Eric, I agree 100% with Tim. In the fall, the lower canyon is the place to be. It is worth the extra 45 minutes. Light tippets (5X, 6X) and small pheasant tail and prince nymphs (18,20) are fish tickets just about any time of day. During the mid-day BWO hatch, dry fly fishing with size 18 and 20 comparaduns (again, with long light tippets) is about as much fun as you can have flyfishing. The canyon is very wadeable and accessible, especially this year. You can work a single 100-yard stretch of water all day long and get plenty of action.
During other seasons the upper portions of the river around Cle Elum and Ellensburg are productive (there's a great March Brown hatch in April, for example that seems to really bust out in the Ellensburg stretches), but during October and into November the canyon is it. I try to avoid it on weekends because it gets packed, but even then, it's better than staying home and doing yard work. Good Luck Gary Meyers Kirkland > Thanks for the report Tim. > > I have fished the Yakima at the Cle Elum boat launch twice in the past week - > last Thurs and this Thurs. Last week was windy, overcast and cold. This > week it was between storms, the wind was light and it was sunny. I saw very > few rises both days and no hatches except a short lived bwo both days in the > afternoon. I saw a few cahills (?) and, about 4 Octobers over the 2 day > period. > > I had very little success; 1 fish and 6 or so rises to the dry fly in the > late afternoon. One fish was quite heavy and snapped me off immediately. > > I tend to use light tippets 3lb (6x?) and leaders which has resulted in > losing some nice fish while catching some average ones. > > I could use some advice. Is it wise to use light line to entice more takes, > or something heavier? Is it worth the extra miles to travel further towards > the canyon from Seattle? I always wade. Was there ever an October Caddis > hatch this fall? Do the hatches occur along the river at about the same > time? Should I be fishing nymphs instead of small caddis, bwo, etc? Are > attractor patterns or streamers in order when no rises are seen? > > Thanks for any advice. > Eric > > > > In a message dated 10/24/01 8:47:21 PM Pacific Daylight Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > >> Subj: Yakima Canyon report >> Date: 10/24/01 8:47:21 PM Pacific Daylight Time >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tim Harris) >> Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> My friend, Lisa, and I braved the weather today and headed to Ellensburg >> to >> try the Yakima. It was pouring in Seattle, snowing from Snoqualmie Pass > to >> Cle Elum but actually very nice in Ellensburg. We started down the canyon >> road only to find it closed due to an accident, a truck turned over and >> blocked the road just up from Red's. We told the guy at the road closed >> post we were just fishing so we went in to find water before the road > block. >> Fished from 10-12 between mile 19 & 18 but got no hits, saw no rises, > etc... >> The water was a bit higher and colder than my last visit and full of > leaves, >> grass, branches, and other assorted garbage from the wind yesterday. My >> biggest catch on that stretch was a really big leaf. Saw a few small BWOs >> in this stretch but no fish up taking them. From 12-2 we fished up from >> Umtanum and did much better. I landed 5 rainbows in the 12-14" range, lost >> one and had a few other potential takes. All fish were on a #18 PT that I >> had dropped behind a #14 BHPT. Lisa got skunked but this was only her 3rd >> trip out and the fishing was a bit tougher than it was on the last few > trips >> over there. The wind was getting pretty horrid by 2 and the clouds/rain >> were on the way so we bailed and got to drive through rain most of the way >> home. >> >> Tim >> > >
