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.

Naches River Report and Some Yakima Intel

June 21, 2014

We ran the Naches yesterday with a great group of guys and split up into a few sections to keep the lonely flavor in tact. The fishing was pretty good, not quite like it was for the TV crew last week, which is usually the opposite of how it works. The wind was significant which is rare on the Naches, that valley doesn't get the wind like Ellensburg.

Quick Yakima River Intel:

During the day, fish short nymph setups in the fastest water you can find. There will be lots of small fish during the day, in the evening dry fly fishing with small to mid-sized Stonefly patterns and a Caddis trailer is the hot ticket. The larger fish are more prevalent in the evenings. I did very well two days ago using a Black Conehead 20 Incher Stonefly Nymph with a Purple Lightning Bug Dropper.

Two of our guides floated a long ways fishing on the move all day, another guide went much slower and spent a lot of time parking the boat and wade fishing. The results were about equal but the river is still quite high so purely wade fishing without a boat right now can be challenging. We have a few Naches River classes coming up on how and where to wade fish this stream so if wade fishing is on your agenda, get signed up.

Trophy Cutthroat Trout on the Naches River!

If you are thinking of a guided Naches River float trip, which I strongly recommend, keep in mind while there are some very nice fish in the Naches, join us on a guided trip for an ADVENTURE! The fishing will be fine especially if you don't mind catching 8-14" wild cutthroat on dry flies. Bring a lightweight 3-4 weight rod, ask the guide for some wade fishing options and fish some of the pools on foot. Wade fishing with a dry fly is the heart and soul of fly fishing.

We caught fish on a variety of flies, but a Red Yeager's Tantrum in size 10 was my best fly personally. I also did well dropping a Double Beaded Pheasant Tail Nymph and a Tungsten Hare's Ear

If I wanted to fly fish the Naches by wading the shore in mid August, any suggestions on what part of the river? I am not familiar with it ..... had dinner at Whistlng Jacks last night and the river looked delightful :) Sincerely, Steve Robinson 509-679-7143
Any suggestions on the right time of year and water level (CFS) to float the Naches? I'm mostly looking to see a new river for the first time, but would love to have a shot at some trout, too. Thanks