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Yakama nation land and you ain't welcome
Klickitat River Trout?
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Dang, I was hoping for more encouraging news. I'd still love to check out the far upper stretches in the Res but also would prefer not to get shot. I've heard some frightening tales about the eastern half of the Res but wonder if you'd ever even see anybody on the remote western portion. If anybody else is dumb enough to try it with me this spring/summer, hit me up. The river looks tasty up there.
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It's not legal to be up there. It's the closed area of the Res and without permission (which you can't get), you will be looking for trouble. The higher you go the fewer trout you'll find as it's very cold and unproductive water. I've snorkel surveyed almost all of it and the trout densities are very, very slim...besides being very, very small.
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Thanks for that info Klickrolf, I appreciate it.
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Is there not a permit you can buy to fish on res land? I've bought them to hunt birds there in the past. Seems like they would offer one for fishing too, but maybe not...
Here in western Washington there are a number of examples where appropriate regulation have paid dividends for resident rainbows. Those regulations include catch and release with selective gear rules (no BAIT) during any period the is an open fishery. Population responses to such regulation typically result in more and larger resident rainbows.
Those resident rainbows are not only a benefit to the trout angler they also provide significant long term benefits to the anadromous population (steelhead). The resident fish not only produce smolts adding that life history diversity to the O. mykiss population provides a survival hedge over a range of survival conditions that are to be expected over any reasonably long time period.
Curt
Those resident rainbows are not only a benefit to the trout angler they also provide significant long term benefits to the anadromous population (steelhead). The resident fish not only produce smolts adding that life history diversity to the O. mykiss population provides a survival hedge over a range of survival conditions that are to be expected over any reasonably long time period.
Curt
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Permits are not available for the "closed areas" which includes all the upper Klickitat on the Res. I believe you can buy a permit to fish Satus Cr. and maybe Ahtanum etc. but they are not in the "closed area" (upper Satus might in closed area?). Bird hunting permits are available but not for the "closed areas".
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When swinging for steelhead, I often catch deep bodied, plump, and colorful native O. mykiss. But not often on the big Intruder type flies. I have some florescent white bucktail that they seem to like when tied into the wing of a traditional steelhead wet pattern. There is hardly anyone fishing for trout, which makes me think the trout fishing is under appreciated. The summer turbidity puts a kibosh of fishing dries during some hatches. Another problem is the season duration. I have walked along the banks in the Horseshoe Bend area in May, plucking big stones out of the brush and flinging them out into the river, and some nice fish came up. But the river doesn't open until June 1, so no one experiences the river during a stone fly hatch like the Deschutes. Also, you miss the early BWO hatches. The best hatch for trout is probably the fall caddis which can get thick some years in the Leidl area, but by then, you'd rather be fishing for salmon or steehead.
Another thing that puzzles me is that the official fish distribution databases show no cutthroat in the Klickitat. I thought for sure I caught a couple westslope cutthroat under the Summit Creek bridge around ten years ago.
Another thing that puzzles me is that the official fish distribution databases show no cutthroat in the Klickitat. I thought for sure I caught a couple westslope cutthroat under the Summit Creek bridge around ten years ago.
I've caught some really really nice resident trout on beads early in the king spawn. But judging by their deformed mandibles and line scars I think I'm not the only one catching them. I've thrown dry flies outta the boat during caddis hatches later in the fall and have also caught them. They are in there but I think a combination of conditions and insane fishing pressure keeps encounters relatively low. A 20" trout is around 8 years old, they have some seen some shit. It surely isn't the Yakima or Deschutes but they certainly have a presence.
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I'd be interested to hear some of those stories. Are you referencing the Res that borders the Yakima below Union Gap?
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It could possibly be that area. The White Swan area rings a bell. I once chatted with a local born and raised in the area who seemed like a trustworthy source. He had some pretty grim stories of people going in there and not coming back (and never getting solved) or barely making it back, if you catch my drift. Who knows, hopefully none of its true but he was believable. Very sad if true.
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i'd love to mushroom hunt up in the res.
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