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Thread: The Good and the Bad and the Yuba and the Feather

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Yuba City, Ca.
    Posts
    2,290

    Thumbs up The Good and the Bad and the Yuba and the Feather

    For the last few weeks the Feather has been very very low. Add the Yuba to that and it's been very low too. Combined, the two rivers have created a huge sand bar at the mouth. In addition to that there has been soo much sand piling up above the Yuba City ramp it's almost impossible to launch with a regular boat. Maybe a canoe or small pram might work for a short ways but everything is really shallow near town.

    Well, for the last couple of days we've got rain, and there's more expected on the way. So now the Yuba is running at about 20,000 cfs. and the Feather has come up to over 30,000 cfs at Boyd's Pump. This should really help to blow some of that sand out of the way so we can get our boats into the water.

    Some stripers are already here and the spring run should start before long too. Raith Heryford (local guide) has been knocking them good using topwater glide baits immitating the smolt that are coming down from above. There's sea lions already at Verona and they've got to be chasing stripers too.

    So maybe this is going to turn into a good year,,,,,,, once the rivers settle down and clear ? I hope.
    Tony
    TONY BUZOLICH
    Feather River Fly
    Yuba City, CA.
    (530) 790-7180

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
    Posts
    24,324

    Default

    Hi Tony,

    I always hear that March is good in the Delta for Stripers as it warms up.

    Is the spring Striper spawning run, up around Colusa on the Sacramento River, best in April and May?

    Guide, Shane Harden, told us that June was still good around Colusa.

    Many good Striper chasers in the Delta have not fished up near Colusa on the Sacramento River.

    Lots of Striper fans have not fished the beaches for Stripers.

    I also think that the Stripers are in the bays and on the beaches in the summertime.

    They are coming in from the bays and beaches in September, around Berkeley/Richmond.

    Stripers seem to be in the Delta in October through March, then head north up the Sacramento to spawn.



    For 50 years in the tackle business in Sacramento, I have tried to figure out where the Stripers are, month by month in California.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Yuba City, Ca.
    Posts
    2,290

    Default

    Bill,

    Spring up here is spawning time in all the rivers and the rivers get lots of the migrating fish. Over on the Sac there is a lot more water flow which in turn brings in most of the run. Colusa is a prime area for spawning. It's also a prime area to fish with lots of boat traffic. I remember once at Ward's Landing having to wait over an hour in line before I could get the boat in the water. On the Feather it's the same with parking lots filling up before daybreak and again having to wait to launch, and then having to find a place to park your trailer afterward. Uugh

    As for the stripers like I said, spring is when the majority of them are here to spawn,,mainly April, May, and June. But, I repeat "But", there are stripers in the river all year long. Some come up early (like now) and feed on the smolt, and some stay late and feed on whatever comes by. In June you have the shad run too and stripers LOVE shad and gorge on them. By the end of June the shad also return to the ocean and the striper bite dies off. Then most everybody quits fishing for them ( except a few of us who know). This past summer Jim May and I have had a great time chasing them. Sometimes for only a couple of hours at daybreak and we'd be done by around 9:00 or 10:00AM. My personal best (48 lbs) on a fly came in the second week of February a few years ago before the spawn. As for numbers, spring is always the best.





    Early season smolt are like candy to any hungry striper. Later, when shad are around they become a dinner too. Note the tail in the striper's mouth. The rest of the year they'll eat anything they can put in their mouth.
    Tony
    TONY BUZOLICH
    Feather River Fly
    Yuba City, CA.
    (530) 790-7180

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Tejas !!
    Posts
    806

    Default

    Given what it costs to run a hatchery, I'm curious how much those 4 appetizers cost for dinner!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Yuba City, Ca.
    Posts
    2,290

    Default

    If they were from an early fish they would have come out of the gravel on their own. I haven't seen any of the hatchery trucks dumping smolt yet but it won't be long.
    Tony
    TONY BUZOLICH
    Feather River Fly
    Yuba City, CA.
    (530) 790-7180

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