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Yakima River Guide Service
Featuring the Entire Yakima River
The "Blue Ribbon" trout waters of the Yakima are home to Rainbows, Cutthroats, good hatches and gorgeous scenery. A great catch and release trout river. Troutwater has fly shops on both the upper Yakima River and the Lower Yakima River. How convenient is that?
Fly Fishing Rates and Availability
Troutwater has eight full time guides, whose only dedication is to fly fishing. Because of the great guiding staff, we can accomodate guided fly fishing trips on short notice through the season.
- $395 - Full day guided fly fishing float trip. Includes all fly fishing supplies, equipment, lunch and beverages. Trips are 8 hours or more
- $325 - Half day guided fly fishing float trip. Includes all fly fishing supplies, equipment and beverages. Trips typically last 4 to 5 hours.
- You will need a Washington fishing license
Please call either fly shop to schedule your guided fly fishing trip
Troutwater Fly Shop and Guide Service
506 South Main Street #3, Ellensburg, WA 509.962.3474
113 East First Street, Cle Elum, WA 509.674.2144
Shop Hours:
Monday-Thursday 8:30am-5:30pm
Friday-Saturday 8:30am-5:30pm
Sunday 8:30am-1:00pm
The Season
February/March - Skwala Stoneflies, March Brown Duns
Mid to late February through March is one of the best times to find the large, mature rainbows of the Yakima River. The weather m ight suck or it could be mild and comfortable during the end of winter. What does usually happen are big fish congragated together in the stable, low river flows during pre-snow melt period.
April/May - March Browns, Salmon Flies, Drakes, Caddis
Great insect hatches occur in the spring on the Yakima River. The Yakima continues to see the skwala stonefly adults into early April. Other stoneflies that are active include the salmon flies and golden stones. On the mayfly side, the March brown duns are in full strength early in April into the latter parts of the month. We also see blue wing olives in April. May will be the blue wing olives, mahagonies and drakes. The salmon flies are strong towards the end of May. The only bummer is the river can easily blowout from snow melt.
June/July/August - Hoppers, Summer Stones, Caddis
June bring irrigation water from the Lake Cle Elum reservior, bumping the river flows significantly. On the positive side, the river stays cool and highly oxygenated throughout the heat of the summer. Lots of dry fly fishing with terrestrial patterns and summer stoneflies. It's a great time to fish.
September/October - Caddis, Blue Wings, Baetis, October Caddis
After Labor Day, the flow draw down as the irrigation needs for the lower Yakima Valley are met by the Naches River drainage. The warm days and cool nights of the fall bring great hatches. The Chinook salmon are actively spawning in the upper river by the end of September.
November/December - Blue wings, Baetis, Midges
The Yakima will fishing will depend on weather this time of year. It usually fishes well until the first cold snap of the year. The lower river tends to be more mild than the upper with better fish activity as a result. The river is also more accessible below Ellensburg due to less snow.
Yakima River Trout
Many feel that the most unique characteristic of the Yakima River is it's course from the Cascade Mountains to the arid Central Washington landscape. It's like having four rivers in one.
The Upper Yakima
The catch and release section of the Yakima starts below the Easton Dam.
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