Yakima River Fishing Reports / 2007

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River Levels  Hatch Chart  Caddis  Mayflies  Stoneflies

 

Reports are posted as frequently as time and changing conditions dictate.   We concentrate on the river from  Gladmar to Roza, which generally has the largest and most consistent hatches and most consistent fishing.  So our reports are heavily weighted towards this stretch.  

 

11/12/07   Light Cahills were exceptional this year, two months of great hatches.  Unfortunately, fall hatches are pretty much done.  A smattering of BWOs and midges still have a few fish looking up.  Mostly nymphs and streamers until next spring.
10/15/07   Good Cahill and BWO hatches.  Good fishing. 
9/18/07  1200 cfs at Umtanum.  Cool and cloudy today and lots of Cahills, but modest numbers of fish eating them on top.  BWO and Cahill emergences have been mostly light the last few weeks.  
9/4/07  The Yak is mid flip-flop, running at aprox. 2350 cfs at Umtanum.  Hoppers, Summer Stones, Caddis, BWOs, Cahills, PEDs, Yellow Mays, Yellow Sallys, Ants, Beetles and Craneflies.  All mostly light.        
7/23/07  Summer Stone and Hopper fishing poor to good, best in morning and evening and away from crowds.  Fair to good Caddis in the evening.  All other hatches are light.         
7/16/07  Summer Stone patterns are working well, evening Caddis has slowed.          
7/4/07  Releases for irrigation have slowly bumped the Yak up over the past few days.  Not much impact on fishing.  Fair to good Caddis in the evening.  All other hatches have been light.  Summer Stones are beginning to show, but big drys are not yet the main course.           
6/13/07  The Yakima is in the best condition of the year.  Good nymphing and fair to good dry fly.  Best dry fly will be on cloudy days, with multiple hatches of maysflies and caddis.         
6/7/07   3700 cfs and dropping at Umtanum.  The river is in good shape.
6/2/07  Fair fishing the last few days, but the River is on the rise again.    Be cautious floating, especially the rubber boat/inner tube crowd.  Don't forget the oars.  A group had to be rescued from a new sweeper below Red's yesterday.  Kudos to Mike,Troy and Derrick from Red's for rescuing the group.  And many thanks to The Kittitas Sheriffs Dept. and Search and Rescue for a quick response.      Flows       
5/30/07  The Yak is still high, but fishing was decent yesterday.  Mostly nymphing until the sun was off the water.             
5/28/07   5000cfs at Umtanum this morning and rising.          
5/26/07  Flows dropped below 4000 cfs at Umtanum on the 25th and down to 3700 cfs today, a much more fishable level than we've seen for a while.  Grannom, Hydropsyche, Cheumatopsyche, PMDs and Big Yellow Mays.         
5/17/07   5400 cfs at Umtanum this afternoon and rising, with aprox. 1 foot visibility.  The Caddis hatch was minimal yesterday due to colder water from melting snow and full reservoirs.  The immediate outlook is not good and the river is expected to stay at 4500 to 5000 for the next week.    Flows
5/15/07  4700 cfs currently.  Decent numbers of egg laying Grannom most of the day yesterday, but not many fish looking up.  To much sun and water.  Anchoring  at these flows is difficult so most dry fly fishing morning to mid afternoon was done on the move and required accurate casts to good water, generally shady areas or very close to the bank.   A large Grannom emergence mid afternoon produced decent numbers of rising fish in shaded areas.  With so many bugs on the water though, lots of good drifts were required to elicit a take.  We had the best results after the main hatch was done, from aprox. 5 to 7:30.  As overall water temps rise, the emergence will begin earlier in the day.  Nymphing was mediocre.  Best nymphs yesterday were #16 lighting bugs and #16 olive caddis pupa.  BWOs and PMDs were light.   Flows
5/12/07  Flows at Umtanum are around 4500 cfs, with a slight rising trend.   Despite lower water temps, Grannom continue to be active.  Fishing is a bit more challenging at these levels, hopefully the river will begin to drop next week.   With the exception of Grannom, all hatches are light.    Flows
5/8/07   Huge Grannom emergence on the 7th, but the Yak is currently on the rise.    Flows
5/2/07  Still a few March Browns and BWOs.  Not many Caddis yet, but this should change as river temps reach 53 or 54 degrees. 
4/16/07   Good fishing. 
4/7/07   The river is on the rise once more.  Looks O.K. in the Canyon this morning but could be out by tonight or tomorrow.  Flows 
4/5/07  The Yakima is in great shape and fishing well.  Current hatches:  BWOs, March Browns and the last of this years Skwala.   
3/24/07   The river been high and off color since the 6th.  Levels in the Canyon dropped to 4200 cfs Friday  and clarity was about 2 feet.  Threw Skwala dries from 1 to 6 and turned a dozen or so fish, pretty slow.  Rain and warm temps last night and today have the Yak on the rise again. 
3/6/07   We're starting to see a few adult Skwalas, fair results throwing dry Skwala in the afternoon yesterday.  The river is a little off color currently and warm weather this week may cause more problems with runoff. Check flows here.

 

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