Putah Creek, Yuba River

The Green River Turns Brown & The Yuba Remains Gin Clear

by Matt
Brown River

Today I wanted to fish Putah Creek at winter low flows however when I arrived I was shocked to discover that the green river had turned brown! After that disappointment, I drove to the Yuba where conditions were the complete opposite; bright and gin clear.

From the information that I could gather online there are two theories of why the creek was lowered from 200 CFS to 40 CFS within a day. Theory one is that the flows were lowered so that the Sonoma County Water Agency could clean the canals and theory two is that this was the time to turn down the faucet due to agriculture season ending. Putah Creek is no stranger to fluctuating flows but why is it blown out?

Just Chocolate

Here is my hypothesis of why the creek is blown out.
The Wragg Fire burned nearly all of Sonoma county’s side of Putah Creek leaving the ground ashy and covered with soft dirt. On Friday night and Saturday morning the valley experienced it’s first true bit of fall rain. It might have been the rain and ash mixing together that turned Putah Creek’s usual green to brown. I could smell the stench of ash and water as I hiked around access 3.

Or could be the runoff from the canal cleaning?

Confirmed: Sonoma County Water Agency has lowered the flows to clean the canals.

Honestly I don’t think the fishing will get any better if we continue to get on again off again rains and low flows, therefore I’m going to call it quits on Putah Creek for the rest of the year. It’s been a good one!
Hopefully one less angler off the water will help these fish cope with these crappy conditions.

Bright As Can Be

Yuba River
The Yuba River is still tough. What was suppose to be 80 degree weather felt more like 90 degree weather out there and despite the Yuba getting some rain on Saturday, the water is still gin clear and low. In addition to these tough conditions, I had the luxury of fishing during 10-15 MPH winds. Extremely frustrating!

Yuba Biggie

The day ended with two bows landed. One small, one big.

Yuba Smallie
Yuba goldfields, Yuba River

Indian Summer Days On The Yuba

by Matt
Couldn’t Believe How Bright It Was Today

The Yuba is pretty much fishing the same as it was this summer probably a little worse due to the lowered flows. From my experience fishing the Yuba over the past few years, I’ve found that Indian summer days are the most difficult conditions to fish the Yuba. Something about cold mornings and hot afternoons put these fish down in a bad mood.

Poor reports have kept anglers away from the Yuba these past few weeks. The fishing is slow and the bugs aren’t doing much. The fish are still around and willing to eat but they’ll make you work hard to catch them. It’s not a numbers game this time of year.

Although the salmon are around in particular runs and tail-outs, I must have counted less than fifteen today. The water is too warm for them to start dropping eggs so it’ll be a few weeks before the egg-bite starts here.
How warm is the water? I wet waded the entire day. The water is not cold enough.

I started below the bridge pitching nymphs with no indicator. After going through several different flies and fishing the run for about four hours with no takes I gave up nymphing. It was streamer time.

Gin Clear

I like fishing streamers because I can cover a lot of water and find the most aggressive fish. When nymph fishing I feel stagnant and slow. By the time I’m done fishing a run, several hours have passed with not even a nibble. Very frustrating.
Streamer fishing is the most hook-up/time efficient way for me to fish during tough conditions. My Hero Sculpin always does the trick.

My day ended with four hook ups but none landed. They felt like two nice size fish and two smaller ones. Not too shabby. I’ll get them next time. My recommendation is not use 8# mono as your leader off your versileader when streamer fishing. Its too flimsy and the slightest bit of slack will lose you a hooked fish.

I’m going to wait until fall truly gets here before I head back the the Yuba.

Yuba Goldfields
I am sad to say that largemouth bass season is officially over for me. After fishing Secret Pond for a bit, I found no takers. The fish are usually closer to the bank but they have migrated down and become lethargic.

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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™