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.
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.
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