Yuba Today (Sunday)

[El Rey]

Finally got to the river for the first time in many months. Arrived around noon in the fog and began with a nymph rig. Nothing.

Then about 1:00 the sun broke through, the skwalas woke up, flew to the surface, and the fish were on them. I managed to hook 5, landing only 3, on a big ugly rubber-leg skwala dry. All within one hour. Very nice sized fish. (I don't carry a camera, sorry.) Then about 2:00 the clouds started coming in and the action was over.

However, I did see quite a few BWOs, or were they gray drakes, after 2:00, but the fish showed no interest. I had enough excitement for one day, so I headed back to the car. I'll be back.

Cheers,
Harlan

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

That's great Harlan..........I am glad you hit that exciting action. Big dries and wild Rainbows (and Steelhead too) is pretty cool.

I guess sunny afternoons now can be good on the Lower Yuba River for Skwala Stone adults.

Don't wait two weeks, go now.

[JohnS]

Good job Harlan.......maybe I'll see you up there someday soon!

John

[El Rey]

John, let me know when you're going up there again.

Harlan

[flynoob]

I gave up on the Skwala around 1 switching to BWO/PMDs. Had 30ish rises from 1 to 3, catching several (I knew to this and the strike spookes me - forget to set hook)

[Frank R. Pisciotta]

I gave up on the Skwala around 1 switching to BWO/PMDs. Had 30ish rises from 1 to 3, catching several (I knew to this and the strike spookes me - forget to set hook)

Wow, 30 rises in two hours! * :eek: ...I'm thinking it may be a good idea to venture out of snow country, "down the mountain" and visit the Yuba.

Frank R. Pisciotta

*to your fly?

[Troutstalker55B]

Frank,

Come on down and let's go fishing! 20th-24th works for me, let me know.

Jon.

[flynoob]

In fairness, the 30 rises were between two of us. But after being skunked most of the day saturday and all sunday morning, it was a huge confidence booster.

[Frank R. Pisciotta]

Frank,

Come on down and let's go fishing! 20th-24th works for me, let me know.

Jon.

Jon-----You know I want to wet a line with you! We'd catch-up on life. Unfortunately the timing doesn't work-out. I'm in the process of preparing for the Pleasanton Fly Fishing Show (2/24-26).

Currently I'm tweaking my presentation for the Destination Theater; Saturday & Sunday, 11AM & 1PM, respectively. Also, slooooowly gathering all the stuff for the Truckee Guide NetWork booth (# E-9). I'll be heading down the mountain on Wednesday and will set-up the booth on Thursday. You'd think that one of these days I'd get a quick & easy, pop-up display.....#-o

Old School Frank

[Troutsource]

Fished above the bridge Tuesday from about 1:00 - 5:30. Caught four 10"-14" rainbows/steelhead(?) -- 3 on a dry skwala, 1 on an orange soft hackle. The skwala window was roughly from 1:30 - 3:30, and seemed to close when the clouds started to set in. There were also a decent number of PED's (?). It was a breezy day, which made fishing a little tough. The water was slightly off color, I assume due to the recent rain.

All of the fish were silvery and the three bigger ones had some sort of parasites on the pelvic fins -- sea lice ...thus, steelhead? I don't recall seeing parasites like this on the Yube before. The parasites look like what turns up in Google Images for sea lice. Here's the picture I took (didn't realize they were parasites until after I took the photo -- thought they were fish crap). I may have chopped the little guy up a bit -- his appendages look detached in this photo. On the next fish, I looked more closely and the appendages were actually attached to the body.
http://www.kiene.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=83&pictureid=586

The fish also seemed guant (see below), as if they were spawned out steelhead, but the colors were bright and there appeared to be sea lice on them.
http://www.kiene.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=83&pictureid=587

Skwala photo. There were good numbers, but not as many as I recall seeing during a hatch a few years ago. But it was windy, so maybe they were just tougher to see.
http://www.kiene.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=83&pictureid=588

[Ralph]

There are hundreds of kinds of "lice" (Copepods) that infect trout. "Sea" lice rarely stay attached more than a few days when a saltwater fish enters fresh water, but they can be quickly replaced by freshwater species. The presence or absence of lice on a Yuba trout isn't an indication of that fish being a steelhead or not.

The only definitive way to determine if the fish has been to sea is by analyzing growth rings on the scales or isotopes in the otolith (ear "bone"). Based on over thirty years of studies it is unlikely that trout under 16 inches on the Yuba are steelhead (even though I'd swear that some of those pure chrome wild fighting 12 inchers are steelies!). If you want a Phd education on Yuba fish, download a copy of the Yuba Accord and read some of the references in the bibliography.

The reason the river has been off color is because of swapping flows between the two powerhouses at the base of Englebright. The lake is clear and Deer Creek and Deep Ravine creeks are clear. In the process of swapping powerhouses, the river is stopped in one powerhouse (the entire river at this flow goes through the penstock) at the same time a pipe at the base of Englebright is opened. Once flows are stable then the second powerhouse ramps up while the duct is throttled down. During this process loads of silt get stirred up and the plume can take hours to settle and the river can be stained for a few days. I filmed the event yesterday . . . pretty awesome to see the entire Yuba get shuttled through three different pipes.

[Troutsource]

Ralph, Is it common to catch three fish in a row with lice on the Yuba? Any idea why the fish were so skinny?

[Ralph]

Ralph, Is it common to catch three fish in a row with lice on the Yuba? Any idea why the fish were so skinny?

It isn't unreasonable. The parasites are always around but infestations seem to be cyclic . . . I don't know what causes that. I don't know why your fish were skinny either; lots of fatties in there too!

[thekid]

my guess is last years crazy water really hurt some of those fish for feeding purposes. Have had alot of big headed skinny fish this year. Really sad to see the way they move the river up and down like a yoyo. There is a few side channels with thousands of salmon minnows in them right now. all trapped. they will all die if they dont raise the river!!! Thousands!!!! Heres a real snake for ya.

"TK"

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