Yuba River

Gas Is Too Damn High

by Matt

This fall so far as been quite amazing. The weather has been nice and cool and the fish are eating flies. The only problem I have this fall is that gas prices in California are too damn high. At $4 a gallon it’s been a bit of a hard sell to get me to travel to do any fishing.

I haven’t been fishing too much recently since I started my new regular 8am – 5pm job. It totally beats working nights but has limited me to becoming a weekend warrior. I was able to get out to the Lower Yuba and it’s been fishing pretty fair. The salmon are in and the fish are behind them in the riffles and it’s easy game once you locate them. Catching a few egg eaters is fun for a bit but once you hook a few it gets old since it’s pretty much fish-in-a-barrel.

The fall/winter hatches are starting to begin but I don’t think they’ll really get going until we get our first good winter system. Fingers cross that’ll happen soon because I am looking forward for some awesome dry fly action. That is if I can find the time to get out for a few hours.

Little Truckee River, Truckee River

Browntown, California

by Matt

It’s no secret that the Truckee River grows some of the largest river-dwelling trout in the state of California. The Truckee River is full fish in variable sizes, ranging from as small as 4” to as large +30”, a true fish-of-a-lifetime. I’ve fantasized about coming into contact with one of these massive fish for a very long time and recently made my dream a reality after releasing one of the most memorable browns I’ve ever caught.

My original plan this trip was to learn how to fish the Little Truckee River whereas it is one of the few well-known streams that I have yet to pull a fish out. The Little Truckee is defined as a technical river with its match the hatch and quality over quantity type fishing. The flows on the Little Truckee were at a solid 97CFS which appeared to be above average for this time of the year. Decent flows, good weather, what could wrong?

Fishing pressure.

Notorious for being one of the most overfished streams in the Truckee area, the Little Truckee sees a huge amount of pressure all year around. The easy accessibility, skinny water, and distance between Stampede and Boca make it ideal for a quick “wet my line for a few hours” trip.

I covered a fair bit of water in the upper lot however became discouraged when I could not find fish where they were suppose to be and found other anglers holed up in the most productive spots. Rather than waste anymore time being frustrated and not fishing I left to fish the Big Truckee River. By the time I had return to the parking lot many more people started showing up.

The Truckee River was flowing at around 500CFS below Boca and 530CFS near Floriston. I covered water and was well rewarded for my efforts. I hooked a lot of fish including three huge fish, a large rainbow and two browns that broke me off. Each of these fish bent my hook slightly which made me switch to a streamer pattern. I had three follows and got one really good grab that I held on to for dear life. Luckily I was able to land it and behold my first streamer eater brown from the Truckee River.

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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™