Mike Churchill
12-21-2008, 12:15 PM
Hit the UC Davis Research property on the Yuba Saturday on a CFFU outing. The weather was surprisingly pleasant, a great lunch was eaten in good company, and we even caught a few fish. All in all, a damn good day.
The highlights for me were catching my first ever fish swinging. One to start the day, one to end it.
In the morning, I waded across a small side channel to an island to start the day. I had a beadhead crystal bugger left on from my last trip to Lake Amador. After working out some line, I swung it down and across the fast water into a slightly slower current. I stripped partway in and paused to get my loops of line all the way into my stripping basket with the fly still about 20 feet downstream. While I was looking down, from the corner of my eye I saw a splash in the direction of my fly, which was just under the surface.
I thought, was that really a fish missing my fly?
So I stripped it twice and wham, fish on. It came up and took the bugger right at the surface.
The fish was about 15 or 16 inches and very thick and healthy. A faint pink stripe and lighter colored than others I have taken from the Yuba.
I thought for a moment that I should just quit immediately because the day couldn't get any better. (Did I mention I landed the fish while talking to two other fishermen who pulled out their cameras?)
The rest of my day was fishless until last light. I spent 45 minutes or an hour hurling fly after fly at a nice fish that was rising every few minutes in the middle of the river to nothing I could see. Finally I tied on an unweighted size 4 black bugger and started swinging it on the surface. As the light faded, the fish rose farther downstream than he had been, and my buddy asked if it was in my range. I stripped out more line, tossed it down and across, and then started laughing my ass off when the fish slammed the fly as the line straightened, then exploded into the air three times.
This one was a little bigger: 16 or 17 inches, and very thick. Same looks as the other.
Made the walk back upstream in the semi darkness very enjoyable.
Mike
The highlights for me were catching my first ever fish swinging. One to start the day, one to end it.
In the morning, I waded across a small side channel to an island to start the day. I had a beadhead crystal bugger left on from my last trip to Lake Amador. After working out some line, I swung it down and across the fast water into a slightly slower current. I stripped partway in and paused to get my loops of line all the way into my stripping basket with the fly still about 20 feet downstream. While I was looking down, from the corner of my eye I saw a splash in the direction of my fly, which was just under the surface.
I thought, was that really a fish missing my fly?
So I stripped it twice and wham, fish on. It came up and took the bugger right at the surface.
The fish was about 15 or 16 inches and very thick and healthy. A faint pink stripe and lighter colored than others I have taken from the Yuba.
I thought for a moment that I should just quit immediately because the day couldn't get any better. (Did I mention I landed the fish while talking to two other fishermen who pulled out their cameras?)
The rest of my day was fishless until last light. I spent 45 minutes or an hour hurling fly after fly at a nice fish that was rising every few minutes in the middle of the river to nothing I could see. Finally I tied on an unweighted size 4 black bugger and started swinging it on the surface. As the light faded, the fish rose farther downstream than he had been, and my buddy asked if it was in my range. I stripped out more line, tossed it down and across, and then started laughing my ass off when the fish slammed the fly as the line straightened, then exploded into the air three times.
This one was a little bigger: 16 or 17 inches, and very thick. Same looks as the other.
Made the walk back upstream in the semi darkness very enjoyable.
Mike