PDA

View Full Version : Checking out the Yuba



MSP
06-07-2006, 03:21 PM
Decided to see what was going on at the river "Y" today. Fished from 9:30 till 1:30. Fished the river left side below the bridge and found some pretty nice water. Too bad there weren't any bugs around to get the fish excited. Did manage to get a couple on a Carpet emerger and had another smack a Olive Zonker that didn't stick. Water felt great wet wading with the warm temperatures. Not exactly a banner day but well worth while. As you can probably tell it's been slim pickings for this old fart. :roll:

Here's a photo of the first fish, a nice 18"er.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b400/MPutman/DSC00347.jpg

SullyTM
06-07-2006, 04:47 PM
Nice catch, Mike. What size Zonker? Wet wading for a few hours sure sounds nice :D

Later. Thom

MSP
06-07-2006, 05:07 PM
I think it's a #6 2X long Thom, I got the fly from Jason. I've also got a few in the past using a natural Zonker with a silver body. I usually don't fish subsurface on the "Y" but with nothing happening upstairs it was the only way I could get hit today.

jbird
06-07-2006, 05:48 PM
Mike

That is a really robust fish! Nice going. Dont you love the song on the drag of those loomis reels. I have one for my 5wt outfit and I always let out a little "mmmmmmmmmm :) " When a fish rips it at mach speed.

Jay

MSP
06-07-2006, 06:08 PM
Yea Jay they do have a unique sound. The fish pictured kind of just slugged it out with a couple of whines from the reel, the smaller fish, maybe 14" really got some noise out of the reel. I was impressed with the fighting quality of the fish I got. The fish I have gotten on the "Y" in the last year seemed to be quite sluggish and not very well proportioned. The fish today looked very healthy.

Bill Kiene semi-retired
06-07-2006, 10:05 PM
On many smaller Sierra trout streams that would be a life time fish.

Hairstacker
06-07-2006, 10:33 PM
Mike, that is a really pretty fish! Darn good size too. Good for you, sounds like you had nice day on the water. 8)

mark
06-08-2006, 12:24 PM
awesome looking fish, just about what a perfect rainbow trout would look like.

Any mayfly activity at all happening on the Y? Caddis?

Curious about what a carpet emerger is?

Great report MSP

-MK

Jgoding
06-08-2006, 02:35 PM
Is that one of the Venture series?? I have two of the 7's.

Jeff

MSP
06-08-2006, 03:17 PM
Mark, I didn't see any bug activity at all. I usually only fish dries on the "Y" and gave them a try for a while but only managed to get a couple of 5" fish to come up on a hopper. Didn't even get a look on a BWO or Caddis. A carpet emerger is just my name for a soft hackle with a yarn type wing. Nothing special. It did have a bead though. Might be some surface action towards evening but I haven't stayed late enough to find out. Maybe someone who has fished it late might give us some info!

Yea Jeff it is a Venture series reel. It is actually my wife's but I was too lazy to swap my Marryat from my 5 wt. Only problem I've seen with it is after laying it in the water it takes a while for the drag to come back to life. Not really an issue, nice reel.

steve sullivan
06-09-2006, 12:31 AM
Decided to see what was going on at the river "Y" today. Fished from 9:30 till 1:30. Fished the river left side below the bridge and found some pretty nice water. Too bad there weren't any bugs around to get the fish excited. Did manage to get a couple on a Carpet emerger and had another smack a Olive Zonker that didn't stick. Water felt great wet wading with the warm temperatures. Not exactly a banner day but well worth while. As you can probably tell it's been slim pickings for this old fart. :roll:

Here's a photo of the first fish, a nice 18"er.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b400/MPutman/DSC00347.jpg

Is that a resident rainbow? No resident bows I have ever caught have been so silvery (chrome). That looks more like a spring run steelhead that is has not just freshly entered, but has been in for a couple of weeks.

bolden
06-09-2006, 07:45 PM
Technically, anything over 16" is considered a steelhead on the yuba, but there has been a way i have distinguished the
steelhead and resident trout (i think so at least). I have always noticed that the residents have an orange tip on the
dorsal fin.

Here is one with the orange tip on the dorsal fin.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a31/bolden916/DSC00410Small.jpg

Here is one without that orange tip. I think this is an actual steelhead, not a resident, because of the lice it has on its
bottom fin. I am not sure if that actually means it was in saltwater though, so correct me if i am wrong. These
fish were taken within a day of each other.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a31/bolden916/DSC00683Small.jpg

jbird
06-09-2006, 09:57 PM
Bolden

We get a lot of trout here in the rogue valley (in rivers and lakes) that develope a parasite during summer months. It looks just like the ones that fish is sporting on its fin. There is a scientific name for the parasite, I call it anchor worm. I cant say whether or not any of those fish pictured are a trout or steel. Its hard to tell without scale samples I suppose. The sea lice theory can be debunked depending on how far you were from the ocean. Those things dont hang on too long in fresh water.

Jay

bolden
06-10-2006, 07:09 PM
"We get a lot of trout here in the rogue valley (in rivers and lakes) that develope a parasite during summer months."

I do not know if it makes a difference, but that fish was caught in the middle of march.

steve sullivan
06-16-2006, 11:57 PM
Technically, anything over 16" is considered a steelhead on the yuba, DSC00683Small.jpg[/img]

But it is not considered a steelhead. A steelhead is by dfg definition a anadronymous rainbow. The 16 inches refers to REPORTING purposes. One cannot know if a rainbow is a resident or a steelhead (a fisheries biologist told me this) without a scale sample. So FOR *REPORTING* *PURPOSES* on your steelhead card, you mark the fish as a steelhead if it is 16 inches or bigger.