Our Story
Born on the Yakima.
Trout Slayers started as a passion project and grew into Cle Elum's home base for serious fly fishers. We're a fly shop and guide service built by anglers, for anglers — and the Yakima River is at the center of everything we do.
The Beginning
We Didn't Plan to Open a Shop. The River Had Other Ideas.
It started the way most good things do — with too many days on the water and not enough answers at the local tackle shop. After 15 years guiding the Yakima River canyon, our founder decided that Cle Elum deserved a fly shop that actually knew the river. Not a general sporting goods store with a fly section. A real fly shop, staffed by people who fished the Yakima every week.
Trout Slayers opened its doors with a simple mission: give every angler who walks through the door the same honest, specific advice we'd give a close friend. What's hatching right now. Which flies are working. Where the fish are holding after a blow-out. No guesswork, no upselling — just straight answers from people who were on the water yesterday.
The guide service grew naturally from the shop. Our guides are the same people behind the counter. When you book a trip with Trout Slayers, you're fishing with someone who knows this river the way most people know their own backyard.
The Guides
People Who Live for This River.
Our guides are licensed, insured, and deeply obsessed with the Yakima. Between them, they've logged thousands of days on this water.
Jake Merritt
Head Guide & Founder
Jake has been guiding the Yakima River canyon for over 15 years. He grew up fishing the rivers of Eastern Washington and spent a decade as a professional guide before opening Trout Slayers. He specializes in technical dry fly fishing and knows every productive run from Easton to Ellensburg.
Cody Walsh
Senior Guide
Cody came to the Yakima from Montana's Madison River and never left. He's a patient teacher and a relentless fish-finder, equally at home rowing a drift boat through the canyon or wading the spring creek flats. His clients consistently land more fish than they expect.
Mara Solis
Guide & Shop Manager
Mara runs the shop floor and guides part-time, which means she's always the first to know what's working. She's particularly skilled at reading water and teaching presentation — her clients leave with better technique, not just a fish count.
What We Stand For
Fishing Is Better When It's Honest.
Local First
We stock flies tied for the Yakima, gear tested on the Yakima, and advice earned on the Yakima. We're not a catalog store. Everything in the shop is here because it works on this river.
Conservation Matters
The Yakima is a wild trout fishery. We practice and teach catch-and-release, support Yakima Basin restoration efforts, and believe that protecting the river is part of the job.
No Ego on the Water
Whether you've been fly fishing for 30 years or picked up a rod last week, you'll get the same level of attention and respect from our guides and shop staff. The river doesn't care about your resume.
Ready to fish with us?
Book a guided trip or stop by the shop in Cle Elum.