Premiere Guided Trips
Bellow you will find a list of our best guided fishing offerings, our bread and butter if you will. These are the most common and sought after trips we provide. If any of these catered trips appeal to you simply click “book now” and fill out the form. If you want to inquire about a custom trip or something slightly different than these head to the bottom of this page for our general trip inquiry form.
Jet Boat Salmon
Our most effective means of “filling the freezer.” We’ll be fishing out of a 2024 Alumaweld Super Vee 23 foot Jet Boat using conventional tackle targeting Chinook, Coho, Sockeye, Chum, and Pink salmon. Which of the five species we are fishing for depends on the time of year, but from April through December there’s an option! Which waters we fish is dependent on seasonal regulations, if you want your best chance at salmon you may have to travel! All necessary fishing gear is included and no prior experience necessary.
- Catch and Keep
- Location - Seasonally Dependent
- Season - April through December
- Targeted Species - Salmon
- Technique - Conventional Gear Fishing
- Price - $275 per person (3 minimum)
Contact Neils Humphries at 206-579-8601
Intro to Fly Fishing
If you’re brand new to the sport of fly fishing this is the trip for you! We’ll spend a day on the Yakima River, Washington’s best trout fishery, going over the fundamental skills and diving into many of the disciplines of fly fishing. Our guide Andy Lockey has been a teacher his whole adult life, once an actual teacher in the public school system, as well as an outdoor educator and instructor of many wild hobbies. Fly fishing has been a passion of his since college, and he’s eager to share that passion with you!
Casting is a big hurdle to a lot of new fly anglers, but it doesn’t have to be. We will certainly work on our casting technique but one big goal is to learn how to decide where to cast to begin with. That way we can position ourselves closer, have the correct angle (all about the angles, we are anglers) and make an easy presentation. With a background in whitewater kayaking, rafting, and rescue, Andy is well tuned into “reading water.” Which is to say understanding the hydrology and currents to determine where fish like to be. Spending so much time on rivers (and in them) really makes a difference in knowing where to cast, and one cast in the right spot is all you need!
Jumping into this sport can be overwhelming. Dry flies, nymphing, streamers, rivers, lakes, oceans, and every different species of fish. Each topic can be a whole lifelong lesson in itself. Keep it simple and learn as we go is our strategy. Andy has a good sense of information retention and will try not to overload your brain. You ever sit through a lesson and not remember a thing the next day? He’ll make the important things stick and set you up for success not only on this river, but anywhere you want to fly fish in the future. You can expect a very patient coach to help you on your journey to become a fly angler yourself.
A note about gear and logistics. This will be a full day float (6-8 hours) down the Yakima River near the towns of Cle Elum or Ellensburg. The meeting location will be determined by river and weather conditions. We fish rain or shine, but will reschedule or cancel due to poor/hazardous river conditions or high winds. All necessary fishing equipment is provided, all you’ll need is your freshwater fishing license, appropriate attire given the weather, and food/snacks/drinks for the day. There is a cooler in the boat and storage for personal belongings.
It may seem unfitting to be learning fishing strategies from a boat while most of your personal future endeavors will be on foot, rest assured the lessons translate. And we will have opportunities to step out and fish on foot, which brings up waders. For a beginner angler we consider them unnecessary. No need to spend money on a piece of equipment like that until you know what you need. The boat has comfortable seats and positions to fish from, keeping you high and dry while we learn. And if you join us in the warmer months, “wet wading” is preferred anyway. If you have questions about equipment please don’t hesitate to ask.
Fly fishing is fun, it’s magical, it’s an excuse to move through nature slowly, and it’s something worth sharing. Have prior experience and want to develop your skills in a certain discipline? Leave a comment in your booking form or select one of the catered experiences below such as “Nymphing Clinic” or “Streamer Clinic”.
- Catch and Release
- Location - Yakima River
- Season - Year Around
- Targeted Species - Trout
- Technique - Fly Fishing
- Price - $600 (1-2 anglers, additional angler $250)
Contact Andy Lockey at 253-381-6539
Bull Trout
Guide Andy Lockey’s personal favorite fish, Bull Trout! Technically not a tout, but a species of Char, these fish earn their name by being bullies to trout. They are aggressive meat eaters, making fishing for them very exciting. Most places in the country they are endangered and therefore it is illegal to target them. We have places here in Washington where there is a very healthy population and fishing for them is allowed. While some rivers have regulations allowing retention, our trips still practice catch and release principles with these fish.
Bull Trout have a complicated life history, with many different habits. Some are anadromous, spending part of their life near shore in the ocean, while others stay in the river their whole life (some stay in lakes as well). We can target them in late spring when regulations allow and they are moving through the river system. By mid summer they seek cold waters to prepare for spawning and are often high in the system beyond our reach. But in the fall once the water temperature drops back below 47 they finish the job and head back into the main river, eagerly searching for food before winter hits. If you’re looking for the most action, aim for that window!
All in all it’s important to be clear about expectations. While there is a healthy population, it is not a “blue ribbon trout stream” with XXXX amount of fish per mile. Think of this as trophy fishing, connecting with one is a special thing. If you’re willing to put in the work and challenge your skills as an angler, you might have a shot. We offer trips focused on fly fishing tactics or conventional gear tactics. Both work, but conventional gear is easier by far. For fly fishing anglers to have success consider having experience casting heavy streamers and nymph rigs, or be willing to spend some time learning the techniques. For Andy, there’s nothing more satisfying than watching a Bull Trout chase down his fly and absolutely hammer it!
All necessary equipment is provided, and in this case, some experience is suggested.
- Catch and Release
- Location - North Puget Sound (specific waters to be determined)
- Season - Late Spring & Fall
- Targeted Species - Char
- Technique - Fly Fishing or Conventional Gear
- Price - $600 (1-2 anglers, additional angler $250)
Contact Andy Lockey at 253-381-6539
Nymphing Clinic
It’s no doubt that fishing dry flies is one of the most classic and engaging ways to catch trout. But it’s also no doubt that fish are reluctant to come to the surface a majority of the time. Let’s get down to their level!
Presenting flies sub surface mimicking aquatic insects in their early stages of life, nymphing, is by far the most effective way to catch trout. It’s not foolproof, and can actually be quite technical to do it well. But once you crack the code and can envision exactly where your flies are and get them into the zone, trout can hardly resist! We will spend the day developing our approach to nymphing. From building the right leader, choosing our bugs with purpose, proper weights and indicators to balance it all out, and techniques for casting and avoiding tangles.
This trip will take place on the Yakima River and include all necessary equipment. If you have your own gear you would like to get dialed in with feel free to let us know and we can accommodate. Our classroom is the river, so you can expect a majority of our time actively participating, but there will be some discussions and you may see a whiteboard drawing to make things clear. Come ready to learn and be ready when the fish strike!
- Catch and Release
- Location - Yakima River
- Season - Year Around
- Targeted Species - Trout
- Technique - Fly Fishing (Nymphing)
- Price - $600 (1-2 anglers, additional angler $250)
Contact Andy Lockey at 253-381-6539
Streamer Clinic
You ever play with a house cat? Lay a string in the middle of the room, might get it’s attention. Rip it across the floor and theres no stopping the pounce! Trout and cats are the same, except one likes water, they are both instinctual predators. Streamers are the cat toy we toss out into the river to cause mayhem and get explosive memorable battles with typically larger fish.
This is a trip dedicated towards learning how to finding those large aggressive predatory fish, meat eaters. We have special rods, floating and sinking lines, all designed to deliver streamers from a classic wooly bugger to flies that are larger than your buddies last fish they caught. Casting can be a chore if you don’t have the right set up. Rod and line size are chosen for the fly not the target fish, you might be surprised when you feel how smooth it can be casting a 6, 7, or 8 weight rod with everything balance correctly. We’ll also dive deep into our presentation. Ever notice how sometimes it seems cats just don’t want to play? There’s a method to the madness, and presentation goes a long way into eliciting the predatory response.
All necessary equipment provided, come ready to learn on the Yakima River and maybe you’ll find a chonky trout!
- Catch and Release
- Location - Yakima River
- Season - Year Around
- Targeted Species - Trout
- Technique - Fly Fishing (streamers)
- Price - $600 (1-2 anglers, additional angler $250)
Contact Andy Lockey at 253-381-6539
Winter Steelhead
Fish of 1,000 casts, it takes dedication to connect with these beautify creatures. Winter Steelhead fishing in Washington State is much harder than it use to be. More rivers are closed each year it seems, and numbers are up and down. There are opportunities, if you’re willing to be in the right place at the right time.
Typically we start targeting Winter Steelhead as early as December and as late as April depending on the regulations and fish counts. Expect to be fishing rain, snow, or shine, so long as the river is in shape. All necessary equipment is provided, and while no experience is necessary there is an amount of grit you need to be a steelhead angler. It’s cold, fishing can be tough with not a lot of action, but when there is action you got to bring your A game for these fighters! Neils is dedicated to finding the most ideal time and place to find these fish, that might mean traveling near or far and being flexible for changing river conditions. But as our earliest business cards use to say, “No one works harder than a River Dog!”
- Catch and Release (some rivers allow retention)
- Location - Seasonally dependent
- Season - December through April
- Targeted Species - Steelhead
- Technique - Conventional Gear
- Price - $600 (1-2 anglers)
Contact Neils Humphries at 206-579-8601
General Trip Inquiries
Please fill out the form below to inquire or book a trip with us. Bookings are not final until we receive a trip deposit and you receive a confirmation either by email or phone call.
Cancellation Policy:
Deposits are non-refundable within 45 days of the scheduled trip unless we can fill the seats reserved by you. If you have to cancel within 30 days and we cannot fill the open seats, you are required to pay for the total cost of your trip. Deposits are transferable to a later date if weather or water conditions won’t allow for the trip as determined by the guide. By fulfilling the trip deposit you are agreeing to these terms.
Have questions? Leave a comment or give us a call.