Yakima River, Washington

Upper river: Cle Elum to Ellensburg

From below Easton Dam the Yakima runs past Cle Elum, gains the Cle Elum and Teanaway rivers and winds through the farmland flats to Ellensburg. Access is from the Thorp Bridge and Ringer Road launches and the county roads off I-90, not from Canyon Road, which is south of Ellensburg. This is the section for spring March browns and skwalas and for the summer float, and it sees the most guide boats.

Ellensburg to the canyon

Around Ellensburg the river gathers Wilson Creek and the last irrigation returns before it enters the Yakima Canyon. The Ringer Road launch and the Ellensburg-area accesses make this the easiest wade-and-float water when flows allow, and it is the transition from valley to basalt canyon.

Yakima Canyon: Umtanum to Roza

Canyon Road, SR-821, follows the river for 20 miles south of Ellensburg through the BLM recreation sites at Umtanum, Lmuma Creek, Big Pines and Roza. The Umtanum gauge sits here. At summer irrigation flows the canyon is float-only water; when releases drop in September it becomes the best wade fishing on the river, and the October caddis hatch follows.

Rainbow trout

Wild rainbows are the Yakima's fish, along with westslope cutthroat that show up in the upper river and whitefish everywhere. Skwalas in late February and March, March browns through April, salmonflies in May, golden stones and PMDs in early summer, hoppers at high water and October caddis in the fall are the hatches that matter. Local guides describe canyon fish at 12 to 18 inches, and they are selective in the flat glides.

No brown trout

The Yakima has no brown trout population. Earlier versions of this page listed browns and fall streamer fishing for them; the fall streamer fishing is real, but the fish eating them are rainbows.

Season and regulations

Bureau of Reclamation releases from Keechelus, Kachess and Cle Elum reservoirs run the river backwards from a normal freestone: 4,000 to 6,000 cfs through the irrigation summer, then a flip-flop in early September that drops the canyon to 2,000 to 3,000 cfs. RiverReports, drawing on Red's Fly Shop and Worley Bugger reports, puts the ideal Umtanum range at 1,500 to 3,500 cfs with wading practical below 3,000; this page compares the Umtanum gauge to 1,500 to 3,000 cfs. Spring runoff and summer irrigation both push it higher, when the hopper-dropper float is the answer.

WDFW rules from Roza Dam upstream to 400 feet below Easton Dam: open year-round, selective gear rules, all trout released. Whitefish may be kept December 1 through the end of February under whitefish gear rules. From Easton Dam up to Keechelus Dam the trout season runs from the Saturday before Memorial Day through October 31. Internal combustion motors are prohibited in the reach just above Roza Dam. Confirm in the current Washington sport fishing rules.