An upstream mend is all about buying your fly more time in the right drift lane. When the water between you and your fly is moving faster than the water your fly is in, mend upstream to reduce drag and protect a more natural presentation.
Every angler gets tangled. The difference between a productive day and a frustrating one often comes down to how you handle the mess.
At Red’s Fly Shop, we teach anglers to approach tangles the same way we approach fishing: slow down, assess, and make an intentional decision.
Rivers change. Light shifts. Flows rise and fall. Fish behavior evolves throughout the day.
If your setup can’t adapt, you spend more time re-rigging than fishing.
One of the simplest tools we use to help anglers stay adaptable is the tippet ring.
It’s skating season here on the Yakima, and few things get trout fired up like a dry fly in motion. When October Caddis are fluttering, stoneflies are skating, or fish are simply looking for something that moves, this is your ticket to some of the most exciting topwater eats of the year.
The best and most current fishing report on the Yakima River is here at Red's Fly Shop. Explore the best flies, river flows, and advice on how to have the best fishing experience possible on the Yakima River.
One of the most versatile and effective rigs in fly fishing is the dry-dropper. It allows you to cover two key feeding zones at once: the surface and the subsurface. But for this setup to work well, your flies need to be in proportion to one another.
When you're fishing a river on foot—especially small side channels, tributaries, or tighter sections of the Yakima system—how you approach the water matters. One of the best and most overlooked tactics is simply this: fish your way upstream.
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Learning to read rise forms gives you a huge advantage. Instead of guessing, you’re responding to what the fish are telling you. It’s a more connected, intentional way to fish—and it works. These are the same tactics we emphasize in our on-the-water dry fly clinics and river education courses at Red's.
It might feel awkward at first, but stick with it. Making your back cast work for you doesn’t just open up more water—it builds better habits and sharpens your skills across the board.
Red's Weekly Pro - Tips for the DIY Angler.
By incorporating a reach cast into your skillset, you can improve presentation efficiency and reduce unnecessary line manipulation. This leads to more natural drifts, increased hook-up rates, and a more effective approach to dry fly fishing.
By using mending instead of constant indicator adjustments, you’ll fish more efficiently, maintain a more natural presentation, and increase your chances of hooking up. Next time you're on the water, try this approach and watch how many more fish you fool!
Landing a large trout is one of fly fishing’s most rewarding experiences. By focusing on proper rod angle, managing your line, and controlling the fish during the final moments, you’ll significantly increase your success rate while respecting the fish.
The off-shoulder cast is your go-to move when fly fishing gets tricky—whether it’s battling wind, dodging obstacles, or just needing to sneak up on those ultra-finicky fish. Think of it as the Swiss Army knife of casting techniques: handy, versatile, and a little bit cool. Now go out there, dodge some branches, outsmart the wind, and get after those fish!
We teach these techniques and more through our casting courses in our University of Fly Fishing.
Mend, mend, mend, mend. If you've been on a guided float, you've no doubt heard...
Targeting behind boulders in late spring is one of the most productive ways to fish in late spring. The best way to do this is using a euronymphing rig and tightlining nymphs in the water wheels behind boulders.
Tip of the Week: WAIT! Then make a game plan to strategically get after actively feeding fish.
Want to become that confident, self-guided angler? Check out our University of Fly Fishing where we teach all of these tips and skills to help you become the angler you aspire to be.
We’ve all been there. Or at least we wish we’ve all been there. You walk or float into a run and witness a handful of large trout actively feeding on top! What you do next matters.
With too many clothes, you'll be hot, sweaty claustrophobic, and grumpy. Trust me...I know. After many...
When looking for where trout live and hold, we often look for spots that provide cover and can hide a fish. We don't think about the broken surface water of a riffle. A riffle provides cover as well as other elements that create spots for fish to hold and feed... bugs and oxygen.
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Are You Casting Dry Flies Correctly? Right now its spring time and the small streams,...
I didn't understand how a dry/dropper or in this case a "Hopper Dropper" really worked....
It's probably no "hot tip" that boulders are a good place to target when fishing...
I've personally found trout to be much easier to catch if I understand where they are holding...
As you begin to generate a longer, straighter, and more efficient cast you'll need to...
Most guides start out super poor and broke, needing to make the most out of...
