Some of us have to fish vicariously sometimes. Someone has to have been out to the lakes since yesterday. Hopin' for some reports of killer fishing this weekend. It'll be a few more weeks before I get out there. Tight lines.
last weekend i did a float down the upper yak (elensburg) and saw a couple adult skwalas on the water, fishin was still a lil tough, it was a nice sunny day but the water was still a lil cold. used a stonefly with a pink worm trailer. all they were biting on was the pink worm. i have also been fishing the lower yakima (tricities) and have come up empty handed every day, still early though. Up at Ringold the steelhead fishing is happening, ive been trying to fly fish it but the flaoters are catchen them like noones business. thats all i got though, good luck.
Water temps were 40 degrees yesterday at Quincy Lake. I ran into Irafly and Troutpocket yesterday at Quincy as I was being chased off the lake by the wind. I fished Thursday with Ira on Burke and got "tutored" on the use of bead-eye mini leech-things. Friday at Quincy I caught every fish on William Servey's Drunken Dragon. Today is supposed to be windier than yesterday so I opted to sit it out and fish tomorrow. I too noted green bloodworms and wondered why.
I think turnover hasn't occurred and the oxygen levels in the water haven't saturated into the bloodworms yet...
At 46 degrees, I think turnover has already occurred. Folks have argued about turnover on this forum before. Here is my take. At 39 degrees, water density throughout the water column is equal, and turnover can occur. With all our wind, and temperatures up to 46, it must have occurred. The clouds of daphnia reported by yellow lab on felt soul are also indicative I think. Spring progression goes turnover, algal blooms, clouds of Daphnia, as a cause and effect process. Turnover puts nutrients in the water, feeding the algae which bloom under the improving sunlight. Daphnia feed on algae, so then they bloom, eventually clearing the water. I don't know much about green vs red bloodworms though. Jay P.S. the rise of rotting bubble covered vegetation off the bottom from the previous season, making mucky water, happens later in the spring in warmer water.
Jay, I believe you are correct, I was thinking of Quincy and Dusty, which were probably on their way to convert due to slight higher altitude and or depth of the lakes. Definitely a good mix of Daphnia and Chironomids the first day, about 50/50.
The Mrs, the dog, & I fished Pass yesterday (03/02) for a few hours in the afternoon. It was cold, breezy, and drizzly. I figured a little wind/rain chop on the surface might make the trouts cooperate, but no dice. Not a single take. Saw one guy in a float tube land a nice bow just North of the boat launch, but that was it. I really need to fish Pass with someone who knows the lake better and sneak a peek through their fly boxes. I tried leeches, buggers, dragon nymphs, sculpins all in different sizes & colors, with no luck. Starting to wonder if I'm just doing it wrong after the past few trips on Pass with little to no success.
yellow lab, I am glad you have debunked the banana myth* once and for all and documented it on your felt soul site! I enjoyed your report and especially the photo of gullet samplings. Jay *banana myth: you cannot catch fish if you have bananas in your boat.
Breck, I think I ran into you at the launch, I was pulling out with the blue pontoon. Sorry to hear you guys didn't fare any better than I did!
well the fish at beaver were cooperating this morning. however the weather at rattlesnake was not. (wind waves+float tube=I go home.)
Sorry Jay. Your logic and hypothesis of turnover is incorrect. The basin lakes have not turned over yet, neither have our lakes on the westside.
I wasn't able to make it over for the opener but I'm definitely hitting lone or pass in the morning. Havent decided which. After the hell of this week some time in the pram is just what I need. I hope those who made the journey east are having a ball!
I fished with Irafly Friday and Saturday. We met up with Zen Leecher briefly on Friday around noon at Quincy. 40 degree water made for little in the way of active bugs. Leeches, dragon nymphs, damsel nymphs, and callibaetis nymphs all had their moments. Friday evening was beautiful, the W gave us a break and we found an nice ledge to fish. Saturday was big W. As we found on Friday evening, structure was the key early in the day. The 3-8' shoals were better mid-day. Gusts that kicked up in the early afternoon put us in the position of not being able to reach the launch when it was time to go. Had to make an emergency landing on a beach full of bait fishers and walk the boat the final 100 yards. Waves were coming over the stern while we were attempting to hold on anchor . . . I think a lesson was learned today
Yellow Lab - Great report! Really enjoyed + nice pics. Pass 3/3/12: Several ways to skin today's cat, yet the lake was not exactly a pushover. Puzzle pieces included surface of 43 (stable for weeks), low to med light, zero wind most of the time, and a boat-load of small midges throughout the day. Overall I found it best to key in on visibility even though food was so plentiful. Today would start out with action at the first hint of light, then continue into mid morning as a low hanging fog and a little surface chop helped the cause. Full sink in open water early on. Why visibility: All winter these fish have been reacting predictably to the same set of conditions. First and last light, along with any weather occurrence that reduces clarity, have consistently turned activity on. Midges have been appearing, disappearing and reappearing throughout Feb depending on conditions so today's event would not likely cause abandonment of the behavior they've been used to. Besides, this has been the best way to follow fish all winter since food, comfortable water and other luxuries have been scarce (despite March, it's not exactly spring yet). As the wind went dead and turned the lake surface to glass another form of disturbance came along. And it really got going - if you look closely this shot alone captures a good half-dozen dimples: For the remainder of the day, whenever the lake turned to glass here they'd come again. Why not food: Short answer for me was you could catch fish but not exactly fast & furious. Most of the fish reacting to it at surface were the little planters (at least they've dispersed from the boat launch now). I saw a few fins and tails of larger fish but they seemed to recognize fly vs. food for the most part. Finally, with that much food spread throughout the lake it was tough competition on a single fly. Floater and shallow nymph worked ok but again I found chasing the unseen to be more productive in comparison. I think others did fine working the hatch when they stuck with it. Mostly a matter of preference. A little wind came at midday and really helped along shoals and shallow parts of the bank. Anything counted down with a full sink worked. Afternoon toughened up and the lake emptied out in a hurry. All were gone by early eve. Fortunately dusk was worth sticking around for, as my last 7 came in the final 40 min before dark. Larger rainbows and all of them hung on. Brownies showed up but were still far outnumbered by rainbows.. As things warm up and these midges cycle in I'm counting on a nice shift in the action. Should be any time. I've seen good fishing on them already but at those times there was far less food in the water, the sun was bright, and fish were active at a little depth instead of up high. Day's highlight: Smoked oysters & coffee (THANK YOU ROY)
Funny. I've heard the same myth about oranges...use to fish with a friend who would not allow them on the boat when steelheading.
