About Your Trip
Are you a streamer junky like me? Or streamer curious? This trip is dedicated to hunting large fish and catching them our way.
The Yakima River is Washingtons only "Blue Ribbon" trout stream, with a healthy population of Rainbow and Cutthroat trout. Folks say there's an average of 5000 fish per mile, a lot of those may be cookie cutter two year olds, several of them feisty mid to high teens in length, and a
select few reaching over 20 inches with the occasional two footer. All living in beautiful Kittitas Valley that starts in the ponderosa forests of the cascade range and works it's way through the shrub step to the famous Yakima Canyon.
The goal of this trip is to target big trout with streamers, fishing intentionally using equipment paired for this approach. 6wt and 7wt rods with heavy floating and sinking lines that will deliver heavier flies. This isn't pretty, or delicate, like dry fly fishing. This is kicking down the door and slamming an articulated "Sex Dungeon" on the kitchen table provoking an aggressive strike from a predator. This isn't a quantity metric for success, rather a quality. Getting skunked happens, but the trade off is having a chance to find a large aggressive fish that absolutely hammers our fly.
If you're looking for a trip that involves catching larger quantities of fish maybe consider another approach. I do offer general fly fishing trips that will use whichever tactic (dry flies, nymphs, streamers) is most productive for the day. I want to be clear about what this trip will be; your arm will get tired, you might forget to eat because you're focused on every cast, you might catch some fish, you might catch a trophy, you might not catch anything, you might become a streamer junky.
As a guide I will do everything I can to give the best opportunity for success. I have some great equipment including rods from Echo and Lamson, Lamson reels, lines and tippet from Cortland, and many flies tied myself or straight from the legendary mind of Kelly Galloup and brought to us from MFC. You are welcome to consider bringing your own equipment, but let's chat first. Are you already a streamer junky with a dialed in set up? Cool, let's go. Unsure? Let's use my gear. I always like to have one to two extra rods ready to go while you're fishing for quick exchanges in the event of tangles or to keep searching for the right pattern. I'll do my best to coach and instruct techniques to either fine tune your skills or teach you the ropes. While this all may sound intense, this is still approachable by novices or beginners with the right mindset. If you are really new to fly fishing, do a little Youtube research of Kelly Galloup to get an idea. We don't need to make long casts by any means (30ft is long in this case), we don't need to be delicate or perfect, come with the right attitude and we'll always have a successful day.
Logistics wise you can expect 6 to 8 hours on the water and the section we float depends on river conditions but will be near either the cities of Cle Elum, Thorp, or Ellensburg. All details will be finalized within a week of our trip date when we have a dependable forecast.
Amenities
Skill Levels
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Tackle
All rods, reels, and tackle are included.
Location
This guide can be flexible with the departure location.
Weather
You won’t lose your deposit if the trip is canceled due to weather
Flexible Cancelation
This trip can be canceled up to 14 days before the trip.
Physicality
This trip requires an average level of physical activity.
Fish Cleaning
No cleaning service provided.
Boat Restroom
No, this boat does not have a bathroom on board.
Live Bait
Live bait is not used on this trip.
Kid Friendly
This trip is not suited for small children.
Disability Friendly
This trip is not suited for those with disabilities.
Lunch
Please provide your own food / snacks.
