I saw the fishing report on Kiene's webpage, but I would appreciate some more reports too. Thanks in advance!
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I saw the fishing report on Kiene's webpage, but I would appreciate some more reports too. Thanks in advance!
I went a week ago. We fished late and were hoping for a hatch towards sundown, it never happened. Surface insect activity was minimal to non-existant. Hopper dropper was ineffective for us too. Streamers fished deep worked but even that was pretty slow.
This monsoon weather may have mixed things up but I didn't try over the last few days.
Thanks for the update. I did get into a caddis evening hatch two weekends ago and that was pretty fun while swinging a caddis wet fly pattern. I also heard the evening hatches haven't been occuring recently, which is unfortunate. I am curious about what streamer worked for you. Thanks!
Olive and black sculpin pattern with a helmet head on a full sink streamer line. As close to the bottom as I could get. It's kind of a chuck it and duck it pattern.
Swinging small sculps on a type 3 or type 5 tip can be effective in the doldrums of summer. Hopper fishing usually gets better in mid August or so. I haven’t been to the Yuba in months though.
A small olive squirrel leech is a pretty easy tie and ought to be effective
Thanks for the input everyone!
Good stuff PV
30 years ago before Andy Guibord got a boat and started fly fishing for Stripers he was a very serious lower Yuba river "Rat".
Andy knows all the bugs well there and the timings.
Mid-summer I heard Andy recommend small Dave's hoppers fished along the edges on windy afternoons.
Andy Guibord and Mark Kranhold kind of pioneered the Sculpin pattern and fishing technique on the American river, maybe 20 years ago.
My friend Rich Plath fished the Yuba for a long time and I think he said he mostly swings an Olive Woolley Bugger on a sink-tip.
Another old friend who did lots of raft trips down our West slope rivers always used a black Woolley Bugger on a sink-tip.
The helmet head sculpin is pretty easy to tie. Using the helmet head was an experiment and I like the result. The head has a weighted keel design that helps to keep the hook from snagging on the bottom. I used mirabou for the tail, shaggy ice dubbing in a loop, tapered thicker towards the head then palmered over with a webby soft saddle hackle. I added a couple of barred olive hackles out the sides behind the head to simulate the pectoral fins. Finally, put the head on and locked it in. I only used 1 feather for the tail, the next tie will have two after seeing the fly wet in the water. The recipe on the package uses bunny strips and that works. It's pretty easy to tie too but I'm not a fan of casting wet and soggy rabbit hide. YMMV
A tungsten bead, black and olive woolly bugger would work. I've used it in the past and it's still a standby for a sculpin imitation. The helmet head that I described above could qualify as a woolly bugger variant. The other suggestions for flies are probably just as good, just not what I use.
Getting the fly on the bottom is key. Some sort of sinking line or tip really helps.
I fished it above the bridge right before it closed. I was in my raft and was able to cover some good amount of water and found the fish in the deep stuff below riffles and near structure like the rock walls. I sampled a few and they were on all sorts of bugs. I found mostly midges and small rock worms. I had takes on stoneflies, mayflies, and caddis nymphs. Hopper dropper was a bust.
Been killing it swinging meat on trout speys as well as hoppers/big stimis at the bank. While bobbers have been down right dirty for numbers, we are seeing good results with the first 2 so we only do the bobbers in the deeper holes. Rivers high, 1800cubes so wade carefully.
Thanks Brian...we appreciate your great knowledge that you share freely.
I know a little about fishing all over the World, but nothing to compare to the knowledge of a top local guide on his or her fisheries.
Like the lower American river, we are also very fortunate to have the "pristine" lower Yuba river so close by.
I went on tuesday and it was tough. Swinging buggers and small zonkers didnt produce but I managed to tight line a solid fish out of a deep backeddy with a rubber legs
Brian, please pass some swing mojo onto me, the fish never sniff my flies
Barr's Slumpbuster in Olive Size 6 and the Scupzilla Olive Size 4.
They are my top producers!
I throw the same, but sz8s, but anything sz8-sz4 (sz4 can be tough on trout speys) olives, browns, blacks, combos of these colors. I've noticed it's not about the color, but about presentation and the right water.
I always thought that Half-pounders and early Fall Steelhead were best in the low light of the AM, PM and overcast days.
Well, that is because I fish on or near the surface mostly..........Dah.
In this warm weather, clear skies and maybe warm water of late summer and early fall I found the Steelhead were down in the deepest, darkest, faster runs with the early salmon for oxygen.
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Probably 20 years ago top fly fisher Jim Christensen and I were in one of my small jet boats between Gristmill and Watt.
It was mid-day in September and we were getting ready to call it a day when Jim stopped us on a familiar deep riffle.
He said he had found Half-ponders in this "long walk in" run before.
He had a G.Loomis 10' #5 line GLX with a WF7F, very long 12'? leader and weighted olive woolly bugger?
Jim let me try his rod and told met to cast across and just keep mending.
I could feel it occasionally touching the bottom in this deep, faster run and then hooked a nice Half-pounder.
I think we caught maybe 3-5 fish and it was a learning event for me, as usual when I fished with a very good angler.
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I was lucky to be invited by Terry Thomas, a world class fly fisher, to go on 2 of their fall trips to the lower Klamath river.
Terry and his group of friends usually go 2-3 times a year to jet boat the lower Klamath river for Steelhead and salmon.
They usually go first in August hoping to get some Steelhead action and take a few small fresh salmon home to eat.
On one of those early trips we fly fished out of a jet boat from Klamath Glenn, near the mouth, up to around Johnson's Bar.
We fly fished for Steelhead for 3 days and them the last day before going home we drifted fresh roe for salmon.
These early salmon were in the deepest, fast, narrow dark runs on the bottom to get oxygen in the warm water.
While doing this I hooked a nice 8 pound fresh run adult Steelhead that we quickly released.
In July, August and September the salmon and steelhead like the deep, dark, fast runs and anywhere that cold water from spring or
tributaries is found, like Blue Creek.
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I really like to fish the Klamath river in October because as the water cools you will find the steelhead in the tailouts more.
Then I can get them on or near the surface with a floating line, leader the length of my rod and an unweighted fly.
Love those "boils and yanks"" on the take in a nice smooth tailout.........with a "rachet reel" of coarse.
Early and late in the day in October you can sometimes see steelhead surfacing/rolling in the smooth tailouts at the end of a pool.
I was on the "Lower Yuba" yesterday. Here's where we need to ask "What do you call the Lower Yuba? The lower Yuba to me means from the mouth where it joins the Feather to upstream to ???. To other folks the "lower Yuba" means from Parks Bar down to DeGuarre Pt. dam.
I fish mainly striped bass and for me the mouth is a great starting point which permits me to fish both the Yuba and the Feather. Going upstream I'm limited because of my prop. Others with a small jet boat can go all the way to the dam. And yes, there are stripers there pretty much year round.
Tony
Hey Tony
I guide both sections and I call hwy20 down upper lower Yuba, then daguerre down lower lower Yuba.
Also need to get another Tonys Stripping Basket
Hey Bill
I had the pleasure of guiding Terry last year on the Trinity and we did extremely well mid/late Sept. Once again this year I'll have the same pleasure but this year Jim will be along for the rode. Dry lines n muddlers, grease lining with traditional speys.
Thanks Brian, you are a 'class act' and I really appreciate you being here to help keep the real fly fishing alive.
There is nothing wrong with some indicator fishing but it should be only part of the mix....not the entire movie.
Any recent reports on evening hatches? I remember years ago the summer evening caddis hatch and pmd's were sizzling...
Floated HWY 20 to Sycamore Wednesday afternoon and evening. Although numerous dragonflies were hunting over the water, all we saw before 7:00 was a few micro Caddis or midges that were smaller than a size 20. No rising fish until about 7:00, when we saw a half dozen or so and a few cream colored Caddis in the 12-14 range flew by. Total skunk for us but we did pass a large trout swimming upstream as we floated by. Looked to be around 22-24 inches. We will probably try again next Friday
Thanks Mike. Hopefully the action will start picking up once the flows drop and the weather starts cooling...
Jim and I fished the lower Feather the other day and it was thick with caddis. Interesting, we didn't see anything actively eating them.
They were everywhere though.
Tony
Any recent Yuba intel? Considering a drive up tomorrow or Sunday.
It's been a few weeks now but I did have some luck right before the closure. I was swinging a caddis emerger pattern and was lucky enough to get some action. Another gentleman caught one using a yellow stimulator. Also, if you find a Perrine #9 fly box by the run right at the bridge, please let me know since I lost mine there.
Was thinking of going, changed my mind once I saw they dropped the flows down to
723 cfs.
Great for wading?
Yes Bill easy wading. I like the flows to be a little higher for swinging and more water for
People to spread out .
Going to float tomorrow despite the low (but rising!) flows.
Blue fishcat pontoon - say hi if you see me, I've got beers and candy.
Went today and my report, channeling my inner Jim Mora - “it stunk”.
Counted 10 boats and saw some other W&W anglers despite getting as far from the easy parking spots as possible. Some salmon now up on redds but based on my lack of success the trout haven’t found them yet. That, or I am the one who stinks.
it was a big of a gong show. i should have just gone to Putah i guess.