Yuba Salmon?

[Natekursow]

I've heard mixed reports, and don't want to do anything illegal so I thought I'd check here This upcoming fall, is it legal to do C&R fishing for the salmon on the lower Yuba river? Thanks!

NK

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Some years ago there were far more salmon and steelhead in the lower Yuba river.

[Mark Kranhold]

If it were me I’d leave the salmon alone on the Yuba and let them do their thing, that is what’s left of natural wild spawning salmon on the Yuba. The Yuba gets strays but why fish it since our salmon are on a spiraling decline across the west coast, let em be! To add to it our water shortage this year will also effect the fishery this season through fall.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Yes, we need more wild salmon and less hatchery salmon.

[Tony Buzolich]

This past week there have been loads of terns and gulls diving on schools of smolt at the mouth of the Yuba. I don't know what kind of smolt they're eating but they can't be too large. No, they're not shad. One of those terns couldn't pick a shad up and there were no pelican around either.

So what kind of smolt are they, salmon. steelhead, maybe even squawfish ?
Tony

[Brian Clemens]

It is 100% illegal to target salmon on the Yuba. If you accidently hook one, I'd recommend breaking it off as you are probably using 4 or 5x and landing it will take an easy hr and that fish will never make it to spawn, let alone make it that day. If you by chance land it, taking it out of the water for a pic is considered catch and keep per dfg and is felony poaching. Personally I'd recommend leaving them alone. The Yuba use to get 25k and more salmon, now the run is down to 3-5k, we need every one of them to spawn successfully. Target the egg eating trouts and let the salmon do their thing.

[winxp_man]

Yes, we need more wild salmon and less hatchery salmon.

For this to work Bill, there might have to be a closure to commercial fishing, and sport fishing. The keeping part anyways. Rivers are far too messed up to sustain natural wild runs of salmon in my knowledge of reading about this subject. Down here in the valley anyways. To back up my statement the eel river that has been off limits to keeping since the removal of the hatchery system has done just enough to get some fish back. But not even a faction of what historical numbers where just as far back as 1930-1940’s. And the rivers up there are far better shape to natural vs us in the valley. Just a though.

[Rossflyguy]

For this to work Bill, there might have to be a closure to commercial fishing, and sport fishing. The keeping part anyways. Rivers are far too messed up to sustain natural wild runs of salmon in my knowledge of reading about this subject. Down here in the valley anyways. To back up my statement the eel river that has been off limits to keeping since the removal of the hatchery system has done just enough to get some fish back. But not even a faction of what historical numbers where just as far back as 1930-1940’s. And the rivers up there are far better shape to natural vs us in the valley. Just a though.

That’s because California is the only state on the west coast of North America who doesn’t do actual ocean take counts. Instead California would just GUESS the dang numbers of commercial and recreational ocean take. There should be a salmon card for the whole state so we see actual numbers being harvested and not estimates that seem to be wrong every year.