North Fork of the Yuba...perhaps the most beautiful trout stream in California?

[Bob Loblaw]

I had a nice 3 day getaway this weekend and fished the North Fork of the Yuba between Downieville and Sierra City. Flows were decent for this time of year, but the water is getting warm, and it is gin clear. From the top of some of the big cliffs, you can see fish moving around at the bottom of pools that are 30 feet deep.

Fishing was great in the early hours and just before dusk. Middle of the day was best spent drinking cold beer, swimming, and putting in some hammock time...plus there was a beer festival in Downieville on Saturday that necessitated a few hours away from the river.

I did a LOT of hiking and rock hopping to get to some spots I suspected don't get fished very much and ended up in some deep canyons with amazing pools. If you wanted to design the perfect freestone trout stream this would be it, absolutely perfect trout water and stunning to look at too. In Fly Fishing the Sierra Nevada (revised edition) there's a beautiful picture of a spot on the North Fork that I think I found. I lost my copy of the book a couple of years ago, but when I turned a bend in the river and looked up at the next hole, I immediately recognized it...just beautiful! the McCloud gets raved about for its beauty, give me the NFY any day!

Lots and lots of first year fish all around 8 inches and just one fish 12 plus inches. I fished my Winston 3 weight and threw dries or dry droppers the whole time. The hungry little dinks hammered the dry in the early hours, though they were very selective. I caught them all on a Parachute Adams and when I tried to change things up with a hopper, a stimulator, or a caddis, or something like a Royal Wulff, nada....not so much a rise and refuse, all they wanted was the Adams. Towards 11am I tied on a Copper John dropper and they started nailing that instead. By noon it was all over until about 5pm, even in the deepest canyons that get little or no direct sunlight.

I tried an indicator rig for about 15 minutes and dredged the bottom of one run, and had a couple of fish, including one about 12-14 inches, but that rod wasn't built for hucking bobbers and shot, so I quickly got back to the dry fly set up and back to the smaller fish.

Try as I might, I couldn't lure a big fish up from the deep, only the little guys wanted to play....though even an 8-10 inch wild fish can put a nice bend in a 3 wt.

The only bugs that I saw coming off were sporadic hatches of midges through out the day. The bottom of the river was alive with big October Caddis crawling around, and then they decide to go off, someone is going to have a great day of fishing!

Awesome trip all round and I didn't see another angler. The roadside pullouts all had vehicles in them, but if you take the time to do a little hiking you'll find pristine untouched water and the river to yourself.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Great post Bob....

I think that the NFY is very special.

On average it gets fishable a little later than some of our other trout streams.

I think July is a big month there. October is probably another good month.

A friend who fishes it for decades says that you need to get on the river where the road is level or close to it and then fish up stream for a whole day in stretches where the river is long way away and down from the road. Then when the road and river get close again you are done. He says these stretches don't get as much pressure as the areas close to the road with easy access.

In the spring the river will get really good for about a two week period with tremendous afternoon/evening hatches. This will happen in June/July depending on the snow pack.

My friend Mike Ziem was there maybe 25 years ago during that period one spring. He said it was unreal every afternoon. He used mostly elk hair caddis in #14. During that week he landed a large 18 inch Brown trout on a dry fly.

About 30 years ago they had a photo around Downieville of a 12 pound Brown trout caught on a black wooley bugger in the river.

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[PV_Premier]

Nice post. Indeed the NFYR is a special river, perhaps my favorite for the reasons you mention...solitude, water clarity, natural beauty, and always willing fish. And there are fish everywhere there should be, with a large variety of styles of water to fish. Personally I really enjoy fishing the plunge pools in the higher elevations.

It would be true insanity if the average size was 14-16 instead of 7-9 inches!

Another thing I love about the river is it is very predictable most of the summer and can be fished effectively with just 3 or 4 flies -- parachute adams, orange or yellow stimi, copper john, and psycho prince. If you really want to drive them wild, try a parachute purple haze.

There are a ton of caddis this year, and depending on how quickly it cools off, early October is going to be maniacal out there. I just have a very hard time pulling myself away from the egg bite to go fish to the little guys at that time of year.

There are some very large browns in the lower part of the river. It is one of those places you could legitimately catch a 7+ pounder. But, you are gonna work very hard for it...maybe only getting one or two grabs the whole season, so you better make them count. This summer I swore to myself I was going to go fish a specific stretch in the middle of the night with a mouse to see if I could make it happen. I haven't done it yet, but fortunately the summer isn't quite over...

[JasonB]

I think I'd need some photos to really say for sure there Bob...
I do concur though, that is one delightful river. Have spent some very enjoyable days/evenings in those clear blue waters. One nice thing about that river is the amount of good fishable water that is accessible. A rare treat in California.
JB

[yubaman]

I concur. Whether the NFY or McCLoud is the prettiest stream in California is a good debate over a cold one. I used to fish it quite a bit a few years ago. There are some great runs in the NFY. We used to have a "small fish of the day" contest when we fished there. You could usually count on the winner being about 2". They used to have a great steakhouse in the Downieville called the Grubsteak, but I don't know if it is still open. Can't go wrong getting a cold one at the St. Charles Inn either. Sierra City also has some good eats and refreshments.

When October comes. I had a couple of Montana Salmonfly patterns that are also excellent October Caddis imitations. One of these is called the Cat Puke, and would do very well on the NFY. You could almost count om dredging up at least 1 big Brown with this bug.

Could the NFY be the best dry fly stream in Northern California? Maybe, but yes, fish are on the small side. I will often fish it with a Sage TXL 1 weight. It is so nuch fun to use this rod on the NFY. It is such a fun weekend to fish there and wander around the 2 towns.

[cyama]

Small fish of the day!! That is a good one! The sad thing is sometimes you set the hook on those guys and fling them into the bushes. Where is the Lower Yuba report Bob. Anything happening at the spot?

[yubaman]

Have not been to the Lower Yuba lately. Flows finally went down. I think I will fish the property on Friday before the Sept. 1 closure. Will give report if done. Have been fishing the Truckee some, mostly with streamers. Not numbers of fish, but nice big, healthy browns.

[Troutsource]

I had possibly the most intense hatch-fishing experience ever on the NFY a few Octobers ago. I must have timed it just right (by pure coincidence -- because it was a family camping trip). October Caddis were everywhere and I was getting a fish on every cast for an hour straight. Sometimes multiple hits per cast as I swung a big pupa. Fish were like piranhas. Driving around the next evening (wasn't allowed to fish), I heard a constant barrage of thumps -- like driving through a rainstorm with big drops -- as they bounced off my windshield. The only drawback was that I believe most of the fish were planters, with stumpy pelvic fins. But they sure were fun to catch.

[Big Jim]

Had a great time in late july with my 10 yr old and the family dog staying in Sierra city. Found fish, panned gold, and took some great walks. great day hiking up haypress creek above wild plum campground. Great area to bring the family and get in some fishing as well....

[PV_Premier]

The sad thing is sometimes you set the hook on those guys and fling them into the bushes.

this is why i try to fish directly upstream on the NFYR...then they just go over your shoulder and end up in the next plunge pool downstream! ;) two summers ago i hit them hot and heavy up near Bassetts and I think I "relocated" more fish than I actually landed.