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Seattle Fly Fishing Report – June 29, 2020 – Cool Weather/Low Water

June 29, 2020 by adminewa Leave a Comment

Well we finally coincided summer with some cool weather resulting in some nice low water flows on local rivers and streams which means…time to fish!

Mountain Creeks – We always suggest using high water time to do some due diligence on new places to get on the water and now that time spent should begin to pay off. Looking at the flows today, the Forks of the Snoqualmie are in great shape especially the South Fork. Water will still be cold but fish should be looking up more and more so mid sized stimulator (stimi) with a dropper of your choice should do the trick. If you start getting strikes on top, take the dropper off and just play on top and don’t be afraid to get yourself close to some of the pocket water you are trying to fish either. These fish live in a volatile world so someone standing in the water 10-15 feet away is not likely to spook them…yet! Later in the summer when water is lower, slower, clearer and warmer it will be not so much now.

Puget Sound – Sand Lance have arrived and they are close to shore so make first casts near the bank before stepping into the water. As we move into the summer, many of the bait the SRC’s (Sea Run Cutthroat) will be predating upon are becoming larger in profile so slightly longer flies will be beneficial. With all the kelp in the water, intermediate lines MAY get you below it to some degree but not a guarantee as it is drifting throughout the water column. Stripping baskets are definitely more relevant these days so look into one of those, we have 4 versions beginning at $45 and our rules for engagement are as follows.

1. Cover water methodically when you can.
2. When fly is around fish but not getting any takes, change retrieve first and then fly if this persists.
3. Tip in the water pointed at fly line while retrieving.
4. Outgoing tide, early in the AM if possible, otherwise fish when you can fish.

Yakima and Cle Elum Rivers – These are heading towards their summer flows which will remain high for the summer until mid September most likely. This means caddis in the evenings will be a good bet, nymphing through the middle of the day is always solid and if you have access to a boat, use it! Access will be severely diminished for the walk and wade angler until fall. Trout spey will give you a bit more advantage in these high water times too, just saying!

Bass and Carp – This is the time of year for both. Big surface flies near any and all structure such as docks, rocks and lily pads are going to be sure things and during the heat of the day, get down with any of your trout like streamers in those same locations. Carp Tournament is coming up fast, let us know if interested in signing up for it.

Steelhead – Now is a fabulous time to switch out those heads from winter Skagit to summer Rage or Scandi heads and if you have a long rod from the days of old, let’s chat long belly lines from Bridge. Nice delicate, long tapered heads are a joy to cast and handle smaller summer type flies with finesse. Get out and swing away everyone, great time of the early summer to possibly come into contact with our state fish.

As always, questions in this complicated Seattle area world of fly fishing, don’t wait, just call – 206-708-7250

Filed Under: Emerald Water Anglers, Reports Tagged With: bass fly fishing, carp fly fishing, carp tournament, Emerald Water Anglers, ewareports, FFI Certified, Puget Sound, Puget sound fly fishing, Seattle Fly Fishing, Seattle fly fishing guides, Snoqualmie River fly fishing, spey casting, spey casting classes, steelhead fly fishing, 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

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