Yuba Report

At the last minute, I was able to get away from the daily grind and get a day of fishing in. Based on decent reports, I decided to go to the Yuba.

This was the first time I've been on this river while the upriver of Hwy 20 portion was closed. Thanks to previous scoutings, I've found some excellent runs to fish in. This day was no exception.

I started the morning before it was light out. I waited in my car until the sun came up to avoid twisting or falling down a hill. Eventually I made it to my destination and started fishing. Even though I had the spey rod, I only needed roughly 15 feet of line. I was fishing a slow section off the main current near the bank. Looked fishy enough, but nobody wanted to play. Since I don't believe in sitting around and pounding one spot, I moved on.

Eventually I came to a stretch that I had found on a previous trip. With the low water (around 850 cfs), it was even more attractive looking. With my three fly setup, I put on a small size 14 soft hackle up front, a winged wet size 12 as the middle dropper, and the anchor was a size 8 steelhead fly of the skunk variety. Stepped through the first 20 yards of this run with nothing to show for it. As the current slowed, I started getting bumps and grabs.

Eventually I caught and landed a nice bright 20 inch fish. She took the skunk fly at the very beginning of the swing. I don't remember feeling the grab, but my spidey sense told me that someone was home. So, I set the hook and there she was.

That was the only fish I pulled out of that run this morning. Several other bumps and grabs, but nothing more. I decided to cross stream, which would of been impossible at higher flows and fished a sweet looking spot that produced a bunch of grabs. Unfortunately, I was low on drinking water and a headache was developing. I reluctantly left the fishiest looking spot and probably the best time of day to try and avoid a full-blown migraine.

The long 1/2 hour walk back to the car wasn't fun. However, upon getting back, I was surprised to see it was already noon! Time flew. I decided not to drive anywhere else, but simply walk upriver to another spot that had been productive on a previous trip. On the way there, I saw a group of 15-20 salmon spawning. I sat and watched them for about half an hour. Some of these fish were very good size. It was fun to see the big males chase off the smaller fish. It was a constant game of cat and mouse. What a hard life these guys have!

In my opinion, fishing here would of been a no-no, even if you weren't targeting the salmon. I decided to walk downriver. Eventually the water got fast enough that the salmon were no longer doing their business. I put my line in and started swinging. Nothing.

Eventually I went far enough downstream to get back where I started in the morning. I caught another fish or two in that same run. I stayed until about an hour before nightfall, and decided I'd get closer to my car prior to dark. I didn't want to get stranded out there without a flashlight. I've been through that before, and it wasn't something I wanted to repeat.

One last stop at a run that I had been to before. It is short, but always looked productive. I got a bunch of grabs and hookups that didn't last too long. The fish were being aggressive but non committal. Then, I felt this slight tug and slowly raised my rod to find a fish was on. This was a good fight, it took me a while to bring him in. He wanted to make a few runs and did pull a little line out. But, generally, I don't screw around and try to bring these guys in quick so that they aren't exhausted. This bright female was around 23 inches. A nice way to end the day!