Yakima River Report
The Yakima has been on the rise and its looking like our Summer flows are here! While this time of year can be rough for wade anglers, the Yakima is still fishing great from a boat. Keep in mind, while it’s still fishing okay the river is still big. While the water is this high we recommend staying away from Ensign and Bullfrog, and also make sure you start taking the side channel around the log jam past state. Wood is moving around a bit in there so best to avoid it. As far as floats on the upper, State to Green Bridge is our main half day option and South to Green Bridge or Diversion is a great full day… and not stopping much.
As far as the fishing goes, we’ve primarily been throwing nymphs and streamers. There have been a few fish eating some caddis and even a few March Browns, but they’ve been tough to come by on the Upper River. For nymphs, stones, worms and buggy stuff have been the go-to. Just remember to cover water. Inside corners, seams, and structure. We still aren’t seeing much on the banks but it is an option.
For streamers, heavy sink tips and covering water is the way to go. Throwing solid black, white, or olive/white have been the way to go. Vary your retrieve until you find what works. If you’re feeling lazy, you can even throw a streamer under an indicator. Its a lot to cast, but it can be deadly this time of year.
Flies
Nymphs
1.) TJ Hooker – Coffee/Black, Black, Tan/Brown – Size 6-12
2.) Tungsten Pat’s – Black, Coffee/Black, Tan/Brown – Size 6-10
3.) Double Beaded Stone – Peacock, Black – Size 4-12
4.) Beadhead Squirmy Worm – Pink/Purple – Size 10
5.) Squirmy Worm – Red, Pink – Size 10-12
6.) San Juan Worm – Pink, Worm – Size 8
7.) Jigged Prince – Size 12-14
8.) Jigged CDC Pheasant Tail – Size 8-16
9.) Jigged CDC Fastwater Prince – Size 10-14
10.)Brown Napoleon – Size 12-16
11.) Psycho Prince – Olive – Size 14-16
12.) Good n’ Plenty – Size 14-16
13.) Hare’s Ear – Size 12-16
Streamers
1.) Sparkle Yummy Minnow – Pearl – Size 6-4
2.) Sculpzilla – Natural, Olive, White, Black – Size 4-8
3.) Zonker – White, Olive, Natural – Size 4-6
4.) Dali Llama – Olive/White, Black/White, Black/Olive, White – Size 6
5.) Sparkle Minnow – Black, Olive, Sculpin, Smoke – Size 8-4
6.) Wounded Sculpin – Size 8
Dries
Dries have been inconsistent on the Yak for us but that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. This is just a good general list of what you should have on you for this time of year.
1.) Flatwing Stone – Royal – Size 8
2.) Fat Freddy Salmonfly – Size 6-4
3.) Pete’s CDC Stone – Size 6
4.) Neversink Caddis – Size 12-16
5.) MFC Caddis – Olive – Size 14
6.) X-Caddis – Olive – Size 12-16
7.) Elk Hair Caddis – Royal, Olive, Tan – Size 12-16
8.) Fuzzy Caddis – Olive – Size 14-16
9.) Royal Wulff – Size 10-16
10.) Purple Rooster – Size 14-16
11.) Parachute Adams – Size 12-16
Small Creeks
With the Yakima being high, the small creeks like the Upper Cle Elum and Teanaway are a great option for wade fishermen since they’ll be opening up on Saturday (5/28)! Although the Teanaway is running about 800 cfs today, the North Fork and even just hiking up form the highway 10 bridge can still produce some great fish. The Upper Cle Elum also offers a lot of different access points where you can hike away from some crowds this weekend.
As far as fishing them goes, nymphing the deeper pools and dry droppers in the shallow riffles and behind the structure is the way to go. We fish pretty standard bugs on these streams and tend to throw smaller indicators such as 1/2 inch airlocks or the New Zealand Strike Indicators. Small rods such as 2-4 weights are all you need, and Euro nymphing can also be very effective with a heavy stone on the bottom and a pheasant tail on top.
Flies for the small creeks
This one list covers about everything. Have some foamy attractors for dry droppers, and a variety of small nymphs. What isn’t pictures is some sort of heavy stone for Euro nymphing, for this I recommend a TJ hooker or jigged pat’s in a size 6.
1.) Chubby Chernobyl – Royal, Red, Golden, Peach – Size 10-14
2.) Chernobyl Ant – Size 10-12
3.) Hi-Vis Micro Chubby – Brown, Yellow – Size 14-16
4.) Weis’s Bob Hopper – Tan, Purple, Peach, Pink – Size 10-12
5.) PMX – Peacock, Red – Size 10-16
6.) Beadhead Pheasant Tail – Size 14-16
7.) Lightning Bug – Silver, Pearl, Purple – Size 14-16
8.) Half Back PMD – Size 18
9.) Rubberlegged Hare’s Ear – Size 12-16
10.) Guides Choice Hare’s Ear – Size 12-16
11.) Formerly Known as Prince – Red, Silver – Size 14-16
12.) Jigged Pat’s – Coffee/Black, Tan/Black – Size 6-14
13.) Pat’s Stone – Coffee/Black, Tan/Brown, Brown, Black – Size 6-14
As usual, give us a call if you have any questions or would like to book a trip! (509)674-2144
How are the trout spey opportunities this time of year? Any sections in particular that might be worth exploring for swinging streamers? Thanks!
Swing runs become pretty tight this time of year, but that makes trout spey a great option with fish pushing closer to the banks. We like the stretch through Cle Elum (South to the Teanaway) for some great inside corners and riffles to swing. The lower Teanaway also has some great buckets to run a streamer, but better to use a single-hander for the smaller water.