YAKIMA

The Yakima River is on it’s nearly dropped… The flip flop. Fishing has been good to great depending on the day. There has been some great dry fly fishing With terrestrials and crane flies. Streamers and nymphs have also been very productive. The entire river has been fishing.  

KLICKITAT

Plain and simple this one has been tough so far. The river has not been in shape enough to fish much and currently it is Willy Wonka gone wild.

Fish counts are  light and variable Over Bonneville dam. However, Klickitat usually gets a pretty good percentage of fish in comparison to other upper Columbia tributaries!

Looking forward to stable water conditions coming our way.

UPPER COLUMBIA

The fishing on the UC has been sporadic but reasonable. Swing tactics have probably been the best technique.

October Caddis are starting to show.  Tough hopper season so far.

YAKIMA

Fishing and catching has been average to good depending on the day.  We have seen some nice fish throughout the system.  Dry flies, nymphs and streamers have all produced

Bugs include
Summer Stones #4-6
Yellow Sallies #14-16
PED’s # 16
Caddis #16-18
Terrestrials

Controlled twitches with the summer Stonefly or Hopper can be enticing for the trout.

Water temps have been a bit marginal in the afternoon, especially down low in the system.  Handle with care.

Tip of the day – The Upper Canyon from State boat launch to the Diversion Dam is almost like another river, especially at this time of year.  Small terrestrials can be key…..For example – #16 Green Leaf Hoppers #16 Red and Black Ants #14-16 Black Beetles  Don’t be afraid to drown the pattern as well.

Nice trout for Westy

Forsythe Crew

KLICKITAT

Recently there has been minimal cycle due to the big heat and the river has been Willie Wonka like.    However,  the weather pattern looks favorable over the net week for a way better cycle.  Although the numbers are not great, there are definitely fish….. In fact reasonable:))

KLICKITAT

Clarity at MM 6 @ 9AM this morning.

The word is inconsistent for catching and clarity.   Sounds about right:)))  Some days have been great for catching, others not so much.  The clarity has been a bit unpredictable as well.  The cycle has been a bit all over the board.  Some days the clarity has been poor with cool weather?  Regardless, over the net 5 days our guess the best place to be is down low early….As we do have some heat and wind; both culprits for the glacier.

YAKIMA

Guide Report Condensed from Saturday the 20th;

‘Big dries and Yellow Sally droppers as well as Pats under a bobber.     Lots of littles.   Water is getting warm. If we stay in a warm trend we may have to start earlier’

Good nymphing in the Lower Canyon for numbers but not much size. Fishing in the upper river has seen some good dry fly fishing.

PMDS, YELLOW SALLY’S, CADDIS & TERESTRIALS  are on the menu:))

Summer Stone nymphs with a trailer is certainly a good combo for fishing under the bobber.  Summer Stoneflies will soon be prevalent.

Major delay on reporting. Good fishing on all three rivers……

A little slow on the Klickitat as the numbers aren’t so great.  Considering the lower counts, catching has been good

The Yakima’s main trout food consists of PMD’s, Caddis, Salmon Smolt, Summer Stone nymphs. Catching has been decent to good depending on the day.  All stretches have fished reasonable over the past week.

The Upper Columbia has fished consistent as well.  Baetis, PMD’s, Drakes, Caddis.  We have seen more fishing pressure than we usually do.

YAKIMA

The Yakima has been coming up 200 cfs a day for about a week now. Up to about 3000. Fishing still good. Lots of PMDs , still some March Browns around in the Upp. Golden Stones are waning now. Pmds, Baetis, and drakes hatching in the lower canyon.  Decent nymphIng and streamer action too.

Clarity is good
Level is lower then avarage

KLICKITAT

Clarity is currently good  – 3-4 feet
Numbers of Steelhead over the dam -Below average

There are a few fish around…. See the classic photo below

Wild fish on the run

UPPER COLUMBIA

Nice trout on the little two hander

Fishing and catching has slowed quite a bit over the past 4 days….Was rocking before.

Bugs include – Baetis, Dark Quills, PMD’s, Caddis

Level is low for this time of year

Clarity is  6 feet

Angler hook up

Well proportioned

Very low flows out of the reservoir….not sure why?

However, combining the dirty flows of all the creeks below the reservoirs with the abnormally low water flows out of the reservoir makes for less clarity overall

Upper Proper – 5 feet

Upper Proper – 6 feet

Upper Canyon – 4 feet

Farmlands – 4-2 feet

Lower Canyon 1.5 feet

There are definitely sufficient insect hatches which include;

Drakes – especially in the Upper river

Golden Stones

Caddis

PMD’s

Yellow Sallies

Bit of a gap from the last report….too much water time.

YAKIMA RIVER

Clarity is pretty much the same as the last report.

Guide report – Keith Wersland on Friday:))    Fishing  is good ringer down on big dries and droppers and bobber fishing.  Afternoon in the canyon spotty. Hooked nice fish on the dropper from 4-5. Caddis and pmds. Saw a couple Golden’s. Terrible wind today but there are bugs. Cloudy and dries, sun and nymphs.

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UPPER COLUMBIA

Pretty Darn Good fishing here as well. Caddis, Beatis . Nymphing, Dry Flies, Swinging Softy’s:))

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SMALLMOUTH

Recently our focus has been all topwater…fun, fun, fun. It does matter how you move that bugs on the surface….Make some noise

PRETTY DANG GOOD FISHING recently with the cloud cover.  Our guidestaff fished dries all day to targets in the canyon. Lots of Caddis, PMD’s….Lots of bugs!  Lots of little guys and a few 15-17’s.

We have lost some clarity in the Lower Canyon due to all the rain.   It appears the forecasted rain showers over the net week will be significantly less than the last couple of days

PALE MORNING DUN #15-16
Parachute Sparkle Tails
Yellow Humpy
Comparaduns / Sparkle Duns
CDC PTs
PMD Trigger nymph

MOTHERS DAY CADDIS – American Grannom – #12 to 14
Hot Butt  Caddis  – Egg Layers
ESP’s
YB’s
Bloom’s Parachute Caddis
Green Rock Worms

SALMON FLIES #4-6
Pat’s Stones in Orange and Black and Black
Chubby’s

MARCH BROWNS #12-14
Parachute March Brown
Thorax March Brown
Hares Ear Soft Hackle
CDC Pheasant Tail