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Seattle Fly Fishing Report – August 19, 2020 – Ahhh-gust

August 19, 2020 by adminewa Leave a Comment

Every year we enter summer looking forward to the days when weather is predictable, water levels are down and approachable and fish are looking up! Now that we are here we can’t wait for water and air temps to drop like a winter sun and fall freshets to perk up our finned friends.

So that said, the Yakima River is HIGH, hovering around 4000cfs and the wind has been howling on some days but the hoppers are out and about for a bit more time until we get our first couple of cold nights. So take advantage of it or wait for a few weeks until the flows drop and walk and wading is a bit easier/safer and fall hatches begin. Either way, get out there because summer is almost gone!

We went from many creeks being high and cold to now all of them are super lower, clear and often quite warm. Fish have navigated their way to either very deep holes, log jams or are sitting in faster moving semi deep water where oxygen is more plentiful, cover is there and water temps are a couple degrees cooler. This means slightly altered approach to your favorite small stream both in fly selection and presentation. Bigger dries look more enticing and will more easily suspend small droppers but matching sparse hatches will become more necessary as the fish become more selective in these low, clear water situations. Yes, even on the small streams!

Puget Sound as been kicking out some migratory Coho up north and for those with boats, Blackmouth have been around in good numbers as well. Most of the baitfish have gained considerable size including Herring and Sand Lance so larger profile flies for the salmon will often do the trick with an ever so slightly slower, more deliberate retrieve. Not a bad time to employ an intermediate line as well and that will require a stripping basket. Cutts are out there too but likely most other fisheries, early has proven better than mid day in most cases.

Pacific Albacore are WAY off the coast still, making jaunts to chase these longer than most are capable of in a day. With any luck ocean currents will bring these beasts closer to shore here sooner then later.

Summer steelhead have been few and far between but the Lewis, Kalama and Cowlitz have definitely had some numbers around and the broken record here is…water is low and clear! Longer leaders and small flies aren’t a bad idea and if on water super early, super late or anytime for that matter, go for skating one up. Guarantee this will change your life should you raise one to your fly.

Cedar River closes here in less than two weeks so get out and hit it now before we say good bye till next year. Water is low so gain your access and then hike up or down stream to get away from people and find fish that have been pressured a bit less. Water is warm so be kind, keep fish in the water if caught and fish early as possible.

Enjoy everyone and remember, we are here to assist in that enjoyment any way we can so don’t be afraid to ask.

EWA Staff

Filed Under: Emerald Water Anglers, Reports Tagged With: 5050 on the water, Cedar River, Dave McCoy Photography, Emerald Water Anglers, Orvis, Puget Sound, Puget sound fly fishing, Seattle Fly Fishing, Seattle fly fishing guides, Seattle Fly Shop, spey casting, steelhead, women's fly fishing, Yakima River

Seattle Fly Fishing Report – August 6, 2020 – Warm to Hot!

August 6, 2020 by adminewa Leave a Comment

Amazing over the past decade or so how different our entry into summer has been in the area. Read more deeply into it or not but when summer hits it has been landing with water temps reaching higher levels, what seems to be sooner than before.

Many of our smaller streams have seen flows drop quickly with high water temps so the importance of fishing early, landing fish fast and using appropriate gear to do so has never been more vital to the livelihood of the fish we love to chase so much.

Cedar River, Snoqualmie Forks and the rest of the Cascade small streams are low and clear. Fish are opportunistic and will likely chase anything that looks like calories for them so identify their holding water and put your Stimulator, Wulff, Humpy, Adams, Caddis or Trude’s in there and have fun.

Puget Sound is beginning to welcome migratory coho and certainly the residents have been out in numbers so not really a better time to get on the water. Light is still early, around 5am or so so get up and get out for a couple hours before the mad rush to work from homers hit the road…so to speak. Baitfish are bigger so go with larger profile flies and absolutely do not be afraid to fish on top…coho and cutts are more than ready to investigate surface flies, always!

Summer steelhead of the hatchery variety are in the Cowlitz in good numbers currently as well and if you are a swinger, this is a great river to hit with the spey rod. TONS of good swing water and the opportunity to fish smaller intruder patterns, true summer hair-wing flies or go traditional.

They Yakima is high for another few weeks and it is hot over there too, not surprisingly so fish caddis and hoppers through the day, fish early if possible and if fishing the evening, caddis should be your game right up to dark.

Because it is hot, warm water species are as hot as it can get. Sunny days and little wind will help with spotting carp and your choice of small to large surface flies will bring smallies to hand as will subsurface streamers.

All in all, fishing is good all over right now so enjoy it because fall will be here soon and then the fishing will be really good!

Have fun and as always, ask us questions, we are here to help you find your success, grow your skills and deepen your passion…we are here.

Filed Under: Emerald Water Anglers, Reports Tagged With: bass fly fishing, Carbon Neutral, carp fly fishing, Cedar River, Cowlitz River fly fishing, Dave McCoy Photography, Emerald Water Anglers, keepfishwet, Puget sound fly fishing, Seattle Fly Fishing, Seattle fly fishing reports, spey casting, steelhead fly fishing, trout fishing, trout spey, Washington fly fishing reports, Yakima River

Seattle Fly Fishing Report – June 15, 2020 – Summer is Coming, We Promise!

June 16, 2020 by adminewa Leave a Comment

Father’s Day is going to coincide almost exactly with the official beginning of summer. With everything that took place this past winter and spring, most of us forgot or didn’t have the opportunity to notice we had a decent snow year and are having a cool entry to summer so run off is taking a little longer than normal.

This means creeks and some rivers are a bit higher than we would like to see them for getting on them and not going for a swim or seeing fish come to our surface fly. Now streamers are a different story, even on the small streams, those wily little trout will go after smaller streamers if water is still too cold to prompt any hatch. Trout spey on the Middle Fork is a great idea and also presents a whole new way to look at the rivers you love to fish, including the Yakima and Cle Elum.

Speaking of these two rivers, the Cle Elum has risen to a pretty high state for accessing much walk and wade water so soft hackles and streamers or even riffle hitching a big Stimulator and skating that across likely water can bring some exciting takes. The Yakima is in great shape right now but we will likely see flows begin rising here in the next week or so to summer heights so get on it now. Evenings have been better for caddis especially in the Canyon.

Our preference for trout spey is the 4wt and here is why. Your line of choice, whether it be an S/A integrated, OPST or other head and running line system will be of larger grain weight and therefore be able to handle a wider variety of fly sizes, wind and of course be able to shoot longer distances. It also feels just a tad more substantive in hand which will afford you to feel how the rod is casting, maximizing your stroke efficiency.

Carp in the Columbia and surrounding lakes as well as local lakes like Green Lake. Bass are on fire in Washington and Samammish and steelhead, well, we know how that is so go swing away and enjoy the fresh air and scenery.

Any questions, never hesitate to ask, it is what we are here for.

Filed Under: Reports Tagged With: carp, Cedar River, Cle Elum River, Dave McCoy Photography, Emerald Water Anglers, Green Lake, Puget sound fly fishing, Renton Fly Fishing, Seattle fly fishing reports, Snoqualmie River, spey casting, steelhead, trout spey, Washington fly fishing reports, Yakima River

Seattle Fly Fishing Report – June 13, 2020 – Choices Galore

June 13, 2020 by adminewa Leave a Comment

Sea run cutthroat from Puget Sound.


As we prepare this Seattle fly fishing report this morning from here at the store, the last 7 people in have been headed to 7 completely different places to chase almost as many different species of fish. We live in a mecca for those curious and adventurous about where and what to fish for.

Here is the rundown for the weekend…

Forks of the Snoqualmie are a bit high yet again. We had a couple of days with warm weather and we still have snow to melt. And so it is doing. That being said, the fish will be looking up more and more, especially in the afternoons and evening as water temps rise during the day hours.

The Yakima River is in maybe perfect shape flow and water color wise for caddis activity, especially in the lower reaches of the river, in the canyon. Upper river still expect to see a bit of a smorgasbord of bugs from PMD’s to March Browns and Drakes with caddis and stoneflies tossed in for good measure.

The Cle Elum River is up pretty high for wading now and it may be that way for the remainder of the season so be careful and choose your access points wisely. Similar bug and fishing expectations as the upper Yakima but with a few more cutthroat trout in there, would hedge our bets on surface flies first…we always do that anyway! Employ the trout spey on both rivers with streamers, this is why you have one and if you don’t yet, let’s talk!

Cedar River is still a bit high was well but if you pull up google earth you will see a ton of public access points to get onto the river. Streamers in the scour holes below log jams are a great way to move some of the bigger trout in here. Definitely a skill not widely needed in WA but a good one to have so come in and we can give you some pointers. We also recommend having a bike and utilizing the path to more quickly and easily get to places on the river some anglers on foot won’t get to as easily. Bring it down to the water and lock it to a tree.

Puget Sound is fishing so so right now. Kelp is working against you to some degree and can definitely be frustrating. Stripping baskets and intermediate lines can make a huge difference but more than anything, know your beaches, fish ones with a relatively fast moving current across it and as often as possible, fish outgoing tides as often as you can. Not because it “takes” the kelp away but because on incoming tides, it lifts the kelp resting on the shore back into the water and then you are surrounded by it! We are entering the time of year where early and late are usually better if possible and there are more and more baitfish of varying sizes out there so have a variety of fly patterns as well. Build your library!

All the lakes and warmwater species are active right now in more lakes that we can begin to mention. Callibaetis in the east side lakes for trout, frogs, mice and baby duck imitations working great for all else on our west side ones. Carp are an increasingly fun species to chase if you enjoy sight casting, stealthy approaches, subtle reaction to your fly and ultimately a visual refusal!

Steelhead rivers are actually in pretty good shape and this is a great time to encounter an early arriving summer run or late arriving winter fish. With water still a bit turbid, we recommend staying for the moment with what you would use in the winter. T-7 should be fine with smaller winter like flies in color of choice would likely work well. We would hit the Skykomish or maybe the Sauk/Skagit but really any would be good right now including the Green, Snoqualmie and Cowlitz.

Mountain creeks are a bit big and unruly but some are approachable now. We usually encourage people to wait until late June at the earliest as water levels can fluctuate during the day on some of these and water will be COLD still so the fish won’t likely be looking up just yet. Give it another week or two and we should be green light go on these little gems.

Filed Under: Emerald Water Anglers, Reports Tagged With: Cedar River, Cle Elum River, Dave McCoy Photography, Emerald Water Anglers, fly shop, Puget sound fly fishing, Sea Run Cutthroat, Seattle fly fishing guides, Seattle fly fishing reports, Seattle Fly Shop, Snoqualmie River fly fishing, spey casting, steelhead fly fishing, trout fishing, Washington fly fishing reports, Yakima River

Seattle Fly Fishing Report – June 12, 2020 – Woohoo, It’s All Open, Including Us!

June 12, 2020 by adminewa Leave a Comment

Westslope cutthroat from a mountain stream 45 minutes from Seattle.

Wish we could say this has been and easy time, obviously it hasn’t been at all but the world continues to rotate and we continue to evolve while spinning with it.  We understand how much being on the water means to everyone’s psyche and as we always say, we are quite simply here to help you learn, have fun, grow and find success out there.  We as always, greatly appreciate the support everyone provides us, we love being here for you. We would also like to applaud and thank all the demonstrators who showed up in the Junction yesterday, voicing the need for change and doing so meaningfully…in mass and peacefully.  We truly are stronger together. At this moment fishing around the greater Seattle area which we consider 3 hours driving time is pretty darn good, all things considered.  So here is the run down:

Yakima flows are about where they should be considering where we are in the season and with our snow pack.  Caddis are abound and our wonderfully fickle trout are paying more concerted attention them and should from here forward.  Still seeing some Yellow Sally stoneflies and a few March Brown mayflies around the upper river and streamer fishing will definitely get some fish to move.  Trout spey, use that long rod to skitter some caddis down river of yourself, even riffle hitch that little Elk Hair so it stays on top as it comes across.  Don’t know how to do that, drop by and we will show you.

Puget Sound is filled with lettuce so don’t worry about packing a lunch!  Intermediate lines can help with this by getting your fly below what is suspended on the surface and you will absolutely want/need a stripping basket for this time of year and we have 4 to choose from if you don’t have one.  Baitfish are growing in size so have larger profile flies on hand and trim if need be.  Hood Canal has been seeing an increase in resident Coho activity and more cutthroat showing themselves as well.  Try to fish an out going tide as often as possible.  As a tide comes in, it doesn’t necessarily bring the kelp to you but rather lifts is back up into the water column from its resting point on the beach.  So if you have to fish an incoming, scout the beach a bit and if there isn’t a ton of kelp on it, likely have less to contend with as the tide floods.

Mountain creeks are mostly going to remain pretty high for a bit longer but following cooler days and evenings, you may be able to find some slightly lower water.  We don’t typically do anything but dry fly in these watersheds so larger stimulators are one of our favorites.  If you want to drop a little Copper John or Hare’s Ear off the back, by all means do so but these trout have a short feeding season so they will be pretty opportunistic.  Caddis, attractor patterns and if you want, small streamers will do great, especially in another couple weeks.

Cedar River remains a bit high and BUSY but that is because it is a great little urban river to explore with quite a lot of public access.  We really like fishing streamers against the log jams.  Some evening dry fly activity for those able to stay out late, use some caddis and finally Chubby Chernobyl with a dropper through shallower riffle water will likely move a few fish as well.  In other words, enact your favorite tactic and get after it!

Lakes are fishing well for trout and bass.  Some high alpine ones will remain mostly frozen so stay lower for now and for the warmwater species, surface poppers, frogs and baby duck patterns are the ticket!  These are so under appreciated in our area, we are going to spend considerable time getting people up to speed on how to and where to fish here locally for them so stay tuned.

Steelhead rivers here in Puget Sound are open again and at the moment are at a fantastic flow for swinging some flies.  This can be a very good time to be on these rivers.  Water will still be sort of cold and have some color so don’t completely abandon your winter tactics but maybe go not as heavy on your tip, T7 or Intermediate would be great and go/stay smaller on your fly.  This is just our recommendation, as everyone knows this is maybe the most subjective space in fly fishing so take our 40 years of swinging flies with however many grains of salt you like. Have fun out there, stay healthy and respect one another on the water, its for all of us to enjoy.

Filed Under: Reports Tagged With: bass fishing, bass fly fishing, Cedar River, fishing reports, fly fishing photography, keepemwet, keepfishwet, Puget Sound, Seattle Fly Fishing, Seattle fly fishing guides, Seattle fly fishing reports, Snoqualmie River fly fishing, steelhead fly fishing, washington fly fishing, Washington Lakes, Yakima River

More Cedar, Dry Fly Tunes

June 27, 2011 by adminewa

Cedar has still been high but showing signs of glory and fishing well despite the rough access.  Still stripping buggers and drifting small mayfly nymphs for production purposes, but have seen a few risers out there and even landed a few on the surface, this guy included:

What a gorgeous fish!!  Anyway, we will continue to hit the Cedar on foot until our beloved mountain creeks come back into shape.  Then the real dry fly music gets composed.  I haven’t personally hit the salt, Cow or Sky in the last week but I will be on all three plus more Cedar in the coming days so be ready for a report.  I haven’t even thought about going to the Yakima even though it looks like it has come back into shape…….too much in summer mode already.

Here are a couple of early 80’s British pop tunes.  Heard them both on the radio this past week on two different days coming back from the Cedar and they were subsequently blasted with the windows open.  Nice to have the good weather.  The The The video is priceless.  Thanks Michele Myers from KEXP for the music.

The The- This Is The Day

Modern English- I Melt With You

 

Filed Under: Emerald Water Anglers Tagged With: Cedar River, KEXP, Michele Myers, Modern English, The The

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