Clark-Skamania Flyfishers upcoming events

Weekend Trip: YAKIMA RIVER (Fri, October 16, 2026)

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Join Us for the Weekend on The Yakima River

Camping: October 16 - 18, 2026 | Big Pines Campground

Join Fishmaster Steve Jones for an exceptional fly-fishing outing on the beautiful Yakima River. This a floating trip as bank access is very limited throughout the canyon section.

Weekend Camping

No reservations are required, all campsites are on a first come - first served basis.

Steve Jones, your Fishmaster, plans to camp at a site TBD which will serve as the main gathering place for the morning orientation and potluck dinner on Saturday.

Saturday Tentative Itinerary

Main gathering location: Since all the campsite are on a first come - first served basis you will need to look for the CSF signs posted by the Fishmasters designating their location.

Time	Activity
8:00 AM	Meet at Fismasters Campsite, set up rods.
9:00 AM	Fishing orientation and safety meeting
Morning	Fish and explore the river

Evening	Potluck Dinner, and fellowship

Meeting locations and times are subject to change. Please RSVP so Steve Jones can contact you if plans are updated.

Fishing Plan

Fly fishing the Yakima River in October offers fantastic dry fly action and large trout feeding on surface hatches during the fall transition.

Rod Setup

Primary Rod: 9-foot, 5-weight or 6-weight medium-fast to fast-action rod.
The 6-Weight Advantage: The 6-weight is ideal for cutting through frequent canyon winds and casting heavy setups.
Versatility: Use a 5-weight if you are focusing exclusively on delicate dry fly presentations on calmer days.

Leaders and Tippet

Nymphing & Indicators: 9-foot 3X or 4X tapered leader. Add 12 to 24 inches of 4X or 5X fluorocarbon tippet to your flies.
October Caddis Dry Flies: 9-foot 4X nylon monofilament leader. This turns over large, wind-resistant dry flies easily.
BWO Dry Flies: 9 to 12-foot 5X tapered leader. Drop down to 5X or 6X nylon tippet for a stealthy presentation to rising fish.
Streamers: Short, stout leaders. Use a 7.5-foot 2X or 3X leader, or a straight 4-to-6 foot piece of 10lb to 12lb fluorocarbon.

Key Fall Hatches

Blue-Winged Olives (BWOs): These tiny mayflies (#18–20) hatch heavily on overcast afternoons, sparking great surface feeding.
October Caddis: Large, distinct orange-brown caddis get the attention of bigger trout looking for a substantial meal.
Crane Flies: Frequently found along the banks and mixed into the late-season menu

River Conditions and Tactics

Low Flows: Irrigation cutbacks mean lower, clearer water (often dropping well below summer levels), requiring long, delicate, drag-free presentations.
Wading Safety: Rocks become very slippery from summer weed growth, and basalt canyon rocks demand extreme caution. Use a wading staff and studded boots.
Streamer Fishing: Swinging or stripping large streamers during low-light hours can turn up the river’s largest resident rainbow trout

Nymph Patterns

Nymphing is highly productive in the morning before the afternoon mayfly hatches begin. Use a heavy stonefly nymph to pull your smaller bugs down into the deep canyon currents.

Pat’s Rubber Legs / TJ Hooker (#8–12): The go-to heavy stonefly anchor fly for the Yakima River. Use brown, black, or variegated olive/brown.

RIO's Caddy Shack October Caddis / Silvey's Caddis Pupa (#10–14): Excellent for drifting through deeper slots to imitate emerging caddis pupae.

TNT Baetis Nymph / Roza's Mouse Jig (#16–20): Heavy tungsten jig flies that quickly drop to the bottom and perfectly match the early BWO activity.

Dry Fly Patterns

The canyon section sees intense surface action on overcast autumn afternoons

Morrish October Caddis / Orange Stimulator (#8–12): Large, highly buoyant bugs. Great for skittering or dancing across the surface seams, or as the top fly in a hopper-dropper setup.
Winger Parachute BWO / Sparkle Dun (#16–20): Vital for clear afternoons when fish are rising selectively. The parachute post makes these tiny flies highly visible in choppy canyon water.
Aero Daddy Crane Fly (#10–14): Imitates the gangly crane flies that skip across the banks and slower back eddies.

Streamer Patterns

Streamers yield the largest resident rainbows and cutthroats in October as the fish feed heavily before winter. Fish these along shady canyon walls or deep drop-offs

Sculpzilla / Sculpzilla Jr. (#4–8): A heavy, articulated favorite on the Yakima. Olive, black, or natural sculpin colors work best.

Sparkle Minnow (#4–8): Provides great flash in the gin-clear autumn water, triggering aggressive predatory strikes.

Dolly Llama (#4–6): A heavy conehead pattern with rabbit strips that provides massive underwater movement when swung or stripped through deep tailouts.

Lodging Options Nearby

Canyon River Ranch; on-site where Red's Fly Shop is located. Features private cabins and lodge suites right next to the shop. 509-933-2100

Days Inn: 901 Berry Rd, Ellensburg, WA 98926. Phone: 509-933-1500

Quality Inn Selah. 659 N Wenas Rd, Selah, WA 98942. 509-698-6000

RSVP Required

If you plan to attend, please fill out registration button above (top of this page), or email Ben@BigAmazonFish.net with the following information:

Your name
Names of anyone coming with you
Your cell phone number
Emergency contact name
Emergency contact phone number
Are you joining the Saturday day trip or camping for the weekend?
If camping, what campsite did you reserve?

RSVPs help us plan, communicate any changes, and keep everyone accounted for during the outing.

Safety

For emergencies, aside from calling 911 when in cell coverage, please take note of the following information:

Nearest Urgent Care Clinics: (Limited Hours)

Kittitas Valley Urgent Care in Ellensburg (702 E Mountain View Ave. #1, Ellensburg, WA 98926). Phone: 509-962-9841.Hours: Monday–Friday 8:00 AM – 7:30 PM, Saturday–Sunday 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM.

Multicare Indigo Urgent Care - Yakima (2706 W Nob Hill Blvd, Suite 100, Yakima, WA 98902. Phone: 509-580-7845. Open daily 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Nearest Regional Hospitals:

Kittitas Valley Healthcare (603 S Chestnut St. Ellensburg, WA 98926). Phone: 509-962-9841. Distance/Time: Approx. 20–25 minutes north of the fly shop.

MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital (2811 W Tieton Dr. Yakim, WA 98902. Phone: 509-575-8000

Email president@wscffi.org if you have any questions.

See you on the water!

Cheers,

Steve Jones, Yakima River Outing

Weekend Trip: DESCHUTES RIVER (Fri, October 23, 2026)

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Join Us for the Weekend

Camping: October 23-25, 2026 | Beavertail Campground

Join Fishmaster Kirby Franklin for a fly-fishing outing on the beautiful Deschutes River.

Weekend Camping

Beavertail Campground is on a first come - first served basis. The camp does not have potable water, bring your own, and has vault toilets.

It is located 21 miles down river from Maupin.

Since there are no reservations for this campground you will need to look for the CSF signs to locate your Fishmaster Kirby Franklin. Orientation, group check-ins, and Saturday night potluck dinner will be held there.

It has 15 campsites and 2 group campsites. We will try and get one of the group campsites so that people camping in tents can camp together and not have to pay for the site. If you bring an RV or camper you will have to get your own campsite. There are a few hotels in Maupin if you prefer that.

Saturday Tentative Itinerary

Main gathering location: Kirby Franklin's campsite, look for the signs.

Google Map location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/NaWwhHBnkC5DupCKA

Time	Activity
8:00 AM	Meet at Kirby Franklin's Campsite. Set up rods.
9:00 AM	Fishing orientation and safety meeting
Morning	Fish and explore the river
1:00 PM	Group lunch (optional) — bring your own lunch
Evening	Potluck dinner, 5:30pm

Meeting locations and times are subject to change. Please RSVP so Kirby can contact you if plans are updated.

Fishing Plan

Fly fishing the Lower Deschutes River around Beavertail Campground in October usually provides an elite dual-opportunity season: it is prime time for summer steelhead migrating upstream, paired with excellent autumn trout fishing for resident "redsides" capitalizing on late-season bug hatches, and egg patterns. But since Steelhead fishing has been cancelled for the rest of 2026 on the Deschutes due to low returns, we will be concentrating on the Trout. This is an incredible time to be fishing for trout using egg patterns.

The section from Beavertail down to Macks Canyon features excellent gravel road access and exceptional swinging water. However, remember that Oregon regulations strictly prohibit fishing from a floating boat on the Lower Deschutes—you must wade or fish from the bank.

If you plan on floating the river to access uncrowded banks across the river, you will need to purchase a Lower Deschutes Boaters Pass online ahead of time for the days you want to float. You can obtain a boaters pass on recreation.gov.

You will need to arrange shuttles if you plan on floating down to Macks Canyon take-out. Talk to other members about setting up shuttles.

The 7-mile float from Beavertail down to Macks Canyon consists of straightforward Class II rapids with no highly technical rowing.

According to the guys at Northwest Fly Fishing Outfitters, down river from Beavertail, Salmon will be spawning and the rainbows will be hanging below gorging themselves on eggs that escape the nests. The fish get huge. They have a YouTube video explaining the places and techniques below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYb-8xurcLQ

Targeting Trout (Redsides)

October trout fishing is rejuvenated by dropping temperatures and hungry fish stacking below schools of spawning salmon.

Fly Fishing with Egg Patterns:

Water Type: Look for Salmon Redds, they will be about 3 to 4 feet oval shape, and be a different color than the bottom, usually whiteish in color. They will be in 2 - 4 feet of water. Do not fish on the Redds. The trout will be downstream looking for salmon eggs that have been washed out. You will be able to see the Salmon in the river; they are not hard to spot. The trout will move to the eggs; you don't have be really accurate.

Tactics: Euro-nymphing, tightline nymphing (high-sticking), and indicators. Throw your tackle 45 degrees upstream and drift to 45 degrees downstream. There is no need to cast far out. This is close-in fishing.

Swinging flies: Fishing with a trout spey rod is very effective also. Anything with a bright orange bead on it will work, egg patterns, egg sucking leach to name just a few.

Gear: 5 - 6 weight single handed rods. 4 wt. Trout Spey. 4 wt. Euro rods. Leaders & tippets should be minimum 3x.

Flies/eggs: If it has pink or orange hot spot on it will probably work. Egg patterns (beads, glo-bugs), double egg sucking stonefly nymphs, egg sucking leaches, Pat's rubber legs with an orange hot spot bead. Fish a two-fly set up.

Fly Fishing with Flies:

Gear: Similar to above. Always keep a dry fly rod strung up just in case

The Hatches: Look for spectacular Blue-Winged Olive (BWO) hatches on overcast afternoons. You will also encounter massive orange October Caddis (#8-10) and late-season midges.

Tactics: Dry-dropper or double-dry setups using an October Caddis as the point fly perform very well. Alternatively, fish small nymphs like a size 18-20 WD-40, Pheasant Tail, or Hare's Ear under a light indicator.

Rigging: The Deschutes is a big, powerful river with strong fish. Do not drop down to a 5x tippet unless technically necessary for tiny flies; stick to 3x or 4x tippet so trophy redsides don't break you off in the riffles.

Stay Late: Trout action peaks dramatically at dusk. The last 30 minutes before absolute dark often bring the most reckless surface strikes of the day.

Also, check out the video above from Northwest Fly Fishing Outfitters on the gear and techniques for fishing with egg patterns.

RSVP Required

If you plan to attend, please fill out registration button above (top of this page), or email Kirby Franklin at kirbyfranklin@hotmail.com with the following information:

Your name
Names of anyone coming with you
Your cell phone number
Emergency contact name
Emergency contact phone number
Are you joining the Saturday day trip or camping for the weekend?
If camping, what campsite did you reserve?

RSVPs help us plan, communicate any changes, and keep everyone accounted for during the outing.

Safety

For emergencies, aside from calling 911 when in cell coverage, please take note of the following information:

Nearest Local Clinic:

Deschutes Rim Health Clinic in Maupin, 1605 George Jackson Rd. Maupin, OR 97037. Open Monday-Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm (closed weekends) Phone: (541) 395-2911

Nearest Hospitals:

St. Charles Madras (37 miles south of Maupin). 470 Northeast A Street, Madras, OR 97741. Phone (541) - 475-3882
Adventist Health Columbia Gorge (29 miles north/northeast in The Dalles). 1700 E. 19th St. The Dalles, OR 97058. Phone: (541) 296-1111

Email kirbyfranklin@hotmail.com if you have any questions.

See you on the water!

Cheers,
Kirby Franklin
Fishmaster, Deschutes River Outing

Day Trip: KILCHIS RIVER (with Optional Camping) (Thu, November 05, 2026)

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Join Us for the Day or Stay for a Few Extra Days

Day Trip: Thursday November 5th, or Tuesday, November 10 | Mapes Creek Boat Launch (Logger Bridge)

Camping: | Kilchis River County Campground

Join Fishmasters Dennis Hite & Mike Butcher for a day of fly-fishing For Chum Salmon on the beautiful Kilchis River. You can make it a longer trip by staying at the Kilchis River County Campground or stay in one of the many hotel options in Tillamook.

Either way, come experience the second largest Salmon on the fly.

Two Ways to Join the Outing

Option 1: Thursday or Tuesday Day Trip

Come for the day on Thursday November 5th, or Tuesday November 10 depending on weather and river flows. We’ll meet in the morning at Mapes Creek Boat Launch AKA (Logger Bridge), set up rods, enjoy donuts, go over safety and fishing plans, then head out for a day of exploring the river. Bring $10 to park, or you can park outside on the road and walk in. If you have your rig shuttled down to the Parks Landing take out your $10 pass is good for that area also.

Option 2: Extended stay Camping or Hotel

Turn the outing into a longer adventure by reserving a campsite at Kilchis River County Campground a couple of miles upstream from the Logger Bridge boat launch.

There are several hotels in Tillamook you can stay in if you don't want leave early the morning of the outing.

Reserve your Kilchis River County Campground site here:
Book | Tillamook County Parks

Hotel information later in this article.

The Kilchis River has one of the best Chum Salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest. It also supports Chinook, and Steelhead runs that are worth checking out also. But November is the time for Chum. The season closes on November 15th every year and the river can get quite crowded on the weekends. That is why this year we have chosen to hold the outing on a weekday. Weather and river flows are always a factor so make sure you register for this outing as the date could change with only a day or two notice.

The Days Tentative Itinerary

Main gathering location: Mapes Creek (Logger Bridge) boat launch.

Google Map location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nhcB3hahsiKG7ysTA

Time	Activity
7:00 AM	Meet at Mapes Creek boat launch, set up rods, eat donuts
8:00 AM	Fishing orientation and safety meeting
Morning	Fish and explore the river
1:00 PM	Group lunch on the water (optional) — bring your own lunch

Meeting locations and times are subject to change. Please RSVP so Dennis or Mike can contact you if plans are updated.

Fishing Plan

This is catch & Release fishing at its finest. These fish are hard fighting and marked with an array of colors. These will some of your best pictures of the year. This is a wade or float fishery. There is plenty of bank access at Logger Bridge and above on Kilchis Forest Road. It is an excellent place to fly fish as the river is slow and easily accessible for a mile or so upstream. The fish will be stacked up in this area preparing to spawn in the coming weeks. Above this area look for fast water, that's where the fish will be hanging out. Fishing is best when the Wilson is at about 7.0 ft, this puts the Kilchis at about 4.0 ft. The Kilchis clears up faster than the other rivers in the area so don’t let a little rain stop you. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of bank access below logger bridge.

The float from Logger Bridge down to the take-out at Parks landing boat launch just above 101 is an easy float. This is a great river to learn on. This section has a very low gradient filled with long runs, deep pools, and a few fast spots, but no rapids to speak of. The take-out is located just past the third bridge below Logger Bridge on the left bank.

Gear and Setup

Rod: 8-weight or 9-weight single-hand or switch/spey rod to handle their massive power.
Reel: Large arbor reel with at least 100 yards of backing.
Lines: Sink-tip or full sink lines depending on water depth and flow.
Leader: 7.5 to 10-foot leader tapered to 20 to 25-pound test.
Flies: Pink craft fur darts, egg patterns, comets, and clousers.
Bring pliers, these fish have enamel on their teeth.

Hotel Options Nearby

The Tillamook Inn. 2515 N. Main Ave, Tillamook, OR 97141. Phone: 503-842-7971

Western Royal Inn. 1125 N. Main Ave. Tillamook, OR 97141. Phone: 503-842-8844

RSVP

If you plan to attend, please fill out registration button above (top of this page), or email Dennis Hite at dhite1@yahoo.com with the following information:

Your name
Names of anyone coming with you
Your cell phone number
Emergency contact name
Emergency contact phone number

RSVPs help us plan, communicate any changes, and keep everyone accounted for during the outing.

Safety

For emergencies, aside from calling 911 when in cell coverage, please take note of the following information:

Nearest Regional Hospitals:

Adventist Health Tillamook, 1000 3rd St, Tillamook, OR 97141. Phone: 503-842-4444

Nearest Clinics in Tillamook (Limited Hours):

Urgent Care Adventist Health. 1100 3rd St. Tillamook, OR 97141. Monday–Friday (8:00 AM – 8:00 PM), Saturday–Sunday (10:00 AM – 6:00 PM)

Email dhite1@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

See you on the water!

Cheers,
Dennis Hite
Fishmaster, Kilchis River Outing