Butte Creek, Ellis Lake, Yuba goldfields, Yuba River

Closer To The First Greens of Spring

by Matt

I’ve been out a few times the past month and haven’t had much luck on the winter bite. With the good amount of rainfall passing last weekend and a warming trend of 70 degrees, a lot of the plant and wildlife have woken up. It’s been quite beautiful out there and I’d be punching myself in the face if I didn’t spend sometime outdoors.

Fish On!

Ellis Lake
I’ve been tracking the pattern of the lake and so far the fish aren’t active yet. I fished during the storm which wasn’t the brightest idea. I was also on the lake a week after the storm and with the warming trend passing through I was hoping a few prespawn fish would be active. I was wrong.
As I’ve observed before, the first bedding bass usually don’t start becoming active until March. I will continue tracking the pattern for the lake in hopes of finding some quality bass in a not so quality place.

Yuba Goldfields
I fished around the ponds today and found a few active fish. Definitely prespawn bass. There are a lot of small fish, bass and bluegill, hanging around vegetation while the bigger fish are either in deeper water (which I did not have luck fishing) or in flats near potential spawning beds. The water was relatively warm despite a few wind gusts here and there. The fish were pretty grabby which is a good sign. I tried a bunny leech in purple this time and it did pretty well. I’ve always had a lot of luck with the color purple when it came to bass. Its still a bit early but I know more fish will start becoming active as spring approaches.

Preggo Prespawn Bass
Purple Leech Eaters

Yuba River
The flows are a good 750 CFS with good color as well. I think we got what we needed here; the conditions are ideal for fishing. I didn’t cover the river as much as I usually do but I did go 2/3 in one riffle and anyone who fishes the Yuba knows that’s a good day. There were A LOT of cars on the Parks Bar side of the river so I don’t know how well that part of the river is fishing, either really good that everyone is fishing there or really bad because everyone is fishing there. Below the bridge there is less pressure which is more enjoyable both in tranquility and in fishing. The fish I caught took a rubberleg and an S&M nymph. Super strong fish despite their size. I was using 4x and 5x tippet so it took a bit maneuvering to get them in.
I didn’t see any skwalas while I was there. I did see a few risers and quite a few midges and brown mayflies.

Yuba Native Beauty
This One Kinda Looked Like a Frog

Butte Creek
The creek is closed now and unfortunately the flows were a bit too high to fish productively before it closed. I fished my usual holes and found it difficult to wade in spots I usually had no trouble getting to. The steelhead most likely just raced up with the flows being around 400 CFS.

The almond trees are blooming and the plants around here are starting to bud. Spring is around the corner and I can’t wait.

Yuba goldfields, Yuba River

Fly Fishing For Bass: Entry #1 – Troubleshooting The Winter

by Matt

Location: Yuba Goldfields
Time: 11am-2pm
Weather: Sunny with slight overcast, breezy but mostly calm
Water Temperature: 53-55 degrees

Nice Yuba Trout

After catching a nice trout on the river I wanted to give bassing a shot. I was using my 6wt with a new IV sinking line that I had purchased. At first it was a bit awkward to cast but eventually I was able to cast it a good 30-40ft.

The water was calm with an occasional breeze but for the most part it was very clear with visibility of at least 5-7ft. The water was pretty cold but I felt it the warming weather trend should have been warm enough to keep the bass active. I found a few bass in the shallows and drop offs schooling or cruising around. There were also bluegills and smaller bass schooling around the reeds on the bank.
I saw a few suckers near the bank that I mistook for bass as the black stripe that runs across their sides look alike. They did not spook as I cast and approached them and were probably the fish that were rising throughout the day. It is near their spawn time and it shows that even in the ponds they will spawn successfully.

I used a bluegill pattern, lizard pattern, clouser minnow and a bunny leech. Although I found bass they spooked as soon as I wanted to make a cast. The fish that did not spook ignored my fly. Several times throughout the day I was able to get the fly right in front of their face and have them follow it only to have them turn away and swim the opposite direction within a few seconds.
Throughout the day I switched through several flies in different colors but they were not responding. I changed my retrieve to a small fast strips on a black bunny leech that I had success with before and got one take. The take was reactionary and the 14” fish threw the hook as it jumped into the air. I fished a few more hours without another take and ended the day.

Conclusion
-Bass are incredibly aware of their surroundings and will spook easily in the clear water. Next time I will bring my float tube to see if being able to approach them from the water will make the difference.
-I will also try fishing for them earlier or later during the day rather than mid day. I was thinking that as they day warms in the afternoon they would be more active but this day was not the case.
-The fish I lost has me thinking that the hook I used to tie the fly is not sufficient enough. Ideally the hook should have penetrated through the fish’s mouth due to the size of the hook. I will be looking for new hooks to tie my bass patterns on.
-The bass are not in the prespawn stage yet. A higher temperature that is consistent all day may be necessary to start the move.
-Fly Movement vs. Impression is another factor that I will be looking into.

Yuba River Sunset
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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™