Fly of the Week #8- X- Caddis

Olive X-Caddis- Sz 14-16

If I didn't like tying so much, and was forced, by fillet knife point, to choose just one fly to fish this summer or at least, the caddis hatches around Central WA, I would not hesitate grabbing a handful of X-Caddis.  The X-Caddis is the creation of  Craig Mathews and ranks among the best in emerger representations ever created- for caddis.  Its popularity was gained because it fools the wary trout of the greater Yellowstone area to the pressured fish of the Yakima River, and beyond.   If a fly becomes famous, it usually stems from it's universal appeal to fishing people, ease of tie, and  trout susceptibility. 

The X-Caddis in olive, dark olive, brown and black all work well in the Yakima and its tributaries. Olive or dark olive seem to be the best universal color, especially during the low light feeding frenzy that sometimes happens in the caddis heavy stretches of the river.  Just bring a flashlight if you fish until after dark, I would rather see a rattlesnake then feel one!   I dip just the deer hair wing into something like Fly Agra and then false cast it dry.  The combo of deer hair and Fly Agra make for a great floating dryfly.  It works well in the soft water of the lower canyon, as well as the rough water around Cle Elum or the various tribs.  This is one of those flies that we are always restocking, and that alone should attest to its effectiveness, if you've never fished these great flies, give them a try and see what happens. 

X-Caddis Recipe

Hook: Dai-Riki #320 or #305, sizes 12- 20 

Thread: Veevus  8/0 color to match body 

Tail: Zelon or substitute, amber gold or caddis gold- crinkled 

Body: Dubbed beaver or Antron: tan, brown, olive or black- basically match the naturals 

Wing: Deer or elk hair- I like Nature's Spirit x-caddis deer hair! 

Fly of the Week #7- Headlight Sallie

Headlight Sally- Size 14 or 16

As far as small Stoneflies go, Yellow Sallies are not overly prolific in the Yakima system.  Farmlands and upper river(Cle Elum) have decent hatches of these brightly colored and easily spotted aquatic insects.  

Like all Stoneflies, the Yellow Sally migrates to the shore, crawls onto land where they hatch and mating takes place in the bushes. The egg laying flights occur at or around  mid-afternoon to evening. The female is egg laden, hence the red "butt" on most adult patterns.  As they drop to deposit the eggs, the stonefly will often become another food source for hungry trout.  Of course, catching one and matching it's color is the best way to fool wary trout.  However, a lot of production flies are a decent match for the Sallies around here. 

One of the elements I like best about the Headlight Sally is the opal tinsel body.  Opal tinsel is just plain awesome for any fly, be it a traditional dry, an opal elk hair caddis, a midge emerger or as flash on the ever popular Dolly Llama streamer. 

I might try adding some recipes, since we are a tier's shop, to the fly of the month posts.  Eventually, I hope we can have some photographs or videos too, as the blog develops.

Headlight Sally

Hook- Dai Riki #300 14-16

Thread- Yellow Veevus 8/0 or 10/0

Post- Upright white calf tail or for a variation, some hi-vis poly or 1/16th dia. yellow foam cylinders. ( foam being used for extended tail/body and post)

Hackle- Light Ginger wrapped parachute

Wing- Hairline Clear Wing

Body(hook) - UTC Opal Mirage Tinsel, Med. 

Thorax dubbing- Nature's Spirit X-tremely FIne Natural Dubbing- #13 Sulphur Yellow

Extended Body- 1/16the Foam Cylinder or Hairline Fine Chinelle in Fluorescent Yellow ( Burnt to create taper)

Butt- Red permanent marker 

River Update:

While the river is still fishing pretty good, the USBOR has dumped an immense amount of water into the system! The river rose close to 1000 cfs from yesterday to today.  Also, due to our spring like weather this summer, we have unbelievably cold water.  I was told by Aron, one of our guides, that the river was  48 deg. F in the morning and only got to 52 deg. F at lunch. Crazy cold water for July and one reason we have a truly year 'round fishery on the Yakima. The telling story about the picture to the right is one of numbers.  Looking at the dam releases we see close to 4600 cfs being released in the headwaters but as little as 700 in the lower system!  This is all OK with me, since I tend to be one of those people who like to eat food and drink high hopped beer.  Both food and hops being grown in abundance throughout the lower valley.  The good news is fish are still being caught, the weather is perfect for fishing- overcast, no wind and mild temperatures. 

READ WHY

WBFC Staff

Fly of the Week #6- Double Bead HOT Stone- Multiple colors

Double Bead Hot Stone- Orange or Chartreuse  Sz 4-6

Yep, it's summer Steelhead season on the Klickitat.  A lot of guys from the shop have been making the two hour, one way, trip down to this world famous Columbia River tributary and fishing the heck out of the upper water.  Speaking of the Columbia, the Sockeye fishery will be hot this year, with fish numbers expected to be very good.  The same story goes for Shad, which are running strong right now and fun to fight on a fly rod.  

Steelhead love beads and a lot of people fish them.  I have to admit to having a friend in the bead business and the shop carries his beads.  The beads work, love them or hate them, that's life.  I am not apposed to beads since I grew up side drifting corkies back when our rivers had a lot more fish, our watersheds had a lot less pollution, and as a kid, everything was pretty simple.   However, nymphing is really quite simple too, and it happens to be a great way to get to those faster and deeper holes fish like. We are not a "this is better than that" sort of shop, so if you swing flies, that's cool, if you nymph or bead, great.  We are here to help you get on the water, fish better and learn something along the way.  The fly of the week is:  The Double Bead Hot Stone and it's a killer pattern to ply the deep, fishy water those salt hardened Rainbow Trout love.  Give some a try, nymph the strong water and see what happens.  We like the peacock with either an orange double bead or a chartreuse double bead. Other good colors are black body and pink bead(s).  Any indicator would work well for Steelhead, as long as it can handle heavily weighted nymph outfits. We have even used an extra bushy New Zealand wool system with success.

WBFC Pro-Staff

Fly of the Week #5- BH C-N SuperFlash-PMD

PMD #3

PMD Dun from a local Kittitas Valley Stream

Week 5-

Beadhead C-N Superflash - PMD- Sz 14 or 16

 We are well below "normal" flows for this time of the year on the Yakima, as the hot weather just isn't a real factor right now. (That is supposed to change soon)  But, as the  river flows show, the Yakima is jumping up.  I am not sure why they are; I imagine it is due to agricultural water needs.  Regardless, the river is fishing in a superb way.  Lots of insect activity, feisty fish, and lots of wading access right now.  The local small streams are fishing well and we are starting to see a lot of interest in our "small stream rods".  Anyway, on to the fly of the week. 

The fly we chose for the Fly of the Week is a bead head nymph pattern.  The Yakima River is usually pretty quite in the early to mid-morning and nymphing is a great way to ply the water and take advantage of early morning insect migrations.  The BH C-N Superflash in PMD is an awesome pattern for getting deep, getting noticed and getting bit!  Since most PMD hatches are coming off in the most comfortable time of the day, using a PMX or Chubby Chernobyl with a C-N Superflash dropper just before the hatch will be killer.  The hatches have been coming off around mid-day, so fishing this combo after the morning nymph migration should produce some decent fish.

WBFC Pro-Staff

Fly of the Week #4- Butthead Sparkledun - PMD

PMD #2

PMD Dun from a local Kittitas Valley Stream

Week 4-

Butthead Sparkledun - PMD

What a weird past two weeks.  So, we live in a significant rain shadow and the weather is usually a moderate ramp up to summer heat.  Last week, we went from moderate temperatures to high heat, I personally saw 99 degrees Fahrenheit.   With that comes a lot of doomsday talk of low flows and warm water.   Fast forward to yesterday, and the high temperatures were in the 60's and it was snowing in the mountains!  Yes, areas above 5000 feet received up to 8 inches of snow! It was 36 degrees here in Ellensburg this very morning.  All this means one thing, good fishing.  The Yakima river is fishing great.  We are having many different hatches and the guides are getting people into a lot of good fishing.

The fly we chose for the Fly of the week is a Comparadun variation dry pattern.  The Yakima River is a high pressure system and trout quickly settle into selectivity.  Now, that does not mean it's a small fly, long leader water.  We fish the heck out of the big stuff (More on that later).  PMD nymphs are working fine in the mornings and when surface feeders are not showing.  Trail a nymph behind a Pat's Stone and ply good looking water. When the the hatch progresses and the fish look up, try this sparkledun and look for foam lines and back eddies.  We like the olive-yellow tone body, the trailing husk and the extra float-ability of the deer hair.    Dip this in some fly-agra and get on the water.

Fly of the Week #3- CDC Winged Emerger - PMD

PMD! 

PMD Dun from a local Kittitas Valley Stream

Week 3-

CDC Winged Emerger - PMD

Late May and June is the entry into PMD emergence.  Over the next couple of weeks WBFC is going to be highlighting some awesome Yakima River Pale Morning Dun flies that are a good bet for most days on the river.  The emergence of PMD's is one of our favorite because it generally happens during the most comfortable time of the day.  In good fishing weather, around noon is dependable and in hotter weather, the morning or evening is more common.  Those are general times of course, so be prepared for changes from day to day as the season progresses.

The cool thing about an emerger pattern is that it can be fished, behind a high floating indicator fly, throughout the entire hatch.  However, some folks start with a PMD Nymph, way before the hatch (Which is a good idea anyway) and then as the fish transition to top water, the angler also switches to a visible dun pattern.  I think in heavily fished rivers and streams such as the Yakima, an emerger will out fish a dun and why we suggest using the indicator/dropper(emerger) rig.

Reading Water- Small Streams

We are really blessed with a plethora of productive small streams in the area.  Central Washington has of course, the famous Rocky Ford and Crab Creek.  However, the freestone streams of the Cascade range are loaded with great Cutthroat, Rainbow and Brookie fisheries.  A big fish is 12-14 inches.  I once fished a very small and local stream, we are talking 4 feet wide, and while I straddled what appeared to be a trickle of water, managed to haul out a beautiful 14" rainbow.  It was actually pretty surprising since I was within sight of the road and most of the fish I was catching ran 6-8".  It was a real trophy.  I am always excited when the small streams and rivers open, which is this weekend, June 4th.

How To: Reading the small stream Water

This is how I would fish this hole, starting closest to me, I would fish dries in the pool from the rear to the head- concentrate on the blue lines and the blue circle.  I would also run nymphs down the red slot if I was not using a Foam/Dropper combo.  This might seem simplistic as entire books have been written about small stream fishing and I have read some of them.  However, a simplistic approach is always best on simple water, in my opinion. 

One other option, and my very favorite, is wet fly presentation in this situation.  I tie on a Hare's Ear wet fly, a Partridge and Orange or even a spider and sneak directly to the top of the pool and float that down the main current and retrieve the fly back with short, quick strips.  The aggressive fish will strike hard, so be ready.  It's a lot of fun and good for kids too because it requires little casting and offers the "feel" of the strike. 

Tight Lines,

WBFC Pro-Staff  Joe