Middle Fork Feather River

A Couple of Hours On The Middle Fork

by Matt

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.

North Fork Feather River

The Resilient North Fork

by Matt

The North Fork of the Feather River was absolutely hammered by rockslides this year. The Feather River canyon was closed the majority of the year and each time it reopened it was closed a week or two later due to more rockslides. This most recent reopening in the beginning of May has been the longest the Feather River canyon has been opened this year.

Construction is now underway on repairing HWY 70 through the canyon and there are 5 stops before getting to the Greenville Wye: 1. Short light near Scooters 2. Major construction at Cresta Rest Stop 3. Major construction at Rock Creek Dam 4. Major construction at near Twain 5. Moderate construction near Greenville Wye. The construction is be completed by 2025.

I’ve explored about 75% of the special regulation section between Belden and Cresta Powerhouse and have been itching to fish the remaining 25%. There’s a lot of good water in this section and finding where the money spots are is tons of fun. The flows below Rock Creek dam were at 470 CFS making it safe to explore.

The rainbow trout found in the North Fork are wild descendants of steelhead and share many traits with their ocean-run counterparts. A good North Fork rainbow trout specimen is hard pulling, high jumping, and shaped like a football. Living in the North Fork of the Feather is not an easy task, massive flows, warm summer temperatures, and ravaged by multiple fires, these trout have adapted to all these conditions and continue to thrive.

The fishing on the North Fork of the Feather was great, quality over quantity. The fishing wasn’t too difficult but it did take a lot of effort to find the fish. Fishy spots will hold fish most of the time but the fish density is relatively low. I explored more of the Tobin area and found that although there were some good fish to be caught in the plunge and pocket pools the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. I feel like I’m pretty good at boulder hopping but even this area was a bit too much for me. The giant granite rocks are slippery and the deep pools look like they can easily drown a person. This section is not for the faint of heart and I personally won’t be fishing it anymore in the future.

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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™