[Gone]

Fished Friday from KOA to Ringer; 2 boats and a raft in our group of 9. Water temp was an encouraging 46 when we put in at around 10:30. Weather looked promising with mostly blue skies, a few lofty clouds overhead, and no wind. We were hoping for a Mother's Day Caddis hatch, but started out nymphing with the usual suspects: Pat's stone over a Lightning Bug. Slow start to the day but a couple fish were caught within the first two hours. We hit a little hot spot on an inside seam that produced some fun in the form of a few 10-12 inchers in rapidfire succession. We saw a few Caddisflies but nothing to turn the fish on. Broke for lunch around 2. After that it went downhill in all regards: Clouds increased, the wind picked up, the air temp dropped and the fish turned off. No fish caught on dries all day. Streamers proved futile, and in the late afternoon the nymphing couldn't entice a bite either. By around 4:30 it started to rain and then did so in a steady fashion and kept it up until we took out at 7:15. Then it stopped. We should've stopped at the Tav for a bite to eat, but one of those in our group had to catch a ferry to Bainbridge so we decided to make a hasty retreat to the West (dry) side. Unfortunately the one hour drive to North Bend took us 3 hours due to the lane closure on I-90, and we were all suffering from low blood sugar and foul moods by the time we actually got through the traffic backup. It's not often that western Warshington is warm and beautiful while the other side is the opposite, but such was the case on Friday. I believe Hell froze over.
Aside from the drive getting home, it was a great day with fun o'plenty had by all. The first half of the day was memorable- the second half a little rough. Just the way your mother likes it, Trebek.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers.:thumb:

 

[Ross Perez]

Thank you for the detailed report. We fished the Lower Yakima yesterday and had a similar experience, except we got skunked entirely. Sun, rain, sleet, wind, rain, sun.

-Ross

 

[writer]

We hit the Yak yesterday around Cle Elum. Purely wade-fishing.

Slow morning, though some Caddis were coming off. About 1, fish started feeding at the surface and once we got a good match for the hatch, we netted a few nice fish (7 fish, each over 12 inches, between my wife and me).

BTW: Today, enjoyed watching retrievers work in Carnation at a regional Field Hunt Test. Lots of great dogs out there.

 

[robbbos]

Glad to hear you had success wade-fishing, Dan. I have been up around Cle Elum once or twice now and never any luck from wading... I guess it's just about finding that water and hatch. Hoping to have a day like your soon!

 

[EasyE]

We fished the lower Canyon both Friday and Saturday. Friday was particularly slow. Hooked only a few fish but they were toads. Decided to try and redeem ourselves Saturday and did the same float. Same story the first half of the day but late in the day the caddis started coming off and we managed to hook some very nice fish on dries.