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?

Yuba River

The Yuba River: First-Person Action Survival Game Edition

by Matt
Rapids Riffle

Who would have thought that a simple afternoon of fly fishing would become a close encounter to danger? Today I took some time to check out the Yuba River. The river is currently sitting at 2,900 CFS which is twice the regular flow at this time of year. The river is clear and looks great but the flows made it very difficult to find fish.

So Much Water

The last storm event in March that blew out the Yuba at 25,000 CFS has changed many parts of the river. Although it is a bit hard to read right now with the current flows, there have been changes to some contours of the river, primarily the banks. Many of the runs that I’ve enjoyed fishing before the big storm have turned into deep holes and many of the deep holes that I’ve never fished have turned into runs. It will probably take some time before the fish acclimatize to these new areas therefore fishing will probably be tough for a while. Time to learn the Yuba all over again.

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

I was able to find two takes in a spot where the river was not too deep and not too fast. Both these fish were over 16” which was good, however they were the only fish I caught the entire time I was there. Not good…

Nice Spring Yuba Bow

As I was hiking upstream to my next spot about a mile above HWY 20 bridge I heard something rustling in the willows. For some reason I thought it was a turkey but I took a few seconds check out my surroundings. Oh crap…. a deer carcass. I made myself big, grabbed a good stick, began making noise, and started to back out. No thank you.

Well that was an interesting experience. Every fly angler probably experiences a mountain lion at least once in their lifetime though right? How about thugs?
After I decided to call it quits because of the high flows, I started walking towards my car and notice that there was a white van parked behind my vehicle. As I kept walking I notice that there were people going back forward from my car to theirs. Oh crap… these guys are going to break into my car. I started to speed up my pace and went over a hill where I lost visual of the suspicious group. The next thing I hear is a crack. “No, no, no, no….” As I came up the hill again, I looked and found that there were two individuals throwing rocks at an aluminum pipe. Thankfully another vehicle came down the road giving me a few extra seconds to catch up. Once I got about halfway to my vehicle, the group started getting into their white van. After I had finally got to my car they made a U-turn and drove off. Bastards…

Keep safe out there and don’t leave valuables in your car.

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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™