yakima fly fishing

[cagifford]

I live in selah and i have recently decided on giving fly fishing a shot, i bought everything i need and have spend a few hours on the river(in the canyon between ellensburg and selah). I was wondering if the river is to high to give me a realistic change of catching a fish? I havn't caught anything yet but i guess 3-5 hours isn't that much time considering ive never tried it before. so i guess my question is this, is the river to high to catch fish consistently or do i suck or both.
thanks

[cagifford]

im not at all frustrated I was more or less wondering if i should wait for the water to go down some before i try to learn.

[boneaddict]

The river is running good now.  Remember that summer it is bank to bank or "high" water because it is being fed for irrigation.  Summer is a popular time to fish it.  It is difficult without a boat, but there are spots.   Grasshopper patters work well along the bank, etc.

[boneaddict]

Its not necessarily the best river for a new angler because the fish have been caught about 20 times each, and can be very selective.  Lots of fish though.   Good luck!

[jackelope]

You can't wait for the water to go down because you'll be waiting till probably October. They raise  the river for irrigation for the summer but you probably know that if you live in Selah.
The Yak is not  easy to catch fish on. You are fishing smart wild fish. You need to be using the right flies at the right time of year. Have you considered hiring a guide? Red's in the canyon would be a great place if you're interested in hiring a guide. Or the Evening Hatch.
3-4 hours is not nearly enough time to fish the yak and expect to catch fish.
Where are you fishing?

[ribka]

If I have some time you are welcome to go out with me. Will show you a few spots for wading and a few basic patterns. Not an easy river to start fly fishing. The caddis hatches should be starting heavy soon in the early evening and swinging emergers, soft hackles works well.

I usually fish the areas above Ellensburg.

Pm me
T

[jackelope]

Summer stones will be starting soon...big sailboat-like flys splatting on the river.
 

[7mmfan]

Your just coming into a good time for fishing in the Canyon. It is tough from the bank because the river is so high, but its not impossible. I would find a few good long grassy banks that you can stand on (i.e. not in the water). Fish a #6 or #8 chernoble ant in gold or orange, or a #14 or #16 caddis dry of some kind. Fish it RIGHT NEXT TO THE BANK. Most people fishing from the bank stand there and cast out or god forbid the wade out and then cast out. Most of their casts are way to far out since 90% of the fish are hanging out right under the grass. From noon to dark is the best time with that last two hours before dark being the best. Sometimes real early in the morning is good too. Keep it simple, one fly, angle your cast upstream as close to the bank as you can get it and strip in the slack as it comes down, or do very short drifts by flipping the fly upstream and highsticking it as it comes by. 

Hiring a guide is a great idea. Most people that take up fly fishing quit in the first year because they get frustrated with it. Hiring a guide may sound expensive but one day with an experienced guide will cut your learning curve to about 1/4 of what it would be trying to learn it all yourself from scratch. As for guide services, i'm biased towards The Evening Hatch, because i work for them.

[ribka]

Can vouch for the guys at the Evening Hatch. They know the river as well as anyone.

[boneaddict]

All sound advice.  Accept maybe the chernobyl ant thing....    I haven't caught a dang thing on one in this river.   GREAT fly for cutts over In Idaho and MOntana.

[cagifford]

I know the river will be high all summer but it is unusually high and fast this year in my opinion. I spend a lot of time floating the river and letting my dogs swim and practice retrieves and its really high this year. I also know 3 hours isn't nearly enough time to have given it a fair chance, mostly i am hopeing to go out 2-4 times a week for 2-4 hours and catch a fish or two every week and get a sun burn. (it is also possible the the purpose of my post is that i was fishing for someone like ribka to offer and show me the basics and hopefully cut the learning curve back a little bit because i don't know anybody who does any fishing). I am trying to avoid using a guide because i only live 15 minuts away and i don't want to spend 400 dollars and hopefully i can catch a fish or two every week and i would be pretty happy.
thanks for the replies

[Dbow]

If you want a guide, with tons of experience and knowledge, try Tim Irish.

[jackelope]

All sound advice.  Accept maybe the chernobyl ant thing....    I haven't caught a dang thing on one in this river.   GREAT fly for cutts over In Idaho and MOntana.

I will vouch for the chernobyl ants and hoppers on the Yak. I don't like to fish them because they're giant chunks of foam with a hook stuck to them, but they definitely catch fish.

[boneaddict]

Thats probably it.  I can't stand how they look so I'll try a traditional ant pattern, but they are pretty hard to see.  Typical of the 1,000 or so patterns I just have to have in my box that may never see water.

[stickinmaster]

Also you can visit the reds flyshop web page to find out information. They will post a power hour report for the day prior, which is a typed story following one of the guides day. They tell you what to use, how many fish were caught and pretty much exactly what to expect. Everything up to fish slots, swing flys, or dry flyfishing pounding the banks. Should help you get onto some fish!

http://www.redsflyshop.com/powerhour.html