Bluegill – Keep Calm and Fly Fish

An atmospheric river is suppose to roll in within the next couple of hours and increase local river flows by a significant amount tomorrow. Not only will we see high amounts of rain but also lots extra run-off as it melts the snow up in the Sierras. This means that all the rivers will be blown out for at least a few weeks. And things were just about to get good…

Crappie Grab

I’ve been chasing warm-water species for the past few days and it’s been great. Bass are starting to show up near the banks at Ellis Lake making them fun targets to sight cast to. Most of the fish I find aren’t willing to play so I tend cover the entire lake casting to fish that will follow my fly rather spook at first sight. Some days are better than others but watching a few fish swallow your offering is amazing fun nonetheless.

Poppin For Bass

I also tied on a few poppers for the first time this year hoping to find some explosive topwater grabs. It was either going to be a hit or a miss due to the time of year, overcast, and slightly windy conditions. Luckily the fish did not disappoint. Running my popper through mats with holes in them and watching a bass hidden underneath smash my popper is, to me, the epitome of largemouth bass fishing. It looks like it’ll be a stillwater game until the rivers clear and the flows recede. Spring is here.

Bullgill

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.