Yuba River - 2/13/10

[Mrs.Finsallaround]

Well, the Yuba River continues to illude me. Water was cloudy - about 3 ft visibility, & 46-ish degrees. Beautiful day to be on the water though.

I took that class with Andy at Kiene's to learn his skwala pattern, but was quite disappointed in it's performance on the water... doesn't do well when there is too much current, pulls it right down under, won't float. Not saying it's not a good pattern - love to tie it - just wasn't good yesterday, for me.

Paul got one - about 17" - on a tiny black something right before lunch.

After lunch - I switched from Andy's skwala pattern to Paul's. First of all, I could see the damn thing. Andy's pattern is too light, even in a size 8, for me to see on that cloudy water. I had a helluva time with it, quite frustrating. ANYWAY, switched to a dark skwala (with yellow belly, peacock rib) and fished a couple pools right close to "camp" (club fishout) and got several to come up, although missed the one that hit. Paul was trying to "show me something" and caught another - about 16" or so - a beautifully colored up male.

A few skwala were hatchin' - but not swarms of them yet. Scattering of caddis, pmd and a few BWO.

We trooped around there until 5 pm or so, fightin' off the mosquitoes. Exhausted feet, defeated ego, but had a good time. Forgot how beautiful a Yuba rainbow is!

[Charlie Gonzales]

Honestly Robin I dont think theres a good Skwalla dry on the market. In my opinion most are overly dressed and sit too high. If you watch an adult on the water it looks like a little stick, no fluttering wings, just a bit of movement from their legs. Im curious if you tried his pattern in the same type of water as you did Pauls. Andy really did design his fly to be fished in the slower water rather than riffles anyways. If you really look thats where your gonna see most of the adults anyways. This time of year I dont find a lot of fish in the fast riffles, but more on the edges and in the slicks. Glad to hear you had a good time.

[amoeba]

Well Ms fins: I was there all day, until dark, and didn't see a single skwala in the air, under the rocks, on the water, or even a shuck. I did see a whole lot of nothing. And I was looking.

The water temperature topped out at about 49 degrees at about 3 pm.

There were no less than 15 cars under the 20 bridge; just mobbed with people everywhere.

Water clarity was roughly 2-3 feet; off color, but I've caught fish in much less. I saw redds, but these I suspect were old salmon redds (or late-falls), and saw no adults

Your group of two fish is way ahead of the 30+ people I saw. I had plenty of time to fish as well as watch and talk to other people, and I saw and talked to nobody - and I mean nobody, that even claimed to hook a fish, or have a grab. As much as people brag about 10X as many fish caught as they had a rise with no fish hooked, there weren't even any fish stories.

Your group also did better in spotting insects. "not swarms" - is the understatement of all time. I saw more fish rise (about 6, in 8 hours), than I saw total aquatic insects (1 smoke gray caddis, 1 light brown drake, 3 very light - almost white - cahills - about size 12); and mostly during late dusk. I've seen more insects in the dead of winter in Vail Colorado. I've seen more insects in my kitchen. I've seen more insects hatch out of fossilized dinosaur eggs.

Air temperature got up to about 65 or so; I thought there might be something coming off, at least in the shallows; at least some small baetis or something - but alas - there was not any hatch of significance, or really, of insignificance.

I was last one off the water.

I wouldn't worry too much about being able to "see" your skwala's floating. I used to think they sank too, until the fishing action improved and you see the take. They probably are floating - you just can't see them in the chop. You can do things such as tie a or bit of yellow foam to the top of a bullethead (or a post of yarn) - if you are really into "seeing" exactly where the fly is - and to confirm it is not submerged. It is true that many skwala patterns are alot lighter than the skwala's are (possibly for our visibility, not the fishes).

[Mrs.Finsallaround]

Well Ms fins: I was there all day, until dark, and didn't see a single skwala in the air, under the rocks, on the water, or even a shuck. I did see a whole lot of nothing. And I was looking.

We were on the UCD property a mile or two (maybe 3?) upstream from the bridge... there were 15 of us up there. Sorry to hear of the luck by the bridge. We considered coming down there after lunch, but then we finally got better action after lunch, so we stayed.

Im curious if you tried his pattern in the same type of water as you did Pauls. Andy really did design his fly to be fished in the slower water rather than riffles anyways.

Yeah, I was using them both in the same water. I didn't mean to sound so negative about the pattern... They are both actually pretty similar. I might try using a darker color on top of Andy's, not for the fish's benefit, but for mine, and see if it's any better. It's a beautiful pattern, and fun to tie. He showed us two ways to do them, one with CDC on the back and the other with a "pull-over" of something else (can't remember the material). I think I'm just going to experiment a little.

I actually switched back to Andy's in the slower water (the pull-over, rather than CDC) and it stayed up. It looked good too...

There were rising fish, but not a ton of them. Just mocking-like, LOL. Very frustrating, but a still a beautiful day. It's just a completely different style of fishing, and I have yet to get real good at it... But, I'm determined to conquer it!

[loganmike]

Was on the Yuba yesterday as well.

Hey MR, sounds like we chose right not to hike WAY upstream.

Anyway, even though crowded there is f water that is not fished that hold big fish.

I dunno, I thought the vis was perfect, in terms of fish not seeing you approach or what not.

We fished water that many probably overlook to get to the "honey holes" and caught fish. Well, I didn't. But I was with someone who did! Looked pretty easy to me.

Also got a nice one on the swing, it was a dirty swing, but a swing none the less.

Got there around 9 and there were 3 other cars. Water we wanted to fish was open.

It was a good day and my neck is sunburned!

cheers
me

[Rich Leonetti]

I was in the class too Robin. I went home and tied two the same way we did with Andy. Mine didn't float too well so I tied another with really thin foam underneath and switched to black CDC but I havent fished it yet but I did put it in bowl of water and it floated for more than 40 minutes. I think it would defnitely do better in slow water...

[MSP]

This is my Skwala pattern. Has been very effective for me on the "Y". Not a fly that attracts fisherman, only fish. It has a very low profile on the water and looks very natural on the water.

[Terry Imai]

We're fortunate in Northern Calif. to have the Yuba River in our backyard but you really have to pay your "dues" on this river before you can really catch fish on a somewhat regular manner. Since it has a relative low number of fish per mile of water (compared to other rivers/streams) and its bug hatch is a classic tailwater fishery, it forces you to bring your "A" game if you want to even get a refusal or just stick a fish. A classic example was when I was floating it last Saturday and we finally got a few fish to work on the rare skwala that would come floating down. Right when my fishing partner had moved into the correct position to put a cast down to the fish, four guys were returning to their truck and had to cross the river about fifty yards downstream from us. Given the commotion of their wading caused the fish to shut down and probably moved them to other holding water. We waited another thirty minutes but the fish didn't return. You're always going to get foot or boat traffic affecting the fish but the first tip I would give a new person on the Yuba is that you have to act like a heron when stalking your fish. Stealth is the key. The second tip is to make as few as casts as possible. When I see someone putting numerous cast over a fish is just going to put that fish down. The fewest numbers of casts you can make on this river will allow the fish to feel comfortable to come up and feed (provided your fly doesn't have any drag). My third tip would be (if you haven't done so yet) is take up fly tying and learn how to tie your standard patterns. Once you've learned those patterns, I would take a look at what the local shops sell as their "Yuba Killers" and change the various materials in that pattern. Since its a numbers game, local shops sell a ton of these standard patterns and Yuba fish have been hooked on them enough times where they'll see something in your fly that they don't like and you get a refusal. I acually take a positive light on the refusal that the fish didn't notice any drag but there was something it didn't like about the bug and it changed its mind at the last second.

Hope this helps and just remember that once you get good on the Yuba, you can go away and hook your share of the fish...

[Charlie Gonzales]

Very good points Terry, and they were some of the exact points I was telling Scott and Ed today. When we found rising fish the first thing I tried to have them do is just watch. Watch their rise and try and remove as many variables as possible. Whats the bug? Whats the stage(emerger or adult)? Color? Size? Now can you time the rises? Then we would put a couple cast through and then rest the water. Once we were able to say for sure they were on the Skwallas, then it was a matter of trying different patterns til the fish ate and Ed hooked up. But the most important thing was to be patient, not beat the water to a froth, and let everything take its time. Fishing wasnt great but we all learned something and hooked fish. Good times!

[thekid]

Well Ms fins: I was there all day, until dark, and didn't see a single skwala in the air, under the rocks, on the water, or even a shuck. I did see a whole lot of nothing. And I was looking.

The water temperature topped out at about 49 degrees at about 3 pm.

There were no less than 15 cars under the 20 bridge; just mobbed with people everywhere.

Water clarity was roughly 2-3 feet; off color, but I've caught fish in much less. I saw redds, but these I suspect were old salmon redds (or late-falls), and saw no adults

Your group of two fish is way ahead of the 30+ people I saw. I had plenty of time to fish as well as watch and talk to other people, and I saw and talked to nobody - and I mean nobody, that even claimed to hook a fish, or have a grab. As much as people brag about 10X as many fish caught as they had a rise with no fish hooked, there weren't even any fish stories.

Your group also did better in spotting insects. "not swarms" - is the understatement of all time. I saw more fish rise (about 6, in 8 hours), than I saw total aquatic insects (1 smoke gray caddis, 1 light brown drake, 3 very light - almost white - cahills - about size 12); and mostly during late dusk. I've seen more insects in the dead of winter in Vail Colorado. I've seen more insects in my kitchen. I've seen more insects hatch out of fossilized dinosaur eggs.

Air temperature got up to about 65 or so; I thought there might be something coming off, at least in the shallows; at least some small baetis or something - but alas - there was not any hatch of significance, or really, of insignificance.

I was last one off the water.

I wouldn't worry too much about being able to "see" your skwala's floating. I used to think they sank too, until the fishing action improved and you see the take. They probably are floating - you just can't see them in the chop. You can do things such as tie a or bit of yellow foam to the top of a bullethead (or a post of yarn) - if you are really into "seeing" exactly where the fly is - and to confirm it is not submerged. It is true that many skwala patterns are alot lighter than the skwala's are (possibly for our visibility, not the fishes).

The number of bugs on the yuba is incredible this year. Put the rod down for a while and just watch. the Skwala hatch isn't for dumbies. This is not a hex hatch where the bugs are flying through the skies everywhere. Hours of attention is needed towards each fish. The variety of things it could be eating is amazing. This river produces an education for only those who closely look. Maybe even leave the rod at home until you figure it out.

the kid...