Ellis Lake, Feather River, Yuba River

Local Fun-filled Fishing

by Matt
Yuba Quality

Another week of high Yuba flows means tough fishing and no pressure. I found the fish though, I always find them. Three hook-ups, three in the net.
The warmer months are a tough time to fish the Yuba. Not much is happening with the bug life but with a few secret tricks I was able to hook and land three fish over the 16″ mark. The fish hooked to amount of time spend ratio was good this trip at about one fish per hour. The conditions were bright with high flows and gin clear water, some of the toughest conditions you can face on the Yuba.

Big Head Mode

The longest fish I landed this trip had a huge head but skinny body almost like he was starving. I’ve heard that when big storm events with huge flows blowout the Yuba several times a lot of bugs get dislodged and blown away downstream. Once the river settles and the flows go back to normal the fish have a hard time finding food which causes them lose a lot of weight. Could we possibly see this event again? It’s too early to tell at the moment but I’m crossing my fingers it doesn’t happen.

The Yuba Is My Fly Fishing School

Another theory that could explain why this fish was skinny could be related to the spawn. Fish tend to use a lot of energy when they are spawning and it’s not uncommon to find them looking like they haven’t eaten in several weeks after they are finished. Yuba bows spawn in the spring which means that there could be a few fish in the system in their post-spawn bodies.

Feather River
The flows have been cranked up and the wading is even more difficult than before. Waders were necessary if you want to hook fish in the run I was in. The water is high, discolored, and colder than usual. I went out one evening this week and hooked a couple of small male shad. Nothing too exciting, shad to be had.

Shad Splash

Ellis Lake
The lake was stocked this last weekend with catfish for the Kid’s Fishing Derby. As always there are a lot of dead catfish floating along the banks after the event due to the heavy fishing pressure and bio imbalance. Why the organizations that put this event together don’t clean up their mess after it’s over is beyond me. As I drove around town today I saw a man with a pool cleaning net cleaning up their mess. Bless that man, the Guardian of the Lake.

There are a lot of anglers bait and waiting the lake but very few are catching any fish. After top water fishing for bluegill in the evening, I finally caught my first catfish of the year on a clouser.

First Catfish of 2016
Ellis Lake, Little Truckee River, Truckee River

The Deer Creek Tradition

by Matt
Fish On Deer Creek

Every year during the trout opener I visit where it all began. Years ago when I first picked up a fly rod, there was a time when I went troutless for four months. Despite catching a lot of warm-water species, I struggled to hook the species that created the outdoor sport of fly fishing. I’ll never forget the first time I hooked my first trout, a beautiful four inch dink on a 6WT rod.

Tehama County Gem

Deer Creek is a special place. Many anglers that I’ve mention Deer Creek to have told me that this creek is where they first learned how to fly fish. With countless numbers of small rainbows that will literally eat anything you throw at them, this creek is one of the best streams in Northern California where you can learn how to fly fish. It’s not uncommon to leave the creek with over fifty fish caught and released within a day, all on dries!

Deer Creek Tranquility

This year the creek is running a little higher than usual. As a matter of fact, the current flows are the highest I’ve seen the creek in over four years! More water means more happy fish.
Nymphing Deer Creek is typically the best tactic until the water warms up in late May. No need for an indicator here, tight-line that shiz because it’s way more fun than watching a bobber all day.

Big Fish for Deer Creek

My dries were not working this opener. After a fishing a few spots where I knew fish were, I switched to a nymph rig and finally caught them. This was interesting because the water is fairly shallow making it easy to pick off bugs on top, however they weren’t making the effort to rise. The water wasn’t terribly cold but it just goes to show how important it is when trying to figure out what’s working. Bugs were flying around everywhere. I saw march browns, green drakes, caddis, midges, and even a salmon fly.

Big Mac Bug

Tight-line nymphing produced the most fish. The good ole copper john plus pheasant tail dropper did the trick.

Truckee & Little Truckee
I spent some time on the Truckee and Little Truckee this week as well… and got my butt kicked. Skunked like a punk, not even a single bump all day. I saw some very nice browns where I was fishing and although I didn’t catch them, it was cool to see a Truckee River brown in real-life. I’ll get them next time.

Truckee River Grand Canyon

Ellis Lake
The spring crappie bite is on at Ellis Lake. Every other cast is producing a nice pan-sized crappie on a strip-strike. After catching a few on the main lake, I fished the northern lake where I ran into a gear angler who told me, “Someone caught a 20” five pound crappie at Ellis Lake the other day.” I call BS on that. When I got home I checked to find that the world record for a black crappie is five pounds. Either Ellis Lake is growing some monster mutant fish or someone is spreading fishing stories. The biggest crappie I’ve hooked there have been the typical mama 14”ers

Fun fact: Bluegills fight harder than crappie.

Have a Crappie Day!
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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™