Keep Calm and Fly Fish

I was able to put a couple of hours on the Middle Fork of the Feather River this summer and the fishing was fantastic. From my experience the Middle Fork fishes exceptionally well during high water years after the spring run-off and will continue to do so until the water becomes too warm in the summer. The Middle Fork is on my top five favorite rivers to fish and is truly one of the best fly fishing waters in Northern California.

I wasn’t originally planning on fishing the Middle Fork during this visit but some plans fell through which allowed me to sneak in a few hours in the afternoon. I didn’t pack my fly rod for this trip so I had to improvise and fish with some spinning gear that I happened to pack. I was using a TFO Panfish II rod rigged with a Thill clip-on bobber and some nymphs tied to a fluorocarbon leader. This was the first time I’ve ever dedicated an outing trying to nymph with a spinning rod.

Last year in the early part of June the Middle Fork was still raging with spring run-off. I didn’t know what to expect considering that this was another high-water year but as soon as I saw the river I was relieved to find that the flows were perfect.

As I had predicted the river was full of fish and I didn’t have to go very far to catch a whole lot of them. I fished a prince nymph with a rubberleg stone and used the thill bobber for casting weight. A lighter or smaller bobber would’ve been better as the flies and splitshot weren’t heavy enough to straighten out my line during the drift. It didn’t take long before I netted my first fish on a spinning rod with this rig. After netting a few fish I which to a streamer to see if I could get any good grabs. It was awesome to see my streamer get absolutely nailed in the crystal clear water.

At around 3pm there was an amazing egg laying event of caddis, yellow sally stoneflies, and even salmon flies. I tried to rise some fish on a dry fly with the spinning rod but I couldn’t get a good enough presentation. The fish were rising all over and I just watched daydreaming about how many fish I could’ve rose if I had packed my fly rod. I ended the handful of hours I had on the Middle Fork of the Feather River with over a dozen fish to the net and a lot more missed or lost.

The Middle Fork of the Feather has recently been fishing the best it ever has. I and a few others suspect that the heavy snowpack the past couple of years has benefited the trout that call the Middle Fork home. The Middle Fork is undammed which means more water, more fish.

Last year when I visited the Middle Fork in August the water was still high due to all the snow. This year is the opposite with flows reaching their “regular” low flows earlier in mid-June. Lower summer flows can be nice as they make getting around the river much easier and safer at the cost of catching less better than average-size trout. Hot days with low flows can also raise water temperatures mid-day making it harder to practice catch-and-release. The window to fish the Middle Fork of the Feather is relatively small but worth every mile second.

The Middle Fork of the Feather is a long river with more than enough space to find your water. It is an incredibly healthy river unlike anything I’ve experienced within Plumas National Forest so far. Fish can range from 4” to +20” which keeps you on your toes waiting to see what’s going to bite next. The Middle Fork of the Feather truly is a special place.

Everything was working this visit and the trout density was fantastic. After catching a few beautiful rainbows I started experimenting with different techniques and patterns. I stuck to the hopper dropper rig to get some action on top and bottom. Once I found the hot patterns for both I was getting strikes every other casts. Seeing the silver flash of these fish react to my hopper was simply awesome.

The slow deep pools are where the big fish like to hang out. Some of these pools are +15 feet deep making them difficult to fish effectively. I found that dropping a single heavy nymph on a long leader with no indicator to be the best tactic. The water was super clear and with a good pair of polarized sunglasses I could sight fish for these wild trout all day.

Before ending my time on the Middle Fork of the Feather I spent a small bit of time fishing Nelson Creek. The fishing was just as good there as well. Throughout this visit the smallest fish I caught a tiny 3” and the biggest fish I caught was 15”. I can’t wait to get back down there again.