Eastern Washington Fishing Report 07.19.18
Methow River (WA)
The Methow is running at 717 cfs as of today and dropping. We are in our hot days of summer now with daytime temperatures of 95 to 100 degrees and nighttime temperatures of about 65 degrees. I took a couple of water temperature reading this morning at 8:00 a.m. One reading was 63 degrees and a few miles south I had a reading of 65 degrees. Talking to a couple of locals that have been on the water after 2:00 p.m., they reported they had readings of 70 degrees. This goes without saying, they cut their day of fishing short for the sake of the health of the trout.
First light until about noon will be your best time to be on the water -just keep checking the water temperature. Once it hits 68 degrees, I would recommend calling it a day. Hoppers and foam flies will get the bulk of your action. To increase your chances, using a small nymph dropper off the dry has been working very well for me. With the warmer water, you’ll want to work the parts that will offer the best oxygen content. In other words, you’ll want to be right up, tight nest to the faster water.
The flies that I would recommend using would be; a #12 or #10 purple, royal or pink chubby Chernobyl and a #12 or #10 red, purple or royal hippy stomper. Also, of course, you’ll want to use hoppers such as; a #12 to #8 pink, tan or golden Morrish hopper. And, simple nymph patterns seem to be doing the trick -such as a #16 to a #14 pheasant tails, a #16 caddis pupa, a #16 or a #14 chartreuse or brown Swink's core caddis.
Plus, don't forget your sunscreen and Buffs to protect yourself from too much sun.
Okanogan River (WA)
The Okanogan is running a little higher than normal at 3190 cfs. The Water temperature is right around 68 to 70 degrees. For bass, this is no problem. Mornings to noon and then from about 5:00 p.m. until dark will be your best times to go. From what I've seen, fishing has been good throughout the length of the river. Structure and cover are going to be the key factor to look for. Areas with rocks and some depth will be a good bet. If you can't find depth past five feet, try looking for overhanging brush. Something to remember, if you are catching nothing but smaller bass in one location move on. We have found that the bigger smallmouth like to hang together.
First light and then for the next couple of hours is the best time to break out the top water bugs. After that, it's time to go a little deeper. Smolt patterns along with some Clouser style streamers should get some action. Also, adult Hex have been showing up right at dark. There is nothing like a little night time excitement hooking smallmouth!
Some of the flies that we have had good success with are; a #4 black hard popper, a #6 froggy bottom, a #6 chartreus splatter popper, a #6 chart/white Clouser, a #4 gray Wiese's swimming minnow, a #1 belly scratcher minnow, a #6 Ted's swimming hex, a #8 hex paradrake and the #6 hex adult.
The lakes may be too warm to fish for trout but that doesn’t mean you must give up until fall. At least, not with some good smallmouth and largemouth bass in the area.
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