KLICKITAT Nice to be back on the Klickitat. Great watershed. Bonneville numbers are not good….However, the fish trap on the Klickitat is showing slightly less than average numbers which is not a bad stat considering. The Klickitat, usually gets fish:)
Clarity was 15-20inches this past weekend. No fish on the swing and a handfull on the nymph.
Bugs de jour…
Summer Stones, Caddis, Yellow Mays, Terrestrials
Bugs of the week…
YB soft hackle, Pats Stones, Dave’s Hopper.
Upper Proper is low and a little warm. From the Cle elum river confluence down the river is at typical big summer flows. Some good Caddis activity here and there. However, finding nice fish on the Caddis is difficult amid the precocial salmon. Some reasonable fishing otherwise despite the heat.
UPPER COLUMBIA
We will be back on the water for our fall season shortly….
Klickitat – Shorts and SteelheadBeautiful upstream Yakima CutthroatEvening Light
Been awhile since the last report…The Yakima is like any other Western stream in the blazing heat…. A little tough. Ironically the smoke from the fires add a bit of ‘cover’ and block the amount of direct light which is an artificial cloud cover. Hat’s off to all the firefighters out there and hope they get the blazes under control. Regardless, the mornings and evenings remain the time to be on the water. Sometimes, the earlier or later, the better.
Bugs of the month – Summer Stones, Caddis, Cahills, Terrestrials
Rick and Cathy on the YakimaRick and Cathy on the YakimaRick and Cathy on the Yakima
KLICKITAT REPORT
Current clarity is poor. However, the overall clarity has been reasonable considering the heat. Hook ups have been reasonable; landing the fish haS been a challenge:)
Current clarity in Town @ 9AM – 18 inches
Clarity in Town @ 4PM – 10 inches
YAKIMA’s fishing has slowed a bit, due to the hot weather. Mornings and evenings, have been the best time to be on the water as a general rule. Current insects include… Yellow Sallies, Caddis, Hoppers
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UPPER COLUMBIA window of opportunity has narrowed. Insects include… Caddis, Baetis and the latent memory of the Black Quill.
KLICKITAT clarity has been poor overall which is not untypical. However this past week has been pretty good clarity. The Two Hander Day is coming up just around the corner – Aug 12. We will be on the water daily just around the corner as well:)
YAKIMA
Water is up to normal levels. Lower canyon-lots of caddis, pmds holding on. Summer stone nymphs moving. Sally’s showing and few little green drakes and size 20 Baetis. Small dry fishing tough because of all the precocial salmon. Worst we have seen. They should be flushed out of the river by now? Maybe they released late? Fishing has been good with dry dropper and nymphing. Lots of 10-13 inchers with a few in the 15-18 range. Upper canyon pmds still strong 1-3p. Water temps are great in great condition as is the river.
UPPER COLUMBIA
The Summer hatches are in full bloom. The heat wave has condensed the opportunity time to a smaller window. Spotted Sedge Caddis, Black Quill Drakes, Green Drakes, Baetis and PED’s make up the mix.
YAKIMA Fishing on the Yakima has slowed a bit recently due to the hot, hot weather. Evenings have been the best to be on the water as a general rule.
Current Yakima insects include
Caddis #14-18
PMD’s and PED’s #14-18
Summer Baetis #18-20
Coming Soon….The Short Wing Stone
The tributaries are great options for the wading anglers. Some of the top tribs to explore would include…
1-The Teanaway
2-The Tanuem
3-The Manastach
4-The Nanuem
Top patterns on the tribs lately would include….
#12-16 Yellow Humpies
#10-14 Royal Trudes
#12-16 Lightning Bugs and Red Copper Johns
UPPER COLUMBIA The window of opportunity has narrowed recently due to the heat.
Insects include
Baetis #18-22
PMD’s #16
Drakes #10-12
Wildlife sightings include-Moose, Black Bear, Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Turkey and Bud Light:)
KLICKITAT There are fish in the system and a few being caught. Currently the water is marginal at best. We have not been on the river much. We however will be on it quite a bit in the near future.
Young Yakima AnglerKlickitat clarityJake and Frank on the Upper Columbia
Average to great fishing daily depending on the hatches, weather etc…. One of the best techniques lately has been with the dry fly. The entire river from top to bottom has been good.
VIF – Very Important Flies include
-> #14-16 PMD Cripples and Parachutes
-> #8-12 Chubbies in various colors
-> #12-14 Humpies in red or yellow
-> #14-16 Beadhead PMD Bubble Backs
-> #14-16 Beadhead YB’s
-> #6-8 Stone fly nymphs
This river has been a bit challenging lately. Some good days and some tough days. Most of the issues have been weather related. Regardless, we have seen some cool stuff and spent time with some great people.
Bugs de Jour
#15 Undentified May
#16 PMD and PED
#14-18 Caddis
Water Clarity 7 feet
Brad and a sweet UC BowBrookieKevin with a sweet bow
Currently blown out based on direct releases…. should be back in shape by Sunday.
River has been in good condition and fishing avg. to good depending on the day. the river has turned into a Caddis, Stonefly, Baitfish, Terrestrial and Salmon Spawn River. In other words, our general mayfly population is significantly less then ‘Back in the Day’. My take on this is the Salmon. While our clinging Mayflies are still abundant, our Swimming and Crawling Mayflies are significantly less. With the abundant Salmon Smolt in our river now, and the type of water the smolt like to ‘hang out’ in, it is no wonder the Swimmer and Crawler mayfly population is less prolific as they are easy prey for the smolts. Conversely, the clinging Mayflies are still reasonably prolific because the smolt cannot target a clinging Mayfly nymph.
BWO – Swimmer
PMD – Crawler
March Brown – Clinger
As we all know the Mayfly is the classic fly for trout to eat on the surface. The insect has an incomplete metamorphisis and becomes a sitting duck for trout in its emergence stage. We just don’t see the Mayfly hatches as we use to on the Yakima.
Looking at the positive side… The Salmon add a dimension of biomass to the river that was missing for quite awhile. The ‘Little Alaska’ effect from approximately Sept 10 – Oct 10 can be very fun.
Bugs Include – Salmon Flies, Golden Stones, Caddis, Carpenter Ants
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UPPER COLUMBIA
Big Water everywhere this year. When you are on the Columbia that is all relative…It is the biggest trout fishery in the world.
Bugs include…. Caddis, Baetis, Carpenter Ants, PMD’s
Water Clarity ranging from 4-6 feet depending on the day
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SMALLMOUTH BASS
As with all fishing, it isn’t always catching. We have had some avg. to goooood topwater action on the Smally’s or aka ‘Washington Snook’
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KLICKITAT
Currently on the rise and at 3560. Prior to this bump in the water level, the river was on steady drop….and was down to 2850 +/-. Tough conditions overall with not a lot of fish passage over Bonneville. Watch for those number to increase once the Columbia system levels out.
Andy and an awesome topwater SmallyBrian and a classic Yakima BowColumbia highlands RedbandUpper Columbia Caddis hatch
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