Yuba report 1/9

[Chris Gearhart]

Decided to leave the driftboat at home and wade. Had a pretty good. Caught and landed one brightly colored fish in the morning. Slow afternoon with just a couple of grabs ( I was trying my hand at swinging streamers when indo/nymph wasnt working.). Then just before sundown the fished showed up! Hooked 4 landed 3. All fish including am were in the 18" range. Really a beautiful day almost t-shirt weather.

[Kurt P]

Chris, I went to the Yuba the day before you did (the 8th). I had different weather than you (foggy/drizzle all day), but the fishing was just as good. The Yuba has always been tough for me, averaging about 1 fish for every two full days of fishing. My buddies kept telling me to stick with it and I'd eventually have an epic day, and they were right. I fought 9 nice fish, landing 6 of them (all measuring between 17-22 inches). The way those wild Yuba 'bows fight makes a 9 fish day epic, in my book. According to DFG guidelines I recorded them all as steelhead on my report card, but most were colored like regular (albeit big) rainbows. The largest I had on looked to be about 22-24 inches and more silver than the others, but she got into the heavy water and broke my 6X tippet. Not that it matters that much since they all fought so well, but how do the other memebers of this message board distinguish between half pound steelhead and big resident rainbows?
Kurt

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Wow Kurt......that sounds like one of those days you dream about?

Great photos.....we do hear good things about the Lower Yuba River.

On sunny afternoons look for those big Skwala Stone adults.

Guides Ryan Miller and Jason Hartwick have been using two handed rods with sink-tips and big olive streamers too.

[Kurt P]

Bill, you're right, it WAS one of those days you dream about. Recognize the midge pattern in the head shot photo? I picked it up in your shop the day before I hit the Yuba. I forgot my wallet and with the change I had in my ash tray could only buy 3 flies. The guy at the counter was very helpful and all 3 patterns he recommended produced fish. I had planned to try some of my old stonefly patterns but was having such good luck with those three flies I never got to them. I didn't see any adult stones (it was a cold/dreary day), but quite a few nymphs were on the rocks near shore. Hoping to get back to the river sometime this week--sunny and warm, hope the Skwalas are out.
Good fishing,
Kurt

[Ryan Miller]

Good work on the Yuba guys, it looks like you fooled a few nice ones. I guided the river yesterday and had a good morning and then a dismal afternoon. The good news is that we saw a half dozen skwala adults and a few March Brown Adults. We threw both nymphs to no avail... I will be out there tomorrow, we shall see what happens.

Ryan

[Chris Gearhart]

Kurt, good looking fish!! One of these days I will have to figure out how to post photos. I wish it was as easy as craigs list. I only saw one adult stone late in the day, but soon it should be time!!! Congrats on a great day.

Chris

[RJSFLYTRIP]

I guided the Yuba last Wednesday and the fishing was great. It was one of those days were it seems like everything was going right. To be honest I think we got a little lucky with the weather. With a little patience and quite a bit of bug changing we were able to pull a fish in about every dependable spot. In total my clients hooked 24 rainbows and landed 19 of them. We were lucky enough to get two fish on baetis dries. Most of the fish we caught came on stones, eggs, and small mayfly nymphs. The hot bugs were Hogans S&M, small FB Pheasant tails, Rubberlegs, and orange egg patterns.

What was crazy is that we hooked and landed a 25'' rainbow about a mile or so above Sycamore. When I netted the fish I thought that it was around 21'' because of the size of the rainbow. I put it up to the tape to get an accurate measurement and it stretched all the way to the 25'' mark. The rainbow probably only weighed three pounds when it should have gone 5 or 6 lbs. The fish was really snaky looking. It was an awesome fish but to be honest a little disappointing.

For anyone who wants to fish the Yuba or the Lower Sac this week I will take $100 off any trip booked

Fish Hard!

[Mik]

Awesome!!!! Those fish are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[Adam Grace]

MSP and I will be fishing the Yuba tomorrow and I'm wondering if anyone who has fished the Yuba lately has any specific successful fly suggestions.

We both know about the possibility of some Skwalla action and we are both prepared for Skwallas. There is also a slight possibility of some March Brown action. We both also know about the chances of BWO activity. I am also bringing a sinktip with some woolly buggers and other various streamers to dredge the bottom if all else fails.

Please post a reply or send me a private message if you are feeling generous with fly information.

Thank you in advance.

[MSP]

Geez Adam, I'm much more interested in what might go best with Yuba Skunk, domestic or a micro-brew, perhaps a Merlot or possibly a Sarah?

[Adam Grace]

I'm partial to a nice Pinot Noir, but I can also drink my share of beer :-)

[Tracy Chimenti]

I don't know MSP, but you best sit down and stay down if you're gonna dabble in both!

[Adam Grace]

LMAO, not that type of skunk :-)

A BIG thanks to those of you who have PM'd me, I greatly appreciate all of your help!

[Fish Head]

Aside from the apparent good luck everyone seems to be having on the Yuba, and the obvious seasonal hatches, what can you say about overall fishing preasure up there? Based on the numbers of reports, it seems like the river is getting pounded?

All this warm weather MUST be bringing out the rattle snakes! :) -really

[Kurt P]

Yes, the Yuba's getting some pressure. I ran across about 18-20 other anglers wading above HWY 20 bridge today (and 1 drift boat came through that stretch late in the day. There seemed to be a lot of boat shuttling going on for the drift below the bridge at the end of the day, too). Everyone wade fishing was nice, spreading out well and we all had plenty of room, but much busier than Thursday of last week when I only saw one other guy. (Maybe it's the nicer weather, or because today is Friday)
I'd been really looking forward to fishing the Skwala hatch for the first time, and although there were plenty of nymphs near shore, and quite a few adults drifting by on the water in the afternoon, I only saw one out of the 30+ adults I watched drift by get eaten by a trout. I couldn't fool any fish into taking any of my nymph/adult patterns. From what I'd read and heard, I was a little disappointed in the trout's seeming lack of interest. Does it take the trout a while to 'turn on' to eating such big bugs, or do the skwalas just taste icky this year, or is this about how aggressive they get (I'd imagined fish would be rising all over the place when the skwala's were on the water).

[Fish Head]

Kurt, thanks for the info. It sounds like the angler hatch is as strong as the skwala!

Sometimes fish do take a little while to 'warm-up' to larger bugs. I've seen this consistently with October caddis hatches in the fall, and sometimes with golden and salmon fly stones in the spring. What you might be experiencing on the Yuba, with fish ignoring the naturals, could be acclimation to the skwala hatch in combination with angler pressure. Yuba fish are very smart and are likely getting 'well trained' with the increased angler pressure. Lots of flies, bobbers, and lines flogging the water surface will put Yuba fish down in a hurry. However, when they get aggressive (aka stupid, the stars align, and the cow jumps over the moon) nothing seems to matter! That's when I like to be there :)

Cheers

[Kurt P]

Fish Head,
I agree, those Yuba fish are smart. I finally thought I'd figured them out last week when I had a great day, but they had my number (again) yesterday. I tried exactly the same flies in the exact places/time of day as I did last week and instead of having another great day, I got skunked. It's kind of fun trying to figure out what variables effect the bite, but I haven't really doped it out yet.
Thanks for the info about the Skwalas, I hope to get out there soon to try it again, hopefully all the stars will align for me [-o<.
Good fishing,
Kurt

[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!