Brian Boat Float--Yakima River

Brian and I took his first float trip ever with the guides from Red's Flyshop on the Yakima River.  We did an evening float July 3 followed by an early morning float July 4.  We started the evening with Craig tossing streamers and were not disappointed.  We tossed slightly upstream while drifting and slowly retrieved the fly to keep tension and keep it moving "head first" downstream.  Few things compare to actually feeling that tug on the line as the fish grab the streamer.

"Woah, that's a nice fish!"

We found quite a few nice rainbows this way.  Brian got the best fish of the day.   After that, I was the recipient of comments such as, "That's not even half the size of the one I caught earlier!" when I landed a "lesser" trout.  

We floated from milemarkear 20 to Roza and enjoyed seeing deer, bighorn sheep, young eagles in their nest, turkey buzzards, geese, ducks, mergansers--most of the waterfowl with young--and a turkey along the shoreline to round out our wildlife roundup.

"I like it!"

We switched up to big dry stonefly patterns as the evening drew on and had lots of fish up to the dry.  We fished until it was no longer possible to see the fly on the water, we got the boat to shore and got back to Red's Flyshop about 10:05 then headed to Ellensburg for our "nap" at the Super 8 motel.

Arising at 4:30am to meet our guide Eric at the flyshop, we began our float from Red's to Roza. We started again with big dry stonefly patterns and we found some nice fish sporadicaly as the morning light approached.  Once the sun hit the water we switched to a double nymph setup under a strike indicator.  Action really picked up once we made the shift to nymphs.

Today it was my turn to get the best fish.  However, the best part of the trip was spending time with my son.  Fishing is just a good excuse for doing so.

A well-fed Yakima River rainbow--19.5"

Emmett--a great nephew for a great-nephew

Emmett, the oldest son of my nephew Mark, asked me a few weeks ago if I would take him fishing.  Today was the day that worked with both our calendars so with the wind howling in Ellensburg our backup was to one of my "happy places"--The Creek!

The Creek is notorious for lots of overhanging brush, grass, and other assorted obstacles.  Not an easy place for a beginner, but Emmet was game to try.  As we arrived we donned our waders--Emmett's boots were about a size and a half too small, but we managed to wedge his feet into them and then hiked down into the canyon. The wind was moving down canyon which meant we'd be casting into the wind.

We decided that for ease of visibility Emmett would use a Dave's Hopper and I'd use the usual--a Renegade.  Casting was challenging because the wind was blowing right in our faces, making it quite difficult to lay out the leader for a good fly presentation and drift. Emmett found quite a few of the trees and shrubs that surround the creek--or better said, compose most of the riparian vegetation along the creek.  He also now knows how to say "wind knot".

Emmett with the wind knot wrap-around the rod move--he wasn't thrilled with this one

We fished several nice holes.  Emmett could see the fly--good. Emmett could see the fish eat his fly--better. Emmett could set the hook and then play and land the fish--not quite, at least not at first. Eventually he said he'd like to simply watch me for a few minutes and see what he could learn--I guess my verbal instruction wasn't quite like the great guides at Red's. And I didn't mind catching a few fish in the interest of the educating my great-nephew (or is it grand-nephew?)

When he finally connected and was able to hook and land one on his own, he gave it the customary kiss and thank-you before releasing it in keeping with family tradition.  He was feeling the rhythm and getting the fly where it needed to be.

Happy boy with the first fish on his own

He caught on pretty fast.  It must be hereditary. We were alternating fish except for the really tight quarters where rather than have him snag up in the grass or trees, I thought I'd show him how I snag up in the brush and trees. Near the end of our afternoon trip, there was a really small flat about three feet by three feet that was surrounded by grass with a stick across the river at the end where it dropped into the next rapid.  I helped Emmett position himself and told him to cast to the point where the water dropped into the hole and then be ready to pull the fly up to avoid the stick at the end.  First cast was right on target and just before the stick as he was starting to lift, the fish below hammered his hopper, he lifted perfectly and then fought him in the rapid below.  A great fish!

Happier boy with a bigger fish on his own.

Hopefully we will enjoy many more opportunities to spend time together on the stream in the future.