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.

The Update from the Yakima Canyon Glacier

January 5, 2017

I know I know, the blog has been sucking lately. Trust me if I had my choice I would do nothing but sit here with a keyboard and a drink and rant about everything fly fishing. The truth is the crew here is feverishly getting ready for a big season in 2017. The river out front is literally a glacier right now, check out this video from yesterday.

We're not fishing right now, we're working our tails off to get some new adventures tee'd up for you guys this season. You can expect a lot of great things from Red's this year. We've rebuilt our online store to provide a more efficient shopping experience, will be offering a more premium boat rental experience, reduced the price of our Fly Fishing 101 and 201 classes, extended our general class offerings, and reduced the price of our sporting clays adventures for those of you that like to burn some gun powder.

Next week we'll launch our annual "Skwala Special Guided Trip Offerings" so be ready to book some trips for the Skwala hatch this spring! It will include a great deal when you combine it with a night at the lodge as well for you guys that enjoy a good slumber party after fishing.

Our saltwater trips are nearly full, but we do have space for single anglers in Ascension Bay due to some late cancellations from February 4th - 11th, February 25th - March 5th. We have 4 spots open from March 11th - 18th. I personally have a couple more spots to fill for Christmas Island from May 23 - 30th, as well.

We'll also be at the Washington State Sportsman's Show in Puyallup from January 24th - 29th, and the Fly Fishing Show in Lynnwood from February 18th and 19th. The annual Federation of Fly Fishers Washington State Fly Fishing Fair is May 5th and 6th in our hometown, ELLENSBURG WASHINGTON! Mark that down if you love fly tying.

So basically, its going to be one big fly fishing party out here all season long and we'll do our best to be great hosts. Keep your eye on the blog here as things warm up and we'll get back to fishing and yacking about it.

We posted almost the entire event calendar for 2017 already, normally we don't get this done till spring, and we've got some great offerings for you all you regulars. 2017 Events Calendar

April 22nd - Red's Rendezvous VIII - We'll have some great presenters and tons of fun stuff including a the traditional casting competitions, Sporting Clays Tournament, 3-D Archery Shoot and more. Mark your calendars!

FREE Seminars!

We are offering free seminars in 2017 on two distinct disciplines that require mentor-ship. First, we want to teach you how to row a drift boat the right way. These seminars last 1-2 hours and will help prepare you for a safe and productive float trip. Whether you own, rent, or are looking to buy, our team will lay out the fundamentals you must know.

The second is teaching "Trout Spey". There are few actions more rewarding than delivering a silky smooth spey cast that defies physics as it shoots across the river to the far shoreline. Sir Isaac Newton himself would be in awe of what a modern 3 weight spey rod can do with a little streamer fly and a sink tip. Our team will demonstrate all the basic of trout spey and after this seminar you'll want to immediately head out fishing. We'll get you prepped with knowledge and gear for a new skill set in fly fishing.

How to Row a Drift Boat

FREE RIVERSIDE SEMINARS

We want you to have a safe, productive, and low stress adventure anytime you are floating a river. Starting this year we'll be offering free 1-2 hour seminars on how to properly row and handle drift boats and fishing rafts. Whether you own your own boat, or plan to rent a drift boat or fishing raft from Red's, we'll give you some pointers and directions on how to have a good trip. If after this seminar you still have some reservations about rowing for yourself, consider booking a Private Rowing Lesson this year and we'll spend a few hours floating together.

Seminar Dates:

February 11th, 2017
February 19th, 2017
March 12th, 2017
March 26th, 2017

RSVP Required - Call (509) 933-2300 to get signed up!

FREE - Trout Spey Seminars

Spey casting for trout with streamers and swimming nymphs is one of the hottest trends in fly fishing, and for good reason! You get to go polish your spey casting with 2-4 weight spey or switch rods and feel that electric tug of a trout hammering your fly on a tight line! We're here to teach you the basics of trout spey fishing and provide some background information and strategy advice.

The seminars will last about 2 hours so you'll have plenty of time to go fishing afterward. You don't need to bring your own gear. Just watch and learn. We will teach single hand trout spey and two-handed trout spey techniques.

Seminar Dates:

February 11th, 2017
March 5th, 2017
March 19th, 2017
RSVP Required - Call (509) 933-2300 to get signed up!

when I'm shopping online and scroll down, the header/ ribbon covers up half the page (its a little distracting) I know you guys are updating the site so maybe this will go away eventually just letting you know.
Thank you Shopper, we haven't seen this yet. What device/browser are you using?
I see what he's saying. The header/menu pops down once you scroll past the slider. If you set the position to relative rather than fixed in the style sheet it won't pop down. Love the blog btw!