Aside from the actual fishing, which can be fabulous, winter brings a new perspective to rivers. The landscape is ‘pared to the bone’. The birds of prey are on the hunt. The big horn sheep are wintering in the Lower Canyon after a long and arduous rutting season. The most patient fisher of all, the Blue heron, is present daily. Small herds of elk find refuge near the river bottom, especially from Ellensburg upstream. Rarely is the river crowded, in fact, never.