Here are ‘two looks’ at being waterside and in search of Steelhead…

Photos by Brian Chou

The last water occurrence was a BIG ONE. We are excited to be back on the water :))).  If your fishing using a  boat there will undoubtedly be some new ‘ISSUES’,  So be careful as big water occurences can change rivers dramatically.

Excited to fish the Ultra Spey and Salar Finder this next week.  These multi density lines can and will get the fly down better in the  typical 3-5 foot deep glides. They will also SLOW the fly down which can be very helpful.  These lines are best suited to fish the traditional ‘swing glides’

These lines however, are not the best in the ‘slotty fast’ waters where the Skagit head with a heavier tip and heavier bug would be more appropriate, like you might find on the OP’s  Duc or Clearwater.

So the moral of the story is….’One cannot have enough lines’  for the two hander,

CLARITY CHART – 2/11/15

Upper Proper – 2.5 foot
Upper Flatlands – 4 feet
Upper Canyon – 2.5 feet
Farmlands – 2 feet
Lower Canyon – 1foot

Fishing above the Teanaway has been good.  Below a bit spotty based on clarity as an overall rule….River is settling and should be rockin’ throughout the system sooner then later.

Here is a beautiful sea going rainbow that bit the fly the other day on the Yakima…..

The river is back on track!
Clarity chart as of 9AM  1/28/15
@Easton 3 feet
@Cle Elum 4.5 feet
@Ellensburg 3 feet
@Umtanum 2 feet

The river is back in shape!

The rivers are dropping into shape currently.  They should stay that way for the remainder of the week based on the weather forecast.  Both the nymph and the swing have been productive recently.  The fishing has been fabulous….like a broken record.

Three Bucket Bouncers;
In Back)  Black and Blue
Middle) Olive and Crawfish Orange
In Front) Pink, Chartruese and olive

As of 2 PM today clarity was as follows;

Lower Canyon – 6 inches of vis
Farmlands – 1 foot of vis
Upper Flatlands (Above Cle Elum) – 1.5 feet of vis

We expect the clarity to change for the better, rather quickly over the next 48 hours.  Prior to the rise in river flows and loss of clarity the fishing was fantastic.  Like a broken record for 25 years;  Nymphing a single stonefly or a stonefly and dropper have both been very effective.  Droppers include, San Juan worms etc etc etc.

People don’t realize the simplicity of this time of year…. Food sources are limited for the trout, so there is not a lot of guessing as to what the ‘FARE’ is.  The water is generally low and well defined.  These aforementioned statistics equate to statistically good fishing.

The streamer game can be a lot of work but can pay off in big dividends. Below are a few sparkle minnow patterns that have proved effective! We have plenty of them in the shop!

Sparkle Minnows

Recent fish for Langer