Yuba clarity

[PV_Premier]

Anyone have eyes on the Yuba the last 24-48 hours and can report on the visibility/clarity in the Hwy 20 to Sycamore stretch?

[yubaman]

Have not been up there, but looking at the gauges and see a flow of around 922 cfs, with Deer Creek being 335 cfs of that, my guess would be somewhere between CHocolate and Mocha.


Bob

[Woodman]

Have not been up there, but looking at the gauges and see a flow of around 922 cfs, with Deer Creek being 335 cfs of that, my guess would be somewhere between CHocolate and Mocha.


Bob

Bob is right on. Amount of Deer Creek flow really drives the clarity. I'm not exactly sure why Deer Creek generates so much mud.

[PV_Premier]

Bob is right on. Amount of Deer Creek flow really drives the clarity. I'm not exactly sure why Deer Creek generates so much mud.

I was hoping it would drop out a bit further by now but its still pushing 140 on its gauge. Supposed to be dry most of next week it looks like and today's rain event isn't much so hopefully by next weekend the big river will clear a little.

[PV_Premier]

Anyone have any updates on Yuba water clarity the last 24-48 hours?

[mattv-mcfly]

Anyone have any updates on Yuba water clarity the last 24-48 hours?

I was there yesterday and river has about 2-3ft of clarity. Couple of pinkies on the surface but nothing looking up.

[PV_Premier]

I was there yesterday and river has about 2-3ft of clarity.

Thank you!

[E.Drucker]

filthy..will be for quite some time. Focus on other rivers until spring

[Natekursow]

Think the Skwala Hatch won't be as fishable as previous years due to visibility?

NK

[Lance Gray]

I was there this morning. Here is my report.

Get out there and fish!!

https://conta.cc/3FoEiNR

Thank you and be safe folks!

[Spicytuna1]

I was there this morning. Here is my report.

Get out there and fish!!

https://conta.cc/3FoEiNR

Thank you and be safe folks!

Love the detail on how to fish it.

How was the fishing this morning?

[Lance Gray]

Love the detail on how to fish it.

How was the fishing this morning?

I landed two fish. I will be honest I only really fished for an hour or so. Much of the time I was looking at the river for hatches and such. Top fly was the Last Chance Pinkie Emerger Size 16.

[Spicytuna1]

I landed two fish. I will be honest I only really fished for an hour or so. Much of the time I was looking at the river for hatches and such. Top fly was the Last Chance Pinkie Emerger Size 16.

I appreciate that Lance, thank you.

I think my brother is headed there today to check it out and was curious.

[PV_Premier]

I went to the coast last weekend, but might give the Yuba a shot this coming weekend if I can get away for a few hours. With the warm weather this week there should be a few skwalas flying around by the weekend or early next week, if not sooner.

[Lucas Dement]

I was there Thursday, saw a handful of Skwalas landing on the surface to drop their eggs

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

If the rain slows for a while the lower Yuba river could be the place to go in Feb/March/April.

[Natekursow]

If the rain slows for a while the lower Yuba river could be the place to go in Feb/March/April.

The rain's been slowed down for a while...:(

NK

[Woodman]

The rain's been slowed down for a while...:(

NK

Should be getting better. 600 cfs on the Yuba and about 35 cfs on Deer Creek.

I'll be up on the UC property this weekend and will report.

[Troutsource]

17711

Caught this on the Yube Saturday, probably 18”-19”. 6 hours of fishing, one hit, one fish, but at least he had some size.


Curious if anyone can tell if this is a steelhead or trout? Tail seems larger than normal and it has a nice snout. The lice I don’t think are from the ocean. You can see the fly I caught him on (high sticking) in his mouth - a CDC carrot fly designed by Devin Olsen.

There was a constant but very light baetis hatch most of the day despite a lack of clouds. No Skwala. 1-2 caddis. Very minimal surface activity. River was crowded and the Mad Max crew was tearing it up all day on their ATV’s and they weren’t quiet. Water temp was 49. Beautiful day even if the fishing was slow.

[PV_Premier]

17711

Caught this on the Yube Saturday, probably 18”-19”. 6 hours of fishing, one hit, one fish, but at least he had some size.


Curious if anyone can tell if this is a steelhead or trout?

Tough to say, the lack of spotting below the lateral line is indicative of steelhead genetics IMO, but I have my doubts that too many of those sub-20" fish venture down to the Bay with any frequency. I think when you connect to a 23"+ fish in that river there's a good chance it's been down in the salt at least a bit. But who really knows short of having them radio tagged.

[Lucas Dement]

Tough to say, the lack of spotting below the lateral line is indicative of steelhead genetics IMO, but I have my doubts that too many of those sub-20" fish venture down to the Bay with any frequency. I think when you connect to a 23"+ fish in that river there's a good chance it's been down in the salt at least a bit. But who really knows short of having them radio tagged.

I leadered a nice steelie on the American in mid-January. Had a dorsal fin tag but I never got to see if he had credentials or got a picture. Does CDFW do tagging here? Would be neat to see the fish's journey.

[Lucas Dement]

17711

Caught this on the Yube Saturday, probably 18”-19”. 6 hours of fishing, one hit, one fish, but at least he had some size.


Curious if anyone can tell if this is a steelhead or trout? Tail seems larger than normal and it has a nice snout. The lice I don’t think are from the ocean. You can see the fly I caught him on (high sticking) in his mouth - a CDC carrot fly designed by Devin Olsen.

There was a constant but very light baetis hatch most of the day despite a lack of clouds. No Skwala. 1-2 caddis. Very minimal surface activity. River was crowded and the Mad Max crew was tearing it up all day on their ATV’s and they weren’t quiet. Water temp was 49. Beautiful day even if the fishing was slow.

By CDFW definition that is a steelhead, In reality who knows :p
I say every big rainbow in an anadromous river is a steelie just to make myself feel better

[Troutsource]

Tough to say, the lack of spotting below the lateral line is indicative of steelhead genetics IMO, but I have my doubts that too many of those sub-20" fish venture down to the Bay with any frequency. I think when you connect to a 23"+ fish in that river there's a good chance it's been down in the salt at least a bit. But who really knows short of having them radio tagged.

PV thanks. Based on that this fish looks pretty chromish. He gave a great fight, spooling me 4-5 times.

[Mr T]

17711

Caught this on the Yube Saturday, probably 18”-19”. 6 hours of fishing, one hit, one fish, but at least he had some size.


Curious if anyone can tell if this is a steelhead or trout? Tail seems larger than normal and it has a nice snout. The lice I don’t think are from the ocean. You can see the fly I caught him on (high sticking) in his mouth - a CDC carrot fly designed by Devin Olsen.

There was a constant but very light baetis hatch most of the day despite a lack of clouds. No Skwala. 1-2 caddis. Very minimal surface activity. River was crowded and the Mad Max crew was tearing it up all day on their ATV’s and they weren’t quiet. Water temp was 49. Beautiful day even if the fishing was slow.

That's a great fish no matter what.

Well done!

[PV_Premier]

spooling me 4-5 times.

were you using a 1wt?!? :cool:

[PV_Premier]

I leadered a nice steelie on the American in mid-January. Had a dorsal fin tag but I never got to see if he had credentials or got a picture. Does CDFW do tagging here? Would be neat to see the fish's journey.

Hatch brats get tagged at some frequency. Maybe 5%? Tagged fish are regularly caught on the Trinity, etc. But these are not radio tags. They are just basic tags applied at the hatchery with no tracking capability to say "this fish was tagged at this hatchery by this staff member on this date".

The nice thing is that a good chunk of those tags have a cash reward attached to them, $10-100 range. That said it is interesting to see how fast they move. I caught a tagged fish between DC and Lewiston on the Trinity that was tagged at Willow Creek less than a week before I caught it.

[Lucas Dement]

Hatch brats get tagged at some frequency. Maybe 5%? Tagged fish are regularly caught on the Trinity, etc. But these are not radio tags. They are just basic tags applied at the hatchery with no tracking capability to say "this fish was tagged at this hatchery by this staff member on this date".

The nice thing is that a good chunk of those tags have a cash reward attached to them, $10-100 range. That said it is interesting to see how fast they move. I caught a tagged fish between DC and Lewiston on the Trinity that was tagged at Willow Creek less than a week before I caught it.

When I was on the Trinity in October I saw several zombie salmon with tags in their dorsal fins

[Troutsource]

were you using a 1wt?!? :cool:

OK, you got me. I was using a 3wt Euro rod (Shadow X) with light tippet, so the fight was extra fun. I usually try to bring them in fast even with light tippet to save the fish's energy, but I was pinned at the edge of a gravel ledge with fast water coming over the top. One step downstream and I would be swimming. One step upstream and the water would be too fast to land him. So I had to wait until he was tired, then slide him on the surface into my net. It gives me great satisfaction to replay the whole scene.

[Ralph]

He gave a great fight, spooling me 4-5 times.

That's crazy. Been fishing a long, long, time for just about every species of game fish, and have never been spooled, though I've had masheer get uncomfortably close to doing so. I've purposefully broken off snagged chinook so that I wouldn't get spooled. Getting spooled 4-5 times by the same fish on the Yuba, no less, must have been be a memorable event.

[Troutsource]

That's crazy. Been fishing a long, long, time for just about every species of game fish, and have never been spooled, though I've had masheer get uncomfortably close to doing so. I've purposefully broken off snagged chinook so that I wouldn't get spooled. Getting spooled 4-5 times by the same fish on the Yuba, no less, must have been be a memorable event.

I will set my drag even lower to impress even more people in the future!

Maybe "spooling" was the wrong term. He made my reel scream several times with long runs.