Yakima & Naches River

We just spent all winter complaining about how it’s 42 degrees and rainy every day in Western Washington, then summertime shows up and we have an awesome streak of 70 – 80 degree weather. Apparently that wasn’t hot enough, so we decided to run away to Eastern Washington for the weekend, where it would be a mild 100 degrees and we could complain about how hot it was.

No need to put the waders in the car as we packed to head to Yakima Sportsman State Park on the Yakima River. The park itself is pretty large, well maintained, and easy to find, as are most state parks in Washington. Unfortunately, access to the Yakima River from “Yakima Sportsman State park” is a little tough and limited. But, we decided to get up early Saturday morning to see if we could smack a trout on the top of the head with a hopper or and elk hair caddis. Nearly every cast along the bank received a bap from a very small trout. Nothing of any size though. This back and forth battle with monster 4” rainbows went on for a couple hours until my arm got tired from battling these behemoths and my belly rumbled telling me it wanted to go back to camp for breakfast.  

Visibility was good, but the river was running swift and full. I read that during the summer, many of the dams on the Yakima River are opened up for irrigation purposes. This causes the river to run high, hard, and cold during the summer months, but this provides a great environment to brew some big trout. Since the river was running so high, nearly every mile of the river bank was touched by green grass. The entire river looks like it should be housing a 23” trout under its grassy cut banks, but to be successful on the Yakima River, one really needs a drift boat. Since bank access is limited, and we are pedestrians of fly fishing with our lack of a boat, we decide to head up the Naches River after breakfast.

Naches River

The Naches River provided a totally different experience. The Naches is much more of a freestone style river that we are used to in Western Washington. Bank access on the Naches was much more abundant. We cruised up S. Naches River road to Eschbach Nature Area. This seemed to be just an old abandoned camp ground with some empty sheds that would make a great dwelling for rattle snakes. Maybe by “nature area” they meant “beware of snakes and rusty nails”. However, this area provided pretty good river access so I really can’t complain. We were able to get in to several small rainbows here. From there we headed south on Hwy 12 and stopped at another public fishing area that provided a nice big run to get into some more trout.

For the angler on foot that does not have a drift boat, nor a wallet with a $500 bill inside to hire a guide on the Yakima River, I would highly recommend a trip the Naches. Easy access, lots of trout, and less anglers than the Yakima River. If you are looking for nature, scenery, and better fishing, I would book a campsite further up the Yakima River closer to Ellensburg, but don’t forget your drift boat as there is even less bank access in the Canyon. There are many campgrounds, but they fill up pretty quick. If you can make it past the wonderful scenery provided in “Yakivegas, the Palm Springs of Washington” then there is still good fishing to be had. Either way, these two rivers provide some of the best fly fishing for trout in all of the Northwest.

what used to be a Naches River Stone fly