Yakima - 7th day

It has been a mix of warm, sunny, and cold here in eastern Washington. Yesterday was one of those. Very sunny but some cold winds. It's not bad all nor unpredictable but a bit confusing at least to me.

One of my objectives, 18-inch or larger trout, has not been accomplished yet. I was into a bit of serious mode. I admit I have been enjoying my lunch exploration other than fishing, which is a fun thing to do in new towns and areas. This time, I bought a sandwiches in the morning and packed it to the river.

Water level was low. Even a few inches lower than last week. Again, I saw lots of midges hatching all day but didn't see actual surface rises at all even at slower portions of the river. Very confusing. My guess is water temperature may not be comfortable enough for trout to be active though it's nice for human beings to go outside. I went back to nymph rigging. I went through most of all patterns I've got. I noticed a tiny nymph was crawling on my wader. I guess it's a baetis nymph.

I went through all the good looking runs and pools of the streatch. I changed flies aggressively. But I didn't get any bites or even snags in the morning. Before I moved to the other section, I tried one of the deepes hole where I couldn't fish effectively early in the morning. I tied on a black x brown Rubber Leg. This is one of my killer flies in Madison River especially for brown. I wasn't sure if rainbow and cutthroat like it but it is one of those "last resort' flies I depend on.

I didn't take a picture of the spot but it was a bit tricky to cast. 14-incher came out!!

I bet she liked it!!

I prospected some more at the same hole with the same setup. My Thingamabobber sank again and I set the hook. It ran and went deep rather than coming up the surface and leaping soon. I actually said "this is bigger!!". But.......... as I stripped the line I felt something strange. Well..... notice where my trailer nymph (#20 Zebra Midge in red) was foul-hooked......

This immediately reminded me of this cartoon from Jack Ohman's funniest book "an incovenient trout" (I actually left a review at Amazon).

Well, it seems I am still far away from bigger trout in Yakima. And I have only one more day left. I will keep the same attitude again. Though burgers and britos are all good but I reassured how sandwiches taste good while sitting in the river.

My another objective is to catch with and prove my new fly that I have just designed. Indeed at the very end of the day, I had one mysterious bite that snapped my humangous fly (yes, it's a streamer). I don't post that stroy and my new flies for now as it doesn't seem a right timing.

I'll do my best and find out more! Bottomline; I'll be enjoying!