Ellis Lake, Feather River, Yuba River

Local Fun-filled Fishing

by Matt
Yuba Quality

Another week of high Yuba flows means tough fishing and no pressure. I found the fish though, I always find them. Three hook-ups, three in the net.
The warmer months are a tough time to fish the Yuba. Not much is happening with the bug life but with a few secret tricks I was able to hook and land three fish over the 16″ mark. The fish hooked to amount of time spend ratio was good this trip at about one fish per hour. The conditions were bright with high flows and gin clear water, some of the toughest conditions you can face on the Yuba.

Big Head Mode

The longest fish I landed this trip had a huge head but skinny body almost like he was starving. I’ve heard that when big storm events with huge flows blowout the Yuba several times a lot of bugs get dislodged and blown away downstream. Once the river settles and the flows go back to normal the fish have a hard time finding food which causes them lose a lot of weight. Could we possibly see this event again? It’s too early to tell at the moment but I’m crossing my fingers it doesn’t happen.

The Yuba Is My Fly Fishing School

Another theory that could explain why this fish was skinny could be related to the spawn. Fish tend to use a lot of energy when they are spawning and it’s not uncommon to find them looking like they haven’t eaten in several weeks after they are finished. Yuba bows spawn in the spring which means that there could be a few fish in the system in their post-spawn bodies.

Feather River
The flows have been cranked up and the wading is even more difficult than before. Waders were necessary if you want to hook fish in the run I was in. The water is high, discolored, and colder than usual. I went out one evening this week and hooked a couple of small male shad. Nothing too exciting, shad to be had.

Shad Splash

Ellis Lake
The lake was stocked this last weekend with catfish for the Kid’s Fishing Derby. As always there are a lot of dead catfish floating along the banks after the event due to the heavy fishing pressure and bio imbalance. Why the organizations that put this event together don’t clean up their mess after it’s over is beyond me. As I drove around town today I saw a man with a pool cleaning net cleaning up their mess. Bless that man, the Guardian of the Lake.

There are a lot of anglers bait and waiting the lake but very few are catching any fish. After top water fishing for bluegill in the evening, I finally caught my first catfish of the year on a clouser.

First Catfish of 2016
Fishing Tips

Fly Fishing Presentations For Shad

by Matt
Technique! Technique!


I’d be an idiot not to take advantage of Feather River’s shad run. Living five minutes away from the Feather is quite the pleasure, especially when the fish are present throughout the system. Although it’s still early in the run, there are plenty of shad around to provide enough opportunities to catch a few. Plan on bringing you’re A-game if you want to find and hook one.

“You tie you’re own flies?” asked the boat angler in the middle of the river,  “Yeah!” I replied loudly. “Seems to be workin’ pretty good!” He yelled back. I gave him a thumbs up. Little did he know that I must have changed flies about a dozen times only to find that what was actually working was the presentation I was using.

Patience and technique is the key. Gear anglers have the first but the latter is something that I’m not seeing while I’m out there. This is probably why the run I was fishing was lacking the usual combat crowd. The majority of the shad anglers have moved to a hole where the shad are stacked up waiting to ascend upstream, fish that spot long enough and your bound to hook a few.

The run I fish always produces shad but by no means am I hooking double digits, just a few in the net here and there. Not a lot of numbers but you can’t beat having an entire run to yourself!

After a few trips this year, I’ve developed a personal system to help maximize my shad fishing efficiency. This system involves utilizing several techniques to try and give the shad what they want to see.

Rotation of five techniques using a 10ft 7ips sink-tip versileader:

1. The Swing

  • The good ole wet fly swing. A classic technique used for steelhead. Cast your sink-tip straight into the middle of the river (or at a 45° angle), mend to help sink the tip, and swing it across the current.
  • This presentation gets the best grabs but seems to works the best during the “seven minutes in heaven” when the shad start hitting anything that gets in their way.

 2. The Yo-Yo

  • During the wet fly swing hold onto your fly line with your line holding fingers (the hand your reel with) and pull it toward you then let the current pick it back up, then pull it toward you, then let the current pick it back up, so on and so forth. This presentation “yo-yos” the fly and can get you a few nice grabs.
  • I’ve found that the shad like this technique before the “seven minutes in heaven” begins. The fish need a bit of enticing before they start getting super aggressive.

3. The Strip

  • Sometimes the shad just want a fast and aggressive strip during the swing. Change the amount of line you strip in to vary it up.
  • You will often catch other species with this presentation, primarily striped bass. The strip is the usually the least productive presentation but it might get you a fish-on when nothing else seems to be working.

4. The Jig

  • This technique is passive like the classic swing but adds a slight kick to entice lethargic shad. During the wet fly swing snap the tip of your rod up and down. The grab will usually be at the end of the swing or in-between snaps.
  • A jig during the hang-down is absolutely deadly when the fish are holding near the bank. 

5. Change Flies Often

  • For some unknown reason, shad will sometimes ignore your presentations until you change the pattern that you are using. Many times this year I’ve found myself fishing a good seam for over twenty minutes without single nibble until I changed flies.
  • Change your flies often to try and figure out what pattern/color they’re on.  
    Shad Happy
        1 2 3 4 5 … 7

        Keep Calm and Fly Fish™