Any info on Yakima River?

[johng]

Howdy,

I will be heading back from Eastern WA to my home in Shoreline this weekend and I was wondering how the fishing on the Yakima River is these days.

When I get close to Ellensburg / Cle Elum on I-90 it sure does look like a pretty river to fish.  From the looks of things (quick Googling around) it seems this is mainly a fly fishing river.  Do guys use spinning gear on this river?  Also, if you can fish with say spinners, spoons or drift gear what's hot these days?  Looks like a good river for trout but what about other species?

Thanks!!!

 

Cheers,
Jg

[jackelope]

You can use spinning gear but it is a single barbless/no bait selective regs river. Lots of trout and whitefish above Roza dam, not much of anything else. Below the dam during certain seasons, there are salmon and stuff during specific times.

[johng]

Hi Jack,

I hear whitefish are good to smoke... any ideas on what they like to hit? 

[jackelope]

Hi Jack,

I hear whitefish are good to smoke... any ideas on what they like to hit?

I hear the same but I've never kept any. I flyfish the river and catch plenty of them, but I can't say I know what to use to catch them with spinning tackle. I know a lot of folks fish them during the winter months. I'd suspect some regular old small spinners....like size -0- Blue Fox but really I have no clue.

[CountryslickR]

Whitefish like real small nymphs like copper-johns and lightning bugs ect.....

[sirfunkeybut]

i use a small black fly with a maggot. i tie my fly about 2 feet up and use a single split shot on the bottom that way if you snag up you can usually get the weight to slide off vs loosing your whole rig   

[Skyvalhunter]

Second the maggots or helgermites.

[boneaddict]

Real small nymphs.  Bead headed ones will get you down.  Peacock is usually a good color.   I've never caught one on spin gear,

[7mmfan]

If I was you and you just want to catch some fish, stop by one of the fly shops in E-Burg, the Evening Hatch is right off the freeway at the Canyon Rd. exit. The shop is in the Flying J truck stop parking lot, you'll see the boats parked in front of it. Just tell the guy that you want to catch some whitefish and I'm sure he'll have some flies to recommend. I would and the copper johns and lightening bugs, they are heavy nymphs with some flash and whitefish love them. Fish them under a little bobber with some split shot to make sure you get down to the bottom. You might catch some nice trout doing it as well. The Canyon from E-Burg to Roza has tons of access and with the river being as low as it is right now you should be able to fish it well from the bank. Remember though that the Yakima above Roza is catch and release only for trout and I'm not sure when it opens for whitefish retention. It is also a selective fishery river so you need single barbless hooks and you can't use bait.