The Yakima is Washington's blue-ribbon trout river, and it is unapologetically a trout river — not a steelhead stop. Through the Canyon it's a drift-boat classic: wild rainbows (with westslope cutthroat in the upper reaches and tributaries) holding on the seams and under the basalt walls, with mountain whitefish to keep your nymph honest through the winter. The catch is that the Yakima is a working river first and a fishing river second. Its flows are run for irrigation, and the seasonal 'flip-flop' can swing the river from a wadeable trout stream to a pushy float almost overnight — so the read here is the release, not the rainfall. Stable flow is your friend; a sudden ramp is the warning. The hatches are generous when the river settles: skwala stones in early spring, March browns, caddis, PMDs and BWOs, terrestrials through the summer, and streamers when the water colors. Watch the reservoir releases on the Bureau of Reclamation Hydromet the way a tailwater angler should, pick a stable window, and the Canyon will fish beautifully.
- Mixed