I had an unexpected day off from work so I decided to head over the the lower Cle Elum river. We had recently purchased some property of there, and I found some beautiful stretches of river that I wanted to wet a line in.
Whitefish are a pretty good winter fishing target in the upper elevation streams so this was our goal. "Motoboat" i.e. Wayne and I waded the river fly fishing. I was throwing a bead headed nymph, I think?? It was picked out by a guy working at Sportco. Anyway.... covered lots of water, but had no hookups at all. The river was lower than I would have expected. It was about 25 deg. also. I have not fished much in cold temps. like this. I now know the frustration of frozen guides on the rod. If there is some kind of something to spray on there to avoid this, I wish I new what it was. Fly guides are even small than most rods, so it is really a prob.
We also drove up to the Umptanum..?? spelling? area of the Yak. Fished below the suspension bridge. This usually puts at least one fish to the hand, but again no luck.
The State has built some salmon habittat in the form of very large burms of trees bundled together in this area on the lower cle elum. If anybody has any experience with this river, send me a PM. I'd love to hear it. I am talking about a stretch that is on the Suncadia wildlife preserve, near a gravel pit.

LittleTrib

1/12/2012 7:54:00 PM

Next time your in town, check out Trouwater Fly Shop in Cle Elum. Great guys, great flies, and lots of great advice.
As for whitefish, try a size 16 red copper john nymph under an indicator (I usually use a double-nymph rig on the Yakima system). It's important to maintain a drag-free drift (mend, mend, mend) for a natural presentation. If the rainbows and cutthroat don't eat, the whiteys usually do.
Good luck

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