Lower Sac, Feather, and Yuba River Reports: Finally Fishing!

[RJSFLYTRIP]

Well............it has been an interesting month. If you haven't noticed Northern California has been getting pounded with rain and snow. Needless to say it has been a tough month. Because of all the weather and Bonnie being on the edge of going into labor I didn't guide one day in March. I had to reschedule 21 days for the month. I started to think of my break as a sabbatical from the oars. It came as good timing though with the birth of our first child Maggie on March 21. So I have had a couple of weeks to help Bonnie out and bond with the baby. To be honest I think the baby has taken more out of me then working. LOL. But even with the restless nights of feedings and trying to sleep I am over joyed with the new addition to our family.

Okay............I know get on to the Fishing! The good news is that the Lower Sac is back in shape and fishing well. So there are going to be some lips ripped in the next couple of weeks.

In this post you will find reports from the Lower Sac, Forecasts on conditions for the Yuba/Feather, Openings, and a couple discounted trips! For all discounted trips I will offer a full day at the half day cost of $275.

Dates Available:

April: 12 ($275), 17, 25-26 ($275), May 3, 6, 17-20, June 7-10

Lower Sac:

As of yesterday we have a couple rivers (Lower Sac/Feather) in the valley that is fishable. The Lower Sac is currently at 15,000 cfs and the clarity is about 6-7 feet. The fishing has been really good all week as those fish plow down on anything that lands in front of them. They finally get some rest and time to eat after the high flows. Both trips I have done this week have resulted in 30+ fish days with many others lost. With the high water the key is to find those soft edges where the fish can settle in and get out of the heavy current. It wasn't hard to find some hungry fish as they tried up to eat the yellow brain fly, the famous bead, and a rubberleg. Around 1PM there was a solid hatch of pmds and as soon as the bugs came out a flashback pt and mercers pmd caught a handful of fish. The quality of fish on the river yesterday was awesome with lots of 17-19" rainbows crushing our bugs.


Yuba River:

Well there haven't been any reports from the Yuba as it has been unfishable for several weeks now. The flows on the Yuba have been bouncing around between 5,000-6,000 cfs. Currently the flows on the Yuba are 5,200+ cfs. So this is still to high to fish the river effectively. In my opinion the river needs to be below 4,000 cfs but is even better when it drops to 3,000 cfs. Now with all of that said that doesn't mean one cant catch fish over there at this flow. With this much flow you have to focus on the slower deeper runs and plan on doing 2 floats as you will be flying down the river.

The forecast for the Yuba is still a couple of weeks out but the last couple of days they have been flirting with that 4,000 cfs mark. We are probably looking to the middle or later parts of April to get out on the river. When things finally get fishable watch out because it is going to be lights out on this river for several weeks. Lots of fish looking to eat after all of the high water conditions. Expect the Yuba to fish really well through June this year. Stay tuned for reports on my blog.

Feather River:

The Feather dropped into shape on Wednesday. I guided the Low Flow section today and found decent success. With two rookies who had never fly fished before we hooked 7 spring steelhead that were all of good size. These were not your typical 16" fish that you see over there during March/April. All of the fish were between 19-22" fat footballs. There was a little pressure on the river with 2 other drift boats and about 3 guys wading the upper parts of the drift. We had to cover a lot of water to find the fish but they were pretty evenly spread out throughout the entire low flow. The hot flies were a prince nymph and lightning bug. But try san juans, microspawn, birds nest, king princes, pts, Hogan's S&M, etc. if you plan on going over there. Expect things to get really good on the Feather in a couple of weeks once some more fish move into the system.

Well that is it. We are finally back to fishing in the valley. Expect the next three weeks to be really good.

Tight Lines!

[Lincoln Gray]

Ryan -

Congrats! on your baby girl. I was never so pround, happy and completely in love with my daughter the day she was born! Enjoy, they grow up quickly!!

[RJSFLYTRIP]

Lincoln,

Thanks for the encouraging words. It has been pretty incredible. I think the best way to describe having a new born is a rewarding but hard process. I never imagined that I would be so excited to see my wife and baby girl once I got off the river. This is definitely a type of love that I have never experienced before. I know that Im only 3 weeks into this process but I must admit that my perspective has changed drastically. Im sure that as soon as we get used to it everything will change again. What an adventure we have begun. We will see you out on the water.

Tight Lines!