Summer time is one of the most popular times to fish the Yakima just for the fact that it’s Summer! It gets pretty hot and sunny, and most of us just want to be down on the water. Although fishing is very productive, the average wade fishing is going to have a tough time finding good water to fish from the bank with the high summer flows. Feel free to contact us with places to walk in and fish during the high water.
Gear:
Rods/Lines: Your average 5 and 6 weight 9-foot rods will do the trick, although a faster action 6 can help you out with casting a bit more in the wind. All you’ll really need to bring is your floating lines, unless you plan on fishing streamers then it’s recommended that you use some sort of sink tip, or polyleader.
Summer is also a great time to fish trout spey. This is one of the most productive times to fish a swung streamer on the Yak and without the need for a back cast, swing a sculpin in tight spaces can help you get away from other bank fishermen and fish areas that others can't.
Sinking Leaders: A polyleader is a cheaper alternative to spending money on a new spool and line to carry a sink tip line with you. Instead, polyleaders act as a sinking leader that cast easily and help to pull your streamer down to the fish.
Leader/Tippet: As far as leaders and tippets, don’t worry about packing anything below 4x. For the most part, fish on the Yakima aren’t very leader shy and you can get away with 2x and 3x mono for just about everything except small nymphs. For dry fly fishing, we tend to keep our leaders short (6 feet) to help us be more accurate with big bugs.
Clothing: Prepare to do everything you can to keep the sun from turning you in to dust. That’s a bit of an overstatement, but we do everything we can to keep the sun off us. Long sleeve sun shirts that keep you cool and keep the sun off you are necessary. We tend to stick to shorts with wading socks and wading boots, so we can step in the water and cool off, plus waders just end up being too warm. And then you’re obviously going to want a hat, and even a sun mask to help keep the sun off your face and neck. Finally, don’t forget your sunglasses. Not only for eye protection from the sun, but also protection from casting.
Dries:
Chubby Chernobyl’s – sizes 6-14 – Tan, Black, Purple, and Royal.
Gypsy King – sizes 6-10 - Tan, Black, Purple, and Royal.
Elk Hair Caddis – size 10-16 – Tan (bring waterproof markers and color up the bottom as you see fit)
Hoppers – size 6-10 – Tan, Yellow, Red, Pink, Purple
Nymphs:
Pat’s Rubberleg’s – sizes 6-12 – Tan, Black, Olive, Orange/Brown, Coffee/Black (You ca also mark these with a waterproof marker as you see fit)
Pheasant Tail – sizes 12-18
Lightning Bug – sizes 12-18 – Silver and Gold
Prince Nymph – sizes 10-16
Streamers:
Slumpbuster – size 6 – Black, Olive, Natural, and White
Sculpzilla – sizes 4-8 – Black, Olive, Natural, and White
Sparkle Minnow – sizes 4-8
*Just remember, an articulated fly will work but it can only have one hook. We typically cut off the back hook since larger fish tend to attack bait at the head.*
If you have any questions feel free to call or email the shop!
The revamped site looks GREAT! Thanks to everyone who’ve worked hard to make it a quality read. And the pics are awesome! Also, I appreciate the fly selection part. But most importantly, its being updated on a much more frequent basis. Thanks again.