The
cool, early months of spring in the Central
Washington Valley, are the beginning
of a new fly fishing season on
the Yakima River. Known widely with
its critics for
its tempermental and demanding trout as
well as its fast, high water flows most of
the year,
the Yakima River has now joined the ranks of
the infamous trout rivers of the west.
Here, you will experience some of the finest fly fishing
the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
A bold statement, but one I stand by with
over twenty five years of guiding experience
on its waters.
There is an exciting change taking place in
the Yakima River Watershed that has been
absent for over 5 decades. Most fly
anglers that fish its waters on a regular
basis aren't even aware. Driven
entirely by the Yakima Indian Nation,
restored returns of anadromous salmon stocks
are vacillating some of the best trout
fishing the state has to offer. Each
year, Spring Chinook, Sockeye and Coho
Salmon are returning to the headwaters of
the Yakima River, where they once
profilerated the stream by the thousands.
You may ask, how do salmon returns
correspond to trout fishing? Here is
how.
The enormous bio-mass of three uniquely
different salmon, that had been absent from
the Yakima for over fifty years are now
impregnating the river and rejuvenating its
overall health. After the salmon spawn
in the fall, the eggs,
flesh and salmon fry are a massive food
source not only for the trout and other fish
species, but also for
the aquatic invertabrates and other
critters living in the watershed. We now
experience monolithic hatches of Stoneflies,
Mayflies and Caddisflies throughout the
year, unlike we have seen in past seasons.
Our finely finned, wild
rainbow and cutthroat are growing in girth,
as they take advantage of the plentiful food supply that is
now abundunat.
So with that now said, this paragraph brings
me to the first major topic of the fly
fishing season.
One of the most anticipated, aquatic insect
hatches on the Yakima, known widely in the
"dryfly freaks" fishing circles as the
"Skwala" or "Skwalla" Stonefly.
These post winter stoneflies are becoming
legendary and perhaps are beginning to over
shadow their May predecessors, the giant
Salmonfly. Even when the most novice of fly
fishermen hears the term "Skwala"
they
squirm with anticipation at the chance to
fish this magical time. Perhaps, the
legend and the hype have some fertility?
This
post winter stonefly, has two uniquely
different life cycles and both are of major
importance to trout as well as the fly
angler. Understanding the science of both
cycles, should increase your catch percentages and your
fly fishing game on the
stream. To understand them, you first
must study their behavior.
"THE NYMPH LIFE CYCLE"
The Skwala nymph of course is a sub-aquatic
creature and they
begin their migration below the surface of the
water. Crawling slowly along the
substraight, where the human eye has little or no
conception. Here, they travel in
vast groups in very specific form, usually
under the cover of darkness or during low light
conditions. Like all of Mother Nature's creatures, there
is strength in numbers and the need to
procreate is as strong in them as it is in
us.
Their
destanation is the Yakima River stream
banks.
When you look at the big picture, the stonefly
migration is really no different then any other
animals' migration. When I am asked
about "Skwala" fishing on the
Yakima, the conversation always seems to
head right into the meat of the topic.
I like to get customers or clients thinking,
after all isn't that what fly fishing is?
The thinking man's fishing. I often refer to
the massive migration of Wildebeest that
travel across the desert of the Serengeti to
the banks of Mara River. If you grew
up in the seventies then you are familar with
the TV show, "Wild Kingdom" .
With host Marlin Perkins narrating, we
witnessed this event unfold on the screen.
As these nomadic beasts approach the river
banks, perhaps the most unforgiving of
Mother Nature's creatures, the Crocodile
waits in anticipation for them to begin
crossing the river. Once the stampede
begins, the feast is set and Wildebeest
begin their ascent knowing full well that
traveling in numbers, increases the odds of
proliferating their species.
So in essence, the stonefly nymphs are in
the same precarious situation. As they
travel their migration route, trout
wait and stage in this specific areas to
take advantage of the bounty Mother Nature
is providing. The key for the fly
angler is finding these routes, because
unlike the trail that is left by the massive
herd of Wildebeest, the stonefly nymph
leaves no trace. Also, take into
consideration, the overall factors the
stonefly nymph may have to
deal with as they move. Irregular stream flows, stream
sediments and multiple obstacles as well as
hundreds of hungry trout.
Much like their
counterparts in nature, they prefer the path of
least resistance. An angler fishing from the
bank, can distinguish these routes much
easier than those traveling by boat. By
simply observing the river banks and kicking
over rocks and other structures, you can
unturn the nature of the migration and
determine the directional path they have
taken.
After years of fishing and reading a river, a
trained
eye can pick up the water types and
these transition routes.
Typically December, January and February are
the major
migration times for the Skwala Nymphs. However, we do see changes every year, due to
winter and water conditions.
These are learned behaviors and habits and
anyone that
has spent years studying and observing it, will
tell you the same tale. Any
guide worth his weight, should be able to
understand and explain it.
Here, is a complete explanation on paper you
can download, drawn up by our late fly
fishing mentor and the first Yakima River
fly fishing guide,
Tim Irish.
Over time, the migration unfolds and the
stonefly nymphs begin assembling in numbers
along the shoreline. Here, males and
females interact and once conception has taken
place, the egg laying female will begin her
journey back to the water to deposit the
thousands of eggs attched to her abdomen.
"THE ADULT LIFE CYCLE"
“In our family, there was no clear line
between religion and fly fishing. We lived
at the junction of great trout rivers in
western Montana, and our father was a
Presbyterian minister and a fly fisherman
who tied his own flies and taught others. He
told us about Christ's disciples being
fishermen, and we were left to assume, as my
brother and I did, that all first-class
fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly
fishermen and that John, the favorite, was a
dry-fly fisherman.”―Norman
Maclean,A
River Runs Through It
Now, on to fly fishermen's favorite part.
The majority of fly
fishermen love to dry fly fish, most to a fault.
Watching a trout rise to a dry fly that you have
presented is what propels the sport of trout
fishing. I
have to honestly admit, I am
probably one of the biggest junkies out there.
However, stubborness can back fire
on you and keep you in a stagnet learning curve
that you may have a hard time over coming.
You need to get over it! Nymph fishing is not bait
fishing! The majority of nymph patterns
are tied with feather and fur.
As fly fishermen, we are tuned
and trained to
match the specific food source of fish.
Dry fly patterns that mimic adult insects are
fun to fish. However, if the trout are keyed on
migrating nymphs then convincing
them to eat an adult can be futial. If a
"BigMac" was placed right in front of you, would
you decline it for a different choice that you
had to move to go get? I would bet my next
paycheck that the majority faced with this
decision would devour the burger.
Remember, trout will begin eating under the surface of
the water, before any surface feeding can occur,
because that is where the lifecycles of most
river insects begins.
One of the important aspects to keep in mind
about this or most adult stoneflies activity, is the time of day.
Stoneflies in adult form are most active during
the warmest portions of the day and their
activity is generally dictated by water and air tempertures.
This is a post winter stonefly that is present
during the month of February, March & April.
So, their peak
adult activity levels are going fall in the
afternoon. Cooler morning and night time lows
this time of year are still considered to be in
the winter range. Rarely will you
see female stoneflies flutter in the air, across the river.
More times than not, they slowly emerge from the
structure along the shoreline and crawl to the
surface edges, where they drift along the
current line and can begin their
egg laying processes.
So, if you approach the river in the morning,
most likely your day will begin working those
migration routes with various stonefly nymph
patterns. As the day warms and you watch
with a careful eye, you should have a chance to
switch to a surface pattern and begin presenting
a drag free presenation to those trout that are
looking for adult Skwalas. The fish are
already stationed in the migration routes, so
changing your water types and tactics is
minimal...correct?. The end of the
migration route is typically the shallowest
portion, so clear water conditions will dictate,
a flawless presentation with a dry fly.
The next biggest question I receive from clients
is, "when is the Skwala fishing good"?
Here is the answer.
Much like any stonefly hatch, it's about timing.
What I can tell you from years of experience is
when the game is on, be ready to go. That
mean's, when we annouce the Skwala fishing is
on, drop everything and get to the river,
especialy for Skwala fishing. Why?
Because spring conditions can change from day to
day, hour to hour. Rarely, do we ever see
river conditons remain optimal for weeks at a
time, during the peak of the Skwala fishing.
It may be dynamite one day and the river a
bloody mess the next.
Their
emergence is predetermined in accordance with
spring run-off and it happens during the months
of February, March & April. So when the female
adults start showing up on the water, it takes
very little time for trout to adjust and begin
recognizing them. They have already been
eating nymphs for weeks, perhaps months right.
The transition doesn't take long and they react
within accordance of what the hatch dictates.
Most years, the river bounces back and forth
between optimal flows and "blown out"
conditions. What I can honestly tell you
is that the Skwala hatch occurs over a long extended
period because of this fact.
When we see a change in river conditions, the
stoneflies, both nymph and adult will stop their
activity all together and will wait unitl
improvements in flows have stablized.
Imagine the nymphs trying to move in flood stage
conditions, when the river is bank to bank and
raging at extreme flow.
Like other creatures, they hunker down and ride
the storm out. That is one of the reasons
why, we see the hatch progress well into the
month of April, especially in the Upper Yakima
River above Ellensburg. In late March & April, you can
witness Skwala Stones, March Brown Mayflies and
Blue Wing Olive Mayflies all coming down the
same
seam lines of the river. It's an all out
food blitz and of course, trout are eating a
combination of food forms then.
If good Skwala fishing is your target, look to
the months of late February and March to be the
prime months, when trout are stead fast and
eatn' em. Once the mayfly begins in April,
we find the attention of trout focus on a
variety of food forms and not so much on just
one.
The video below is from last year and was
shot the first week of April. Our flows in
February and March were at constant flood
stage, so the Skwala hatch was pushed out. This
year, that isn't going to happen. It is a much
milder winter, than what we experienced in 2017,
and much of the snow in the low lying hills
around the valley has
already melted. However, the good news is
that
the mountains continue to draw new snow pack and
will continue to do so. We will have great
water for fish and farmers this year.
If Skwala fishing is on
your target for early spring this season, this
should give you a good idea of what you
can expect. Plan accordingly and if you
are looking to fish the river with a WBFC guide,
I would suggest getting your date down asap.
The winter weather is
already begining to break here in the Ellensburg
Valley and most likely February will be nice
month to get outdoors. Skwala fishing is very
popular and it is also a time of the year, when
our guiding rates still remain in at our
pre-season levels.
Below you will
find the "2018" Pre-season Guided Skwala trip
rates along with the included particulars.
SKAWLA
STONEFLY GUIDED TOUR INFO.
Five
Hour Float-One Person: $235.00
Five Hour
Float-Two Person: $300.00
This
trip includes a, hot snack,
flies and gear if needed.
Questions (?) or to book your
day
509-962-2033
PHONE ORDERS WELCOME
1713 SOUTH CANYON ROAD ELLENSBURG, WA 98926
509-962-2033 www.worleybuggerflyco.com
"A
PROFESSIONAL BRICK & MORTAR FLY
FISHING PRO SHOP & OUTFITTER
SERVICE"