North Fork Feather River

Winter On The North Fork

It’s been several years since I’ve fished the North Fork of the Feather River in the winter. The NFFR is one of the few streams in Butte Co where there is a section below Cresta Powerhouse that is open for fishing all year around. The fishing is by no means fantastic however it does offer some moving water to fish for those who’ve grown tired of the nearby winter fisheries.

The Pulga section is the most ideal area to fish the NFFR in the winter. The river access to this section has changed due to the reconstruction of the town and the Camp Fire. Although it doesn’t appear like Pulga road is closed there has been a lot of construction vehicles on it making it wise to look for access to the river elsewhere. After doing a bit of research on Google Maps I found a section along HWY 70 where I could access the Pulga section however it looked like it required a bit of bushwhacking. There is a lot of river on the NFFR that I still haven’t explored and I was excited to check out this new access.

The NFFR was flowing at about 280 CFS below Poe Dam which is a bit higher than I was use to when fishing this section in the winter. I typically fish the winter section when it’s below 200 CFS and ideally around 180 CFS. The wading is a bit easier below 200 CFS and I remember the river being crossable at certain sections as well.

After I rigged up my gear I bushwhacked through some willows, hopped over some boulders, scrambled through blackberry bushes, and waded along the banks to get to the the Pulga section. During the winter the trout in the NFFR are not in the fast oxygenated water where they typically found. Instead, they are stack up in the slower runs and pools. There was some pretty fishy looking water along the way that I attempted to fish but no one was home. The water was ice cold as it usually is in the winter with my guess being around the 40 degree mark.

Once I arrived to familiar waters I immediately began catching fish. I noticed that the river in the Pulga section had sunlight throughout the day whereas the area before was shaded due to the position of the low winter sun. My guess is that the water was a bit warmer in the Pulga section which made the fish more grabby. The warmer water might have also produced a better source of food as I watched BWOs hatch from about 1:30pm – 2:30pm. I found a honey hole that was just stacked full of trout and had a field day on BWO nymphs and emergers. I hooked over a dozen fish and landed a handful of them.

Although I do enjoy hooking a bunch of fish in a barrel I like finding them in spots where they typical aren’t better. I’m going to give it another month or two for the weather to warm up and fish to spread out before I head back to the NFFR.

Lake Englebright, Yuba River

Lake Englebright On The Fly

Lake Englebright is one of the few lakes within 30 minutes drive of my location. I’ve fished it once in the past during the spring and actually managed to catch two fish, a rainbow trout and a spotted bass. I’ve been itching to get out onto some stillwater and decided to check out Lake Englebright again to see if I could get the winter float and fly technique to work for me.

Lake Englebright is a very steep lake that is typically kept full. There is no room for wading therefore a boat is the best method to fish this lake successfully. I was debating between using my float tube or kayak and ultimately chose the kayak again because the float tube would only be able to get me out so far. It would be too dangerous to kick all the way out to where I wanted to be and back within the time frame I wanted to fish. I also needed to find the fish and being limited to fishing between the two boat launches would be a waste of $5 parking.

It’s been awhile since I’ve used my Intex Challenger K1 inflatable kayak. The last time I used this kayak I had accidently put a hole in it while bringing it back the bank during my trip to Lake Crowley; needless to say I will definitely be more careful with this one. It took me about 30 minutes to completely rig up and though my confidence was a bit shaken from having my last kayak fail I quickly regained it all back once I was out on the water.

I brought my cheapo fish finder with me to try and help me find the correct fishing depth. Most of the time the ideal fly fishing depths between 10′ – 15′ were right off the bank. All the possible “fish” the finder mapped where way deep near the bottom. The water was also very clear and I estimated I could probably see about 10′ into the water. Although this helped me identify structure, weed beds, etc it most likely made the fish more spooky. It was going to be a tough day.

I initially worked the float and fly around a few steep drop offs hoping that I would find suspended spotted bass. After a few hours went by with no grabs I switched to a type 6 full sinking line stripping flies. Despite covering quite a bit of water neither of these techniques worked. Towards the end of the day I though perhaps trolling would be the best way to approach these slow winter fishing conditions. I figured with a full sinking line I could probably let out a bit of line and slowly troll around while enjoying some paddling.

I finally got my first grab while floating around one of the coves on the northern end however as soon as I went to set the hook the fish was already gone. Maybe having the fly rod between my legs wasn’t the best way to do this whole trolling thing. Unfortunately I didn’t get any grabs the rest of the day. I’m currently working on ideas on how to become more efficient and effective on the kayak the next time I return to Lake Englebright. I may wait until the spring to try again after reading that the big pen grown rainbows that the marina raises are released during that time. The one good thing about fishing from a kayak is that even if you don’t catch a single fish the paddling and floating is always fun.

I fished the Yuba before the hurricane storm and found a bunch of nice fish in a run that I’ve never fished before. Hopefully we get some much needed rain and snow within the next few days.

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