Yakima River

jeradjames

jeradjames

Life of the Party
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Hoping some folks will continue to update this like the Puget Sound thread over in the salt forum.

Anyone else getting out there lately? It's been nothing but a nymph/streamer game for me so far. Even with good hatches of Skwala's, BWO's, and now some March Brown's it's been difficult to target the few rising fish I do see while wading or in a watermaster.
The average fish I've encountered has been fat so far the early spring. A couple smaller cutthroat but all of the rainbows have been 16 inches or there abouts and they fight like hell compared to the browns I was catching in Colorado last week.

I have given up on the pats rubber legs as it has resulted in zero fish for me. Idk why as a lot of people have success with it but I do better when I scale down on the nymphs. I usually use a jig nymph and a beaded soft hackle.
My go to streamer has been a black sculpin imitation with a trailer hook. All fish have ate the streamer on the swing. Zero action with an active jerk retrieve for me.

A few photo's from my last two outings.

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I've upgraded my anchor system with a swivel, pulley, and new rope after this trip. Bit of a flaw in design of the frame where the rope gets jammed at a 90 degree turn from time to time which could get hairy at high and swift flows.

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BayouJ said:
Hit the Yak yesterday (4/10) - Tough fishing all day. Landed 2, one took a stone fly, the other took a march brown nymph. I did get 2 rises on a skwalla with a dropper, but no take.
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Which section were you fishing? I had a similar experience with a Skwala dry/dropper setup Tuesday. Saw a rise in a back channel, laid out my cast, the fish took the damn dropper and wrapped around a log jam and broke off.
 
I've been hitting the upper Yakima near Cle Elum and haven't done great but have seen some nice fish caught. Not sure that I'll make it out this week, but I do enjoy getting over there quite a bit recently. This is a great time of year to be out on it! I've floated it once, from Reds down to Big Pine, but mainly just banked it!
 
Got out and waded the upper Yakima until the water got swift and high. Things got off colored and swift in about 30 minutes. End up having to walk a mile downstream to safely cross. Flows can sure change quickly.
Rainbow, westslope, and a whitefish. I’m starting to really enjoy these whitefish they’re a cool fish.
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Went out to Cle Elum and Roslyn yesterday. Fished Bullfrog and East Cle Elum launch. Saw a few risers and talked to some guys who floated the upper stretch, they caught a few big fish. March Browns and Skawalas. Nothing to hand for me but it was beautiful and 71°. Water clarity was crystal clear!

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Bullfrog is interesting. I have not gone far up/down river much but I have had success near by on that spot. I’ve been told down river there some good fishing but have not done it yet. Once again been limited to half day 4-5 hours so don’t venture to far. If I had a couple days I would hike up and down that stretch a couple miles each way. Some nasty ants in the area too.
 
Anyone diftboat floated Irene Rinhart to Ringer recently? I am headed out next weekend and trying to decide between Farmlands and the Canyon. Taking a few friends who have not fished the Yakima and have been trying to get them into fly fishing for a few years. I think the beauty of the river might be the push they need. I've floated the canyon a few times, but have been wanting to try farmlands.
 
Irish11 said:
Anyone diftboat floated Irene Rinhart to Ringer recently? I am headed out next weekend and trying to decide between Farmlands and the Canyon. Taking a few friends who have not fished the Yakima and have been trying to get them into fly fishing for a few years. I think the beauty of the river might be the push they need. I've floated the canyon a few times, but have been wanting to try farmlands.
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I haven't floated that stretch in a while, but if you're floating with newer fisher's I would do the canyon. I floated Red's down to Big Pine a few weeks ago. The canyon should be in good shape and have more fish. Call some of the shops for specific's on the float you mentioned, it should be fine. The farmlands are fun to float, but it's been a long time since I've done that too. Have fun!
 
flybill said:
I haven't floated that stretch in a while, but if you're floating with newer fisher's I would do the canyon. I floated Red's down to Big Pine a few weeks ago. The canyon should be in good shape and have more fish. Call some of the shops for specific's on the float you mentioned, it should be fine. The farmlands are fun to float, but it's been a long time since I've done that too. Have fun!
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Thanks for the info. The canyon does seem like a safe bet and the views are hard to beat if the fish are not biting. I'll shoot for that and save the farmlands for later.
 
Got out for a few hours this afternoon. Good amount of March Browns around but only the dinks were hitting the dry so I stuck to nymphing for most of the time.
Lost a heartbreaker of a battle with a big buck. Need to get out in the raft again and try some new water. Never fished the upper canyon so hoping to try that.

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I've never done well on March Browns even in some pretty good hatches. I don't really believe this but for a while I was saying that I was pretty sure fish think March Browns taste bad and they avoid eating them. It has sure seemed like it at times.
 
Matt B said:
I've never done well on March Browns even in some pretty good hatches. I don't really believe this but for a while I was saying that I was pretty sure fish think March Browns taste bad and they avoid eating them. It has sure seemed like it at times.
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The March Brown is my most productive wet. I don't do well with dries, but wets and a similar GRHE really work well for me.
 
Modest_Man said:
I floated from Cle Elum to the diversion dam Friday. Got a later start and only interacted with 1 other boat throughout the day which was nice. Lots of March Browns out and about but no luck on them. Picked up a couple on dries with Skawalas and Chubby Chernobyls, but missed more than I landed.
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How difficult is that float? I've heard the farmlands is the most difficult area potentially? I'm still a newer rower only having rowed the canyon, all sections.

Tom Butler said:
The March Brown is my most productive wet. I don't do well with dries, but wets and a similar GRHE really work well for me.
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I really like march brown wets as well, they just look buggy.
 
So I have about 15 years experience rowing, but have now only rowed the Yakima twice. Once from the KOA to Ringer (Is this the Farmlands stretch?) and now from Cle Elum to above the diversion dam. I have never rowed the canyon.

There is one tight spot right below the boat launch where you have to ship your oars and bounce between some wood. Easy to line it up right and the flows are easy. After that it's about as easy as a float as I have experience with, but I row a lot of pretty technical high gradient stuff in inflatables for fun so take that with a grain of salt. A couple spots someone might get in trouble if they're not paying attention or incompetent. Lots of very nice water.

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