 Need a bobber? In the Fall of 2006 after I returned from 3 months in Alaska I went on an extended road trip to Idaho and Utah. Most of my time was spent exploring the Henry's Fork and the surrounding watersheds. Somehow we decided to go to Utah for a few weeks and fish the Green and the Provo. This part gets hazy, because somewhere along my travels in Utah we met the Thingamabobber guys. The following Spring I found myself working on the Yakima and I got a random package that contained 2 of the very first Thingamabobbers ever made. I showed them to 2 of my guide buddy's and their reaction is something I will never forget: hysterical laughter followed by that will NEVER work. Regardless, they agreed to "try it, no promises". That night I received 2 phone calls saying virtually the same thing: wow! how to we get more. Several phone calls to Utah later, we had the first dealership in Washington set up. We sold 1000's and 1000's of these things. Fly shops would call asking how to get them, I would give them the details and within a year you couldn't go to a fly shop without seeing them. It was a different time. Seems like we had more fun, at least it does in my memory. Thingamabobber changed the game, today we have several versions of the original. For me, I still use the original 3/4 inch Thingamabobber with 2 wraps. Sure, I could do some fancy slip bobber attachment but I don't have time for all that. The bigger sizes can hold more weight but the castability go's out the window. The other versions seem to miss something else as well: weight effects sensitivity. Thingamabobber's are lighter in physical weight. The original, and still the best strike indica....bobber on the market today. Tight lines!  The original and still the best
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 Doesn't exist. Everything is a compromise. I'm sure the cool kids in the skiffs will argue, but skiffs are made for flat, windy tailwaters, and they excel in that environment, but now lets take your skiff to the Washington coast and see how that go's. You would never do that, you would take your raft. And that's my point, with so many different environmental combinations in the western U.S. alone, no one river boat can be perfect for all conditions.
I think most people know me as a raft guy, I think for me it has more to do with where I fish. One of many benefits of fishing a raft in the often dewatered upper stretches of the Yakima is silence. After irrigation season ends, the upper Yakima can be insanely low. If you fish the upper Yakima in the Fall in a driftboat, expect to get out and push every third run and definitely expect a few more dings in your chine. A raft is really the best often for those conditions. You banging your drift boat through every run isn't going to help the fish count. During Summer, when the river is high, I take my hardboat down side-channels that are dry in the spring. Again, different conditions. No matter what boat you choose, always be safe out there! Tight lines  River Fly Fishing ExplainedLearning how to fly fish can be a daunting undertaking. Going from zero to successful fly fisher takes time and effort. Most people often think that "fly fishing" is "fly casting". The truth is someone like myself can teach anyone to cast 20 to 30 feet in under 30 minutes. What I really need you to do is get a good drift and present the fly in the proper manner, and that my friends takes a little more time for most people to grasp. I can teach anyone the movements, the proper technique till your blue in the face, but getting a person to mentally understand it is a battle guides face day in and day out. Everything that go's into getting that "drag free drift" or the "perfect swing" is more than this blog will allow as I could write page after page explaining the art of mending. Say for the sake of argument that I have a magic fly that "is the best fly eva!". After all, it is the magic fly. Now if put the magic fly on your line and your presentation: getting the fish the eat your fly is terrible, magic fly or not, your chance for success is pretty low. Conversely, if I have a fly that looks pretty close to the hatch, looks similar, is the right size and color, AND MY PRESENTATION IS GOOD, the odds of you/me catching that fish go up dramatically. Which brings us to the next part, landing the fish! get the net.......]:<
 Technically yes! However, the common sense answer is no! According to WDFW biologists the Yakima river hosts a brown trout population that consists of .0001% of the total trout population. What that means to you and me is a 1 in a 1000 chance of catching a brown trout in the Yakima river. But the real question is how did they get there, and that question doesn't have any easy answers. Over the years, private ponds and public lakes in the watershed that had brown trout in them have flooded and released fish into the river system. In 2010 I caught this brown on the Yakima river below ringer. The only brown I have ever seen from the Yakima river... UPDATE: fall of 2015 we landed this Brown Trout in the Upper Yakima. Due to extremely low water conditions, probably migrated down from the upper Cle Elum river watershed..mystery....  Crazy, right? |
AuthorRyan White is a professional fly fisher, International explorer, Artist, Technology consultant, and FPV enthusiast. Archives
July 2016
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