Yuba-ku 4-16-2016

[alpen glow]

Drifting dry, mend.
Lurking shadow bolts then rises.
One fly, one fish.

Lavender and green, lupine beckon.
Along the trail, memories of change.
River of change, rushes.

Again and again,
rhitogenia morrisoni, flavor of the moment.
Oh the bend of cane.

With friends, we hike,
new and old, we become,
share the stories, freshly squeezed!

http://tonysalpenglow.blogspot.com/2016/04/yuba-ku-4-16-2016.html

[Bob Loblaw]

I was on the Yuba all day Sunday and had the stretch upstream from the bridge all to myself most of the day...I guess everyone else read the reports :-). Water was high and colored, but definitely fishable. I hammered every fishable spot several times with streamers, hopper droppers, skwalas, rubberlegs, and every manner of nymph I had in my box and didn't get a knock all day.

Mr Osprey nailed a very nice fish right in front of me on one flat section, so they are in there, I just couldn't figure out what the hell they were eating. I picked over rocks all day and saw a grand total of 1 skwala casing. I saw a few caddis come off and I mean 3, and saw a couple of early hoppers on the bank, other than that the system looks sterile.

[yubaman]

When I was up last week, there was a group of about 70 swallows taking some kind of emergers right off the water as they came up. The birds were hitting the water to get them, it was out in the middle of the river, and I could not see what was coming off?

[Bob Loblaw]

When I was up last week, there was a group of about 70 swallows taking some kind of emergers right off the water as they came up. The birds were hitting the water to get them, it was out in the middle of the river, and I could not see what was coming off?


I saw them too. They came back to the same spot several times. I couldn't see anything come off either so I figured they were drinking water. That's where I saw the osprey get one.

[gitt]

With birds working the surface, sometimes it is worth just watching the water. Given enough time, you will see fish breaking the water. It might just be their shoulders. With that much action on the surface (bird activity) there has to be activity below the surface. Try a sparkle dun with a trailing midge pattern size 18-20. Used one with just an amber or silver lined clear glass bead on a curved hook wrapped with just a layer of flashabou or krystal flash up the hook shank, unweighted with pretty good success. Anglers came by and thought we were getting them on the dry, but it was the trailer they did not see doing 98% of the work. The dry provides you with a reference point of your dropper location only in this kind of situation. Any disturbance on the surface should be answered with a hook set.

[alpen glow]

If you dare to cross the river i found a pod of trout in the slicks. i was using a paraadams size 18. they're supper spooky.
i found them withen 10 feet of the bank feeding under the willows that over hang the water. also 6x. i strated using the new rio tippet that has the higher lb. rating than the old power flex... and the shimshaki spray floatent seemes to get the job done.
hope that helps! thinking of going again next week if any one wants to meet up? depends on work of course. i have three 6 wt quads im wrapping and need to have them in the dip tank tuesday to stay on schedule.

[gitt]

Tony, what time do you leave Oaktown? Might be possible to carpool if I can get a hall pass. Shot you an email earlier today.

[mattv-mcfly]

Nice fish! I sight fished and hooked a big one today in the morning but with such high flows and deep water there was no chance I was going to land it.
I totally forgot about the evening hatch.......might have to get back out there.

[yubaman]

Made it back out on Wednesday and fished a lot of ground on the Tailwater property. The 800 cfs flow jump made a big difference in the fishing. Still landed some nice, healthy fish, but there are fewer opportunities in this flow. There was a large March Brown hatch in a side channel, but no rises and no action on several March Brown patterns that always produce. The side channel has been dry for several years and I don't think any fish have headed into it. In the main river, a couple of Yellow Sallies and a couple of PMD's. I did see a few fish rise in the softer water this day.

Again, I really like the contours of the streambed and the look of the river right now.

[alpen glow]

hey Gitt finally finished up the rods and was able to get out a few days but forgot to check the board... lets meet up sometime soon keep in touch... guess i didn't see your email?