Yuba Status?

[Sheepdog8404]

Sounds like some mixed feelings on the Yuba. I had plans to jam up there after class tomorrow since I have the rest of the day to myself after 0830. This storm has me thinking otherwise now though... Might be a total waste of time with the rain it is bringing. On the other hand, maybe a day fishing in less than optimal conditions on a river I have never fished, by myself without the aid of someone who is familiar with it is better than not fishing at all??? I'm on the fence about it...

[mattv-mcfly]

Don't be PO'd, those fish can feel it, I really believe that. I just posted a fresh report, as well as Hogan has. Click here for Hogan's take; http://hgbflyfishing.blogspot.com/20...vinyl-not.html

- J.

Haha I second that. If you aren't on your A game out there they'll know and everything that could possibly go wrong will go wrong. I was out there this afternoon before the rain started. The water was the clearest I've seen it in a while but now with this storm it'll probably mud up again.

Hooked four in three hours below the bridge. The fish were only eating PTs. Fun stuff.

[PV_Premier]

Yeah I need to get my head back in the game. When you get on the skunk it's easy to get in a hurry and not be thorough and that has been the case for me since mid January. I had an awesome 2015 so it's a bummer to have the year start this way. Hopefully things improve soon!

[PV_Premier]

As of this morning, there has not been a change in flow on the Smartsville gauge, despite about 2" of rain ovenright just upstream of Englebright. Perhaps this bodes well for the continued improving clarity on the Yuba...

[Sheepdog8404]

Interesting. Do you have a temperature by chance?

[PV_Premier]

i didn't take the water temp last time i was out (Monday). middle of last week it was around 50. Jon might have a more recent reading.

[yubaman]

Unfortunately the Yuba mudded up from Deer Creek today. We fished it late yesterday for a couple of hours and fishing was very, very good. The water had that great green tinge to it. Today, Deer Creek got up to 132 cfs, and the river got very murky as the day went on. Color went from green to mostly a brown. Fishing was not good today. I suspect it will need a couple of more days to clear.

BTW, the 30k flows moved a lot of gravel around the river. Some of the runs have changed pretty dramatically. With all of the gravel movement, very few bugs under the rocks. Could be sparse for hatches this spring.

[Sheepdog8404]

I guess its a good thing I didn't drive over there then... Maybe next week I'll make the journey! Thanks for the report, yubaman!

[Ralph]

There was a good landslide up near Mushroom Hole (Middle Fork) in January. I think silt will be the rule rather than the exception this season.

[yubaman]

The color was pretty good Wednesday, that great green tinge and about 30" of clarity. I'll take a little color in the water any day on the Yuba. I feel when the Yuba is gin clear, that I scatter many fish walking the elevated banks of the river. Also, I've noticed that on many days in the last year and a half, I am catching fish on the Yuba, with a bug that has never produced much in the past on this river. Every trip, it's a different bug. One time it's a size 10 Prince, then it's a size 8 Golden Stone dry, then it's a size 14 Hotwire Prince? Bugs other than the old standby's have really been out-producing the Rubberlegs, Golden Stone nymph and S & M 's. Maybe it's the fish seeing something different?

To this day, the largest fish I have caught on the Yuba is a 24" beast, on a size 8 bushy Salmonfly dry that I had only previously thrown in Montana . . . you just never know what you might stir up with something new on a slow day.