Ellis Lake, Yuba River

Wind, Wind, Go Away

by Matt
I Give Up. You Win Yuba

April can be a hit-and-miss month on the fly. Some days are warm and can bring out the bugs while others are a bit cooler slowing down both bug and fish activity.

Most of my fishing time has been spent on targeting smaller warm-water species at Ellis Lake. The flows are still high on the Yuba with a heavy spring run-off coming down from the South Fork. I took some time to visit my favorite river at 3,500 CFS and it looks like it’ll be tough until summer. Local panfish have been my best option.

 
The winds this year seem to be a lot more prominent than last year. I happen to be an allergy head and a good wind will get my allergies going all day all week. Gusts over 10mph are also a pain to try and fish with a fly.

Double Rods Today

The Yuba continues to run high with run-off from the South Fork at 2,100 CFS. During my quick-visit to the Yuba I brought two rods, one rigged with a streamer and the other with nymphs. The only fish I hooked was a 18”+ bow that I was able to sight fish. There was no way I was going to land this fish with the deeper and higher flows so after a few seconds of fight I lost it. The rest of my day was fishless.
I was surprised to find other anglers out trying their luck as well. The flows are too damn high!

Now that the weather is warmer I might check another time in the evening to see if I can catch an evening hatch.

Plenty of Bugs Around Still

Although exploring the Yuba during high flows was interesting, I won’t be back until the flows go below 2,000 CFS. There are better places to fish right now.

Yuge Flows

I’ve been having a panfish party on hot and windless days. Catching fish that are actually willing to eat on topwater 2WT action is super fun.
The bass fry have also hatched at Ellis Lake making it tough to target bass. From time to time I saw fish crash the surface for baby fry. Although it can be tough to compete with hundreds of easy to catch fry, I managed to hook a small bass after watching it crash the top.

Rare Level 10 Shiny Bluegill
Little Ellis Bass Fry Crasher
How To Compete With So Many Fry?

Middle Fork American River, North Fork Feather River

Opened Early – The Middle Fork of the Feather River

by Matt

The Middle Fork of the Feather River between A-23 bridge above Portola and Mohawk Bridge in Mohawk is the only Sierran trout stream in California that opens the first Saturday in April. For anglers who are not in the know, this early opener can be a frustrating game of hide-and-seek. I tried fishing the opener last year but the severe drought hindered my chances of finding fish. This year was different.

The El Nino storms of 2016 have helped bring up water levels and pack the Sierras with much needed snow. Good flows and warm weather welcomed me as I made my first stop in Clio.

Clio is the furthest “town” upstream that provides access to the MF before it turns into a canyon. The water in the upper MF has a brown tea colored tint that begins to clear further downstream. This darker tinted water is quite deceptive at first glance. Most fly anglers would take one look at the upper MF and leave because of its tint but trout do live there.

Jon Baiocchi is a guide that fishes the upper section of the MF every year during the opener. He has mastered this section and has found that the most important detail when fishing the opener is water temperature. Jon has also caught a few brown trout in this early season section which is very cool.

I dedicated this trip to fishing streamers in order to try and catch a rare MF brown. Throughout the day I was able to find one solid take and a few bumps. When I finally hooked my first fish I thought it was a brown, mission accomplished! As it spun itself around to try and throw the hook, the sides of the fish flashed a silvery hue with no signs of a red lateral line. Once I netted the fish I saw that it was not a brown but instead a rainbow. Mission failed…

Although there were bugs flying around everywhere, I had a difficult time finding fish. I covered a lot of water from Clio to Graeagle and was a bit bummed that the fishing was so slow however it was nice to fish some new water. The water is still a bit cold but once it warms up I’ll give this section another shot before shifting my focus to the canyon.

On the way down HWY 70 I stopped and fished an open section of the NFFR. I was able to rise a few smaller fish with a caddis dry but with the wind gusting through canyon I wasn’t able to hook any. I changed tactics to tight lining and caught a little guy.




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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™