Hey everyone, I’ve got some fall clinics up on the calendar. You can RSVP to them via Facebook or sign up via an inquiry form here on the website.
Fall Fly Tying Clinic:
September 12th 1pm-4pm
$45.00 one person
Bring your own vise and tools
I’ll supply the materials.
We will be tying fall specific patterns including. The cranefly, October Caddis, shortwing stone, and BWO.
Autumn Walk and Wade Clinic:
October 18th 9am-1pm
$80.00 per person
Bring your own waders and gear. I’ll have rods for use if needed.
Learn to walk and wade during the fall in the upper Yakima river. We will learn access areas, flies, water reading, wading techniques, and all sorts of fun trouty stuff.
You can also visit the Trip Inquiry page here on the site and book your spot via email. 6 people max per clinic. These are fall special prices so get in on some good times for a little cheaper.
Tamarack
Well, its smokey from the fires here in Cle Elum. Its to a point where I have to be inside. Not the place I like to be really. I fished the river yesterday for the first time in several days. The water temps have just been too high for me to feel comfortable stressing trout out anymore than they already are. Fishing was slow. Not horrible for the day, super windy, lower flows, no hatches as we are moving into fall. The drought is causing a lot of problems but so far the trout have been holding out just fine. Fish that have been caught are healthy, fat, and full of energy with an exception here and there. The fish are eating nocturnally just as they did last September when the water temps hit 65 degrees. It just came earlier and has been going on longer. As the flip flop on the river approaches and the water levels drop as irrigation gets shut off, the river will need a close eye. If the air temps continue their downward trend we should be just find. If not then the warm temps could get worse. Everything is pointing to a closer to normal fall with night time lows dropping next week. Next year is another story and another blog post. Let us focus on the positive for this season.
Misty Mornings
The Fall is my favorite time of year on the Yakima. The colors change, the temps cool, the floaters go back to school, less anglers, less pressure, major hatches, and hangry trout. This river is a tailwater, meaning it flows below dams and therefore its flow is controlled. However, once the flows drop and we hit the fall, the Yakima shows her true colors. Its as if there are no dams on the river during this time of year. Flows are what they would natrually be or closer to it. The river is a trout anglers paradise in Autumn. The runs, and riffles, pockets, and seams all come out of hiding from the high flows of summer and the trout spread out and act like trout again. No longer are they pushed up against the bank chowing down on terrestrials. Fishing is easy in the summer in my opinion. The trout and river do all the work for you.
They like Crane Flies
The fall however… gives the trout the advantage. The angler that has honed their technical casting, presentation skills, and water reading will be in nirvana. I have spent more days on the river in the fall than any other season. While many anglers are off prepping or chasing steel, I go out and have 30 and 60 fish days on the Yakima…typically with the river to myself. Big number days are not always what I am after, in fact I am never after them anymore, but the trout are eager and I would be lying my ass off if I didn’t enjoy tricking trout after trout with elegant and technical casts, finding them in the trickiest currents and pockets. Getting those hangry trout to come out of the quintessential trouty spots this river has to offer. The fall time is the right time for the trout angler.
My mind is filled with all the riffles, pockets, runs, and seams that await me as the fall colors appear, the Tamaracks change, the rains come to the mountians and the first signs of snow appear in late October. I am hoping the snow appears that early this year. There is nothing quite like waking up at 7:00 am instead of 4:00 am to go fishing, especially for an entire day and not 5 hours only. The river here in the fall can produce all day long if you know your hatches and water. The Hoot Owl will lift once the river sees 60-64 temps consistently across the entire watershed. About 3 weeks it would seem.
A brisk morning, mist clinging to the river. Warm fleece under my waders, a heavy flannel to keep the chill away. My beard reveling in the weather. My blue coffee cup and hot tea waking me up with its bold scent and tinge of honey. My boat sitting behind me in cold water, instead of fishing from it I am only using it to get to the best wading areas. A blue wing olive flutters by. A campfire riverside during lunch, fishing October Caddis into the evening. Off river and at home in time for dinner. It’s perfection for this angler. Slabs of Cutt
I have had my most memorable days with trout in the autumn. The trout are most cooperative in my opinion. They feel the winter approaching, and what every wild animal does in the fall is prep for it. Trout are no different. The long cold winter is coming and trout pack on fat and chow on protein to get through it. That usually is in the form of several species of bugs and salmon eggs. A typical fall trouting expedition involves switching from dry fly rigs and nymph sticks througout the day. Certain pods of fish key in to crane flies dancing on the surface of the slack water laying eggs. Others eat october caddis pupas crawling along the bottom pre hatch. A riffle holds a handful of cutthroat eating Mahogany mayflies, while the large sneaky rainbows try and hide their noses while they sip BWO’s in the back eddies. Silly Rainbows….I see you…and I’ve got a size 18 BWO Emerger you can chew on.
The other fantastic thing about the fall is how the fish play. 5x tippet and long leaders, stiff short nymph lines and high sticking pocket water. Fish get into a rythym each day. They pod up, eat, move about, and cycle through the day like its routine. Unlike the constant choas that summer seems to bring. Fast flows, fighting for spots and food, its why the summer is so much fun for anglers. It makes trout easy to find, and easy to trick as they are less picky. They just want food. The fall changes pace and the trout follow. When you trick a 20 inch Rainbow that was quietly sipping mayflies in the soft water…they tend to get cranky about it. With the softer flows they have a lot more river to play in and will run and dance like a trout should. Grabbing a glass rod ups the fun factor as playing fish on glass…at least for me…is the utmost experience in angling for trout…the feel and response from a glass rod with a large trout on the end is quite amazing. There isn’t much that is more satisfying for the trout angler, than tricking a persnicikety trout, having the trout almost outplay you, and successfully landing and releasing a worthy opponent. The trout are my quarry and I am a fly angler.
There is a gnarly old Wild Westslop Cutthroat pushing 20 inches tucked behind a rock below a salmon redd, or a run, waiting for the right fly to pass by. There is a particular rock garden above Bristol on the Upper Yakima that has held some of the largest cutthroat this river has to offer. We won’t talk about the super secret spots where I caught my largest cutthroat to date. The picture above of a friend in the same secret hole can attest to the size of some of these trout that come out of hiding in the fall. 22 inches of cutthroat is impressive by any rivers standards but for the Yakima its freaking glorious.
I invite you to take a trip with me this fall. Every guide has a favorite season, every angler has a time of year when they just slay trout…the fall is mine…and I’ve been doing it for 10 seasons now. I haven’t missed fishing a fall season on this river. The experience of fishing in the fall on the Yakima is by far the best in my opinion. Come and enjoy it, the summer was hard so lets get back to fishing in the fall. Hope to see you riverside this autumn.
My beloved Yakima River is on the precipice. Water temps are not cooling below 65 degrees in some sections of the river. Water temps are topping out at 72 and above in the lower end. We have another set of hot days in the forecast with air temps reaching 102. The river flow is scheduled to drop by over 500 cfs in the next 7-10 days. If you are not already participating in voluntary #hootowl fishing I encourage everyone to start.
As a TU Guide and a Conservation minded angler I will stop fishing once water temps hit 65 degrees. I will continue to guide the Upper Yakima River while conditions still allow. We are getting reports of dead fish throughout the whole system. Another TU Guide and myself will be floating the river to confirm dead fish and collect data this week in multiple areas of the river. We want to have facts and data, not sales pitches and false reports.
Please use a stream thermometer when fishing and follow good warm water fishing techniques. Stop fishing at 65-68 degree water temps. If we want to be able to continue fishing the Yakima River for years to come we need to take care of her and the trout now. If we don’t…It will be too little too late and these wild trout may not be here in the end. http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/river/station/flowplot/flowplot.cgi?UMTW1
Mount Stuart towers in the distance. Her peak barren of the normal snowcap she wears during the start of August. North Fork Teanaway road straightens out in front of me as I drive towards one of favorite mountain peaks in the world. From her foothills the headwaters of the Teanaway river begins. It flows a torrent of whitewater through granite stones cut deep by her chilling and slicing embrace. Her sound can typically be heard throughout the entire basin if you listen intently on a quiet day in the woods. The waterfalls that seem to fall from the very sky fill the river with some of the most pristine water in the world. The animals that inhabit the Teanaway Rivershed are the epitome of Pacific Northwest Wildlife. With Black Bear, Cougar, Wolf, Wolverine, Samsquanch, Mountain Goats, with hundreds of bird species, deer, elk, skunk, hare, flying squirrel, red fox, and so many more the forest surrounding the river is teeming with life. The river holds some of the most pure species of wild trout in the western states. With Wild Rainbow, Westlope Cutthroat, Steelhead, and Bulltrout, the river system is the last bastion for many species including Wild Steelhead and Bulltrout.
The Source
As I see the headwaters of the river before me my heart is heavy. She is but a trickle coming down the granite mountainside. The pool under the waterfall is waist deep and is full of small soon to be starving trout. As I look at the dried up waterfalls that feed the upper most reaches of the North Fork of the Teanaway I am filled with fear. This river has never seen such a drought. This wild place is on the precipice.
Data Collection
I make my way further down river. Checking the water temps the entire time. I am finding normal water temps for this time of year in the upper end of the river however; the flows are a fraction of what they ought to be. When well over 100 cfs is typically coming down this small river in the summer we have less than 30 cfs. I find trout in pools, surprisingly healthy with full bellies. A perfect 10-inch cutthroat decided to say hello and I was reminded of what the term wild really means. These fish, despite the odds, are surviving. By the end of the summer there may only be a handful of breeding fish left to carry on the species. Those trout that they spawn…will be ever stronger. The trout…are doing what they do…being wild and surviving. Life does find a way.
I make my way farther down river. The temps are warming. Feeder creeks and small tributaries such as Jungle Creek, Stafford Creek, Bean Creek, Beverly Creek, are trickles or dried up completely meaning there is no cold influx of water as the river makes its way to the valley below the mountains. I say goodbye to Mt. Stuart and the surrounding behemoths of granite that the Teanaway cuts away at with every spring and summer run off. The granite stones get a respite from her torrent this year.
Rock Dams
I stop at the famous sandstone swimming holes near 29 Pines Campground to check the water temp. I find a rock dam blocking flow and chuck rocks onto the bank. The river seems to breath a sigh of relief and I count 3 small fingerling fish make their way up river as if waiting for me to open the door. I find two more small rock dams and break them down wishing a sign about how illegal they are in ESA listed streams were present. A TU project for later. I come to the sandstone chute just past the Teanaway Outpost under the bridge. There is 10 cfs going by. I can literally see 10 milk jugs go by a second…its unfathomable. The place smells of dead fish. The water temp is 70 degrees. I find nothing…not even an aquatic insect. It is devoid of life. I leave quickly not wishing to spend any more time in the tomb.
I come to the valley filled with farmlands. Mt. Stuarts’ gaze hidden back behind the hills and trees. I feel that if the mountain were a mere 2000 feet taller and everyone could see the summit from anywhere in the valley…the state of the Teanaway would be much different. The Sentinel of the Teanaway River has been tricked and the river that it has born has suffered. The farms are still watering their fields. A recent stop on all irrigation came to the valley in an effort to save water. The few fields I see getting water must be on wells or finishing up their last orders. As I look at the river below Red Bridge Road I am appalled. Stagnant pools filled with Dart and Pike Minnow, algae, and 70 degree water. There is no flow; the riverbed is drying up in places, if the heat of summer continues I believe the lower Teanaway will dry up completely.
The Lower Teanaway
The Yakima River and Teanaway River Confluence is a stagnant pool of warming water. Typically during this time of year, the trout in the Yakima River receive a shot of cool water for thermal refuge from her sister the Teanaway. Steelhead would have spawned there this spring, as well as trout. Salmon would normally return but they will not have the chance this year. The fish that got trapped in the lower Teanaway have all but perished, those that were able to escape are in the low flow and small cool pools of the upper river farther into the mountains. As the Yakima River water temps increase the wild trout will receive no respite from the Teanaway as they normally would. The Steelhead, Rainbow, and Cutthroat that were spawned this spring are trapped in the headwaters and may not survive the summer and winter to continue the life cycle next season…if the snows come.
The Bulltrout are all but gone now. They have no refuge and have died or hopefully…pushed into the Yakima River and will return to spawn this fall. I have seen a few of those unicorns in the Yakima this season…giving me hope. Visiting the Teanaway today gave me hope. I was reminded of the resilience of nature and wild animals despite the odds and our encroachment. The drought is only one factor in the reason behind the demise of the Teanaway River. The mountains that hold her, the forest that surrounds her, the farmlands that she gives life too…all will suffer as she dries up. The entire valley feels thirsty. A strong rain for days or a wickedly blizzardly winter is needed. But our help is also needed.
If more is not done to preserve and protect the Teanaway River not only will the entire Teanaway Valley and surrounding Forest suffer, the Yakima River below will suffer. As it is a true freestone headwaters to the Yakima River, if it suffers, everything downstream suffers. Headwaters do Matter. More conservation is needed, more efficient irrigation practices, rigorous data collection on the trout required, and some intense habitat restoration is a must if we ever want to see the Teanaway River in her former glory.
Zi-Fi’s 1st Cutty
Some of my fondest memories of angling are on the Teanaway River. I found an ancient and gnarly Wild Westlope Cutthroat in a deep pool. The old trout was so gargantuan it still dwarfs some of the largest cutthroat I have caught out of the Yakima River. My eldest daughter was introduced to her first trout on the Teanaway. My youngest daughter was introduced to her first trout this year before the drought sunk in on the Teanaway. I have a memory of playing in the sandstone swimming holes one summer when I was very young, collecting cased caddis as they crawled along the rocks at my feet. I met my first Bulltrout on the Teanaway River. A story I haven’t shared with anyone to this day save for Tim Irish. That Bulltrout will haunt me for the rest of my life, especially now knowing that it’s genetics and offspring have not survived the 6 years it has been since we met.
Will I ever meet another Bulltrout in the Teanaway River? Will my grand kids meet any trout in the Teanaway River? Will the community forest that hugs the riverbanks become a desolate dried up place that no one cares about anymore? Will Wild Steelhead ever return? Will the wild trout have a place to reproduce and carry on their life cycle? The fact that I am asking myself, and others, these questions leaves me with hope. Hope that it will return, hope that it will be rescued, hope…because the Teanaway River…is a life force; born from granite mountains and winter snows, cut deep into the hard stone, life teeming within and all around her, Mount Stuart standing guard, and people enjoying all that she bares while keeping a caring eye on her.
Tamarack's Guide Service 