Category: Fly Fishing

Well, the big snows are here! We have a few inches of freshies out there and more coming. The pass has been closed since last night and looks to be closed for the rest of the day. Our snowpack is over 100%, and January has just started! I can smell the trootiness in the air anglers. I can smeeelllll it!

The holidays are over. I hunkered down with my girlfriend, and we celebrated with my kids. Drove down to Idaho and back twice in the past 10 days. The heater went out in the car, so that was fun, and it took 2 hrs to get over the Blue Mountains coming back due to craptastic conditions. But the guide rig handled it just fine. Got home safe just before this shitshow of a storm rolled up and shut the inlands down again. Wooo. Shenanigans.

Now, it’s time to get ready for the season. These snows may seem like they ain’t fishy, but the extended forecast for this month calls for some super winter fishy days. Any day I see sunshine and 30 degrees, it’s fishy. Snow, don’t matter to troots. We wade a lot in January. Only have about 4 hrs of fishy time anyway. By the end of the month, we will get more hrs, and by February, we are rolling.

I have never guided this early, but what the hell? Most of us out here are still in recovery mode, and my only solution to what the past 2 years have caused is to be more aggressive and work harder. Coming into 2022 just feels like the energy has to come up. Gotta compensate for the past 2 seasons. 2020 just did a number on me. 2021 was amazing and busy. Summer got wonky with smoke and heat, and July and August can always be busier. But the fall came in heavy. But I’m still hungry. I still want more. More days, more trout, more handshakes, and damp 20s. That drive is heavier in my mind this season. Clamoring and climbing out of the shit show of 2020 still.

I’ve only got maybe 5 to 8 days available in January. I don’t want too many days and have weather sour things up too much. February is wide open, which is odd? Skwallas start in Febs, and things will start to thaw by the 10th to 15th. Then, we are in early spring fishing conditions. Turds and worms, skwalla dries, and big sparkly streamers. March has dates booked, as does April. I’m 8 years into guiding. 2020 almost knocked me out of the game. 2021 made me realize I could overcome it. 2022 is kind of a make it or break it kind of year for me.

There are days when it’s hard to find the motivation. Shit is still tough, and the offseason always has its own set of challenges. I just want to get back to work.

I’ve got 2 months of tying left before I shut that down for clients and only tie for guiding. So get your orders in asap. I can only take on so much, and it’s a first come, first served kind of deal.

There are only 12 days left to get that 15% off discount. You can reserve a trip for any date in the 2022 season and get 15% off your final balance. The quicker my calendar fills up, the better. I want to be busy AF. 4 to 7 trips a week, 10 to 20 trips in a row before a break…ya…all season long…bring it. I want and need it.

The fish are going to be waking up after this bitch ass cold leaves. These single digit, below 20 days of frigid, Hoth like hellscapes are about done. 30 degrees and sunshine with snow here, and there is on its way. The ice will come off the river, and the fish will be on the hunt for food as they slowly wake up and prepare for spawning over the next 2 months.

There is a shit ton of fish in the river anglers. We are about at capacity for fishy river dwellers. And we had a lot of those 12 to 14-inch fish last season that aren’t so dinky anymore. Like a lot of juvenile fish that are just coming into their trooty selves this spring. I expect a lot of new spawners this spring which means a lot of troots looking to eat the next 2 months. Awwww ya. Stoke is high anglers. Tis high.

So book a trip, order some flies, and make plans for this summer, or fall with fish in them. I’m running overnight trips again. We have bass we can chase, the Yakima, of course, and I have 2 lakes I will be adding to the roster this season. Once they open in the spring. So, there are plenty of options.

The Trout Spey/Skwalla Special is running into March. $325 for 2 anglers. 5 hrs with a quick, hot lunch. Chasing the big boys. Book it before the 15th and really save. Or lock in those prime dares now. Remember, once we get to Mother’s Day, the river is consistent, and I book up quickly once things really get rolling.

I’ll be riverside this weekend as things warm up, and the snow settles. I’m sure we will have more snowfall, but at this point, it’s just water for the summer in my mind. Fish gotta eat, and they start in January. I’m done sitting around. I have only hit the river twice since the 1st week of November. It’s time to chase troot. Who’s coming?

See ya riverside anglers.

Tamarack

The snows are rolling in.  The snowpack is above 90% and we are just now coming into the month of January.

January ushers in the harder cold, and starts the countdown to the thaw. Here on the Yakima the late winter hits hard but leaves quickly in terms of fishing. The weather may still be frigid but remember troots are cold blooded cold water critters.

Water temps also start to perk up in the lower river. The days start getting longer every day, minute by minute, every morning now. Before we know it we will have enough sunlight beaming down on the water to warm it up enough for fish to move about. The Lower Canyon of the Yakima River is a marvel of an ecosystem. As the longer days and more intense sun rays start hitting the river it warms the surface, the canyon is a basalt corridor that retains heat.  Couple that with the thermal properties of H2O and you have perfect late winter fishing conditions.

The water temps have sat below 40 degrees for the better part of 8 weeks now.  Fish have been in hibernation mode eating when its warmer for typically only an hour to 3 a day. As January comes the larger fish have burned through most of their supply for the winter. All those October Caddis and BWOs only keep you full so long. So they start to want to eat.  Despite the Hoth like conditions above, fish below are lethargically looking for food.

40 degrees is the magic number. As the sun heats the basalt and the river.  The LC turns into a refrigerator and holds its water temp. We get a few hours of solid sunlight no matter how cold the air temp is…and the water will warm and fish will munch. Science Bitches!  I’ve fished the LC when it’s 25 degrees outside and the surface water temp is 38 to 40. That’s fishy in January and February. And every day it’s gets a little better, a little warmer, fish get just slightly more active.  Every day. Its fun to be out there and watch the whole place wake up. Plus you meet some big ass fish.

The largest trout gotta eat. And they wake up first. As the water hits 40 we have another amazing thing happen. The sculpin start to get spawny and the whitefish are finishing up their spawn. As the trout start to wake up they have these two readily available and very rich food sources to partake of. Remember trout start spawning around 50 degree water and westslope around 48. Trout that wake-up around 40 degree water temps are typically sexually mature adults that need to prepare themselves for spawning in March and April. Rainbow trout can be 2 to 4 years old and westlopes are typically 3 to 5 years old when they are ready to spawn. These are big trout anglers. Some of the biggest and baddest the Yakima has to offer. Our trophies.  As a professional guide, I can tell you these fish are easier to conquer during the early season. The angler has the advantage in January and February. The water is lower and colder so fish are slower and easier to play. They can move and pull like tanks, but they aren’t turbo charged like they are above 48 degree water temps. They also don’t have 3000 to 4000 cfs of river to kick our asses in.

We swing for these trout. We nymph too especially in February as the Skwallas start migrating. Every once in a while a BWO or a Midge hatch will give you a shot at some of the first dry fly sips of the season. But the big ones…they eat meat. Sculpins, eggs, and smaller fish are the main course. A few big pieces of meat and a trout is good for a little bit while it moves about the system preparing for spawning. This is the time to chase those fish. As later in the season I won’t be fishing up river during the spawn to allow the trout time to take care of business. So now is the time to chase with spey and meat streamers for big chonkers that wanna get busy. They only spawn once a year so it’s kind of a big deal for them. And they spend the next two and a half months preparing for this monumental milestone in their trooty lives.

It’s already starting looking at the forecast. Don’t let the cold fool you. It’s all about the sun. And as this cold snap finishes off, I see some pretty awesome conditions headed our way. Already trips are on the calendar for January. Anglers ready to test their skill against these wild animals are invited to come take their shot.

I will be running Trout Spey Specials for the next 2 months. Trout Spey Specific techniques as well as nymphing and Euro-nymphing fishing. $325 for 1 or 3 angles. A 4 to 5 hr trips learning and chasing the big boys. The chonkers….the troutasaurus troots. It’s time anglers. Skwalla specials start in late February and run through March. And if you reserve a day before January 15th I’ll knock 15% off your final balance! The 2022 trout season is coming. Let’s chase some trout anglers.

Hope to see you riverside this season!

Tamarack

Well the snows are here. And so is the holiday! It’s been a pretty normal and slow off season. I’ve been pretty hunkered down and only hit the river once since November.

I’ve been focused on off river stuff while also trying to keep the interest going for next season. The 2022 season is booking up quicker than any previous year. It’s exciting and I’m stoked. As of today it’s only 8 weeks until skwallas start migrating and possibly hatching. Awwww ya!

I’m grateful for those booking early. It makes the off season go a little smoother. It’s always a little tight in the winter and there’s still recovery happening from covid on the business side of things. 18 months of crap means there’s still some catch up. Slowly but surely. The trick is to not get down and just keep putting the work in.

I headed to Idaho tomorrow. Girlfriend and I are picking up kids and spending Christmas with them. It’s been since the summer with all the craziness this year. I think finally, 2022 will give me some semblance of normal…maybe.

The winter snows have hit the highlands. The snowpack is settling in and it looks like we are gonna have plenty of water for the summer. Stoke gets a little higher each day as we come closer to things turning over.

I’m starting trips in January this season. With 3 on the calendar already…going after those big bows on the swing and trout spey anglers. And the skwaala hatch in late February and into March is starting to get days. So the stoke is high with anglers too!

I hope to see ya riverside after the new year. It’s going to be a good season anglers. I feel it my trouty bones.

If you reserve a trip before January 15th for anytime in the 2022 season I will knock 15% off! Pretty sweet! Flies are also for sale until March 15th so get your orders in soon before I stop production tying and just tie for guiding.

Happy Christmas Anglers.

Tamarack

The off season has become pretty familiar to me and after 2020 being one giant one I’ve gotten used to the cabin fever and the boredom. Still hate it but I’m less bothered by it.

The numbers from the 2021 season were really good. Worked almost all of my trips through my own service, did under 2 dozen for other outfits, and broke 150 trips so I can’t complain. Especially after the 2020 season, ugh. My client roster grew, we hooked into like 3000 plus trout between all the trips, stupid good dry fly fishing, and the river made it through a hot summer without anything determintal happening. Damn fine season.

Now the grind to February is here. It’s a haul. I’m tying, but its pretty light this winter. I still have a goal to sell a good 2000 flies or so, but if it doesn’t happen that’s cool too. I’m already booking trips for the 2022 season, which I’ve never booked out this early. It’s exciting to be moving forward after being in covid stasis. And while winters are always slow and tight, it’s a little easier knowing what is coming when the thaw starts.

I’ve been keeping to myself this winter. I’ve got an off river life I am pretty into. Spending time with my girlfriend and getting ready for the Holidays. I haven’t fished in a month and don’t plan to for a few more weeks. I’ll start swinging in January.

The offseason can be slow. I’m accustomed to it after 7 seasons. But I’m just kinda checked out. It was busy and it went fast last year so I’m enjoying my down time even if it’s a little slower than what I prefer. I need it, body and mind need it. Especially since next season is shaping up to be busier. Preparing mentally and physically as I come out of December will be when things start to shift back to work mode.

I know it’s been a minute since I blogged. I’m slowly coming back into it now. Flies are for sale, trips, gift certificates. I’ve got a special for reservations running through January 15th. Book a day and receive 15% off your balance. It’s pretty sweet. Saves ya a little and gets ya back on the water this coming season.

I’ll be posting blogs more regularly now. I’ve got all sorts of things to write about after the 2021 season. Hope to see ya riverside after the new year anglers.

Tamarack

The end of the regular trout season is upon us. The last weeks of Fishtober are here. It’s been a great season with way more trips than I was expecting. Lots of things happening and changing the past two season with more to come.

The last remaining dates for October are up for grabs. I will be guiding through the winter teaching and guiding single hand spey and trout spey winter swinging this off season. We will also be ramping up fly tying with a goal to sell $10,000 worth of flies this winter to help start moving business forward and hopefully down south next off season!

Last dates: 15th 19th 21st and the 25th thru the 30th anglers. That’s it.

Winter Trips are open through January 1st.

Your support and patronage are always greatly appreciated and I can’t thank everyone enough for coming out and making this 7th season a really good one.

See ya riverside anglers.

Tamarack

The end of the season approaches. We have roughly 75 days of the trout season. September is almost here and so are the crane flies.

The following dates are still open this month.

The 2nd and 3rd, and 5th. But don’t book the 5th.

9th and 11th and 16th

19th thru the 22nd

28th thru 30th

That’s what’s left. October has days but they are going quick too. As long as the season hold we will plan on guiding into November again this year. Then Fly Tying begins!

To reserve a day hit me up via call or email and get on the calendar.

See ya riverside anglers.

Tamarack

This summer has been weird. The weather is funky. Like really funky. We’ve had multiple heat waves and triple digits, more wind than ever, and we’ve battled some warm water temps this year. And now….before August ends we seem to be slipping into the Autumn.

We have a cooling trend and now it’s not getting above 80. Might see some warmer days over the next 3 weeks but the forecasts call for lower temps as we move into September. I can tell you the river is already moving that way.

The summer stones or Shortwing Stonefly is hatching. Has been for a week or so. And that ushers in the fall season. They usually hatch at the end of the month into September as the temps start to cool. They’ve already started. Which means the river and fish know and feel what’s coming before we do.

Flows haven’t started dropping and probably won’t for 3 more weeks. Already water temps are cooling back down. I suspect next week we will be back to fishing in the evening.  We were seeing 65 and 70 degrees in the upper and lower respectively, but already water temps have dropped back to 60 degrees. Those higher elevation overnight lows are cooling the water again. Wooo! 

Fishing has been great. Absolutely awesome. You all are missing out. Covid scares, and economic stuff, as well as smoke and water temps have been making for a really light month this August.  Not what I want but it’s reality right now and 17 months into this pandemic it’s still having a large effect on things whether people believe it or not. I usually work 10 15 days in a row in August prior to covid, with 20 to 30 trips done with double days.  We’ve been lucky to get to 3 to 5 in a row and 15 a month. It’s still light and that stress is there as we come into the end of the season. I’m already planning pivots for the winter as I knew I wouldn’t work enough to get through an offseason. The fall season brings a lot of excitement due to the fishing but also some anxiety as guide-able days become less and less.

I’ve made my living for 7 years this way. Got a little tougher these last 2 seasons. Changes are neccessary moving forward. Scary but also part of the plan. Just pivoting on the how and what.

The fall brings me that clarity. Things slow back down. The river settles into her regular pace.  I know the river the best in the Autumn. I’ve spent more days on water in the fall over the past 10 years than most. The river has changed considerably these past 2 seasons which makes the river even more fun as the water drops.

The best mother fucken hatches on the Yakima River are in the late season. And we are already onto our first big one. Let me brake it down real quick like.

Summer stones usher in the end of the summer. Big stoneflies that hatch nocturnal. This tells us the overnight lows are shifting and the barometric pressure is starting to change from that consistent summer time high pressure to more normal fluctuating barometric pressure. Sciencey but after years you can feel it. Gets the guide senses tingling.

The water starts to drop due to the flip flop, when they turn off irrigation water flows and the river drops back to her normal size around 1500 cfs generally. She sits around 900 to 1200 in the upper by end of October. This drop in flow also gives us our naturally fluctuating water temps again. Temps rise and fall during the 24 hr cycle more naturally making fish metabolism more normal and puts fish in the prime feeding temp zone. That lovely 52 to 58 degree water. Fish start to act more trouty.

Then the Cranefly Hatch occurs. It’s the fucken best anglers. These dangle morsels hatch in the late am and the fish go bonkers. We get to skate flies and watch trout chase em and eat the crap out of them. It’s awesome balls. That’s gonna start really soon. Get on the calendar.

Then as things start to cool down air temp wise more the October Caddis and mayflies return. I’m very stoked for these hatches. Fish are ravenous in October and have to pack in as much as they can for the winter. As it gets colder the big fish get hangrier. We get to skate big orange bugs in the late afternoon and evening after picking apart riffles with little dries for sipping trout. Headhunting at its finest. Oh ya. Bwos, mahogany duns, and cahills all hatch in the late season. Mmmm. Little dries.

Lastly we get a bunch of salmon in the system. Eggs, and flesh oh ya. Trout chase down the salmon and feed off them. They feed off the little fish feeding off the salmon, it becomes a crazy food frenzy for fish. We get to huck streamers and swing em for big boys, we get do run eggs and sucking leech patterns for Trout. And yes you can dead drift flesh flies and produce chonkers. It’s awesome. So if you like to swing or chase really big fish…October baby.

There are roughly 60 days of the late season left to fish. Let’s fill them up with clients, trout, and happy faces. We all need it. Come on out for the end of the 2021 trout season! It’ll be really fun.

Tamarack

The river is always there. Life isn’t supposed to be easy. And like the trout that I chase it rarely is. I find my late 20s and early 30s to be mostly class IV and V rapids. Eddy out for a breather here and there. I apologize in advance for all the river and fish references. Like sports ball!

Tis the older millennial curse I guess. A world that’s trying to kill you, passed aside as a well educated snowflake generation, trying to make it as a small business owner, post covid, still in covid, living guide trip to guide trip. It’s not what I set out for but what I was dealt.

Off river life…ya, let’s stay away from that for now. The river is always there when I need it though. When I need to ponder and process, or need to release anger and frustration, when I need to get away from the noise of people, the pressure of being a guide, a good dad, a good boyfriend. When no one else listens….the river does. It takes my focus, stimulates my whole being…if I could be a fish I would.

What it comes right down to is the simplicity of fly fishing…and also its complexity. One of only a few activities I’ve ever done that never leaves me bored. I get bored easy. Sitting still, hanging around, it’s not my default mode. Covid put a damper on it. Now that things seem to be getting better the drive to move is back. Slowly but its back. That drive to work, to play, to do.

I rarely ever find anyone that can keep up. Most days its a solo affair. And I still pursue people that can hang but tis the life of a trout bum river rat to always be wanting more. It makes you greedy, makes you aloof, makes things that others find important…trivial. Not always the easiest way to go about things.

The Season is in its peak, but the world is still trudging to catch up and heal. It’s hard sitting still when things are good. It’s hard to wake up some mornings with no new trip inquires. After 2020 I had hoped things would pick up substantially, unfortunately that’s has not been the case this summer. Fishing is amazing…trips not so much.

It’s exhausting when all you want to do is work and get going but everything around you is still at as ails pace comparatively. Wanting to travel and explore and share new experiences but stuck still. It’s maddening. Hence the snorkeling and fishing.

I can find solace and stretch my mind in or on the water. Being a part of the lives of the things I chase and hold dearly keeps the negative at bay. The river is always there.

I cam show you.

Tamarack

The summer is going strong. Things are hot, places are on fire, it’s the new norm. After a bust of a trip to the St. Joe and then again on the Methow due to fires we ended up fishing Cooper Lake. It was wicked getting to see some Browns and having Alec get his first one and a doozy at that.

Now camping is closed off, day use is still allowed which means we can fish. The summer has been weird post covid and now this fire shit again, plus the fly fishing industry still reeling from the pandemic now has drought, low water, and hot water issues all over the west. I feel for my guide counterparts in other places having to combat the effects of AG and climate change. Frontline of it.

Here on the Yakima we are fairing well. We had decent snowpack and made it through the heat waves with enough water in the reservoirs to get us through. This season. I feel that every year there will be more fires, more heat waves, less precip, it’s not always the easiest to stay positive. It’s supposed to get easier post pandemic…right?

Thankfully we can fish. And it’s busy but not as busy as it could be. I can always work more. It’s rarely enough. So bring it on. It’s hopper season.

We’ve been chucking big bugs for a minute now but it’s really good in the mornings and evenings. Big flies, big slurpy and slappy trout. Heavy flows, water under 60 degree, it’s dope out there. We are getting away with dries almost all day. A few sections of river I have clients bobber dog streamers and we’ve been booking CHONKER DONKEY Trout. It’s been a blast.

I had days open this week so get on the calendar and lots of stuff open in August. The fall season…the best season…is right around the corner. Get on it!

See ya riverside anglers.

Tamarack

It is the month of July. Which means the month of dries. One of the only months where you can get away with chucking a dry fly all day and trick the troots. It’s had already happened on the few trips already this month.

It’s the month of smorgasbord! Hoppers, ants, stoneflies, caddis, drakes, beetles, tricos, spinner fall, there are bugs to eat. Water temp is in the low to mid 50s unlike most other western rivers right now….we do not have hot water temps in the mainstem Yakima.

Fortunately for us we had decent snowpack and even with our past heat wave we still have water. The Teanaway and smaller trib streams are starting their summer drop and warm up but the mainstem Yak will be just fine all summer.

The evening floats are pushing out some chonker trout. Early AM floats as well. We aren’t fishing the middle of the day as much but they will eat basically all day now.

Flows are up, which means the treadmill is on for these fish. It’s work our time. Big flows, big bugs, big eats! The fish are now pushed into the banks with the heavy flows. With the water temps hovering in that prime trout feeding zone: 50 to 55 we are in business for a bitchen July and August.

I invite new anglers to come in the summer. The water is big and can be overwhelming but my boat and I will get ya over that really quick. The new or inexperienced angler is at the advantage in the summer. Trout gotta eat, they are easier to find, and it makes them a little more inclined for the new angler with everything cranked up to 11. Plus it’s mostly if not all dry fly fishing. I’ll show ya how to do the other techniques, and we will catch fish on them. But we mostly go for the dry eat this time of year. It really fun.

I have lots of opening in July. I’ll be out of town from the 14 to the 17 but we are wide open otherwise.

I will also be adding the Methow river in August for floats which is new this season so if that interests you keep am eye our for those dates as they will be run like a camp. I’m up there. You meet me there to fish!

Coming up this week I have the 8th, 9th, 11th open. 12th and 13th are free as well. I highly reccomend the morning or evening half day floats.

This season has been great. We are close to 100 trips and hope to break 130 which is double last year during covid. I can’t thank everyone enough for the continued support. 7 years full time guiding. Lets fill up the rest of the summer and chase trout anglers! Reserve a trip today and get in on the summer action here on the Yakima River.

See ya riverside anglers.

Tamarack