Yuba Report from 12/30/08 & Holiday Special

[RJSFLYTRIP]

I got the chance to go fish the Yuba with one of my good buddies on Tuesday. It was great to get back out on the water after all of the Christmas madness. The weather and the river were both nice and clear. We floated from the Highway 20 bridge down to the rod and gun club access a couple of mile past the Sycamore campground. The fishing was about average on the Yuba for a single rod fishing out of the boat. We managed to hook thirteen fish and land 8 of them. We probably would have gotten a handful more if we had some more flies in the water with a second rod. The bugs that were the most productive were a Red Copper John (16), Hogans S&M (16), and Flashback PT (16). I tried eggs throughout the day but I think that the clear day and high sun really killed the egg bite. If you get out there under some dark rainy conditions then make sure to try throwing your favorite egg patterns.

In the warmest part of the day there were some bugs coming off. There was a decent baetis hatch and a handful of PMD's coming off. The baetis were about a size 18 and the PMD's a 16. I was surprised by the PMD's since it is in the middle of winter. Needeless to say there were some fish feeding on them. We were able to rise one rainbow on a dry. However we just pricked him.

For those of you interested in a holiday special. If you book two trips between January 1 & March 15 then I will give you a third trip free during the same time period. This is a cool deal because it will give you the opportunity to fish the second egg bite on the Lower Sac in January, the Skwala Hatch on the Yuba in February, and then finally the caddis hatch on the Lower Sac in March. Three trips for the price of two. Get together with a buddy each pay for a trip then the two of you get a thid trip to hang out.

Hope you all have a safe and wonderful New Year.

Tight Lines!

[RJSFLYTRIP]

The Skwalas have started coming off. I saw a little more than a dozen of them yesterday. Didn't see tons of fish eating them on the surface but there were a couple toilet flush grabs in a couple of the riffles. There is no doubt when a fish takes a stone fly on the surface.

I had one client with me yesterday and it was a pretty average day on the Yuba. We hooked a dozen fish and landed seven of them. Almost every fish ate a stone pattern. No surprise with the amount of skwalas around. Those rainbows yesterday were slamming our bugs. There was nothing subtle about the takes. The indicator was slamming under the water when a fish took. I tried all kinds of small bugs and got a couple fish on small mayfly patterns but it seems to me like they were focused on the stones. Yesterday you could call those Yuba rainbows stoners!

Lots of fish in the 15-17" range. With one nice rainbow right at the 20" mark. Those rainbows still blow me away on how well they fight. Its like a miniature steelie at the end of your line.

I have a few days open through Jan 21. So if anyone wants to do a trip in that time frame I will take off $100. Contact me asap if you want to go.

Fish Hard!