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Yakima River Fishing Report Winter 2019

Read more about the article Yakima River Fishing Report Winter 2019

Here’s a video, words below that.

This winter has been fairly warm, I mean just above freezing but not having to chip ice off the guides is so nice.

Fishing on the Yakima River in the winter can be a real treat or a real struggle. One safe bet, hit it when the weather is decent not only for your own well being, but also the trout are stoked on good weather too. Watch for that water temperature to creep up above 40 degrees and you’ll see a difference in activity. But even in the cooler temps it’s all about knowing where to go. Target the best holding water and that’s about it. I usually put in and float a good ways to the honey hole and skip any questionable water. Sometimes that means fishing only two spots in a couple miles! But it pays off.

From the video you can see i’m messing with a pretty wacky set up. My 11’6″ 7wt switch rod has become my euro rod of choice. The OPST Lazer Line works great as a “mono rig” and I run tippet straight off of that. Casting any euro set up isn’t great and this one is no exception but it works. The fish are in deep pockets so my go to combo is a jig head pats stone with a worm dropper most winter days. Needless to say it works. Looks like winter will continue for the foreseeable future, keep getting after em!

Snowmageddon was no joke this February.

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Sauk River Fishing Report Winter 2019

Read more about the article Sauk River Fishing Report Winter 2019

If you are like me and rather watch than read here ya go.

Truly a favorite time of year for us. We’ve been privileged to spend the last few years on the Sauk in January (and now February and beyond thanks to new rules!) chasing unicorns. The fishing can be slow as steelheading is what it is, there’s always a bull trout here and there, but just being out in it is what I love most. It’s good for the soul to get out in natures beauty in the dead of winter. I mean just look at it (photos courtesy Jay Neely of @tumwater_creative )

sauk river fly fishing
sauk river fly fishing
sauk river steelhead fishing
sauk river steelhead fishing
sauk river steelhead fishing
sauk river steelhead fishing
sauk river steelhead fishing

Overall this season on the Sauk River was tough. Early on the water was quite high (about 4700cfs) which was pushy and tilly from the Suiattle River down. On another day we put in on the upper river from the Darrington Saw Mill down to the Suiattle which is an amazing stretch of water. Managed to find a unicorn! Sauk River hatchery steelhead (if that’s really a thing anymore)

The weather stayed pretty dry through the end of February and into March bringing the other side of tough conditions, low and clear. As seen in the video there are still chances to mingle with some fish if you put in the work. But word on the street is with the about 1300 cfs most of the fish are hanging out lower in the system until rains come. But by then we’ll be sticking around on the Yakima River and getting ready for whitewater trips on the Wenatchee River. So until next time, stay warm and tight lines!

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Let’s get this started

Read more about the article Let’s get this started

First, I just want to say thanks for being here and supporting us at River Dog Outfitters each and every way you have. Whether you just stumbled upon this site, or have been on a trip with us we truly are grateful and excited for what’s to come!

As you can tell, we have a new website! It’s still in the making so you may find dead ends and a lack of in depth detail, if so please feel free to point things out too us! We love feedback and always look to improve. http://riverdog-outfitters.com/contact/

We also have acquired a couple new ways of getting around that we are pretty excited about!

Kitsap Transit ready to fish

I sold my Toyota Tacoma and got this Ford E350 that can haul tons of gear and people! It’s a former Kitsap County transit van. Should help out a lot for future rafting trips and kids summer camps (more info on that coming later, but we sure are excited!).

Aluminiminiminum

Neils jumped on a unique opportunity to be in an exclusive club, owner of an aluminum Defiance Guide Drift Boat! These boats are from Defiance based out of Bremerton, WA and are built top notch. Only a handful of these exist in aluminum, others being fiberglass. It’s a pretty slick boat and you should definitely come out and enjoy it with us.

2019 has already gotten off to a great start, we have done a couple excursions on some beautiful rivers chasing steelhead and testing out new gear. The plan is to get into this blog thing and post trip reports and gear reviews, so stay tuned! The idea of RDO started a couple years ago and many of you have enjoyed time on the water with us, but this year we are going big and expanding our operation. We hope to share our love of the river with you sometime real soon, again thanks for all your support!