Trip Report: Yuba

If you recall, I was planning to fish the American river on Friday. That was until I remembered that the Yuba above the 20 would be closed in a few days. So, my plans were altered at the last minute.

Arriving at 7am, I geared up and quickly fished the run just below the first bit of churning water, not far upstream from the bridge. Started out with a 3 fly assortment of various soft hackles, anchored by a colorful attractor soft hackle. The rig was held on by an intermediate sinking leader. This setup was the basis for my morning. The three flies were swapped in various combinations throughout.

There was barely any above the water activity, although a few fish did break the surface here and there. It didn't take long before moving upstream seemed like a good idea. If I remember, correctly I went to the first left hand bend and fished upstream of that and back to the bend. Again, nothing.

Eventually, I made my way upstream a ways along the left bank (looking upstream) and found a place to cross river. I hadn't tried to go this far last time I was here and didn't realize there was a somewhat easy place to cross. The river was wide and only waist/chest deep. Not much work, just a slow process on the slippery rocks. I caught a few smaller fish in this area.

Once across I moved upstream to the slow right hand bend, where there the river divides in 3 sections. This was my starting off point for a step-and-swing down river. Again, a few more fish were caught. Nothing to write home about. Maybe 12 inches max.

At one point, I was standing in the river and happened to look down at the right moment to see a 24-32 inch rainbow about 7 feet away from me. He was just hanging out, nibbling on nymphs as they floated down to him in about 4 feet of water. Quickly pulling in some line, I made a few casts to him before he disappeared. So, obviously the big fish are in there. I just wasn't able to nab this one.

While swinging/stepping down river I was met by a guy in a kayak from Fish and Game. We talked for a moment and then he continued down river. Nothing much for him to see here, that's for sure.

The day was getting hot. The high was supposed to be over 100, and I believe it. There were no other fisherman on the river, too smart to stand in the triple digits I suppose. Because of the heat, I eventually dumped the three fly rig and put on a sinking tip with various heavy (summer) steelhead flies. This lasted until the late afternoon and the fish started coming to the surface again.

I've got a lot to do this weekend, so I won't pour over every place I fished. Let's just say that pretty much the whole river was covered from where I saw that big fish down to the bridge. In one area, while perched on a rock, I could look out and see more than a dozen trout, all over 15 inches. The largest ones looked to be pushing 30. It was a crazy scene. They were deep down and it wasn't easy to access them with a fly rod. Although I tried for a while, I just couldn't get to them with the limited casting space and precarious position I had to get into. They were not all trout. Some of them were obscured by the surface ripples and made it hard to know for sure. Other than being huge, I'm still not positive what they were.

All in all, it was a sweltering day with a few decent sized fish. Overall, it was slow, as you'd expect for such a warm day. Next week, I'm hoping to take a two day trip to Northern California. Perhaps the Trinity.

Fly #27: Steelhead Experimentation

I'll be heading out to the American next week for a swing (pun intended) at Steelhead. I'll be taking along all those rather large and colorful steelhead flies that I've been tying up recently, but also be doing a little testing with smaller soft hackles too.

The colors are off in this photo, but what you should be seeing
is white marabou with an Olive soft hackle up front. Some extra flash
tied in, along with some green rubber legs. A wire rib gives it a little
weight to pull it below the surface.

I know that plenty of steelhead can be caught on smaller soft hackles and nymphs as well as the larger "steelhead" flies. After tying a box full of the larger guys, I've come to really like the movement you get out of the soft feathers. While at the Stan last week, I took advantage of the ultra clear water by really looking at how the flies looked underwater. The marabou gave it so much life, they billowed in the current.

A rather thick chunk of olive marabou hides a silver ribbing. The hackle
consists of a red guinea and a blue/green guinea in front of that. A bead gives it some weight.

Earlier in the week, I decided to mix up my love for soft hackles with my new affair with big marabou steelhead flies. The result are small size 10-14 flies that have a soft hackle up front with marabou underneath. I've done some really unscientific testing in a glass of water in my kitchen and indeed they have nice movement. Just like their big brothers. hat will the fish think? We'll hopefully find out next week.

Trip Report: Lower Stan

Last Sunday, I was able to take a rare weekend day off to fish. This was part two of the exchange program between Mr. X and I. He had already shown me Putah Creek on a float tube and now it was my turn to show him Two Mile Bar on the Lower Stan.

We met at 6am in the parking lot. After putting our stuff together, we walked down and found the river at a very good wading level. It was clear and cold. And interestingly enough, for a Sunday, it was pretty much empty. All day long.

This was my first time starting out at Two Mile. Normally, I begin the morning at Tulloch and switch locations in early afternoon. It was a nice change of pace. Upon arriving, we started at the top of the first riffle below the long slow pool coming down the canyon. Even though a hatch was on, it started out slow. I did my usual swing and step down the river while Mr. X stayed a bit in the slower water above the riffle. After making it to the island, I still hadn't caught anything. I covered a good portion of both channels until I started catching a few 10 inch rainbows on a small white soft hackle.

Traveling on the far side of the river from the parking area, we headed down river. I think I spent more time changing flies and swapping sink tips than I did fishing. At one point I even tied on a big old grasshopper as an indicator and a small nymph trailing down from that. That probably doesn't sound unusual. But for me, someone who rarely puts on a surface fly, and even more rarely uses an indicator, it was quite unusual. It should be no surprise that I didn't catch anything. I don't think I could of felt more out of my element. However, I'd like to broaden my horizons and try new techniques. Afterward, I switched to some of those big streamer flies on a sinking tip and swam them in the current below me as the water churned through some boulders. I may of gotten a bite or two, but that was about it.

We decided to head back up river to revisit some spots from early in the morning before making a move up the road to Tulloch. Once making the drive, Mr. X suggested we fish near the dam. A place I had never been before, at least not that close to the falls. Boy did that mist feel good on this hot day.

Fish were everywhere, but they didn't want anything I presented to them. And I tried a whole lot of flies. We gave it quite a while and then headed down river. After a little while longer, Mr. X decided to call it a day. At that point, I went back up river and caught a few more fish about a quarter way to the dam. Again in the 10 inch range.

I was getting bored with Tulloch, so I went back down the road to Two Mile. Fishing started out slow, but as the sun began to lower, it started picking up. For a while, I was catching a fish every 5 or 10 minutes. As you can guess, they were all in the 10-12 inch area.

This was a big day for experimentation. Soft hackles, nymphs, streamers, steelhead flies, dries, terrestrials, I tried them all. Only the soft hackles were producing for me. Mostly on the downward leg of the swing with a few coming during the dead drift on an upriver cast.

It was getting dark and I was about to throw in the towel when I hooked what felt like a large fish. I was quite surprised because of the constant supply of small fish. At first he didn't seem very big, but then he really pulled hard as he got within 15 feet of me. The fight when on for a little while, but the guy started to get tired and I could scoop him up pretty easy with my hand. I was actually surprised to see he was only about 15 inches. Considering the fight he gave me, I expected him to be a little bigger. Like some of the others during the minutes prior to dark, he was caught on a small size 16 wet fly. This one was a black winged wet. After letting him rest behind my leg, he sped off, full of energy.

As I was standing in the river, trying to catch a few more as it became almost pitch black out, I heard a siren blare in the distance. I didn't know what it was initially since it was echoing off the canyon walls. About five minutes later, it happened again. For a paranoid moment, I thought it might have been some kind of warning that the river was about to rise, so I quickly exited the water. Then reality set in and I remembered that I was supposed to be out of the parking lot by sunset. It must have been someone trying to hurry me up.

I got out of the river, dug out my flashlight and headed back to the car. Sure enough, the Sheriff was waiting for me. Woops!

All in all, it was a great day. I didn't accurately keep track of how many fish I caught, but it was somewhere north of 15. All of them except the one were in the 9-12 inch range (I'm not counting the few dinks that somehow opened their mouths wide enough to get hooked). The Lower Stan continues to be an ego booster.

Fly #26: Flies for the Lower Stan

In preparation for a trip to the Lower Stan, I've been tying a few flies. Some of those are pictured below. As always, click on the picture for a larger version.

This one is tied on a size 12 hook and has a red guinea feather for a tail, a partridge hackle up front and a feather palmered up the shank. I've used a similar fly on this river before with great success. This relatively light fly combined with the palmered hackle will keep him right under the surface.

This is a size 14 with partridge hackle up front and a dubbed body with wire ribbing giving it some weight. This basic soft hackle always gets attention on just about every river. The Lower Stan is no exception. This guy will sink at a good rate and will be fished a few feet down.

Another red size 10 fly. This is practically the same as the first except with a red guinea hackle up front.

Watch for a report in the coming days to see how they worked out.

Fly #24: Articulated Variation

Very similar to the previous fly post, this one mostly differs by the trailing stinger hook. The main part of the fly is tied on a shank that had the hook clipped off with wire cutters. That trailing hook is tied to the shank with heavy mono, with a small clump of marabou tied to behind some dubbing. The result is an articulated marabou fly meant for everyday trout.