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High Water Fishing Update
February 9, 2018
Winter has been good us here on the Yakima so far this season, Great water conditions and bright sunny days! We all know that means sooner or later all of the lowland snow is going to melt quickly which is the beginning of the the run off season. But runoff season doesn't mean we don't get to fish. I was fortunate enough to have a trip and clients who were willing to take the risk on a very high day this last Wednesday. With the lower canyon high and muddy we decided to go further up river where less of the tributaries have dumped in. This is what the water looked like
While the water wasn't the greatest, it was what we had, so we went for it. My logic in finding the fish was simple; the water was big and fast and its still cold. I looked for any water that would a refuge from the high flows. We managed to find plenty of fish, but after losing the first few fish we hooked I realized that they were taking the flies very gently so your standard hook set was much too rough. After adjusting our hook set to a gentle rod lift we were in business!
For murky or off colored water I like to go with big dark flies and of course the famous San Juan worm
This kit covers your early season fishing needs:
Skwala Stonefly - Ultimate Survival Pack
Your Pats of course
http://www.redsflyfishing.com/Pat-s-Rubber-Leg-Best-Stonefly-Nymph-Pattern-p/pats-rubberleg-mp.htm
And worms
http://www.redsflyfishing.com/San-Juan-Worm-p/banks-pearl-powerworm-mp.htm
Another option for spring off season is the Rocky Ford. Located near Ephrata WA. The Rocky Ford is a spring creek that has very large trout that you can easily see. The fact that you can sight fish and its always in shape draws in a lot of anglers. This makes for very smart trout and tough fishing. Tiny flies and tippet are the game here. 5x and 6x tippets makes landing a big trout quite the challenge.
Some good patterns for the rocky ford are
Midges
http://www.redsflyfishing.com/Zebra-Midge-in-Red-Olive-or-Black-p/zebra-midge-nymph-b.htm
Scud
http://www.redsflyfishing.com/Soft-Tex-Scud-Fly-Pattern-Olive-p/softtexscud-olive.htm
http://www.redsflyfishing.com/Czech-Nymph-p/ray-charles-nymph-b.htm
While the water wasn't the greatest, it was what we had, so we went for it. My logic in finding the fish was simple; the water was big and fast and its still cold. I looked for any water that would a refuge from the high flows. We managed to find plenty of fish, but after losing the first few fish we hooked I realized that they were taking the flies very gently so your standard hook set was much too rough. After adjusting our hook set to a gentle rod lift we were in business!
For murky or off colored water I like to go with big dark flies and of course the famous San Juan worm
This kit covers your early season fishing needs:
Skwala Stonefly - Ultimate Survival Pack
Your Pats of course
http://www.redsflyfishing.com/Pat-s-Rubber-Leg-Best-Stonefly-Nymph-Pattern-p/pats-rubberleg-mp.htm
And worms
http://www.redsflyfishing.com/San-Juan-Worm-p/banks-pearl-powerworm-mp.htm
Another option for spring off season is the Rocky Ford. Located near Ephrata WA. The Rocky Ford is a spring creek that has very large trout that you can easily see. The fact that you can sight fish and its always in shape draws in a lot of anglers. This makes for very smart trout and tough fishing. Tiny flies and tippet are the game here. 5x and 6x tippets makes landing a big trout quite the challenge.
Some good patterns for the rocky ford are
Midges
http://www.redsflyfishing.com/Zebra-Midge-in-Red-Olive-or-Black-p/zebra-midge-nymph-b.htm
Scud
http://www.redsflyfishing.com/Soft-Tex-Scud-Fly-Pattern-Olive-p/softtexscud-olive.htm
http://www.redsflyfishing.com/Czech-Nymph-p/ray-charles-nymph-b.htm