I am 4 weeks away from being back riverside every day. The anticipation and anxiety is at unbearable levels. This off season has been a slow grind and I am fed up with the cabin fever. Things are looking really good for the season. With winter fishing being really good on the Yak this year I am really looking forward to getting back to it when spring rolls around and the river wakes up proper.
I am switching to guide mode over the next few weeks. I have changed my diet, mostly because I have to have my Gall Bladder removed here in the near future and I haven’t been as healthy this off season as previous years. I am focused on making sure my body is ready for the task coming up. As I enter into my mid 30’s making sure I am taking care of me is becoming a focus. I am tying flies, after selling a few thousand this off season I am moving away from tying for clients and filling up my guide boxes. You still have time to order some flies but once I am back riverside on the 25th of Feb, I won’t be tying for clients as much. I also have a contest coming up, with a Free Full Day Guided Trip for the winner. That contest will be posted for the weekend so look for that on the website, FB, and Instagram.
Another thing I am prepping for is Bass, I will be guiding Bass trips this season and already have a few days in April scheduled. Bass are a really fun fish on the fly and I am so looking forward to sharing those experiences with clients and getting back into it myself after several years away from the smallies and large mouth of the Columbia Basin. I am also working the details out on a new guiding opportunity in the Idaho area for this season. I have a big meeting next month before I am back on the Yak and will hopefully have the opportunity to share new rivers and new fish with clients. I don’t wanna get ahead of myself but its looking really good and I am on track with my business plan to expand to new states, new rivers, and new adventures this season. Let’s just say I won’t just be a Yakima River Guide this season…so I am very stoked.
The Spring Fishing is almost here. It will actually start picking up before I even get to the Yakima later next month. I don’t typically start guiding until March, when things start to warm and fish start to move out of their winter lies. I also take 10 days to 2 weeks to get my body and mind back into the rhythm of river life before I start guiding. Gotta get back up to the professional level before I start rowing dudes down the river.
Spring trips are cheaper, and that’s because you only get about 6 hours of fishing time during the day. My Spring trips are a great way for new anglers wanting to get into this sport, to get their feet wet and learn the ins and outs of fishing. Its also a great time to work the kinks out and dust off for those experienced anglers. Spring time offers a little bit of everything, lots of nymphing, but don’t be shunned away by indicator fishing, in the spring nymphing is a great way to learn how to find fish, how they move about the system during the day, and there is something to be said about big bows dropping indicators a foot or two and screaming up the run away from you. The streamer fishing is best in the spring…by far. The sculpins spawn, salmon smolt start moving around, the fish are hungry for a big meal as they will be spawning themselves soon. Big lurky trout that have been eating midges and crunchy stones all winter switch gears and chase down streamer patterns aggressively. Learning the places to look for streamer eaters is a big part of the day during spring trips. Teaching anglers to swing, strip, and how to approach a large fish are a really awesome part of the spring guiding season. Then there is the dry fly game. Pods of fish looking up for dainty BWO’s and Midges, the March Brown hatch a little later in the spring, the Skwalla Dries, you get these great windows during the spring where top water flies can produce some really amazing experiences and learning how fish move around and stage for hatches and feeding lines is a key part of the mid day routine on spring trips.
The Cabin Fever is in its final stages. The end is nigh anglers. If you’ve been itching to get back out there and chase some fish now is the time to start planning your early season trips. With snow pack levels in a good spot and more snow still to come before the switch to spring the early season is shaping up to be a really fun time before runoff comes into play. Which is when we switch gears to bass and fish other stuff while the river goes through her annual runoff episode. I am so ready to get back to camping riverside everyday, meeting old and new clients after the off season, and fuck…I am so ready to catch some fish…I haven’t had a proper trout handshake since October. Looking forward to getting back to that Fly Angler Life.
Hope to see ya out there anglers!
Tamarack
Tamarack's Guide Service 