Outing Hosts: Scott Keenholts and Peter Maunsell
Cost: $70.00 Total (2 nights camping, 2 deluxe breakfast meals)
Whispering Pines Campground is located right on the Yakima River in the middle of the city of Cle Elum.
Guests have access to over 1 mile of wadeable shoreline. Moving downstream from their property fisherman have public access to another 1 mile of shoreline that offers excellent wading. The river in this area is very diverse as it winds along, providing structure, seams, ripples, and even calm pools. Target fishery is Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat trout, Cut-bow trout, and Whitefish. Fishing opportunity for waders is excellent in this area.
Camping will be in our reserved “Group Site” right on the river edge. This is an enormous flat space with plenty of room for RV’s, tents, vehicles, etc. This is “dry camping” only. The site includes several nice picnic tables, private outhouse, and fire pit. You will be able to walk and wade right out of your campsite! No need for any driving to fish. Perfect for being able to take breaks or change gear.
Campground facilities offer a small mercantile store, bathrooms with showers, water, etc. We will have evening campfires after dark, so bring your chair, beverage, and campfire snacks. Meals for this trip will be breakfast rather than dinners. Reason being that the best fishing is between 2pm and sundown or dusk. This allows fishermen flexibility to stay out instead of having to break primetime hatch fishing to go back for dinner. The Yakima is NOT a morning river! Therefore, that is the time to relax, talk, drink your morning beverage and eat a provided deluxe breakfast. Most guides agree not starting before noon.
There is plenty of room for two-hand spey casting soft hackles or small streamers. This area is very open for backcasts. If you want to float, our campsite has a very nice boat ramp. Drifting would be to either the East Cle Elum boat ramp (nicknamed “States”) or on to Thorp boat ramp (nicknamed “Greenbridge”).
Getting There:
Drive east on I-90 to Exit 84, Cle Elum. Drive east down into town passing a Safeway store, dropping down onto First Street. Proceed in to town and turn right on S. Oakes Street. Follow this street as it winds around and over the overpass of I-90. The road ends at Whispering Pine CG. Take a very sharp left turn onto an improved dirt road (Whispering Pines Drive) that proceeds east 1 mile to our campsite. It is easy to see and very well marked.
What to Bring for Fishing:
Gear you need is a 4, 5 or even 6 weight rod. Early fishing you may want a sink-tip leader with 4x tippet using nymphs like a Rubber Legs Pat’s Stone, Pink Sqiggly Worm, or any Tungsten Beadhead of your choice. Popular dry flies are BWO, March Brown, Elk Hair Caddis, Light Cahil or Adams, all #14 - #16, on a 5x tippet. Use floatant! Skwala are not as popular as the Lower Canyon, but are still worth trying.
And Don"t Forget:
What to Bring for Camping:
Food & Beverages:
Cancellation Deadline: Cancellation deadline is 8:00 p.m. April 6th. If you need to cancel, contact the Outing Host(s). No refunds will be issued after the cancellation deadline.
Coffee Pot Lake Hosts - Wytold Lebing & Eric Olson
The date is tentative. Registration will be enabled when the date is set.
Coffee Pot Lake is best known for its prodigious chironomid hatches that feed rainbow trout, reaching nearly 24 inches long. In addition to those big trout, swimming under the fly fishers' radar are plenty of largemouth bass that go up to 5 pounds. It has black crappie and some yellow perch as well. Coffeepot is located in a deep coulee a few miles northeast of Odessa, so a floating device is necessary.
You’ll want chironomids–some with weight and some without. If the water is still cool, the fish will work deep. Last June, the fish were cruising the surface. TDCs, Ice Cream Cones, and your favorite chironomid patterns in sizes 14-18 work. On a sinking line, Dragonfly nymphs such as Chickabou Dragon or Draper Dragon (Flies Of The Northwest pattern book) will take fish. Of course, the ubiquitous black or olive rabbit bugger will catch most anything.
All you need to have the most topwater fun with the largemouth is The Hamster (Flyfishing for Western Smallmouth), and expect a nasty strike from a big rainbow as well. Add a white baitfish pattern (ask Eric Olson for his pattern), and you’ll be set.
This lake is in a remote location, but a small BLM campground and boat launch are available there. The campground has approximately 10 campsites with picnic tables and campfire rings, a large covered pavilion, plenty of RV parking, and a vault toilet. There is no potable water on site, so we will need to bring drinking water, approximately 1 gallon per person per day.
Last year's Coffee Pot Lake outing report may be found in the June 2023 Flypaper.
Getting There
Cancellation Deadline: The cancellation deadline is 8:00 p.m. the Sunday before the outing. If you need to cancel, please contact the outing host (s). No refunds will be given after the cancellation deadline.
Chopaka Lake Hosts - TBD
The date is tentative. Registration will be enabled when we have an outing host.
This trip is designed to hit the peak of trout activity in this remote lake in Okanogan country. Chopaka Lake is where fly fishermen belong, and chironomid soakers put down roots. It just may be the hottest Callibaetis mayfly lake in the state. Located on a distant walled-in funnel at just under 3,000 feet elevation above the Sinlahekin Valley, Chopaka Lake is 148.8 acres of trout water squeezed into a narrow 1½ mile-long ladle. Depths in the southern half, the handle end, average less than 10 feet and support fertile nests of bottom vegetation that grow incredible insect fodder, especially mayfly nymphs. The bowl of the ladle is on the north end where the lake bottom plunges to more than 70 feet. A floating device is necessary to fish for the really large rainbows that cruise the lake.
WA DNR has a no fee campground with 2 vault toilets, questionable potable water, and a number of campsites with picnic tables. A few of the picnic tables have wooden canopies. You should have your WA Discovery Pass or WA DNR Pass with you for this campground.
The federal BLM has a no fee campground with 8 campsites with campfire rings and a vault toilet just past the DNR campground. There has been camping outside of the defined campsites in the BLM campground area.
NFA usually establishes itself in the DNR campground.
Directions:
Cancellation Deadline: Deadline for cancellation is 8:00 p.m. the Sunday before the outing. If you need to cancel, please contact the Outing Host(s). There will be no refunds after the cancellation deadline.
Outing Coordinator: Wayne Balsiger
This outing has been arranged with the Rock Island Fish Camp. All food and lodging is included in the price. We told them that we would have a maximum of 16 people. The cost is ~$950 (US). The exact RIFC cost depends on the exchange rate and will be determined in late May. A $210 deposit is required at the time of registration. The balance is due when we send an email in early June when we know the amount. You may pay the $210 via credit card. The balance can be paid via check or credit card, plus covering the card fees.
June 1 is also the cancellation date. After that point, there is no refund unless you can find someone to take your place. Much of the information on their website is reproduced below. Members who have been there before include Wytold Lebing, Peter Maunsell, Errol Flagor, Bill Gibson, Wayne Balsiger, Walt Shields, and Peter Rubenstein.
Although this is technically a no-host outing, Wayne Balsiger will act as coordinator and contact point with the RIFC staff. Generally, people have carpooled with other members.
The drive can be done in one day.
The Lakes:
Rock Island Lake is located on B.C.'s famed Nehalliston Plateau. Elevation - 4,200 ft. Some of our walk-in lakes are 5,000 ft. - 5,500 ft. The lakes vary in depth from deep volcanic holes to shallow beaver dams. They differ in water, from clear to marl bottoms to dark tea-colored lily pad ponds.
Most of the lakes have boats on them, but some remote walk-in lakes are only float-tube fishable. Take your tube and enjoy the day. Four lakes are easily accessed from camp, within a fifteen-minute walk or short row. Most of our outer lakes are road accessible, some with a drive and walk. Rock Island has electric motors available for rent at $10 a day.
The Fish:
All the lakes have only one species, "The Famous Wild Kamloops Trout." You have to hook one to know why they are called Wild. They will dance for you! No coarse fish are in the lakes—the trout range from pan size to 5 lbs. Fish up to 7 lbs have been caught. There may be some flies available at the lodge.
Accommodations:
Rock Island Lake Fishing Camp has six cozy log cabins, each with 3 – 5 beds. All are fully equipped for housekeeping, with propane cooktops, wood stoves, towels, cooking and eating utensils, and cold running water. Firewood and kindling are at your door. There is an ample supply of ice for your portable coolers. Showers, flush toilets, and hot water are all centrally located.
Home Cooked Meals:
Jeannie serves hearty, home-cooked meals in the cozy lodge. If you have any special dietary needs or restrictions, please let Wayne know when you make your reservation. They will do their best to accommodate you.
You will need to bring:
To make your trip more enjoyable, you should bring:
