Finally, the river is back in shape, and fishing great! It’s still a bit high for wading and we don’t expect that to change until the end of Summer, but the Teanaway and Upper Cle Elum have dropped and have been fishing better. A few things to note after this high water, some logs have moved around. No more squeezing through the log jam after state, make sure you take the river-right side channel. Some wood has moved around between south and state as well, so keep your head on a swivel. Also, until the graph at Easton is at least below 1000 CFS stay away from any floats upstream of South.
As far as fishing goes, nymphing and streamers are all we’ve been doing since the river came back in shape but we’ve been seeing a ton of bugs on the water. Big goldens, yellow sallies, caddis, and PMDs were all on the water but we didn’t see many big fish eating them. There was a lot of little fish smacking them though, and a big golden dry with a pmd dropper would probably find some fish.
Even with all the bugs out, nymphing was the most effective yesterday. A big stonefly nymph with a pmd was the most effective. A San Juan worm caught a few fish as well, but I don’t think it out-fished the buggier stuff. Anything with a spot of yellow seemed to be the ticket, and the bigger stones (size 6) were the most effective. Color did not seem to make a difference with the stonefly nymphs.
As far as streamers go, anything with a lot of flash and movement has been the way to go. So sparkle minnows are the best option, but the classic sculpzilla will work fine. Throw them on a sink tip and cover water, or be lazy and throw them under an indicator.
Usually I would add another section for the small streams, but the Teanaway and Upper Cle are fishing just like the Yakima. Just cover water!
Flies
Dries
As I mentioned before we haven’t been throwing dries much, but there were a ton of bugs on the water. Try a dry dropper in the afternoons and I wouldn’t be surprised if some big fish came out to eat.
1.) Flatwing Stone – Golden, Royal – Size 8-12
2.) Chubby Chernobyl – Golden, Purple, Red, Royal, Peach – Size 8-12
3.) Gypsy King – Golden, Natural Golden, Grumpy, Purple, Pink, Royal – Size 8-10
4.) Britten J Purple Stone – Size 8-12
5.) Supafly Golden – Size 8
6.) Agee’s Knobbler Sally – Size 12-16
7.) Galloup’s Sally – Size 14-16
8.) Goldie Hawn – Size 14-16
9.) Comparadun PMD – Size 14-16
10.) Parachute PMD – Size 14-16
11.) Yellow Humpy – Size 12-16
12.) X-Caddis – Grey/Brown, Olive, Tan – Size 14-16
13.) High-vis Caddis – Size 14
14.) Elk Hair Caddis – Royal, Tan, Olive – Size 12-16
Nymphs
As usual nymphing has been the most effective to find some big fish. We’ve been finding fish anywhere from shallow riffles to deep drop-offs so don’t set your indicator too deep to give yourself some versatility.
1.) TJ Hooker – Coffee/Black, Tan/Brown, Black – Size 6-12
2.) Tungsten Pat’s Stone – Tan/Brown, Coffee/Black, Black – Size 6-12
3.) Extended Body Golden – Size 8-10
4.) Dirty Hipster Golden – Size 8
5.) Jigged Yellow Sally – Size 14-16
6.) Yellow Frenchie – Size 12-16
7.) Napoleon – Tan, Yellow, Brown – Size 12-16
8.) Perdigon – Pearl, Quill/Orange – Size 12-16
9.) Sulphur Jig – Size 14-16
10.) Psycho Prince – Yellow, Green – Size 14-16
11.) Yellow Back PMD – Size 14-16
12.) Half Back PMD – Size 18
13.) Formerly-Known-As Prince – Red, Silver – Size 14-16
Streamers
Steamer fishing has been great for finding a few big fish. Stripping them from the boat with a sink tip has been a ton of fun, and a great way to cover a lot of water.
1.) Sparkle Minnow – Smoke, Pearl, Black, Olive, Sculpin – Size 4-8
2.) Sparkle Yummy – White – Size 6-4
3.) Dali Llama – Olive/White, White, Olive/Black, Black/Olive – Size 6
4.) Sculpzilla – Olive, Tan, Natural, Black, White – Size 4 – 8
5.) “The-One” Sculpin – Black, Olive, Natural – Size 4
We have a few guides available over the next few days so give us a call if you want to get a shot at some big fish! These fish haven’t seen too many flies the past few weeks so we expect the fishing to remain great. Give us a call to get on the water – (509)674-2144
We have some prime dates for Mexico in 2022 and 2023, CLICK HERE to see the dates and details about the trip. These weeks won’t last long!
