Fishing Around Auburn

[Timbers]

Looking for some new water (rivers) and possibly relocating to this area. Wife and I are going to make a move withing the next 1-3 years and searching out possible spots in CA and some out of state.

Would like to be able to access water not too far from the road or campground.

Anyone with suggestions of fishing or tent camping spots in and around Auburn please let me know here or through PM.

Thanks I appreciate any suggestions.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

It is about one hour from Auburn to Truckee which is a great area to fish.

Not too far from Auburn you have the Lower American, Lower Yuba, Lower Feather and Lower Sacramento rivers.


From Auburn to the Pacific Coast is 2 to 3 hours, where it is 65 degrees high all summer.

Most of the time they have fresh King salmon, fresh Halibut, farmed Oysters, fresh clams and fresh Dungeness crabs.



I like the idea of having two places: one for winter and one for summer.


Another idea is to have one home and an RV if you are retired and would us it a lot.


It depends on what kind of fishing you want to do?

[Timbers]

Bill,

Thank you for the reply.

Guess I should have been a little bit more specific in my description. We mostly enjoy wet wading in smaller size rivers (Pit 3/4 and McCloud, Trinity) for trout and steelhead. Usually, we tent camp but it's becoming a bit more difficult as we're getting older. No RV in the picture and not retired.

Didn't really think about Truckee, but yes I like that area for fishing too. Don't think we could afford to move there though.

I was hoping someone would know of some areas to camp on one of the forks of the American River or something similar in the area.

Thanks again.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Actually Redding/Red Bluff, CA was always a good place to live for the fly fishing and hunting. Chico/Oroville? Montana?


Are planning to make a move, home wise, soon?

[mattv-mcfly]

I'm not super familiar with Auburn area since I'm about an hour away but I've eyed and research a few spots on Google Maps. I've been to RuckaChucky but have not fished or camped there. The MF below the falls looks like good water. Pretty steep though and would require a lot of boulder hopping. Mineral Bar looks good too and a bit flatter. I believe all the forks of the American are pretty difficult to access and fish due to the steep terrain. I've also hear the lower sections of the American also tend to be smallmouth fisheries in the summer. I would also look into sections of the Bear River. It looks like a pretty decent fishery around Dutch and Drum Powerhouse. I say just pick a spot and start exploring.
But if your moving to be around good fishing water I would suggest Redding area. I'm not the biggest fan but you can't deny the access to all the water there.

[Timbers]

Actually Redding/Red Bluff, CA was always a good place to live for the fly fishing and hunting. Chico/Oroville? Montana?


Are planning to make a move, home wise, soon?


If we don't end up out of state we're trying to stay reasonably close to Sonoma County because of family and clients.

Redding/Red Bluff would be great if it wasn't so darn hot. Out of state we've been looking at Montana, Idaho, Wyoming.

Looking at making a change within the next 3 years.

[Timbers]

I'm not super familiar with Auburn area since I'm about an hour away but I've eyed and research a few spots on Google Maps. I've been to RuckaChucky but have not fished or camped there. The MF below the falls looks like good water. Pretty steep though and would require a lot of boulder hopping. Mineral Bar looks good too and a bit flatter. I believe all the forks of the American are pretty difficult to access and fish due to the steep terrain. I've also hear the lower sections of the American also tend to be smallmouth fisheries in the summer. I would also look into sections of the Bear River. It looks like a pretty decent fishery around Dutch and Drum Powerhouse. I say just pick a spot and start exploring.
But if your moving to be around good fishing water I would suggest Redding area. I'm not the biggest fan but you can't deny the access to all the water there.

Thanks for your reply mattv-mcfly. I've looked at a couple of the places you've mentioned too. Bear River does look interesting.

[Jeff F]

The NF Yuba is easy to get to. Tons of smaller rainbows, but roadside and generally easy wading.

MF Yuba can be accessed by a couple steep dirt roads. This is truly a wild canyon. This fishing is good for rainbows from 6-16". But most are 10" or so.

SF Yuba.....forget it. Too warm to support trout in the Auburn area. And gets too low up Hwy 80.

The MF American has very little access. Where you can access is not very good fishing as those spots get lots of pressure and bait is allowed in season. However, there are a couple hike-to spots that are excellent, if you're willing to drop 1300 feet into the canyon in a mile hike.

The NF American has lots of trails, but again, they are very steep. Lots of fish though. Mostly smallish rainbows (6-12") but you can run into a few big ones. The lower reaches (Yankee Jims/Iowa Hill are now mostly smallmouth bass fisheries. So you'd have hit higher elevation trailheads for trout.

SF American........the daily whitewater flows make this river not good for fishing. Although it does get planted, and there are some decent out of the way spots, but not the number of fish you'd hope for.

Bear River......not worth the effort.

Deer Creek runs right through Nevada City and Grass Valley. There are surprisingly quite a few fish in there. Bows and browns from 6-12". You can start at a road crossing and just wade up or downstream for quite a ways to avoid private property.

If you have a float tube, there are tons of lakes within 1-2hrs.

Yes, Redding is a much better base for fishing. It gets hot, but so does Auburn. Auburn will see almost as many 100-deg days as Redding.

~Jeff

[PV_Premier]

Well a few things I can add.

I lived in Grass Valley for the first 4 or so years that I was here (I've been in NorCal for about 12 years). The NF Yuba and lower Yuba are by far the best "backyard" trout fisheries to this area. Its only an hour to the Truckee and LT and both have great fishing, I particularly enjoyed kicking off work a bit early on Fridays to go up to the LT and hit the evening hatch, and still get home by 10:30pm or so.

The lower parts of the American forks have excellent fishing in the early spring, but tail off quickly as it gets hot. If you can time it right the ESN fishing on these streams is real good, but the window of opportunity is short before the fish disappear.

If you are into bass fishing and have a boat, Englebright, Bullards Bar, and other local reservoirs are among the best in the state if not the country for spotted bass and to a lesser extent smallmouth.

Redding/Weaverville/Dunsmuir areas have the best "out the backdoor" trout and steelhead fishing in California to my opinion. Redding gets very hot, but so does GV/Auburn as mentioned upthread. And Auburn does not cool off at night, due to the frequent inversions. Many mornings are in the high 60's to mid 70's when we are stuck in a hot spell, whereas in Sacramento the low be in the high 50's.

As a practical matter, getting home insurance is much more difficult and expensive than it used to be in the foothills...(fire risk). By the same note, the air quality in the foothills can be terrible in the summer.

A couple years ago my wife and I bought a place in Idaho. The trout fishing out there is next level, and if one of your motivations is to have blue ribbon fishing at your doorstep, you cannot compare Auburn or really anywhere in CA to what you find there. We can realistically fish a different stream every day for 60 days straight, without driving more than 50 or so miles one way from the front door. The winters are fierce and fishing largely shuts down from Thanksgiving to ~spring break, and you have to embrace that and find a snow hobby, and/or be ready to travel to find some sanity. Many of our overnight lows are in the -10's to -30s and this year our local snow hill had 500" of snow.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

_________________________________________

For years CA's serious fly fishers of trout would spend the Spring; April, May and June, in California's trout waters.

Then in July, August and September, they would head for Idaho/Montana for more classic fly fishing, dry fly.

_________________________________________

There is nothing wrong with the Sacramento area for a home base:

"Only 2 hours to the mountains and 2 hours to the coast."

__________________________________________

Over my 50 years in the fishing tackle business in Sacramento, we had some young professionals here that when starting their careers,

doctors, attorneys and dentists, chose to go to rural America for the fishing and hunting but knew they would not make the money

they would in a large American city. Some are my old friends who did this. They chose quality of life over money.


.

[Timbers]

The NF Yuba is easy to get to. Tons of smaller rainbows, but roadside and generally easy wading.

MF Yuba can be accessed by a couple steep dirt roads. This is truly a wild canyon. This fishing is good for rainbows from 6-16". But most are 10" or so.

SF Yuba.....forget it. Too warm to support trout in the Auburn area. And gets too low up Hwy 80.

The MF American has very little access. Where you can access is not very good fishing as those spots get lots of pressure and bait is allowed in season. However, there are a couple hike-to spots that are excellent, if you're willing to drop 1300 feet into the canyon in a mile hike.

The NF American has lots of trails, but again, they are very steep. Lots of fish though. Mostly smallish rainbows (6-12") but you can run into a few big ones. The lower reaches (Yankee Jims/Iowa Hill are now mostly smallmouth bass fisheries. So you'd have hit higher elevation trailheads for trout.

SF American........the daily whitewater flows make this river not good for fishing. Although it does get planted, and there are some decent out of the way spots, but not the number of fish you'd hope for.

Bear River......not worth the effort.

Deer Creek runs right through Nevada City and Grass Valley. There are surprisingly quite a few fish in there. Bows and browns from 6-12". You can start at a road crossing and just wade up or downstream for quite a ways to avoid private property.

If you have a float tube, there are tons of lakes within 1-2hrs.

Yes, Redding is a much better base for fishing. It gets hot, but so does Auburn. Auburn will see almost as many 100-deg days as Redding.

~Jeff

Jeff, Thanks for your reply and all of this info.

Steep hikes aren't in the cards for us right now.

I thought Deer Creek was out hwy 32 outside of Chico?

[Timbers]

Well a few things I can add.

I lived in Grass Valley for the first 4 or so years that I was here (I've been in NorCal for about 12 years). The NF Yuba and lower Yuba are by far the best "backyard" trout fisheries to this area. Its only an hour to the Truckee and LT and both have great fishing, I particularly enjoyed kicking off work a bit early on Fridays to go up to the LT and hit the evening hatch, and still get home by 10:30pm or so.

The lower parts of the American forks have excellent fishing in the early spring, but tail off quickly as it gets hot. If you can time it right the ESN fishing on these streams is real good, but the window of opportunity is short before the fish disappear.

If you are into bass fishing and have a boat, Englebright, Bullards Bar, and other local reservoirs are among the best in the state if not the country for spotted bass and to a lesser extent smallmouth.

Redding/Weaverville/Dunsmuir areas have the best "out the backdoor" trout and steelhead fishing in California to my opinion. Redding gets very hot, but so does GV/Auburn as mentioned upthread. And Auburn does not cool off at night, due to the frequent inversions. Many mornings are in the high 60's to mid 70's when we are stuck in a hot spell, whereas in Sacramento the low be in the high 50's.

As a practical matter, getting home insurance is much more difficult and expensive than it used to be in the foothills...(fire risk). By the same note, the air quality in the foothills can be terrible in the summer.

A couple years ago my wife and I bought a place in Idaho. The trout fishing out there is next level, and if one of your motivations is to have blue ribbon fishing at your doorstep, you cannot compare Auburn or really anywhere in CA to what you find there. We can realistically fish a different stream every day for 60 days straight, without driving more than 50 or so miles one way from the front door. The winters are fierce and fishing largely shuts down from Thanksgiving to ~spring break, and you have to embrace that and find a snow hobby, and/or be ready to travel to find some sanity. Many of our overnight lows are in the -10's to -30s and this year our local snow hill had 500" of snow.

PV_Premier,

I appreciate your insight on the area.

After doing more research I don't think the Auburn area will be the best fit. Especially the fact that the air quality can be bad. Because of some health issues my wife has we need to avoid frequent bad air quality as much as possible.

My wifes friends who now live in Butte MT sold a place in Driggs a few years ago. Sounds like prices have really gone up in that area like many places. We drove through there last year on our way from AFton WY heading to Butte. Seems like a nice place.

We're looking for more mountains/trees like surroundings with rivers near by. Not big into fishing lakes, nice to look at though. Because of fires on our trip last year we had to bypass a part in Idaho but did get to stay in CDA for two days. We liked that area and want to go back and spend more time in and around it.

You mention the winters, this is something I feel we should experience before making a move too. Don't know how we'd respond as neither one of us has spent much time in the snow.

Seems like a lot of these places have issues with air quality when there are fires. Seems hard to escape.

Another thing we need is to consider to be relatively close to medical care. Maybe I should start a new thread IDK.

Thank you again.

[Timbers]

_________________________________________

For years CA's serious fly fishers of trout would spend the Spring; April, May and June, in California's trout waters.

Then in July, August and September, they would head for Idaho/Montana for more classic fly fishing, dry fly.

_________________________________________

There is nothing wrong with the Sacramento area for a home base:

"Only 2 hours to the mountains and 2 hours to the coast."

__________________________________________

Over my 50 years in the fishing tackle business in Sacramento, we had some young professionals here that when starting their careers,

doctors, attorneys and dentists, chose to go to rural America for the fishing and hunting but knew they would not make the money

they would in a large American city. Some are my old friends who did this. They chose quality of life over money.


.

Thanks again Bill for your reply.

Our thought was if we are to stay within CA, to move closer to mountains/tree areas just outside of Sacramento. It would put us in a much better position for traveling for fishing vs. where we are now in Sonoma County.

We are definitely choosing quality of life over money, unfortunately we are not well off so there is going to be a compromise.

Thanks again.

[Timbers]

Should mention that my wife has a passion for fishing almost as much as I do. Her passion for being outdoors is probably as strong as mine is.

I'm very lucky to have a wife who likes the fishing/camping/outdoors as I do.

I've heard "I'll kill you if you go without me" more than once. :D

[Woodman]

A couple years ago my wife and I bought a place in Idaho. The trout fishing out there is next level, and if one of your motivations is to have blue ribbon fishing at your doorstep, you cannot compare Auburn or really anywhere in CA to what you find there.

I have to agree if trout fishing (and quality of life) are priorities, and there are no major drivers to be in CA, I'd pick somewhere else. Unless of course you like paying high taxes for poor services...I'm trying to figure out where to go next.

[PV_Premier]

Should mention that my wife has a passion for fishing almost as much as I do. Her passion for being outdoors is probably as strong as mine is.

I'm very lucky to have a wife who likes the fishing/camping/outdoors as I do.

I've heard "I'll kill you if you go without me" more than once. :D

My aunt and uncle live in Logan UT. It’s not as cheap as it once was, but is a good balance between proximity to society and nature. By Utah standards it’s liberal, but that’s not saying much compared to CA.

[Timbers]

I have to agree if trout fishing (and quality of life) are priorities, and there are no major drivers to be in CA, I'd pick somewhere else. Unless of course you like paying high taxes for poor services...I'm trying to figure out where to go next.

Handful of things we're having to factor into our decision. Tired of a lot of things about CA, wish it was easier to leave.

[Timbers]

My aunt and uncle live in Logan UT. It’s not as cheap as it once was, but is a good balance between proximity to society and nature. By Utah standards it’s liberal, but that’s not saying much compared to CA.

Utah wasn't really on our radar until I realized Salt Lake City has some of the best medical care in the surrounding states.

I will definitely check out Logan, thanks for letting me know about it.

If we move out of state we're definitely looking to get away from certain aspects of CA, I'll leave it at that. But I understand, anywhere we go will be less liberal than here.

Thanks for your advice.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Because of family situations, many can't leave California.

Some old folks are moving back home to where they were both born and raised.

Some older folks are moving to be near their children.

We move to the central east Florida coast to be near our daughter and son-in-law who still have time for us.

If you are over 70 you need to consider the healthcare situation.


I still like the thought of two places: One for Winter and one for Summer.

This is the best if it can work out.

For Summer you have Oregon coast, Washington coast or Montana.

For Winter you have Arizona, Texas and Florida.