Fly of the Week #22- Anything Orange!!

Photo by S. Worley- Recent Yakima Rainbow

Yes, the fly of the week is anything orange.  Big and orange.

As the fall season continues the slow, inevitable slide into winter, fishing is still staying blistering hot on the Yakima.  The river is a gin clear, low and slow, dry fly fishing carnival ride and kaleidoscopic technicolor wonder.    Guide Aron and I were on the river for 7 hours yesterday and calling it epic is not hyperbole.

The recipe for success right now is this:  One good quality drift boat, Two rods- one with a nymph setup and one with a big honking OC- October Caddis.  Forget the size 22 BWO's right now, albeit they fish awesome, but there are so many OC's on the water that Blue Wing Olive feeders will snatch them before they float past.  Mix that with a quality section of river and a guides knowledge and it's an all day dry fly bonanza.   I admit that there is a secret ingredient here... A secret that, if told, would lead to terrible, horrible things.  I like Guide Aron, so I won't divulge his secret here, but Aron has a guide fly that fishes better than about any dang fly out there (Except of course my own pet fly).  My only hint- ORANGE!  Better yet, book a trip and have the best day you'll ever have on the Yakima and actually see the fly yourself.


How was our shop guys trip?  It started with some great nymphing.  Pat's Stones, small Baetis patterns, Bird of Prey Caddis Pupae and pink worms all fished well. Both Aron and I were using New Zealand Wool as indicators, Aron green, me white, and that stuff works really well.  Fishing slow riffles and even slower soft side seams produced fish.   With the river mostly stabilized from a freak, fall blowout of the Teanaway, we had high hopes as the day progressed.  At about one o'clock we switched over to October Caddis as the fish started trying to eat my wool indicator!  After that, nymphing was minimal with a couple of deep runs the only exception.  Fish after fish rose to the OC and when a BWO feeder was encountered, we simply slowed the boat and fed a good drift into the foam.  WHAM!  fish on, or, in my case, way too many over excited early hook sets.  I'm not too prideful to admit that I did have a long streak of overly excited, too soon, sets.  Use my misfortune to your advantage- wait.  Sit on the fly and wait.  Use something like a verbal count or "I like fish", before you set the hook as the takes are molasses sloooow.  So painfully slow.  The fishing shuts down about 4:30 to 5:00pm so don't beat up water after the most productive period is over.   Give your arm a rest and scan the hills for wildlife.  Lots of deer and elk along the river right now and the bucks are starting to get active while they shadow the small groups of doe.

No recipes today, but take these tried and true flies as reference for future tying and solid fishing.

Stimi-Chew Toy, Size 8- ORANGE!

October Caddis Tri Wing- ORANGE!!

PMX- Orange!!!

Orange flies have been selling too fast to list any here.  Feel free to call the shop and see what we have, shipping is fast and affordable at $7.95.  Better, if you can stop by the shop in person, our friendly staff can directly suggest flies and help you get on the hotttest sections of the river.

Get that late fall fix.  

Thanks for reading,
WBFC Pro-Staff,

Joe  

Fly of the Week #21- Para-Trooper BWO

Size 20 Para-Trooper BWO

Flavor of the Week: Matching the hatch on the Yakima River.    If you're lucky enough to be able to get on the Yakima this fall, you will be treated to stellar Blue Winged Olives, Light Cahill and Fall Caddis.  

The BWO hatch has been consistent and robust.  A light drizzle is best, but most days are showing a good hatch and the time is around 1pm on.  A size 20 is about right for most bugs in the area.  Fishing pools below riffles is always a good bet, but don't over look eddies and side channels which can be big producers.  

Recipe:
Para-Trooper BWO Fly

Hook: Sz 20 general Dry Fly Hook
Thread: Olive  8/0
Tail: Two Fibet type fibers
Body:  Olive Dry Fly Dubbing
Legs:  Micro Sized Spandex- Olive
Post: Grey or Silver Widows Web
Hackle: Medium Dun Hackle- Parachute Style

FLY OF THE WEEK	PRICE	ADD TO CART
BWO Para-Trooper Sz 20	$2.50 PER FLY

Thanks for reading,
WBFC Pro-Staff,

Joe  

Fly of the Week #20- Anadramizer, Purple #2

Anadramizer, Purple Sz #2

Klickitat and Grande Ronde- Two huge names in Northwest arid country fishing.  The "Klick" was in great shape, but recently we were pounded by an atmospheric river and it is now blown.  The "Ronde" is starting to get fish and customer reports are telling of good fish numbers and what sounds like the beginning of a good season.

Guide Aron was on the Klick back a couple of weeks ago for one full week.  He had clients into fish every day (Which he said was unusual).  However, it was not easy, at all.  He said the river is as crowded with anglers as ever and the Steelhead numbers are low this year.  He mentioned that slower water was holding fish this year, or at least when he was there.

If you like to nymph for Steelhead and want a good fly that gets down and deep fast.  Give the Anadramizer a try and pray for chrome!


Recipe:
Anadramizer - Purple #2
Hook: #2  Short Shank Steelhead
Bead: 4.6mm Brass Bead- Tungsten or Brass depending on water type
Thread: Black 6/0 or 3/0
Tail: Brown Spandex
Body: Purple Flashabou- large or Saltwater
Rib: Purple UTC Ultra-Wire
Thorax: Micro UV Polar Chenille - UV Purple
Wingcase: Black Scud back or Thin Skin
Legs: Barred Round Rubber
To finish: Use Loon Fly Finish, Thick, on wingcase feather and thread.  Done!

FLY OF THE WEEK	PRICE	ADD TO CART
Anadramizer-Purple Sz 2	$3.25 PER FLY

Thanks for reading,

WBFC Pro-Staff,

Joe

Fly of the Week #19- Sticky Sculpin

I've been busy booking a lot of trips, so this post might be a bit light on content.  The Yakima river and Klickitat River are both fishing really well.  We just had guide Aron down on the Klick for 5 days and among the many steelhead brought to net, they also caught trout and a 16 pound King Salmon.  According to him, it was awesome.

OK, let's get down to the fly.  We have a tube fly that will fish great as the river fish start to get greedy for calories.  The fish are quite ravenous at the moment, and the sculpin is a good fish food to imitate.

 Photo by Amber Manfree.

As a kid I caught a lot of these in the local river, behind my house, and they are quite common in most systems.  Big trout, including Steelhead, love to eat a tasty treat like a sculpin- just imagine calories galore!

These tube flies are really nice to fish and swing thru or across drop offs, out of riffles and fast water, or into log jams.   Fish this fly with a good sink tip and be prepared for a jolting strike while using at least 3x or heavier tippet/leader.

Recipe:

Sticky Sculpin Tube Fly
Hook: Sz 6 Straight Eye- tube fly style
Thread: Black  6/0
Tube: Pro Tube and Hook Keeper
Tail: Barred Rabbit Strip
Body-  back to front:
 a few strands Fine Tinsel then Barred Marabou
Collar: Orange Dyed Guinea
Fins: Small Hungarian Partridge
Head and over collar: Spun Olive Deer Hair
Note: This fly has a top and bottom and make sure to trim the deer hair flat on the "bottom".  The picture was the best I could find.   The actual fly looks similar, but not as "bushy".  

FLY OF THE WEEK	PRICE	ADD TO CART
Sticky Sculpin Olive Tube	$3.50 PER FLY

Thanks for reading,
WBFC Pro-Staff,
Joe

Fly of the Week #18- Mighty May Baetis

Mighty May Baetis Sz 18

"Good to Great", that is my reply when customers walk in and ask about fishing on the Yakima River right now.  Fall is in full swing, it was 36 this morning, and the fish are devouring the last of the big bugs before the winter fast.   Well, fast is not correct, it's more like winter diet plan for trouts.

Why small?  We have previously covered the big stuff, the big three- Summer Stones (Done), Fall Caddis (NOW) and Crane Flies (Now, but fading).  These big guys all fish well after about 12 or so in the afternoon, but what about prior to noon?  Nymphing becomes essential.   Couple that with the fact that fall Baetis are hatching in the canyon, other sections too, and you will start to piece the game plan together.

Start the morning at 10, have a good breakfast.  Fish a Stone and a Mighty May up until 12 or 1pm, then switch to big, skated flies like we covered in earlier posts.  The "in-tune" angler will start picking up fish quickly.  The river system is great for wading.  An angler can also add a dropper to the big flies, but that is totally up for debate.

One note on the fish- I had a series of about 10 missed strikes the other day and I was having trouble figuring out why!  I changed hooks, delayed strikes, etc.  Nothing worked.  Then, in frustration, I decided to just let the fly sit after the rise and count.   One, two, three...POW- the fish would come back and clobber the fly.  I don't see that all that often but it was the way of the day.


Recipe:

Mighty May Baetis
Hook: #14-20 Emerger- like the Dai-Riki #125
Bead: 3/32″ Black Bead
Thread: Black Veevus 10/0
Tail: Pheasant Tail
Body: Thread
Rib: small green Holo Tinsel by UTC
Thorax: Peacock Ice Dub, but I have also seen Black Ice dub.
Wingcase: Mottled Hen Feather
Legs: Natural India Hen Back
To finish: Use Loon Fly Finish, Thick, on wingcase feather and thread.  Done!

FLY OF THE WEEK	PRICE	ADD TO CART
Mighty May Baetis Sz18	$2.50 PER FLY

Thanks for reading,
WBFC Pro-Staff,
Joe

Fly of the Week #17- Bird Of Prey October Caddis

This week we selected a hot fly in anticipation of that fall wonder- the October Caddis hatch.  It's truly amazing to see these insects explode off the water; something that must be seen to appreciate.

Photo by Brian Henning

Fly developer John Anderson had his thinking cap on tight when he brainstormed  the Bird of Prey Caddis.  It's a stellar fly, simple, but effective.  As someone who responds well to flies tied with minimal fuss and steps, I can whip out a lot of flies during a tying session without going bonkers or having to drink 6 cups of coffee.  It also helps that October Caddis are huge and that speeds things up too.

What is a Bird of Prey supposed to be?  I've seen the fly described as a fussy caddis larva, or a slimmed down pupa.  You can go ahead and  take your pick and fish the fly according to your preference.  Me, I will swing it, or drop it under a big, juicy foam October Caddis.  I like to think of it as a pupa.


Recipe:
Hook: Dai-Riki #135   (size 8-10)
Head: Gold Bead
Thread: 8/0 Uni-Thread (colored to match the body)
Tail: clump of natural Hungarian partridge fibers
Rib: pearl Flashabou accent
Body: rabbit or beaver dubbing (usually light orange, tan, olive, brown, or green)
Hackle: natural Hungarian partridge
Thorax: peacock herl

FLY OF THE WEEK	PRICE	ADD TO CART
Bird Of Prey Sz8	$2.50 PER FLY
Bird Of Prey Sz10	$2.50 PER FLY

Thanks for reading,
WBFC Pro-Staff,
Joe

Fly of the Week #16- Crane Fly- The Hidden Hatch

Copyright © 2007 Gayle and Jeanell Strickland

I can hear it now- "Crane Fly... You mean that wacky giant mosquito thingy that flies out of my yard and gets stuck in my screen door?"  Yes, and no.  That ungainly and seriously leggy bug we know as a "Mosquito Eater" or "Daddy Long Legs",( They do not eat mosquitos and we also call a type of spider Daddy Long Legs too, confusing I know) is actually a member of the Order Diptera, AKA Flies.  From my research, the Crane Fly family is comprised of 14,000 species and is considered the largest single group, or family, of flies in the world.  The Crane Fly we are almost entirely concerned with, unless your fishing above Cle Elum where some yards come in contact with the river, is the aquatic Crane Fly.  I am not sure of the taxonomic specifics, but calling it the ACF or just Crane Fly is OK around here.



The ACF is really a strange insect in a lot of ways.

The first oddity is that the larva can be huge and not many anglers use them, which is a shame as the fly is simple to tie.  Second oddity, the observant angler  will see the larva along shore, as they migrate OUT of the water to pupate in the loose shore soils.  A larva, fished similar to a Pat's Stone, is good year round, as they are ubundant and fish see them often.  That patter is extremely simple and I will include it as a supplemental fly in the recipes below.   The pupa is sometimes available when freak storms swell the river and high water washes the pupa into the river system, but not really something to tie or even worry about.  Keep throwing those Chubbies, in Orange, until the fish really start responding to the swin/skate of the fly, something all Yakima River anglers should be doing at the end of the drift.  When the fish really start keying in on skating- tie on a Crane Fly pattern and hold on!  The last oddity, when metemphosis is complete, the almost comical adult Crane Fly is nearing death.  Like many of our aquatic insects, adulthood is short and frenzied.  Short in lifespan and frenzied in mating.  After mating, they die.

Why is this a "hidden" hatch, well I write that in part because of the aforementioned multi-habitat life cycle, like bank side pupation, as well as the fact that the Crane Fly hatch is so dang unknown!  Who talks about this stuff?  How many book authors wax poetic on the value of an ugly, massive and clumsy trout delicacy such as the Crane Fly?  Few, if any... of course, except WBFC!  Don't get it wrong, the ACF is the fly to fish in fall.

Recipes!  

Bugger Crane by Steve Worley

Recipe
Hook: Dai-Riki #300 size 10-12
Thread: Color to match body- 6/0 Preferably
Body: Olive dubbing
Ext. Body: Olive foam cylinder
Hackle:Dun
Wing: Dun rooster hackle
2nd Wing: Grey Poly
Fore body: Olive foam, cut to make head
Legs: Hen hackle shafts, knotted

ACF by Joe Schliesman

Recipe
Hook:  Curved Caddis type-  size 10-12
Thread: Color to match body- 10/0 veevus Preferably ( I use Chartreuse)
Ext. Body: Tan foam cylinder
Wing: Silver Widows web and one strand gold Krystal flash per wing
Body Dubbing:  Lightly dubbed Arizona Simi Seal #41- Cranefly Tan
Hackle:White rooster, oversized for skatting
Over body: Tan 2mm foam, cut to make head
Legs: old 10lb tippet form last year, knotted

FLY OF THE WEEK

PRICE

ADD TO CART

Bugger Crane Sz10

$2.50 PER FLY

Thanks for reading,

WBFC Pro-Staff,

 Joe

Fly of the Week #15- October Caddis

It is not too early to be thinking and preparing for the arrival of one of my favorite hatches on E. WA rivers- the October Caddis.  I was doing just that, thinking about them and cruising the internet looking for pictures and I found the Iowa State University Entomological site called Bug Guide.  The pictures are great and the site has lots of good reference photos ( many from the Yakima and other Washington State rivers).

Photo by Brian Henning

 

Photo by Brian Henning

Photo by Dick Palmer

I like the October Caddis because they are huge, make lots of surface commotion, fish respond to the the pupae, adult as well as larva, they are easy to see, hatch in my favorite season and are easy to tie.  A person could use a large 6-8 Elk Hair Caddis, but there are plenty of really big, large flies that float better (Think Foam) have more wing structure and present better.  The adults are not always the most available of insects as they literally shoot from the slower water below the riffles.  You can hear them take off.   This fly of the week will concentrate on the last truly large dry fly the angler will have the opportunity to present to the fish for the season.   My only critique of this fly is how long the extended body is, it seems a tad long to accurately match the caddis, as seen above.  However, an extended body floats better and the fly still catches plenty of fish.  After all, it's more an opinion concerning look, more so than function.   Tying wise, it is a very easy to make fly. 

October Caddis Foam

Body sized 6-9, but hook is 10-12

Recipe
Hook: Dai-Riki #300 size 10-12
Thread: Color to match body- 6/0 Preferably burnt orange veevus or brown Uni.
Body: Orange foam made extended.  J:son detached body pin type
Hackle: Brown
Wing:Stacked deer hair
Fore body: Tan or grey foam, cut to make head.

FLY OF THE WEEK	PRICE	ADD TO CART
October Caddis Foam Sz10	$2.50 PER FLY

Thanks for reading,
WBFC Pro-Staff,
Joe

Yakima Dropping

I think everyone has a boat launching horror story, at least everyone who has launched a boat that is. A person forgets to put the plug in, the boat is broken somehow, the emergency brake breaks, and the list goes on. Well,yesterday, Guide Nathan and I fished the upper portion of the Cle Elum Canyon of the Yakima River.  The "State" or E. Cle Elum Boat launch is not bad as far as launches go.  It has some big, loose gravel, some tricky water at first but overall pretty benign.  Precisely the perfect spot to have a mishap, however my mishap was leaning towards more lucky than unlucky.  So it goes a bit like this:  My Nissan does not have a lot of weight in the rear bed and when I backed down the launch, set the e brake, got out and pushed the boat, I thought, looks good!  As I shoved the boat however, the clay ground and way loose gravel did not do any favors.  My truck started to slide, slide, slide back into the large, swirling eddy that makes for the tricky launch.  I could only try to push against thousands of pounds of metal and fiberglass with little effect.  My saving grace was a large, old, rotting log that sat right next to the launch.  My trailer caught the log and stopped my rig from doing who knows what.  So, lesson learned, either carry chock blocks or sacrifice a bit of the boat bottom and launch at a steeper angle.

Droppin'

Fishing?  Well, the entire blue ribbon section of the Yakima River is dropping on schedule to meet the irrigation "flip-flop".  Soon, the Tieton/Naches system will take over water duties.   The top flies were red or purple ice dubbed Chernobyl, Purple Haze, red humpies, or some x-caddis.  We also threw some streamers, but only attracted the attention of one fish.   We saw tons of insects however: Crane Fly adults and larva, Caddis, PMD's, Summer Stones, more Caddis and a lot of small juvenile fish jumping in the eddies.  Our float was distance was short and only about 5 hours so we covered as much water as possible, anchoring and exploring as much of the braided water as time allowed.   Every nook and cranny of that water can and will hold fish.  As the water drops, the fish will start to find new and "normal" places to hide and feed in, so be prepared to fish a normal stream once flip flop is complete.  Good luck and safe rowing.

Safe Wading Chart for the Yakima River

Fly of the Week #14- Campbell's Popping Bugger - PLUS Yakima River Update

Heat and Wind. With the exception of today, it's cool and cloudy for some reason, we have been inundated with 90's and above.  I have not personally seen 100, but I am sure someone has.  Yesterday was one of the windiest days of this summer, and the reason we have cloudy and cool today.  Not the best day to be on the water.  When the temperatures get really hot, and the sun beats down on the river, well, the trout go crepuscular mostly.  Crepuscular being a diurnal active period at dawn and/or dusk.  You can still land fish mid day, but there are certainly slow periods.   It's really fun fishing at dusk and last week we had a great evening float on the river.  However, change is always good, especially when it puts the angling family onto boat loads of fun!

Enter Banks Lake bass.  This weekend I had the opportunity to travel over to Banks and get into some truly epic Smallmouth Bass and Walleye fishing.  The Walleye fishing was slow and they are not very good fly fishing targets, as trolling crank baits is the norm.  However, top water bass with poppers was just unreal, stellar even.  Again, mornings and evenings, casting up into rocks, rip rap, any structure of the rocky type.  We fished in 30 feet of water, casting up into 5 to 6 feet of water with the poppers.   As soon as the poppers hit the water, fish would engulf them.  Very seldom was the popper on the water for more than 30 seconds before the fish took interest.


Campbell's Popping Bugger
Brown/Yellow, Chartreuse, White/Red


Hook: Dai-Riki #810 size 2-6
Thread: Color to match body- 3/0
Tail: marabou and some flash
Body: Rubber legs out of top, with Krystal Pearl Chinelle
Hackle: Hen to match color you are tying
Front body: Round foam discs in various colors as seen in pictures- I believe they are two connected round discs that are lashed on and then glued together.
Legs: Optional- round rubber legs inserted thru body to add more movement

FLY OF THE WEEK	PRICE	ADD TO CART
Popping Bugger- Chart. #4	$6.50 PER FLY
Popping Bugger- White #4	$6.50 PER FLY
Popping Bugger- Brown/Ylw #4	$6.50 PER FLY

Yakima River Report

The headline should be- Cooler Weather Ahead, Great Fishing in Store.  However, the fishing has been consistently good and last week Steve, Nathan, a friend of Nathan's and I (Joe) fished the upper farmlands and it was quite productive.  One of the best ways to burn off that post work day stress is an evening float on the Yakima.  We had good numbers of Rainbow and Cutthroat during our 2 hour float and a lot of missed strikes, refusals and otherwise aggressive fish. Orange and purple flies worked best, but I don't think the evening bite is really a color game, but more silhouette biased.   Having big, busy flies that have tempting silhouettes will produce more fish and better fish.  I tried some smaller Gypsy Kings, but the fish wanted big.  The flies we fished were in the 8 range and maybe some 6's.  

The nice thing about the Yakima is that it is mostly insulated from the temperature swings that a lot of rivers are effected by.  Our flows are stable, albeit unnaturally high in summer, due to the three reservoirs that control the watershed and provide for irrigation in the lower system.  The "Flip-Flop" is not a political term here, but a Bureau of Reclamation event that switches the high irrigation flows from the upper Yakima System to the Naches/Tieton System to feed the farm lands of the lower Yakima valley.  Please stop by the shop to get the latest news and updates and check out the expansion!

WBFC Pro-Staff
Joe

Fly of the Week #13- Army Ant (AKA Amy's Ant)

Fly of the week this week is the Army Ant.  The Jack Dennis created Amy's Ant is very similar and tied almost exactly the same.  The only difference I can see is the name and the color choices.  Last week the WBFC Team all got out and fished the Yakima River.  It was close to 95 when we got on the river and the fishing started slower than we wanted.  The fly that saved my bacon was the Army Ant in Purple, but few companies make these and I think that the red version would work just as well mid-day and then the olive version towards evening.  We did see a lot of caddis activity and then we saw a few Short Winged Stoneflies.

Not to beat up on a well worn subject, but mending is vital to getting your fly into the fish and their limited sight plane, WITHOUT drag.  Drag is a strike killer and not tolerated by the educated fish of the Yakima system.  The easiest mend for the drift boat fisherman/woman is simply the lift mend:  Lift the rod, move the line and continue a drag free drift.  The next mend is what I call the flick mend:  The angler casts, and as soon as the line hits the water, the angler "flicks" the tip of the rod to do a mini-roll cast and add feet to your drift.  This allows the person fishing to remain in the feeding lane longer, hence more hookups.

The fish will pounce a fly like this and I think it's because the fly looks like so many insects rolled into one fly.  I can see it as hopper, a stone, an October Caddis, an attractor and even a gob of worms... OK, I am joking on that one, but you all get the point.  Try this great fly on technical waters too. My reasoning is simple, I doubt very few have, amounting to a "new" bug that triggers a strike.




Amy's Ant/Army Ant


Hook: Dai-Riki #270 size 6-12
Thread: Color to match body- 6/0
Under foam: Tan 2mm
Top Foam: Brown 2mm
Body: Olive, red or purple ice chenille
Hackle: Brown saddle
Under wing: Rainbow krystal flash
Upper wing: Elk body hair
Front body: Various colors to match- Ice dub
Legs: Black or Brown round rubber legs

FLY OF THE WEEK	PRICE	ADD TO CART
Army Ant- Olive #10	$2.50 PER FLY
Army Ant- Red #10	$2.50 PER FLY

WBFC Summer Trips and Reports (Thus Far!)

I love to camp and travel year round.  99% of my trips are to either fish, hunt or mountain bike and usually it's a mix of two or more.  With family, it's my way of instilling in our children, a respect for our resources and to get them outside and away from the drone of technology.  I love to hear my 3 year old daughter say, " This so fun!  I love camping Daddy!".    The WBFC Blog is going to be adding reports to the entries, as well as all the other fun stuff we have to offer.  The first one should be good, in my opinion, so it's actually a mish-mash of several trips and a couple I don't have pictures for but found some online.

Teanaway River

 

Photo from web

Yesterday my wife and I took the kids to the Teanaway to get out of the heat and into the water.  We went exactly where this picture by Jason G was taken.  I was very low and we managed to land a 10" fish.  The swimming was OK to good, since about 70 other people decided it was also a good idea to go swimming.  We were the only other people as far as I could see that had fly rods.   Fish took Chernobyl Ants,  Dark Adams and Wulff style flies, sizes 10-12.

Upper Yakima

Photo courtesy USFS

The shop guys all got together and fished the upper Yakima the other day.  We floated about 7 hours, taking time to fish a lot of good water, as well as let the tube floating people pass by.  It was slow since we started around 12, but there were fish to be had and all on dries.  We fished hoppers, Amy's Ant in Purple, Purple Haze, Orange Chubby Chernobyl and even swung some streamers.  The Fish liked purple the best, all in sizes 12-8.   I guess I did get a couple on a dropper that I used for a while. We saw a few salmon in the deeper holes.

Naches River

I fished the Naches one evening last week.  It's an ok river with a lot of wade access and a surprising amount of people fishing it.  My grandparents have had land on the Naches since the 60's so I have fished it a fair bit.  I only really like to fish it in the fall, since the October Caddis is a hot hatch there and the crowds are gone.  I used to fish it on my lunch breaks, but no longer work in Naches.  Those fish will really key in on large, size 8 or 10, caddis dries fished in the faster water.  I lost a good 20" cutty there 2 falls ago, just above the Hwy 20 bridge.   Other than that, there are a few decent fish, but it's just not a "super" fishery- good but not super.  At least not yet, and we can let time tell if it will fish better now that it's catch and release.  Try indicator flies and hoppers.

Mt. Adams

Mt. Adams

I got a chance to do a several day road trip to Oregon and back to Washington- almost all on Forest Service roads.  Before we report, let me say that a paved FS road can be a real bargain, but it can also get super annoying.  At least dirt is easy to fix and they keep those up, the paved roads around Mt. Saint Helens, not so much. 

Anyway, we fished some of the lakes near the area we camped around Mt. Adams.  I have to admit to not doing well.  The fish were active in the middle of the lakes, but fitting a pontoon in the truck while camping is not an option.  Maybe next year.  I saw a lot of fly fishing happening, but only talked to gear guys who had a grudge against fly rods.  They landed and presumably kept, a lot of large 15" or larger fish.  I saw one jump that would have pushed 20".  My contact for that area said that he believes there was a sizable winter kill in the high basins these lakes sit in.  He should know, he stocks them.   The lakes are cool since it's one of the few places you can catch a Rainbow, Brook Trout or Brown Trout in one lake.  If you real lucky, you can also land a Cutthroat or a Tiger trout. I saw a lot of chironomids, and pulling a leach or bugger should work.

The Lewis fished decent in one of the places I stopped.  It was a really nice river and the fish were eager to take a dry.  They ranged from 6-8 inches and held in any likely spot.  Nice day too!  The water was in the "Catch and Release" stretch, located in the fishing regulations.

One of the forks of the Lewis- Catch and release water. 

Winthrop, WA

Boulder Creek

Back in July I camped in the Winthrop area. Neat place to visit.  I was within sight of Boulder creek and that fished marginal.  It was very cold water, but also looked pretty sparse on aquatic life.  I saw no stonefly husks on the shore. One hole had about a dozen eager cutthroat.


 I also fished the Chewuch.  There was several good mayfly hatches and the fish were responding to emergers. I saw one 15" fish rise, but mostly landed 8" fish.  I fished a dry/wet fly dropper and swung wet flies as well as threw some big bugs.  The big bugs didn't do much, the wetfly accounted for 90% of my catch.  I explored as much as I could before I had to go. It's an area worth exploring more because that quality water, with little pressure, should produce decent fish.

We also stopped by the old Blewett mill site.  It was pretty cool and when I got home I looked up the old town of Blewett and it's history.  Very cool area to explore.

Lastly- Saltwater Kings

I hesitate putting this post up since I was fishing herring on heavy salmon rods and not fly rods... gasp!  But I like fishing and not getting religious about how I fish.  Fishing was good, we thought it was slow, but one old salt told us we did better than most.  We landed 3, releasing 2 of them as they were native Kings, and then we lost at least 4 more.  It was an awesome day in the salt.  I saw a whale come fully out of the water and crash down with massive force!  It sounded like a distant gunshot when it reentered the water, about a 3/4 of a mile away.  We also saw seals, sea lions and some sort of porpoise    The anchovies were thick and our rods would start dancing every time we entered a massive school of bait fish.  The bait fish were literally bouncing off our line! 

Saltwater!! 

Thanks for looking and we will have more to share as the weeks go by!  Fish on- WBFC Pro Staff