The river has been on the drop and it’s finally getting in to wading season! The Upper Yakima is getting much more accessible, and the fish have been loving these cooler days. We’ve been having great dry fly action on hoppers, summer stones, and craneflies as well as some fish eating streamers. We have a great selection of trout spey setups, as well as euro-nymph rods and lines and this is a great time to get started with it!
We’ve been fishing the fast riffles, inside corners, eddies and structure. Our best setup is still the dry dropper, especially with the gypsy kings and natural colored hoppers. We like to twitch our dries this time of year, and it’s the only way to fish a crane fly. Make sure that as soon as the crane hits the water that it doesn’t stop moving. Fish will even eat if it drowns during the skate, they really aren’t too picky when craneflies are around.
This is also the time of year that we start seeing salmon spawning in the Upper Yakima. With incredibly low returns, please watch your step! If there is an area of light colored gravel it’s best to stand clear. Especially with how few salmon are making it back, lets do our best to respect these fish and let them spawn uninterrupted.
Flies
Dry Flies
Cranes, Summer stones, and hoppers are all active right now. Flies like gypsy kings in natural golden are a great way to imitate all three, and still hold up a dropper. Big stones can be a great way to go such as the flatwing stone or south fork chernobyl, make sure to add a little twitch to them rather than focus on a perfect dead drift.
1.) Gypsy King – Golden, Natural Golden, Royal, Pink, Purple – Size 6-10
2.) Weise’s Bob Hopper – Peach, Tan, Purple, Pink – Size 10-14
3.) Flatwing Stone – September Stone, Royal – Size 8-12
4.) South Fork Chernobyl – Size 6-12
5.) Parachute Hopper – Tan – Size 8-12
6.) Half Drowned Hopper – Size 8-14
7.) Cranefly – Orange, Yellow, Tan – Size 10-12
Nymphs
Any of these nymphs will make a great dropper beneath a dry, or they can fish great on their own. As the water drops, switching to a New Zealand Strike Indicator system is a great way to go. Fish will start getting a little pickier about the presence of a big indicator slapping the surface.
1.) Quasimodo – Size 14-18
2.) Beadhead Flashback Pheasant Tail – Size 14-18
3.) Hares Ear – Size 10 (cranefly nymph)
4.) Jigged CDC Pheasant Tail – Size 14-18
5.) Queen Prince – Size 12
6.) Holo Prince – Red, Purple – Size 14-16
7.) Dirty Hipster – Tan – Size 10-14
8.) Dirty Hipster – Golden – Size 8-10
9.) Pat’s Rubberlegs – Coffee/Black, Orange/Brown, Brown – Size 4-10
Streamers
This is a great time to filter out some little fish and throw a streamer. Whether under an indicator, or swung on a trout spey it’s a great time of year to swing some streamers. We love sculpin patterns in the fall, but small sparkle minnows can also be hard to beat. We have a great selection of sink tips and trout spey setups for those of you looking to add a new trick to the arsenal.
1.) Sculpzilla – Tan, Natural, Black, White, Olive – Size 4-8
2.) Zoo Cougar – Tan – Size 4
3.) Muddler – Natural, Orange – Size 6-12
4.) Sparkle Minnow – Olive, Sculpin, Oil Slick, Black – Size 4-8
5.) “The One” Sculpin – Natural – Size 4
If you’re interested in learning trout spey or euro nymphing, swing by the shop or give us a call and we can get you out on the water. We have a variety of trout spey lines on the way, as well as a variety of echo rods to get you going.
As usual, call the shop with any questions or if you want to book a trip!