North Yuba Wild Trout Section

[motosacto]

(longtime reader, first post)

I got up to the wild trout section of the North Yuba (just west of Sierra City) for the morning yesterday (my first time on the river). The flows seem low and the river is very clear, and wet wading is easy. Saw a few stoneflies buzzing around, so I tied on a stimulator. Wow, what a nice river to fish! Even though the sun was on the water, there seemed to be plenty of fish looking up for food -- I had action on most likely spots I tried. In 3 hours I released 2 fish, had probably 3 more that popped off my fly as I was reaching to release them, had half dozen more on my line for some significant period of time, and a ton of grabs.

For those of you who know the basin well -- what do you expect the water levels to do over the summer? Seems like the river is more of a spring creek than one purely fed by snowpack; does that mean it will be fish-able through the summer?

--Mark

[Calvillo]

Looks pretty, now on my Wanna Fish list.

[PV_Premier]

(longtime reader, first post)

For those of you who know the basin well -- what do you expect the water levels to do over the summer? Seems like the river is more of a spring creek than one purely fed by snowpack; does that mean it will be fish-able through the summer?

--Mark

follow the cold water up the hill throughout summer. the river will be in tough shape come mid-July. the fish will still be hungry but please consider giving them a break as the flows continue to drop and the water gets warmer. this fishery is one of the gems of the sierras and the lack of snow this year is going to be hard on it this summer. i was fishing well above Sierra City on Saturday and water temps were already pushing 60 in some of the skinnier water.

[cdevine]

follow the cold water up the hill throughout summer. the river will be in tough shape come mid-July. the fish will still be hungry but please consider giving them a break as the flows continue to drop and the water gets warmer. this fishery is one of the gems of the sierras and the lack of snow this year is going to be hard on it this summer. i was fishing well above Sierra City on Saturday and water temps were already pushing 60 in some of the skinnier water.

One of the best things I did over the past few years is invested in a stream thermometer. Its made me a better fisherman and aware of patterns, habits, and risks associated with warm water. Take a reading first thing and a few as the day progresses. Some streams flex up and down quite a bit. Definitely this year try and get on by 7-8am and off by noon. Let them rest during those hot afternoons. Was on EW last week and the morning was great at 59 degrees but by noon it was in 66-67 range and that is too much. Time to head in. That fishery will see 70's soon. If we leave them to be and we get some T storms this summer and a few cool nights I think we can survive this thing.

[mattv-mcfly]

Are there any hogs in the NF Yuba? I'd like to do some brown trout or rainbow streamer hog hunting once it's off season. These summer temps are so bad this year D-:

[Ralph]

The N Yuba isn't a pig pen.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I think if you fish dries from 5pm till dark it might be good too.

Go soon for dry fly fishing.

[motosacto]

I started carrying a thermometer, too. The water temp was about 58 at 10 am....

[PV_Premier]

There are big browns in the lower part of the river, but they are few and far between. Best time of year to find them is fall and early spring. I've never caught one but I've seen photos. The biggest rainbows I've seen/caught are 15-17", those are also few and far between...you'll see/catch hundreds of <12" for every 15".