriously, I'm not sure if we even have guides available on Saturday. Hopefully this will at least inspire you to fish, fish, and fish. You just never know what might happen out here. That is why they are called fly fishing "adventures". The outcome is never certain. Triple on the Midge!

Here is a "triple" that we got! We landed a double and it took me a few extra seconds to get one anglers line out of the net and the fish unhooked because they became a bit tangled. I was about to cut it, then BAM, another fish hits on the very next cast! By the time I unhooked the original fish the third fish was ready for the net. Three's company! These fish all ate the midge.

The sun was shining in the morning, and as soon as it got cloudy we decided to try streamers again. We were catching enough trout that mixing it up was ok. We don't need to catch more than our share. We put on RIO Versileader 12' 7.0 IPS leaders. Just looped them onto our fly lines. This is not the most ideal system, nothing beats an integrated sink tip but it works. This system combined with a small bugger was deadly on the swing! We just fished single hand rods but a trout spey guy would have been in heaven! Lots of grabs.

Thin Mint AKA Twin Lakes Special Fly Pattern

We did really well on the Twin Lakes Special fly, it is confusing but it is also called a Thin Mint. It is historically a lake fly but we started fishing it with our trout spey setups because it casts so well and catches river fish just the same way it does in the lakes.

Hopefully a few of you DIY anglers have similar success this weekend. The conditions still require getting layered up and good finger-less type fishing gloves, but the fish were biting. We can't make any promises but this is a truthful report of what can happen if you are here on just the right day.

We also did very well on an Olive Crystal Bugger. We don't have this fly online yet, but it is a very good fly and the bugger has a lateral stripe made out of mylar that I can't help but think does 'em in. Most minnows have a stripe of some sort and this fly has a stripe right down the side that is flashy and obvious in the water. We have 'em in the shop, and I'll try to get them online soon for you out of the area guys.

Well good luck in your pursuits, if you can't go fishing work on getting prepared. Get new lines, leaders, flies, and use this off season to get geared up at least.

Great photo of a triple header. Now that's pretty darn rare. Looks like Thanksgiving came early for you and your guests.??
Awesome! You're not kidding what a difference a day or two makes and what it means to be there on the right day. I was wading from Ringer Loop to Mile 19 on the Yakima last Saturday and Sunday and had minimal success. Caught a few searching with drys at just the right time..only an hour or two window. Nyphing was really frustrating - I though for sure once it clouded up that throwing that zebra midge and midge drop combos would have some luck, but I didn't do well, and pulling on an intermediate line and swinging Pats and other streamers didn't work for me either. It barely got above freezing on both days and my guides would freeze as soon as the sun went hiding. A 5-10 degree difference can make a significant difference, especially when it's a nice sun breakout in the middle of the day.
Jason, keep hammering out there. The more you fish the greater your chances of "hitting that day" and you'll develop your skills in the process. Too many anglers aren't willing to put in the tough days. This is when your angling skills are sharpened. Just like an indian warrior after a long tough hunt, when you are hungry you're more dangerous. Keep fishing.