Middle Fork Feather River

A Bit of The Feather River’s Middle Fork

by Matt
Middle Fork Carp

This weekend Amanda and I went home to check on her parent’s place while they are vacationing across seas. I had planned out the weekend for the Middle Fork Feather River for Saturday evening and Lake Davis for Sunday morning. After reading some of the reports I opted out of Lake Davis for a different section of the Middle Fork near Portola where there were reports of good carp fishing. I figured I can fish and catch trout year around so lets try the warm-water fishing before its starts to slow down.

Middle Fork Feather River
The flows are low and the water is still a bit warm despite the cooler nights that we experienced when we were up there. I arrived at my destination around 5:10pm, just in time for the sun to be off the water. Fishing the mouth of Nelson Creek with my 2wt, I had a few line rippers and several smaller fish. I lost more than I landed but still had a great time exploring the river downstream. The fish were only eating nymphs.

10” MF Trout

The average size was around 8″ – 10″ and the biggest I landed was a 12″. I never seem to be around the Middle Fork at the right time of the year. I’ve seen pictures and heard of some big 20″ fish in that river.

Upper Middle Fork Feather River
Rumor has it that carp live somewhere in the Middle Fork but I have never known where. Most of the river is freestone trout water but there is a long section in Portola that is stagnant silty marsh water. The water was pretty cold for carp water but they were still cruising and feeding all over the place. I came prepared to be skunked as carp are often selective and spooky, but these carp were way easier to catch than carp from other waters I’ve fished. Unfortunately these Middle Fork carp didn’t throw me into my backing but instead went dead weight in the weeds after a few runs. I had to wade all the way into the water to net them. After catching two and missing a whole lot of others I decided to call it a day after the wind starting picking up.

As we were leaving a Mexican family had arrived and were hiking to find a fishing spot. The older abuelo gentlemen asked if I had caught any. I told him I caught two carp and he asked me if I released them to which I replied yes. He acted out being upset in a comical fashion, throwing his hat on the ground after knowing that had I released the fish. Before we got too far he caught up to us and asked how big the carp were. I laughed and gestured “this big.”

Second Carp
Deer Creek, Ellis Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Yuba River

Sometimes You Win and Sometimes They Win

by Matt
Yuba River Bow 16”

Summer is coming to an end and fishing has been pretty good. I’ve been fishing here and there catching some and losing some. I often never get skunked but I will admit that I enjoy it when I do. Fly fishing is challenging and each aspect of your presentation is important. If the fish aren’t taking then your doing something wrong and need to adjust your presentation. If you go all day without a single take then the fish have won for the day. That is one of the reasons I keep coming back to bodies of waters that are difficult to fish.

What I liked most from transitioning from spin fishing to fly fishing is that I can feel like I did my best to try and catch fish. With a fly its all about presentation and fighting the fish properly. Make a single error and the fish is gone. Throwing bait or tossing lures all day just isn’t fun and once you hook one it takes about 30 seconds to reel them in. You can’t appreciate the power and fight of the fish. Although there is some skill in gear fishing I just find it boring. But that’s just my opinion.

Yuba River
The more I return to this river the more confident I get in my skills of fishing it. The Yuba is super technical water and requires perfect presentation and knowledge of the river’s hatches. I fished the river two days before and hooked one on a foam hopper and a nice 16-18” on a nymph but I couldn’t land them. Today broke my record of catching trout for the summer. My biggest fish was a 16” bow out of the three I caught. The fish were taking mayfly and stonefly nymphs with no indicator. A little bit of thunder and lightning made the day a bit more interesting. Waving a fly rod back and forth is just asking to get hit by lightning. These Yuba River fish are the hardest fighting bows in California, patience and skill is required to hook and land these powerful fish. They fish like steelhead and fight like them as well. A day with a single bow on the Yuba is a good day spent.
 

Beware the clouds

Deer Creek
Manda and I hit up the creek for my birthday. I missed a couple of big fish but the fish there are still hungry and the water below Red Bridge is still pretty nice for the summer almost being over. The fish were a bit finicky but good fishing nonetheless.

Birthday Trout

Ellis Lake
Beside my brother losing a piece of my rod… We had a contest on who can catch the smallest fish as the big fish were not biting. Nick won with a LMB fry. We also had a turtle come up to us wanting to be fed. We hooked a bluegill and tried to feed it but it didn’t get a good enough grip and lost its food. Bluegills all day though. Lake is weird.

Baby Bass

Horseshoe Lake
Clooping carp get my adrenaline pumping. I spent hours trying to get one to take my fly but nothing worked. I was so frustrated that I just left and googled how to catch clooping carp on a fly. I think I’ll use some scent on my flies the next time I get out there and see how that works for me.

I’m ready for steelhead season to start. Hopefully I’ll do better this year since I understand the fish and the river better. Summer is almost over and its been pretty rad.

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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™