Yellow Creek

[Rich Morrison]

I haven’t been in a few years. Last time I was there it was a tough go but still a beautiful spot. It’s where I learned to fly fish. I’d like to take my dad up - he’s slowing down pretty good - just for old times sake. You can PM me but I’d like to know what the word is up there. Hopefully there’s been some improvement?

[beachjumper1]

me too, campground open?

[Rich Morrison]

me too, campground open?

Well that I don't know. The council tasked with divvying up PG&E (who ran the campground) land gave the land back to the Maidu tribe in 2018.

https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article213494354.html

I don't know what that means for the campground...

[Rich Morrison]

In looking at the PG&E website the campground is listed on the map as "Temporarily Closed" but on the facilities list that shows proposed opening dates its no longer listed. I have a feeling its in limbo and not an option right now.

[tcorfey]

I was up on YC last year in end of May-June the campground was closed and had no trespass signs. It did look like it was being used from the street so maybe the tribe is keeping it to themselves. The stream was 4-5' deep in many spots. I fished from below the campground upstream almost to the campground (had the place pretty much to myself). Fished for 5-6 hours no takes, saw a few bugs, a lot of butterflies and no risers. Had better luck on Butt Creek in the am. Left YC late afternoon and got to camp at almost dark. Camp was above Chester on the NFF river. NFF was also high but I caught a few there too. YC might have been better above the campground or down towards the canyon or maybe later in the year when the water came down.

[Rich Morrison]

Sounds about like what I found several years back. I caught one down at the top of the canyon and had to work my rear off for it. There some nice light brown color drakes of some sort coming off - but no risers just like you saw. Looks like I will be up there in a week and a half. I'll report back.

[dude02]

Rich,

I was at Almanor for Hex the weekend after the 4th of July. We went down to Yellow Creek at about 11 am just to look around. The PG&E campground was closed at that time but there were some sketchy looking folks camping there. Saw a few hoppers and no fish activity. The meadow is as beautiful as ever. I would fish early and late. We did not go back so no report on activity during the most fishy hours of the day.

The PG&E campground was a spike camp for during the fire a few years ago. They appear to have made road improvements as the section of the last descent into the meadow used to be pretty rough.

[L Kenney]

It's hard to hear how Yellow Creek has declined. My father and his cronies used to fish there on opening weekend in the 50s if their Jeep could get them in over often snowy roads. We camped there as a family in the mid 50s and it's the first place I ever took a trout. On a salmon egg I'm sure. I couldn't wait to be 10 years old, the youngest age my father would let me fish down the canyon with him.

[loose_shoes]

From what I understand fishing is essentially 'zilch' on Yellow Creek nowadays.

There are probably many interlocking and complicated reasons for the situation but here is one possible piece of the puzzle.

The trout conservation groups some years ago put up a fence along Yellow Creek to keep the cows out of the stream and improve the habitat. Great! It worked perfectly. No more cows and no more stream degradation and all the problems that come with large livestock smashing through small streams.

However, our old friend, the Law of Unintended Consequences came to extract his due.

That big, beautiful bovine-baffling barrier provided the perfect environment for our avian pals to gather for a picnic. All those fence posts and the long, straight wires between them just a few yards from the stream gave every insect eating bird a made-to-order perch to pick off any and all bugs that had the bad luck to get anywhere near the creek. It wasn't too many seasons before the insect population in Yellow Creek could no longer sustain itself and collapsed and that likely took the fish population down as collateral damage.

Well, that's the theory anyway. I guess it just goes to show that sometimes well-intentioned, single-solution conservation ain't so simple.

[Rich Morrison]

From what I understand fishing is essentially 'zilch' on Yellow Creek nowadays.

There are probably many interlocking and complicated reasons for the situation but here is one possible piece of the puzzle.

The trout conservation groups some years ago put up a fence along Yellow Creek to keep the cows out of the stream and improve the habitat. Great! It worked perfectly. No more cows and no more stream degradation and all the problems that come with large livestock smashing through small streams.

However, our old friend, the Law of Unintended Consequences came to extract his due.

That big, beautiful bovine-baffling barrier provided the perfect environment for our avian pals to gather for a picnic. All those fence posts and the long, straight wires between them just a few yards from the stream gave every insect eating bird a made-to-order perch to pick off any and all bugs that had the bad luck to get anywhere near the creek. It wasn't too many seasons before the insect population in Yellow Creek could no longer sustain itself and collapsed and that likely took the fish population down as collateral damage.

Well, that's the theory anyway. I guess it just goes to show that sometimes well-intentioned, single-solution conservation ain't so simple.

There are no wires. It’s a split rail fence. My dad worked on it. This theory is not remotely realistic. The lions share of the trouts food would come from the nymphal stages of the bugs life cycle. And with hundreds of thousands if not millions to one numbers of bugs to birds the birds would not have made an appreciable dent in the bug population.

I believe whirling disease got into this water shed at some point and that hurt.

[Bill Markwood]

I was at Yellow Creek in late June 2019. I caught a couple of small browns in the meadow right off the main road. At that time, they were just getting ready to open up the campground for use. It looked like it was in good shape with a husband and wife team of camp hosts in attendance.

[grnwtrs]

From what I understand fishing is essentially 'zilch' on Yellow Creek nowadays.

There are probably many interlocking and complicated reasons for the situation but here is one possible piece of the puzzle.

The trout conservation groups some years ago put up a fence along Yellow Creek to keep the cows out of the stream and improve the habitat. Great! It worked perfectly. No more cows and no more stream degradation and all the problems that come with large livestock smashing through small streams.

However, our old friend, the Law of Unintended Consequences came to extract his due.

That big, beautiful bovine-baffling barrier provided the perfect environment for our avian pals to gather for a picnic. All those fence posts and the long, straight wires between them just a few yards from the stream gave every insect eating bird a made-to-order perch to pick off any and all bugs that had the bad luck to get anywhere near the creek. It wasn't too many seasons before the insect population in Yellow Creek could no longer sustain itself and collapsed and that likely took the fish population down as collateral damage.

Well, that's the theory anyway. I guess it just goes to show that sometimes well-intentioned, single-solution conservation ain't so simple.

Great report!

Gene

[Fleaflicker]

A friend and I were in the Lake Almanor area on Saturday and saw a sign along Highway 89 near Prattville indicating that the Yellow Creek campground was still closed. Closures apparently also remain in effect for a number of other campgrounds in the area - only about 50% were shown as NOT being "temporarily closed" by Google maps, including the one on the North Fork of the Feather upstream from Chester where we were planning to camp. We ended up camping downstream of Caribou on the North Fork instead, with lots of company.

[Rich Morrison]

I’m still planning a trip up to check it out. It was delayed because I got covid. Now I’m all better and my anti-bodies and I will be out in early Sept. I’ll report back.

[beachjumper1]

good luck waiting to hear

[JasonB]

I’m still planning a trip up to check it out. It was delayed because I got covid. Now I’m all better and my anti-bodies and I will be out in early Sept. I’ll report back.

Glad to hear you are doing better, any idea how you contracted it (if you don’t mind me asking)?
Best of luck
JB

[Rich Morrison]

Glad to hear you are doing better, any idea how you contracted it (if you don’t mind me asking)?
Best of luck
JB

I'm an airline pilot. Probably from someone I flew with. But really your guess is as good as mine.

[Rich Morrison]

All right - finally got up to Yellow Creek earlier this week. Unfortunately it was smoky as heck. I saw no signs that the Maidu tribe are changing anything. The campground was indeed closed but I went down and drove through it and it looks as though it was open at some point this year - including some Covid-19 signage about distancing etc.

The creek is still beautiful. Great flows and great cover - it looks fishy as all get out. I saw fish - the largest being about 12”. I caught two - a small brookie and a 10” par marked rainbow. Both on a small streamer. There were no rising fish. But there is so much cover over the creek that there could be a lot of big fish in there and you would never know or be able to get to them. I’d bet nighttime fishing there might be very productive. Despite the smoke it was still gorgeous down there.

[beachjumper1]

thanks Rich

[Rich Morrison]

Anyone else been up through here lately?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

In the 1980s Cal-Trout did a 10 year restoration on Yellow Creek:

https://caltrout.org/timeline/yellow-creek-restoration


Here is a nice little video on fly fishing Yellow Creek.

In this video this guy is making some long casts and "down steaming " the flies so he is a veteran also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxQbPmLxALc


Veteran fly fisher Bob Long fished it for many year. He told me in June there was usually a Green Drake hatch.

He said you need to be super sneaky to catch fish there.

[Mark Kranhold]

After the cows left so did the big fish.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I have heard over the years that the big fish never really came back? Sad...........


Maybe those cows in the creeks are not as bad as we thought?

[Mark Kranhold]

Those big fish would feed on a red worm that was in the cow patties. They would get washed into the river and those fish would gorge on them. Now no worms no big fish.

[bearflag]

I was up there for several days 2 weeks ago having missed my annual visit last year. I found the creek to be in generally healthy condition with multiple hatches of drakes, stones, and caddis late in the day with fish eager for them. It's a tough place to fish with the clear water, weed beds, and high banks. Pretty tough to hit a target in the daily afternoon winds that seem to arrive just as it turns on. There are some nice fish in there if you have the patience for it.
The Mountain Maidu Consortium has been deeded much of the lower valley from PG&E and are now running the campground. Very nice folks hosting and keeping it up better than PGE did in the past.
My concern for the creek is the MMC has undertaken a project to bring back a creekscape that they believe existed at some time in the past. Namely, a series of beaver dams stretching the length of the stream on their property. These are known as Beaver Dam Analogs, BDAs, or fake beaver dams. I'm pretty lost in understanding how this is supposed to improve the creek and worry about increasing water temps and decreased oxygenation. I'm unenlightened here and maybe someone can help. 40 BDAs planned.
Mike R
Alameda
17129

[Rich Morrison]

https://res.mdpi.com/d_attachment/water/water-13-00990/article_deploy/water-13-00990-v2.pdf

https://blog.nwf.org/2020/05/beavers-trout-and-a-changing-climate/

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/856252v1.full.pdf

Three studies I found right off the bat. In short the jury is still out but it’s not a clear loss and turning into the latest hotness for sure. In Oregon you must have a permit to place one based on fish movement. I’m guessing the same would be true in CA? Or can the Maidu ignore state laws on their land?

[bearflag]

From what I can tell, they have their ducks in a row with permits, etc. But 40 dams? Surprising to me that they allowed so many without some sort of trials.

https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/rwqcb5/board_decisions/adopted_orders/401_wqcerts/5a32cr00205.pdf

[Darian]

An article in SF Estuary magazine shows the number of artificial beaver dams projected for Yellow Creek as more than 40. Check out link (good read):

https://www.sfestuary.org/estuary-news-thinking-beaver-yellow-creek/

[bearflag]

What puzzles the hell out of me is the question of what the problem could be that the dams are supposed to mitigate. The work done by Cal Trout over 30 years ago succeeded in stabilizing the banks and stopping any erosion caused by the cattle grazing. Willows are flourishing creekside to the point where a good bit of the stream is inaccessible. Fishing can be quite good if you're willing to pay your dues and learn the creek. It's a tough one but rewarding. If any part of Yellow creek needs attention, it's the freestone stretch between the cross-valley road and the spring creek. It's a textbook example of how cattle can destroy a stream. This may not be part of the Maidu land but has to be the main culprit in any downstream siltation. Above the bridge is the plug-and-pond section which has been greatly improved and stabilized. 2 photos here from the bridge, up and downstream.

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[Fishtopher]

What puzzles the hell out of me is the question of what the problem could be that the dams are supposed to mitigate.

Darian's article provides the reasoning in the first paragraph:

"The idea behind the structures, which mimic beaver dams, is to slow erosion, catch sediment, and build up the river bottom to reverse the incised channel"

Further in the article:

"main goal for the BDAs on Yellow Creek is to raise the groundwater table and reconnect the main stem with its side channels (great habitat for fish) and its floodplain"

Rich is correct, YC has/had a severe whirling disease problem that was documented by CDFW. The report can be found here:
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=133104

[bearflag]

My point is that the structures have been installed where there is no incision and erosion and the damaged stream is actually above the spring creek portion.

Here is the upper incised and eroded section just below the bridge. Note the dry state of the surrounding pasture and absence of any streamside foliage. This is the area that desperately needs attention.

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And here is the healthy, already restored spring creek section below the junction with the upper freestone stream.

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[Darian]

Pure speculation on my part but it seems to me that with the number of the artificial Beaver dams planned (according to the article) maybe the entire creek or streamed will have the structures installed. I have no access to the Maidu plan for the creek so take this comment for what it's worth.

[Fishtopher]

To me, the channel still looks a bit too incised and straight in both above and below the bridge. I would expect a creek in a meadow like that to be much more meandering and have multi threaded channels in part. I would also expect to see more creeklets meandering through the meadow. Raising the water table in the valley would definitely help in those regards.

I've attached a couple examples of creeks/rivers that exhibit more sinuous channels like you would expect in a meadow headwaters. It is hard to find intact meadows in headwaters because they are usually prime grazing habitat.

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[Rich Morrison]

Great stuff here folks! Bearflag - nice example with the satellite imagery. What is the source of the creek above the road? I’ve never been on that side - I always thought it was all private with no access. Let’s hope this plan works well.

[bearflag]

It's not fenced in upstream from the road so I've always assumed its USFS. Poked around up there few times over the years catching the odd small brookie. Way upstream above Humboldt Rd is also interesting. Fished up there as well before it suffered hugely from landslides during the '97 New Year storms. Creek drainage goes way back up there into a canyon. Forest Service built several check dams up there post storm which certainly stop fish from getting up there. Look on Google Earth for lots of detail, search for Longville, Ca to get into Humbug Valley. Will be very interesting to watch the creek change with the BDAs.