Yuba Today

[Eric M]

Above the 20 bridge for a few hours today, visibility about two feet. I'm guessing the lake is the same clarity, or is the 30-40cfs of Deer Creek putting in the color? No fish but it felt great just to be on the water.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Ralph....that is good to know.

.

[Rossflyguy]

I went last Wednesday with my Pac 12. It was a nice float, fish everywhere but they were eating midges I'm guessing. I saw PMDs hatching and skwalas everywhere but no takers. Caught one on an egg and list a good fish on a PMD emerger but blanked the rest of the day. Typical Yuba but great to get out.

[Jake O]

Ross, by last wednesday im assuming you mean before the river blew out....Can't imagine bugs would be out and about since.

Wetwade, as to when its going to clear, i think you hit the nail on the head, engelbright is likely the culprit---i heard it was muddy. Last time it muddied up good the river was at least off color for two weeks. Problem is, we are expecting a little more rain this saturday and sunday, which could be heavier up in the hills. I'm going to give it a go monday, but i'm fearing the worst in terms of clarity. Sure, fish can be caught when its off color, but the dry fly fishing we all love up there this time of the year is shot.....if a fish can't see the dry on top, it wont eat the dry on top...

[bigfly]

The fish can't leave the water, and they can't stop eating......My mantra...
Anything on the surface, is down in the water column. Drown it....
Beginning to think dry fly guys just like to play hard to get.........fish.
Seriously, we fish muddy water up here and catch fish.
Just not asking them to come up......why would they?
The high flow steals calories from them, and there's plenty of food down there.....besides the clarity..
Don't forget, they move very near shore to eat the egg laying Skwallas.
High flows also push them near shore, and add many types of yummy food.
I'd rather change the way I fish, than go without. (A move to Truckee changed that.)
And out of curiosity, what is the water temp? Rising/falling?
I fished dries to good effect last week, but not this week....alas.
Anybody swinging?????? Got to be a freshy in there.
Need a break from midge fishing, hope to come over the hill this week.

Jim

[JasonB]

I'm also a firm believer in the "you never know" philosophy, funny things can and will happen sometimes. Just today I was out for a few hours practice spey casting, and "sort of" fishing in some fairly murky water (3' visability max). After about my third or fourth cast a VERY large brown came and slurped something off the surface on the far side of the river, right at the edge of my ability to cast and present a fly. No, I didn't get his interest in any of my flies and the only real bugs I saw were a lot smaller than any of my flies I brought along to practice casting with; but you can bet I had fun trying for a while.

I would have blown this one off as a total odd one, except about an hour later I saw a steady sipper in front of a boulder, and a few other smaller rainbows chasing emergers and leaving the water. Kind of a weird day, and I did end up getting a few good grabs swinging a streamer around. Honestly I would not have expected any of that, and had I actually come prepared to fish more seriously I might have had a fair bit of action. No matter, I was happy just to be around and see it and spend some time dragging my flies through the water.
No moral to this story, I just love how with fishing it seems that nearly every "rule" is broken from time to time. I also love those little surprises you sometimes get, and how you never really know when you'll get them.
JB

[bigfly]

Glad to here you are out there Jason, wielding a big stick too......you around this week?
Did ya take the temp?

Jim

[JasonB]

Glad to here you are out there Jason, wielding a big stick too......you around this week?
Did ya take the temp?

Jim

Yeah, not nearly enough fishing time for me this "winter". Cherish the times I can get my toes wet these days. I'm hoping to be off playing in the rain this next week, but hard to say still. Oh yeah and the temp... I've lost my thermometer so I've found a pretty simple and surprisingly accurate replacement system:

Toes go half numb right away= too cold, go home and tie flies, or keep practicing my casting till the rest of me goes numb too then go home.
Toes are cold after a short time in the water and don't warm up all day=low 40's or slow but ok fishing. Fish low and slow

Toes are not too bad, only cold after the leaks start to seep through the waders and they start getting really wet=mid to upper 40's, fishing is good

Toes don't get cold cold, even without an extra pair of sox=roughly 50 degrees or so, fishing is great!

Toes don't seem to notice cold hardly at all, waders strictly optional = uh oh...water's gettin' pretty warm now, but fishing is still great!

Toes (and other parts) are totally comfortable for long periods of bieng submerged, waders not even thought of = go home and tie flies again.

I can hear you all snickering now, but this has worked out better than you might think... and today's reading was: #4 Toes not bad at all with only a thin pair of socks, so I'd guess 44-45 degrees.

Oh, and looking the temp up online shows 47... go figure
JB

[bigfly]

I refer to that, as calibrated toes.
Fishing/not fishing the temp curve is dead on too.
I'll trust you.....
Give a call.

Jim

[thekid]

They will eat on the surface in the colored water! 2 to 3 feet visibility is perfect for anglers that really lack in the stealth department. That color is just what the river needed after the gin clear water, and swarms of people the last month! group had 20 or so come to the fly ON TOP in the wind yesterday. a few large

the kid