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Yakima River Fishing Report September 30

If you look closely over Jenci’s shoulder (as shes fighting a monster fish) you can see the faint traces of our first snow on Peoh Point at the upper waters of the Yakima River. Air temps have dropped dramatically this weekend with highs only in the 40’s. Water temp remains steady near 50 so fishing has been excellent! Oh and here’s that monster fish:

My net is a 16″ hoop and this beauty stretches AT LEAST 4 inches past that soooooo (steelhead?) yea big mamma. Didn’t take the time for a real measurement, quick photo and back to swimming #keepemwet

That encounter came within the first bit of our float, the many many other fish we encountered through today weren’t quite as big but plentiful at least.

Most of our luck came on rooster tail spinners, real easy way to fish efficiently on the Yakima that many don’t bother with. We certainly aren’t fly fishing purists, what works works. Not to say a fly wasn’t thrown, bit of action on the zebra midge dropper. Lot’s of top water action from BWO being a nice cloudy day, made it easy to decide where to cast our spinners!

Fall (or in today’s case, early winter) is underway. Fishing is excellent, water is crystal clear and low. Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see a couple live ones. Head to our FISHING PAGE to join us on a float!

Post author:riverdog
Post published:September 30, 2019

NEW Kids Fishing Opportunity

First let me say that this has been a great summer! Lots of whitewater and lots of fishing. And new beginnings, we are rolling out a new offering to Upper Kittitas County youth. An after school fishing trip down the Yakima River. Stoked to get kids outside and enjoy our natural world. For more information check out our YOUTH FISHING PAGE

For all us kids we need to remember that fall is some of the best fishing on the Yakima all year, take a look!

Sign up for a guided trip and bring your own gear (BYOG) for a discount!

And as summer comes to an end i’d like to share one of my favorite adventures. A trip down the White Salmon River! Now i’ve done tons of trips down the White Salmon as a whitewater raft guide and as a kayaker, but this was new territory. We took my custom designed fishing raft (info on that later) and put it to the test on its ability for fishing and whitewater. Check it out;

We were fishing waters only accessible by boat and those comfortable running technical and committing whitewater. The whitewater went fairly smooth, including Drew running steelhead falls, but the fishing could have been more productive. We connected with a few resident trout and maybe had some tugs from steelhead in a promising hole but otherwise slow. A little late this year I think. Still an amazing experience and its cool to cast a line somewhere others can’t so easily.

If you are interested in adventures like this then I doubt there is any other place to talk to, look forward to adventuring with you soon! Get a hold of us!

Post author:riverdog
Post published:September 20, 2019

See Where Trout Hold Under Water

It’s one thing to think you know where the trout are. Last time you may have hooked up near some structure or on an eddy line and that gives you a good reference. But seeing where trout are sitting under the surface can put you a huge step ahead of other anglers. Check it out,

My favorite referral to finding trout, foam is home. That stands true for the most part, on this snorkel trip majority of the trout spotted were on eddy lines. Between the main current and the slack water to the side (eddy) a trout can choose its most comfortable current speed and happily sit while food drifts to them. One of the most deadly, and enjoyable tactics to catching these trout is swinging a streamer from the faster current into the slower current. This covers the lie pretty thoroughly.

When it comes to dries and nymphs there are two approaches. Cover water quickly or cover water thoroughly. When moving quick (such as from a boat) make your first cast count and get it in the correct zone. This takes experience and a bit of luck to sometimes guess exactly what piece of water the trout are sitting in. When covering thoroughly it’s best to start near then far to cover the different current options along the eddy line.

On a blue ribbon trout stream like the Yakima it’s likely that every bend has a willing trout. The reason you haven’t met is probably a matter of presentation rather than fly (or lure) choice. They’re in there, just gotta find them and put it in their face! Of course to make it easy book a trip with us, we found them.

Post author:riverdog
Post published:September 10, 2019

Yakima River Fishing Report September 5 (Flip Flop)

Flip Flop, it’s a big deal. Basically the irrigation supply shifts from our valley to the next one down (Tieton/Naches). All summer long they drain our reservoirs in upper Kittitas County keeping the Yakima River running high (3000+cfs). While its unnatural, it does benefit the fishery by keeping the water temps down in the heat of summer. But now the levels are dropping to a more natural state heading into fall and winter. Check out a little video action from the beginning of flip flop!

It’s one of my favorite times of the year right now. Great weather, great water, great fishing! With cooler nights the daytime water temps are staying low and you can fish any time of day. The video was afternoon/evening but today I went out at noon and caught too many fish to count in just a one mile section!

Fishing a dry dropper set up works well, here you can see I use a foam bug (stone or caddis are my go to) to suspend a small heavy nymph. Euro style jig nymphs are great droppers, they get deep fast and are overall simple and effective.

Aim at the usual trout waters; shallow riffles, drop offs, inside bends along the eddy line. But really try anywhere, these trout all have to shuffle around now that their comfy hold up along the bank is going dry. Go find them!

Post author:riverdog
Post published:September 5, 2019

Yakima River Fishing Report March 29

Da Wills and the ladies say it’s time for spring. The fishing has been great so we ain’t complaining! So great I have plenty of content for plenty of videos. Enjoy!

And yes, that was a dry fly on a spinning reel catching a dandy rainbow! Back story; we were nearing the take out and I think the spinning rod was already de-rigged and the fly rods were rigged to nymph. We saw a dry fly on a low hanging branch and grabbed it, same moment we saw a riser in a nice pocket. Anchored up I told Drew to just tie it on the spinning rod to avoid spending time re rigging something else. And there ya have it, you can cast a total of 15 feet with the wind but sometimes that’s all you need. Always exciting on the Yakima River!

Post author:riverdog
Post published:March 29, 2019