Middle Fork Feather River

When In Doubt, Fish The Midge

by Matt
Late Summer Morning On The MFFR

Fall is beginning to come upon us as the sun begins to rise sooner and set earlier. Although the afternoons are still warm, the mornings are nice and cool. This weekend the missus and I visited the in-laws in Quincy. The MFFR was going to be were I spent the morning the following day after relaxing and visiting with the family. The fall transition is still in its early stage so this visit to the MFFR could have either been a hit or a miss.

The high forecast in Quincy the day before my morning excursion read 93°F. For a town that’s about 3,000+ ft above sea level that’s pretty damn hot. The night lows have been in the 50s which could be favorable for the fish. Guide Jon Baiocchi explains that the trout in the MFFR are specially adapted to the warm water that runs throughout the system in the summer. Since the MFFR is one of the few large streams in California that is not dammed, I have reason to believe these trout may have adapted to these warm conditions a very long time ago.

Trout still need cold water to survive though so if the water is too warm it won’t be easy to find them or safely practice catch-and-release. I rolled the dice on this trip and was pleasantly surprised.

My morning started below La-Porte bridge where I set-up my 3WT and tied on a PT nymph with a midge dropper. “When in doubt, fish a midge pattern” Often when hatches aren’t happening during the transitional period between seasons I have trouble finding the correct flies the fish want to see. A while ago I discovered that midges work incredibly well during these times.

As I worked my way downstream I noticed that the water was cold enough but not optimal. Trout need high levels of dissolved oxygen, which there is less of when the water is warmer, therefore they will seek refugee in heavy riffles and white-water where high levels of dissolved oxygen can be found. By making these spots my primary target I was able to tight-line nymph a few hook-ups and release three beautiful MFFR bows during my trip.

They all ate the midge pattern.

Yuba River

Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things

by Matt

After a bit of a hiatus I am now back to writing more content.

During my hiatus I fished a bit here and there but overall nothing too exciting. A lot of my local options are a bust during August. Despite August being my birthday month I tend to find very few good fishing opportunities during this time. The weather is hot and the summer fishing experience begins to feel “stale” as the weather remains consistent with bluebird skies and long hot days. The fish are over summer and I’m over summer as well.

September is now in the air which means we are getting closer and closer to the fall turnover. Cooler weather and rain could not come any sooner. We can also look forward to the annual salmon run and the trout and steelhead behind them.

So what’s been going on the Yuba? Ever heard of a Short-Winged Stonefly? They seem to be everywhere this summer.

Summer Short-Winged Stones

Yuba River
The Yuba is now at it’s fall time flows. The river looks complete different after going from 1,000 CFS to 800 CFS. The cleansing from the El Nino last winter changed a lot of the river’s contour and structure above HWY 20. In my opinion the new fishy spots above the bridge are pretty poor in comparison to what they were before the change.

Before the upper section closed (Yuba River Above HWY 20 closed from Sept 1st – December 1st) I took some time to figure out where the fish were holding in these new areas. I had some success in finding a few productive holes but did not catch fish in the numbers that I had before the change. Hopefully as more time passes I can learn how to be more productive in this “new” upper Yuba section.

Flatten Run

The section below HWY 20 bridge was left relatively untouched by the El Nino. Besides a few runs being evened out or deepened the overall contours of the river remain the same. A theory of mine is that fish like familiarity therefore once you find a spot where the fish are you can continue to find them there. However once the structure changes you’ll have to figure it out all over again.


The first rod I grabbed to end my long hiatus was my switch rod. If I was gonna get skunked I was going to do it in style.
I dedicated this trip to swinging a big streamer in efforts to entice a big aggressive bow to strike. The first few hours went by slowly with just a few nibbles. After moving runs and covering water I finally got my first good take. Nothing like a good tug!

Overall the day went well with one landed for two grabs. Not bad for swinging in the hot sun.

Rainbow Tug Drug
1 … 80 81 82 83 84 … 168

Keep Calm and Fly Fish™