Yuba Report 1/15

[Adam Grace]

MSP (Mike Putman) and I fished the Yuba this past Thursday, sorry for the sorta late report. We enjoyed a nice day on the river and so did the other 10-12 fishermen we saw that day. The fishing pressure is fairly high and most people were above the bridge. I started the day out around 9:30, nymphing with a BWO nymph and a midge pupa with no luck. Later as I came across a nice run that looked very good for a streamer attack, so I switched to a zonker type of fly, after putting on a couple large splitshot on my long leader attached to my floating line a gave the run a good sweeping. Halfway through the run a nice 13” trout WHACKED the hell out of my streamer and jump-started my heart. It fought well and got the stripe off of my back, which make me smile. Here’s a picture of that fish:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/IMGP5577.jpg

Mike was determined to catch one on a dry and pounded a nice little slick above to no avail; here he is casting to the spot where he saw a couple of rises:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/mikecasting.jpg
You can see that just in this one picture there are two other fisherman in the immediate area, there were more fisherman than I expected to see. Everybody was nice and gave us our space and did not crowd others, I find that most fly fisherman are like that…… I feel proud to be part of such a courteous and respectable group of fisherman.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/dogboywdad.jpg
Here he is with "Dog Boy"


Later on in the day, as we walked back to our cars we noticed a few rises in the pool right above the bridge. We noticed only a few BWO’s emerging and possibly a few March Browns, mayflies much larger than the BWO’s. Mike tried to fool some fish, here he is casting out for them:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/mikecasting5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/mikecasting4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/mikecasting3.jpg
This is my favorite out of the bunch.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/mikeemptyhand.jpg
Here's Mike being funny about the lack of success :-)


Mike and I looked for skwallas through most of the day and we only saw a couple above the bridge but as we walked back down to the bridge we saw a bunch more in the willows right above the bridge. They are coming out but there are definitely not out in force yet. I want to go back in a week to try skwalla fishing again, by that time they should be fairly thick.... I hope :-) Here’s a few pics of some skwallas for your viewing enjoyment, don’t get too embarrassed though…one of the pictures is a little risqué ;-)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/IMGP5582.jpg
They needed to get a room! lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/IMGP5593.jpg
Check ou the underbelly color and the nice egg sack.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/IMGP5580.jpg



After lunch we snooped around below the bridge, only seeing a few other fisherman. Towards the evening we pounded the banks with skwalla dries, I used a dropper an caught this fish:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/fishing/IMGP5595.jpg

The lower left jaw was all messed up from a previous catch, but it fought like crazy.

Mike fished above me and hooked and landed 2 fish on his magical carpet skwalla pattern. Unfortunately he was too far away for me to get a picture but he took a couple of his famous “hand” shots and hopefully he will be posting them shortly.

So by the end of the day we each caught two fish, nothing great but at least we didn’t get skunked. I think we would have done better if we both concentrated on solely nymphing but we were both happy to catch them our own way.

To sum up the important fishing info: There was very little visible bug activity. We saw a few skwallas but nothing too impressive or worth getting very excited about. Maybe soon the skwalla hatch will be exciting (crossing my fingers.) Mike and I both saw the nymph fishermen do pretty good, but nothing really impressive. The skwallas should be in full force sometime soon and maybe on a cloudier day the BWO’s might come off stronger, not sure though.

Thanks to those who sent me messages, next time I go I will get there earlier to get a nice spot on a good nymphing run and I will concentrate on nymphing more to increase my numbers, but I will be very excited to get a hard pull on a swung streamer and I will jump all over any chance for dry fly action.

Good luck if you plan on going out there in the near future. - Adam

[MSP]

Yea we had a pretty nice day on the river. Been a while since I've been out and actually caught something. Couldn't beat the weather and company though. Actually this may have been the best count on the Yuba when Adam and I have fished together. Here are a couple of pics of the fish I got on top with the Carpet Skwalla. Had to add a picture of the guide.

[Hairstacker]

Great photos and report guys! Might have been a little crowded but looks like you fellas had a good time. Looks like a beautiful day as well. 8)

[Adam Grace]

Here are a couple of patterns that have worked for me on the Yuba:

I call this my green goblin. It's tied just like the goblin: normally tied as a black woolly bugger with an orange zonker strip. The Spirit River Real Eyes Plus hold up much better than regular cheap yellow lead eyes, plus they look much better. This fly imitates sculpins and other baitfish.:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/flies/IMGP5599.jpg

This is the fly that my first fish took.



This is a picture of my skwalla dry pattern that I've used a few time before with good results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/flyguyag/flies/rubberskwalla2.jpg

Hope you like the flies!

[ryeflyguy]

Adam and Mike,

Great posts and pics!

[Hairstacker]

Adam, Green Goblin, eh? Fascinating, as its profile is similar to the fly I'm tying for the current swap, although there are differences. I'll try to post a picture in the swap thread as soon as I get a chance.

The fly I tie uses a pine squirrel strip and the body is Jay Fair Glimmer Green Short Shuck (for the swap fly, I'll be substituting a longer, olive crystal chennile), with a medium oval silver tinsel rib, an English grouse collar, and a dubbed olive rabbit neck and head. I realize these materials are quite different than your fly but the profile of the two flies is uncannily similar.

[Fish Head]

Good report, Adam. You and Mike tied into some nice Yuba bows. The variation in spot patter of Yuba trout always amazes/mesmerizes me! :)

The angler tally is surprising too! It's hard to believe that many fishermen were out on a Thursday!~? I guess with the current economy, more people have more time to spend on the river!

Cheers

[DonCooksey]

Nice report and great insect photos! When I was there Monday, I only saw two other fishermen above the bridge.