Author: tamaracksguideservice

The time is upon us. We have had over a week of over 85 degrees and this week it’s gonna be in the 90’s. This means that fish are gonna eat in the AM and in the PM and hunker down during the heat of the day. It’s also when the river is filled with tubers and rafters in the afternoon…a good time to do the same because fishing is typically slow with all that sunshine, heat, and butts floating over troots heads.

It’s the time of the year where we float wicked early. Like 5 am. And get off river before the heat. Then come back and fish the evening. Water temps have been good in the mainstem river and with the heavy flows for summer irrigation water temps should be good this summer. I’ve fished early AM in the upper and it’s been slow to start but with the week of warmer temps the water temps have settled in the high 50’s low 60’s which means it gets rowdy out there. Throwing big bugs with 3X tippet and fighting fish hard in the heavy current. It’s fast, it’s silly, and it’s wicked awesome and fun. Beat the sun to the river, catch a few big fish before 10 am. Or come for an evening and fish until dark and get big slurps from big durps of trout that are gorging themselves.

With the heat comes hoppers, Yellow Sallies, big terrestrials like ants and beetles, and streamer fishing can be really fun. The nymphing in the morning can be stellar on smaller sparkly stuff both really deep and super shallow, and the good ‘ol dry dropper rig becomes a great producer.

When it comes to a double fly rig in the summer…I’ve got two methods I use more than any other. A shorter dry dropper with a big dry like a purple chubby, and a smaller size 14-16 lightning bug or something similar, about 16-24 inches below. Not 4 feet, the longer the tippet between the dry and the nymph…the more lag time between eat and set. And when the water is at 3800 cfs…you want zero lag in your sets because you’ll just miss fish. Tighten up that dropper rig, and cast for shorter more accurate drifts and you’ll have more success. Remember to use a nice heavy nymph, with a bead head of tungsten or similar to help drop the dropper fast in the heavier current.

The other double fly rig I use a lot of in the summer is the double dry. It’s by far my favorite of course…because it’s two dries! A larger attractor pattern like a purple chub or a madam x hair wing, with a smaller caddis or mayfly pattern 16-24 inches out the back. This is a great technique when fish are tight to the bank and you can’t land a nymph tight. Throw two dries, grab the fishes attention with the big fly, and then watch them take the smaller dry. It’s an easier meal, and if you cast and present right the smaller fly is within a few inches of the bank while the larger fly is 12 to 16 inches away from the bank. The fish sees the larger fly, decides to eat, then sees the smaller fly when they peel off the bank, and typically give a quick grab on the little fly since it’s closer and easier to eat. Boom…fish on.

These methods work great early am and late pm in the summer. Fishing in the middle of the day will get too hot for lots of action. However there is this sweet window when fish cram big stuff before it’s so hot the just go down for the day. Hopper Time. This is when the heat has warmed the day up to 80 plus…right now it’s by like 10 am. Which is great because it’s the last 1-2 hours of your float if you started at 5 am. The heat gets the grasshoppers active and awake. They start flying around, feeding, doing all that hopper stuff that they do. Then you get a nice breeze…which is like every day on the Yak, or they venture to close to the overhanging grass and fall into the river, or they just hop a little too far from the bank…and they become fish food. Hoppers are a big crunchy, leggy, meal, that’s juicy when you bite into it…like a trout Twinkie wrapped in bacon. There are trout that risk their lives…literally…to get a few of these tasty treats before they get spotted by birds…or anglers.

The takes on hoppers are typically aggressive, and explosive. Remember it’s a big big so it’s gotta be killed and chewed on…so fish typically Hoover them hard. It’s awesome and in the heavy flows of summer it’s wicked fast. The last hour or your early morning day or the first hour or two of your afternoon evening float is hopper time. Just chuck them into the fishy looking stuff, if you’re not getting love try a smaller size and change up the colors. I like pink and yellow bodied ones but they get picky and like all sorts of colors. Red’s, purple, tan, orange, yellow, chartreuse, magenta, I mean get rowdy with the colors. Shit can get silly.

When it’s slow…try a streamer…strip it, bobber dog it, swing it…get meat in front of their faces with a sink tip that’s short but fast sinking. Like a 7ft 5ips, and go to town on a few big trout. Especially effective after you’ve caught a few on dries in the evening but can’t see anymore because it’s 9:15 and my crazy ass is still out there. Strip streamers to the take out and thank me later. Fish hunt at night…especially big ones…and right after all the other fish are done eating smaller bugs…a few of those beastly trout come out to eat the smaller fish that came out for caddis…appease them with baitfish patterns that are dark. It’s fun and a good way to end the day.

So there ya go…summer time in a nutshell. I’m back on the homewater Thursday through the weekend and into next week. I’ve got openings too. The summer time is wicked fun and fast fishing here on the Yakima…I highly recommend it. Book a trip and see for yourself.

Tamarack

The fishing on the Yakima is pretty good right now. Since the flows have come up and the weather has warmed it finally feels like summer time fishing is in full swing. The upper river from South to Bristol is wicked high right now and the take out at State is pretty gnarly. The upper upper river near Easton, bullfrog, ensign, and three bridges is low, a little warmer, and has some big ol troots hanging around. I’ve been walking wading a lot in between trips and after trips up here. I even fished the bottom end of the LC last night and it got a little silly from 7:30pm to when we couldn’t really see anymore. Big eats on dries all around early am and late evening in the LC. The upper river has been really productive with nymphs in the morning but after 11:30-1pm depending on how cold it got the night before…I’ve been chucking hoppers, ants, and terrestrial style patterns tight to overhangs, the bank, on the seams, over boulder gardens, cutties love to smack things.

With the season finally picking up a lot of my inquiries lately have been for multiple boat floats. Like 3 and 5 boats. So I’ve been passing on a lot of them and referring them to outfitters that can handle that many boats. I ‘m just one guide, I’ll bring on another guide for a double but 3 boats is kinda my limit…that’s a lot of pressure and it’s harder to guide the way I do in a large group. As I’ve gotten older I have become less inclined to guide large groups. It’s not really my thang, and in the summer there’s a really awesome window for big fish early in the morning and late in the evening…big groups don’t typically float at 4 am as the light wakes the river up…or until 9:45 pm when you literally can’t see anymore.

In the summer I’m the kinda guide who likes to guide during those times. Two anglers and a guide…breaking down the water, targeting slurpy risers and prime dry fly lines. Because it’s the summer time on the Yakima…the flows are jacked, the water temp is in the mid and upper 50’s…fish are hungry and will eat. And big fish are smart about when they eat…fish smarter…not harder. Big trout on the Yakima wake up wicked early and eat the last nights stoneflies and caddis as they wake up with the warmth of the sun and oviposit . Just hang out riverside as the sun rises…you’ll see it. It takes a little longer to happen in the upper because it still gets down into the 40’s at night. But that is happening less and less each day into August.

They also are more inclined to eat as that surface water temp, or top third of the water column starts it’s upward warming trend. Fishing this window where the water temp is rising slowly in the morning…the Trout’s metabolism follows and they get this need to eat. Those survival instincts kick in and they gorge before the sunlight gets to intense that they are exposed to predators. The bugs also react to the warming temperatures and this gives the trout ample food sources in the morning. As the air temps rise the stoneflies and caddis that hatched the previous night will return to the river after the evenings mating, to oviposit eggs…que slurpy durpy trout. They need good presentations and you can’t flog the water…they are still big and smart…so they still need accuracy and good drifts. Typically they are don’t by 8-9 am and go down for the day…they return in the evening.

The evening summer time fishing is just like the mornings….only in reverse. And yes…trout can see in the dark…and they don’t like things to slap the river…no matter how dark it is…if they were brown trout I’d be saying something different but these Yakima Trout are super wary…and things that slap are typically attached to anglers that pull and fight back. In my experience…the trout here like it basically perfect when it comes to dry flies. As the light fades and shadows are cast it makes fish more inclined to eat…they are less exposed to predators and again, the air temperature and water temperature settle in to sweet spot for about 2 hrs every night before it gets to dark for anglers to effectively fish…they still eat…and big trout can be very nocturnal…especially for baitfish…but easy to slurp big bugs or caddis on the surface when you have less risk of getting eaten isn’t a bad option for a trout. Just wait until summer stones…I’ve camped on this river and chucked big dries in the absolute dark, blindly casting…and I’ve hooked fish…they can see it…you just can’t. That water temp settles back into the prime spot of mid to upper 50’s air temps drop to where caddis and evening duns hatch, and boom…you’ve got that window again. I typically fish dries until I can’t see anymore. Then anchor, grab the streamer rods…and strip them off the bank for the last half mile or so…cuz it’s fun, you can’t see, and you might meet a really big ass trout.

If you find yourself on the river when the sun is high and it’s wicked hot…it’s hopper time. I’ve had some really nice takes on terrestrials and hoppers during the heat of the day. It’s good for a few fish typically, and nymphing flashy stuff works too. I also will swing and strip streamers during the heat and sun. Water temps are still sub 65 but I’m playing fish hard and fast on big tippet. Trying to keep them healthy for the next anglers and for the rest of the summer. Using proper gear and tackle in the heavier flows is also just the respectful thing to do for the fish…17 plus inch trout need a big stick to be properly fought and landed with minimal impact to the fish. Plus a bigger stick gives the angler the advantage in the heavy flows where the trout will school you if you have an underweighted gear.

The summer has lots of dates open for fishing. I’ve got some of the best prices on the river for guide services. No shop, no employees, no lights to keep on, just my boat and I…rambling down the Yakima River chasin trout, tricking fish, and showing clients and anglers a good time. Come book a trip this summer with me and get in on some summer time fly fishing on the Yakima!

Tamarack.

First off…F’ing people don’t know how to read! There are literally burn ban signs everywhere. And what is burning all over the campgrounds in the Teanaway? Damn campfires of course. It even says no campfires in established pits. NO FIRES. Oh my shit. It’s bad enough we have lightning starting wildfires we don’t need fratadas that can’t read doing it too. There was a fire in Salmon La Sac….yesterday! From people who left it smoldering while illegally cutting trails…so can’t expect much rule following from people engaging in illegal activity already…but come on campers…srsly.

Anyway…sorry. I just walked the campground to see how full it was and if it was gonna get rowdy…the West Fork Campground up here in the Teanaway is a shit show. One of my favorite stretches of river but that campground fills with people who treat it like their college dorm room, or their moms house during a holiday stay…just fucking wrecked dude. So I won’t be staying there anymore this summer. I’ll return in the fall when it gets cold and weeds out the weak.

I’m in 29 Pines tonight. It’s further back and for a Friday its pretty scarce on the west end. I’ve got no neighbors and found a spot where I can hear the river from the tent. I’m also tucked back along the trees and can use the boat and rig as a block from people. Plus I need a shower…today was hot. So the privacy is nice.

I’ll fish in the morning before my trip in the afternoon. Now I’m enjoying some music, the sound of the river, and the light of my small backpacking lantern I’ve taken with me everywhere for years. It’s been my light on cold nights in the snow, bivy whacking on the side of mountains, hanging down over my hammock while reading Muir up at some small lake I forget the name of now. It’s lit river camps, tiny houses, nighttime fireside chats, and every night I’ve seen outside of four walls.

It’s a rugged little lantern. It’s smaller than my fist, the butane tank threaded to it is bigger than the actual lantern. It has a weathered metal cable that has a hook I’ve bent back and forth too many times. But it still hangs. The igniter still works after all these years and clicks in the rain, snow, wind, and everything in between. The globe is metal mesh…it casts a distinct checkered shadow. A glass globe would have broke years ago, the mesh is dented and it’s slightly lopsided from thousands of miles being stuffed into backpacks, boat bags, moving boxes, bins, and everything else I’ve used to haul my shit around. It’ll run for days on a small tank. It can light up the camp, or be just enough to read without struggling. It will ward off the fear of the dark, light up the night and keep critters wary, and it continues to be one of my favorite pieces of gear I own…a simple backpacking lantern.

I hear it click on and start up with that ‘whoosh‘ and hiss as it bursts to life blinding me, still to this day, every time I light it. It floods me with memories as it floods the night with light. I remember all the nights I’ve shared with others, the solo nights with just it’s light and the sound of the wild to keep me company. I can recall it all when I turn on my lantern. It makes me smile every time I click it on…it means I’m somewhere away from it all. Somewhere that isn’t where everyone else is. I’m in a place that needs just a faint light, where there are no plug ins, no roads sometimes, a place that no matter what…I know I want to be in. Even in the darkest of times, when I’ve been lost or lonely…it brings light and happiness with it.

A simple lantern…giving me a little joy. Sounds silly…but then again…it’s my lantern.

Good night anglers. I hope you have a little light in your life that brings you happiness.

Tamarack.

Guide Life is one of those hashtags that get thrown around a lot. Some of us live it, some us envy those who are living it, and some of us strive to find a guide life of our own. I set out on this journey in 2010.

I started out by using my college training to learn everything I could about the fly fishing industry. I even aced a big final project in one of my business classes where I built a mock small fly fishing business and projected it out 5 and 10 years. I used it later as the basis for building my own business. I started working at a local fly shop with the intention of learning the fly fishing industry from the ground up.

I learned the ins and outs, inventory management, buying and selling product, worked with reps, did online sales, rebuilt a website and database, and learned how to take reservations, and went through guide training and professional level instruction in all things fly fishing.

I then got the opportunity to try guiding and running a store of my own. It didn’t go so well as some businesses do. A huge humbling, learning experience that also solidified in me that I wanted to be a guide…and just a guide. The day to day of a shop, running a business, employees, inventory, it all clogged up what I really wanted to be doing…sharing the outdoors with others.

When I came back to fly fishing I came back on my own. Just me and my boat. I could work as much as I wanted. As long as the family is taken care of I can chase my dream of being a full time fly fishing guide. It’s been work…and it’s had its ups and downs…but it’s been all good. Part of this guiding gig is learning to roll with what the river gives you. That transfers over to the rest of life the more you go further and further down the river into this guide life. At least for me.

The past 4 seasons have been amazing. I’ve loved every minute of it. But it’s not enough…as an angler, a business owner, and a guide…the Yakima was never the end all, be all for me. I always had plans to expand my guiding to new water, different species, and new experiences. I’ve dabbled in a few things, Alaska, steelhead, some Bass. But it’s more than just fish for me. I want new experiences, for myself and for clients. I want to see, hear, smell, taste, and be surrounded by new cultures, new peoples, new places, and new fish…and what better way to seek out those things…than through fly fishing. Fly fishing transcends all the bullshit of the world and brings anglers together around the shared experience of angling for fish with fly and rod. It sounds silly to some but it’s true. Fly fishing can be so much more if you let it. Guiding for me is 80% people and 20% fishing. If you can’t be around people, show them a good time, share and help them experience fly fishing in a fun enjoyable and memorable way…your doing the job wrong…at least that’s how I see it.

My guide life is growing this season. A lot has changed. I’ve moved away from the homewater, but have made my operation mobile and more cost effective and profit efficient. Now that we are homesteading and living with other people I have the ability to travel more, we have less expenses going out, and I know that my family is settled and secure while I continue my career as a guide.

My wife and I have patiently been working towards this for years. Since our youngest was born. We’ve been wanting to move our family back to a more homestead style life and having the opportunity to go back to homesteading and off grid has also given me the opportunity to take the next step in my guiding.

So what does my guide life look like.

First off, I need to be mobile. Living on the homewater just isn’t feasible for what we want for our family. Plus the Yakima is good from June to October. The past 4 seasons have also solidified in me that the Yakima is not an early season fishery for guiding. I can make more money chasing other species during the spring and early summer months. It’s business, it’s not that I don’t enjoy spring fishing on the Yak, but from a business perspective it’s just not really cost effective or easy to sell. And the off season just doesn’t have anything going on for a trout bum here…and I gave steelhead a try…not for me. I don’t like the cold as I get older…and I don’t like wearing waders…or pants for that matter. No I have my eyes set south. So mobile is a necessity, because Texas, Louisiana, and Florida are a long drive and I don’t like planes and you can’t pull a boat with a plane.

But there is the problem of hauling a boat. It’s also a big necessity for guiding. I’ve got a great drift boat, and she’s ready to roll for trout. I’m also looking at a skiff that can work down south and up here for freshwater warm water species like bass and pike. Where I live now has a lot more options for other species in the spring and early summer so a new boat is in the works for next year. Mmmm…new boat.

But where the hell are you gonna sleep dude? Well, my lovely lady steered me in the right direction, like she typically does. A roof top tent or RTT. It’s a thing, it’s basically a heavy duty tent that is mounted on the top of your rig. It’s pretty sweet, spacious, and I can literally shack up anywhere. Campgrounds, take outs, side of the road, rest stops, riverside…it’s as mobile as I can get while still being able to haul a boat.

The other stuff, hygiene, food, and that, a portable hot water shower, a pull out kitchenette in the rig, a table to tie flies on that fits in the tent, jet boil and propane camp stove, a goal zero power kit, it’s all a traveling fly fishing guide needs. When I guide the yak I typically work up to 2 weeks straight before I have or take a day or 3 off. So being able to make the 3 1/2 hour jaunt across the state back to the homestead isn’t that bad. And video chatting with the kids and wife when I’m riverside isn’t that bad either.

I crave the solitude to be honest. It’s a part of me that I discovered when I started spending more time out in the woods, on mountains, and knee deep in rivers. The time in between guide days are super trout bummy right now. I am literally sitting in the Teanaway campground right now finishing this blog. Got some chicken and rice cooking, the RTT is opened up and has the fly tying stuff in it. I’m just chilling next to the boat in the campground, I even took a shower, damn near burnt myself with my new portable shower rig. I’ll do this routine through the 15th then head back to the homestead for a few days then come back and live out of the guide rig and boat for another week or two. It’s pretty sweet, you can be envious, it’s something I’ve been working towards and it hasn’t been an easy journey but it’s my journey. This is my guide life, leaving the family, living on the river for weeks at a time. The solitude, the fish, the scenery, the wildlife, the people, the water and river…it’s life…and I am surrounded by it all just living that Guide Life.

Come take a trip with me and get a taste of it.

Tamarack

I am here on the homewater through Sunday the 1st. I had my Friday the 29th open up and the weather is shaping up nicely. Light wind, possible rain shower. High in the upper 60’s. As good a day we have got this whole week weather wise. The river is up, and it’s cold and clean in the upper. It’s been colder than usual, it was 46 degrees in Cle Elum last night and the water temp was 50 this morning. So taking the whole day to fish isn’t a bad idea up here.

So I’ve got Friday the 29th open!

Tamarack

I’ve got Sunday the 24th open. It’s gonna be hot, high of 86, but fishing early in the AM should be stellar as it has been despite the wind. The wind will be finally be gone Sunday and it’s looks to be the best day of the weekend!

I highly recommend a half day float in the morning before the heat and sun put the fish down. Goldens and Drakes are picking up fish on top pretty consistently in the upper now.

So give me a call and get in for Sunday!

If you’ve fished with me this season or have been following my social media posts, you know I moved away from the homewater. It’s gotten harder and harder to live and only work here. Kittitas County has had over a 17% increase in the cost of housing on top of basically nothing available anyway. There’s only so much guiding work and even less other kinda work. My family and I also can’t live the way we want with the strict regulations on tiny house and self sufficient living. So we moved, we had an opportunity come our way and we took it. It’s east and north so Spokane. Little 12 acre area, we are living semi off grid and self sufficient. Tiny houses, wood fire heat, chickens, rabbits, I’m getting myself a goat, full garden and a few friends living there with us. Pretty sweet, my family and I are stoked.

I am also expanding my guiding with this transition. I love the Yakima, and I will always work the summer and fall seasons here…it’s my homewater, where I learned, cut my teeth, and have caught the majority of the trout in my career. I have fished other places for trout, salmon, steelhead, and warm water freshwater species like bass and pike…and that’s all well and good. Over my guiding career I plan to add back in Bass and Pike in the spring near my new digs, look at working out of state in ID and MT in the spring too. No more Yakima in the spring. For a few reasons.

The Yakima is not a spring fishery. It’s always a crapshoot and the past 4 seasons back at guiding it seemed liked I was chasing literally 12-24 trips between February and Memorial Day. I’m sure I could do more…but I really don’t want to. I know how this river fishes in the spring…slow and cold…with lots of chances of crazy run off and funky salmon pulse flows. The Yak is not a spring time fishery and tying to squeeze trips in poor conditions for opportunity at 5-10 trout on nymphs just isn’t doing it for me anymore. Not really bringing in the clients either. I’ve always been brutally honest about the fishing. Why lie? It serves no purpose except stroking ego. So I will be shifting focus to other species in the spring up to Memorial Day. Pike…Large Mouth Bass, Small Mouth Bass, and Musky. It’s been a while since I’ve chased those predatory fish…and frankly, since my new place is closer to lakes and rivers that have those species in abundance….I’m stoked to get back into it. May even get a skiff for it this winter…mmm.

So that’s a big change. My beardy face won’t be here during the thaw. I won’t miss it. This season really did me in on this decision and it’s just gotten a little silly trying to compete for the few trips in the spring. Not living here full time anymore basically eliminates the need or want for it. I can recommend some amazing guides that work the spring and always will but it’s not for me anymore. It also doesn’t make a lot of sense business wise when you really break it down. Spring trips cover costs…that’s about it, if that. That pesky college degree keeps telling me it’s time to expand out of the homewater. So why keep investing time and energy in something that doesn’t produce a good product? Why try and sell a fishery that isn’t really ready? Trout bums talking business…what have I become!? But I’ve got a family to support and I want to do it with fishing…so you gotta go big or get a ‘regular’ job.

Then of course there is the off season. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become less stoked about cold weather. And after an avy scare, losing a few friends to the mountains, and getting older and having 3 kids…I just don’t really like the snow and cold anymore. And I don’t like fishing for steelhead or salmon in the winter. It’s cool to do for a day or two, and I will totally go do it or hire a guide for a day on the OP or something. But it’s not keeping me here and I’d never work it. Just not my thing.

Fishing and guiding 100-150 days a year on the Yak just isn’t t enough fishing for me either. As I’ve gotten past 30, my kids aren’t babies and toddlers anymore, and my life in general is pretty sweet, there is one thing I haven’t been content with. I want more fishing and adventure. And that makes me anxious. A few wars ago it was the call to conquer mountains and trails, and before that it was to chase fish. I want to chase more fish these days. I want to learn more, understand more, just soak up all I can about fishing with fly and rod. I’ve run out of stuff with trout. So I want to move on to fisheries that intimidate me, chase new species that make my butthole perk up when they eat and run. I want to experience more culture, more of the fly angling world. When I first started out here on the Yak; I always knew I’d never be satisfied or satiate my want to chase fish with just the Yakima River. I also don’t want to be 50 years old and only have ever been a Yakima Guide. I want more. I need more.

So I’m headed south as many of my clients know. When I first started learning the Yakima I just let myself be enveloped by it all. Just fished all the time…this was before children and all I was doing was going to college. So I fished almost every day in some form. When I got my boat it got worse and I just started spending time riverside. This was after kids and my lady will tell you…I skipped out a lot to fish. I settled down for a bit and tried some other types of guiding and outdoor activities, also helped raise a family with my wife. But it’s like I have ants in my pants now. And the kids are older now, we are more stable both financially and as a family…it’s time for change and adding more to our lives! We get bored really easy and I’ve already got 3 kids. So we will add more fish instead.

I was always told the best way to learn this fly fishing thing…is to go do it. I’m using the same approach to the south salt water. I want to be out of my comfort zone, in new territory, with new challenges and craziness. But most importantly new fish and water to learn. I want to spend the next 10 years learning something new and becoming proficient at it. So I’m headed south to start with Redfish, and work my way around the area to see what else I can trick with a fly. Tarpon, snook, my son wants me to catch a barracuda for some reason. I’d like to see what a shark is like too. But going to discover it for myself is half the fun. Figuring out what I’ll like and dig the most. It’s new!

I’d like to start working it in the future but that’s not my top priority right now…education and fishing are. Relocating down there for part of the year, which is being made possible with this new move, will also free me up to just fish and learn. Looking at a new boat for down there too! Being there on the ground also lets me get involved in the conservation efforts there. If I’ve learned anything in the past 4 years being involved with conservation…it will educate you on the fisheries real good.

So that’s what all the hub-bub has been about. Things are changing, I am moving on in my angler development to add more to my experience and hopefully start sharing it with clients and fellow anglers for the next 30 years. There are 365 days in a year and I’d like to fish and work more than 150 of them. Ever since I was 18 and hooked my first trout on a fly rod I knew…I wanted a life that was filled with fly fishing. As I got older I realized I make an okay guide and people seem to dig my jams. The past 4 seasons back at guiding full time have been amazing and I want more, and not just hosting a trip here and there, I want to dive back into angling and get lost in it, have it test and challenge me in new ways…it’s that need for adventure, that crave for adrenaline, and the love of tricking fish with flies…it’s been on pause for a bit with life, kids, and all the other stuff besides fishing…but not anymore. Shit is on now. Time to go play.

Time to chase fish. And by the way…the Yakima is fishing absolutely awesome in the upper right now. And drakes are here…mmmmm.

Tamarack

The summer is here. The heat is here, the summer thunderstorms and rains are here, we’ve got bugs hatching and there are troot eating. It’s dry fly time.

The day time temps are starting to get into the high 70’s to mid 80’s. Midday is starting to be too bright and way too hot for fishing. But good for tubing, rafting, and other riverside activities besides fishing. This means mornings and evenings will start fishing really good.

Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, Drake’s, PMDs, and caddis are what I have on the brain. Let’s talk about where I fish these types of flies and why. I do a lot of dry fly fishing. Typically on an 8 hour summer day we’ve got 2 hours of nymphing and or streamer fishing and the rest focused on dry flies. As a guide in search of dry fly eaters I have 3 things I am assessing when reading a specific piece of water for a dry fly eat.

1. Water temp. Just get used to this one. I am constantly looking for that sweet spot of 54-58 degrees.

2. Where is the food coming from. Let’s say it’s a riffle…is it the right time of day for mayflies to be hatching? If not then why would fish be hanging there? Or maybe it’s an overhanging branch along the bank with a nice cut out…are there stoneflies or caddis in that tree? Yes…then there’s probably a fish under there. Or maybe a big boulder garden, with 56 degree water, a decent yellow sallies hatch…yep…and active feeders….mmmmmm. Always try and determine the food sources when reading water…that gives you insight as to whether trout would be holding in that water or not. If there’s not food…and there isn’t gonna be food there for a while…probably not worth fishing. Fish rise in the water column when food is abundant up top but also when the opportunity for an easy meal presents itself. Looking for areas that give trout those options is key for dry fly fishing.

3. Presentation Angle. Probably not what you were expecting. But half the challenge of dry fly fishing is deciphering which way to approach trout and drift with your fly. Examples such as, a downstream angle, upstream angle, 90 degree, 45 degree, roll cast, arrow cast, where’s the sun in relation to my casting stroke? Or maybe it’s a complicated reach cast on your off hand shoulder, across 3 current speeds, the fastest being closest to the angler and the slowest being in the drift lane…asking how to approach the fish and which method is best is the real challenge of dry fly fishing. On the Yakima…this is why people don’t fish dries….these fish like it perfect the first time. If it isn’t…you may never even see them. If you never see the fish and you keep fishing and casting with no trout love…you might be a little disheartened to throw dries too. I’ve been there. And if I’ve learned anything about dries over the years…it’s to fish the water not the fish…and stick with it…when you get it right…it’ll happen.

Do you know how many times I hear people tell me they haven’t caught a fish in the upper river or in dries? Like 40% of my trips. The upper river has gin clear water, spooky fish, and lots of water to read. It also gives trout a lot of places to feed and hide in. Ever wonder why dry fly fishing can shut down so hard in the LC here? Would you wanna rise for, or eat anything for that matter, after all those boats and anglers go over and cast the same lines and drift lanes over and over day after day? Same happens in the upper but less because the fish move around more. Trout in the upper have more than just a bank and some boulders to hide along when the current is high. There’s just more to offer a practiced dry fly angler. And that’s what the upper requires…practice. In the lower dry fly fishing is best when the fish haven’t had a lot of pressure, and they still are just as picky as their upper river friends. It the lower river has a lot less feeding lines for dries. It’s almost all along the bank save for a few riffles. So this means fish stack up along those lines and feed. When they get lots of pressure they just go eat something else deeper…typically caddis. It’s always caddis I swear.

We get a lot of opportunity at fish on dries in my boat. Big, small, it doesn’t matter…dry fly eats are awesome on this river whether the fish is 12 or 20 inches. I say opportunity because lots of fish are missed. They are very fast, and when you get everything right with the presentation…the next challenge of dry fly fishing to tests anglers…setting the hook.

Nymphing is Indicator Fishing or Bobber Fishing for those of us who started out on gear, and exactly as the name states, there is something visual that lets the angler know they have a fish striking their fly. That indicator is very easy to see and it also gives you a bit of help by giving the angler a few more milliseconds to realize the strike and set the hook. That’s all there when dry fly fishing…but it’s the fish that is the indicator. This….is the single one thing I am constantly trying to improve on as a guide…how to set the hook and teach it. Because nobody likes to miss fish…especially me…I’m super f’ing greedy with this river. I can get the fish up…but setting the hook…to this day…is still a challenge for me…and lots of the anglers in my boat.

I think I’ve worked it out to three things to keep in mind when setting the hook on dry fly eats.

1. You have to watch. I mean intently, tunnel vision watch, while that fly is on the ride. You send it with a purpose and you follow through and make sure that fly gets eaten before you stick that troot in the face. You have to watch. When the fly is riding…all focus should be on it. Mine is, on both flies, so I need each angler to watch too…that’s 6 eyes on 2 flies. I’m also watching the next three lanes down river too. But watch your fly…it’s what you are paying for.

2. I said watch right? Next is: Anticipate the strike…otherwise known as be ready. It’s basically telling you to watch…but with Jedi like focus…to know that a trout will strike…that it can strike…that it must strike…and setting the hook when it does. Just be ready. So many times I’m just not ready and it takes me by surprise and I miss the fish. It happens with clients and I try and compensate for it by giving a big speech every trip about the different types of eats to watch for, when fish tend to hit in the drift, all the stuff in this blog basically…just more so and on the water.

3. Lift up and bend the elbow back. This is a techy one… and it has a second part to it that’s auditory.

When you set the hook on dry fly eats you should first lift the rod by the extending the elbow out while raising the arm at the shoulder. As you raise your arm up , your rod will start to bend from the tension, it’s about when my elbow hits my eyeline for me, then I bend my elbow back to get the rod to bend into a “Question Mark” shape ? . Fly rods, no matter the speed, make, or style, are designed to create tension through leverage by the rod bending. If the rod doesn’t bend…it’s too strong for the fish, if it folds in half…you need a bigger stick.

The rod needs to be in that Question Mark shape and it will give you a lot more control and leverage on the trout. When the rod straightens out it loses its leverage, which loses tension, which loses fish, which makes me super sad. It’s a fluid motion that is more reaction and muscle memory than skill. It takes practice, and for anglers that are practiced they can feel the way the trout eats and adjust the hook set accordingly. It’s amazing to watch, even better when you get it right. I still work on this as I miss a lot of fish when I personally fish. I catch a bunch too but it takes practice throughout the season to stay proficient at it.

The second auditory part I mentioned earlier and then forgot about is this. I make a lot of noise when trout eat. It’s something that isn’t gonna change and I won’t apologize for it. I get paid to show anglers a good time. I work hard at it. When I say ‘set’, or yell ‘there’!’ or say ‘right now!’ I mean you should be into the motion just described above. I say it when I mean it. Watching and reacting with the proper technique can really up your hook up ratio. Fighting and landing them is the next challenge and if you’ve been in my boat it becomes a team effort of coaching and playing that hopefully brings a handshake at the end of it all.

Hell ya…I’ve got the 20th, 21st and 24th still open this week. And the weather and conditions look good for dry fly fishing. Give me a call, shoot me a text, or send an email here from the website. Come test your skills on the Yakima River Troots.

Tamarack

I am a dry fly angler. When I look at a piece of water to read I always read the dry fly drifts and lanes first. Dry fly fishing is the epitome of fly fishing. And trout, by far, take dry flies better than any other species I’ve chased. This is of course one trout bum and guides’ humble opinion.

I have been called snooty for my particular interest in dry fly fishing and rarely ever nymphing these days. I’ll swing and strip a streamer, but nymphing, as I’ve gotten older and further along in my trout angling, has little appeal to me. Yes I know it’s effective, and to this day I can still mend that rig right in front of a troots face hole and get them to eat it. But the challenge of nymphing has past for me when I personally fish. Guiding is a whole other story, and we nymph, and we catch nice fish doing it.

The challenge of nymphing when I first started out was reading the water for it and gauging the depth and where fish should be holding in it. After years of angling, and years of snorkeling…breaking down nymphing has little challenge for me, once you dial it all down…the fish are there…and they eat. It’s science.

Fish hold in water relative to its water temp and flow. When the water is sub 50 degrees, trout don’t need to eat very much…since their metabolism is directly related to water temp. Cold blooded…like a reptile. When metabolism levels are low, fish aren’t expelling much energy, or burning calories, so they don’t need to eat much…it’s like trout are sleepy. And in reality they are hibernating when water temps are really low. Since it’s cold and they don’t have to eat…they hold in the slow water. Once you find the slow water…it’s just a matter of adjusting the indicator so that the drift puts the flies in front of the sleepy troots. If the water is warm enough, typically above 45, a fish will eat a few things. That slow water can be all over. Could be a big pool, a large drop off that creates an undercurrent that is slower along the bottom of the river. Behind big fallen logs, behind boulders, along canyon walls and inside of corners. Nymphing when water temps are sub 50 boils down to finding that slow water speed wherever it may be in the water column. Setting your rig at a depth, then running the drift lanes to see if fish are there. Changing depths until your plugging the bottom. If you don’t get any trout love and you’ve also tried a few different rigs…then you read that water wrong. I do it all the time. I always fish the faster water too early because I’m anxious for clients to get big takes on nymph rigs in that faster stuff. It’s way more fun when the indicator goes down 3 feet or sideways 6 feet. Or the fish hits so hard and runs that’s it’s screaming line. That happened to me today while nymphing actually. Damn near made my heart jump out of my mouth I got hit with so much adrenaline. Ross even asked if I was okay. That shit is fun and I was making sure I was reading water right today while nymphing a few choice areas.

The water temp is over 50 and hovering up into the 54 degree range in the upper. That’s means fish are moving. Warmer water temps mean higher metabolism, which means fish need to eat more. Awww, we are getting somewhere with this nymphing thing. When I realized that fish would hold in some of the fastest water in the river when the water temps are within the 54-60 degree range nymphing really opened up for me.

The sweet spot is 54-58. At 62 fish can be sluggish after being played hard so good releases in fast moving water are recommended. Above 65 degrees I do not fish or guide. Period. Fish can be over stressed and their mortality rate 12 hours post release can be upwards of 60%. When water temps start breaking 62 I only fish in the early morning. Fishing is a amazing, fish are good to play, and your off river before the heat. Give the trout the whole day to just chill, then go play with them early the next day.

When trout metabolism is high, in the 54-58 water temp range. Fishing is super juicy anglers. Super juicy. We are getting some days where the water temp gets up to 54 at it’s like a switch gets turned on. Numbers of fish start breaking a dozen and shit gets silly. Nymphing during this juiciest of times is all about where the fish are moving too and from. They don’t sit still down there anglers. They move…a lot. Mostly because they are after three things…food, cover, and oxygen. Trout will hang out in areas that have 2 of those 3 things throughout the day, but when things start to cool down they look for an place that gives them all three if possible. Once an angler starts to find that rhythm of how trout move about by fishing and reading the water, and trying the various depths and lanes and fly rigs, you end up garnishing a firm understanding in how to break down the nymphing game. It’s why I am always checking the surface temp throughout the day. Because three feet down it’s a little cooler. So when it’s 54 like it is now…trout are moving down there, and they are eating.

Start your mornings by looking for those holding areas. Trout houses, hidey holes, structure, big slow troughs, inside of curves deep, areas where they are least vulnerable, have access to some food if they want a late night snack, and areas where the water temp is low so they can chill. Trout are basically moving too and from these areas throughout the day. They also move up and down the river, sometimes several miles, sometimes, 10’s of miles, and we even know of some adventurous bull trout from Wenatchee that travel 150 miles a year. They visit relatives in the Naches.

So fish are moving. Sometimes just because they can. Birds fly because they can fly…trout do the same…but to swim. You can see them do it when you snorkel. It’s pretty sweet. Nymphing while the trout are moving trickles down to taking water temps and when you see 54-58 start looking for faster water areas with heavier flow, that also bring food and have good cover, meaning the trout can be hanging in faster deep water. Where the trout has the advantage against predators…remember they are designed to be in there and they use the water to survive. These areas can also be rapids, big fast boulder gardens, bottom of riffles holding tight to the riverbed, outside edges of curves, fast water edges with woody debris, overhangs, undercuts, logs or other structure. Can also be deep drop offs, ledges, shelves, and deeper areas that have fast water. Fast water has food and oxygen in it. Fast water grabs particles, bugs, debris, and moves it about and fish look in those slip streams for food when holding in fast water. It’s why when your nymphing at 8 ft in the upper through the fast diamond chop…you get big glorious nymph takes.

It’s also why I mend aggressively. Getting the fly rig down to the prime depth under the indicator with no slack in the line so there is no lag between eat, indicator down, and hook set. This takes big mends that move the indicator and rig up in the current to give the weighted flies enough time to drop into the water column you are trying to fish. Mending is all about keeping the drift and depth going as long as possible to keep the flies in the prime feeding line that you are looking for. If they have drag in them it doesn’t work. If they lift though the water column unnaturally it doesn’t work. Mending is key. It’s why we harp on it so much as guides.

Trout also have it pretty rough, crazy flow changes from runoff and irrigation, a plethora of predators from raptors to otters, to pitchers. So they are trying to survive, and moving around and constantly changing and looking for better places to hold and rest and feed and chill are what trout lives are all about. So when it’s time to spawn they can pass on their genetics and do the whole circle of life thing.

As things cool down in the evening…trout start looking for that slower, deeper, cooler water to rest and hold in until water temps start warming back up the following day. It’s why things can turn off in the evening if it gets cold…trout don’t need to eat as much because the water temp dips back down so they just hang out and chill. When the switch turn off so to speak.

So a quick recap: look for these areas that are faster moving as the water temp rises towards 62. Fishing them by running the various drift lanes of the water. Example, a 20 foot wide, deep run, below a riffle. I’d put a drift lane every 3 feet, 6-15ft drifts, at 6ft with a double nymph rig and split shot. Run that rig through across the area you are reading. If you pick up fish you read it right. If you don’t get fish…adjust your depth. I nymph at 12ft sometimes and I’ll nymph at 1 1/2ft in a riffle too. I’ve nymphed with sink tips too. Not too much anymore, I just use a regular old indicator rig. Sometimes a bobber style, other times a yarny. I add tippet if I need to go deeper off a standard 9ft or 12ft leader. Flies should match the nymph versions of what hatches throughout the day. Nymphing prior to the hatch, then switching to dries when you have active feeder. Then back to nymph and wet flies when things cool down.

Boom. How I learned to nymph in a nut shell. Various books and mentors helped me along the way. But a lot was just self discovery through trial and error…otherwise known as fishing. Once I realized that nymphing was basically just a matter of deduction through repetitious casting and adjusting…I was like….cool I get it…but now I’m bored. It’s never boring for clients…but when I go fish…ya it’s boring. I’ll do it… and I’ll catch fish. But it’s not really my thang. Doesn’t strike my fancy so to speak.

Hopefully that helps some of you fellow anglers out when you are trying to break down the nymphing game. It’s kinda all over the place but that’s kinda how this trout brain works. It’s a little scrambled from all the fish I miss I think. Like today…fish pulling line so fast my reel screamed and the fish was 60 feet out before I knew what the hell was happening. Damn near had a stroke with all that adrenaline when I felt that powerful fish kick my ass all over the river. Ugh, sad face…’tis the woes of the guide who is a little out of practice on his nymph game. Plus I’m weak sauce when playing fish…a habit I am seemingly always trying to break.

Fishing is really f’ing rad right now. River is on the drop from the salmon pulse. Water temps are good, weather is good, windy but what’s new. And fish are eating. Rising lots of fish the past 10 days after 1 pm. And today fish were eating PMDs like they were fat little peachy colored cupcakes. Come chase some trout…’tis good.

Tamarack

There is this absolutely fantastic fly fishing episodic period every season here on the upper Yakima that too many anglers just don’t know about. I’ve been selfishly indulging myself in it every single season for almost 12 years now. The Golden Stonefly Hatch of the Yakima River.

I’ve been in the upper, save for last evening big bust of a float in the LC, and the fish in the upper Yak have begun their annual key in to these big delicious golden treats. Every season sometime in June and the first few weeks of July, we get our Golden Stonefly Hatch. A large yellow and gold Stonefly species that is much like the Salmonfly. The females are typically 2-3 inches with males a little smaller. They hatch nocturnally or early in the morning, by climbing up onto rocks, the bank, and debris and popping out of their shuck. The change from nymph to adult can take a few minutes to hours depending on conditions. They’ve been in the nymph stage for a few years at this point. Once they hatch they retreat to the trees and brush to find a mate and get down to business.

Once they’ve completed their funky fun time dance, the males die off, and 5 females hang out and develop an egg sac. Then as the heat of the day comes on, right now around 2-3 pm the females migrate back to the river by flying down to the surface and depositing eggs back into the river for the next generation of trout food. The eggs, dense little grains of sand sized waiting Stonefly larva, work their way down into the substrate of the rove bottom where they will reside for the next few years feeding and growing. The annual stonefly migration refers to the time when the nymphs come out of the substrate, get their last bit of feeding in by veraciously eating everything in sight before finally pushing to the surface to hatch.

I gauge this migration timeframe by seining the river at various depths and looking to see how many golden nymphs show up. When they are in the knee deep water in great numbers it means shits about to go down. We had that last week and things are starting to go down this week.

Even though there are not a vast number of them on the river surface these fish know they are hatching and they act appropriately. Especially cutties. Fish will seek out, chase down, gobble up, skyrocket for, and absolutely smash the crap out of them. And there’s a reason why. A Golden is a big meal. Could feed a fish for a day kinda meal. So when they decide to eat it… they EAT it. That big bug can fly, it is super fast on the river swimming, it’s big and crunchy with a hard shell and spiked legs…it takes work to eat it. So fish like to make sure they get it in the first try…so they smack it hoard!!!

That time is upon us. Fish in the upper are keyed in on the Golden’s and are starting to regularly smack them. Which is awesome. Earlier than last year but with the way this spring and early summer has went, I’ll take what the river gives me and I’ll roll with it.

Come get in on some sweet big dry action before it’s over.

Tamarack