Yuba goldfields, Yuba River

Testing Bucketmouth Patterns On Local Bass

One For The Day

The Yuba is just about clear now and the fishing is beginning to get more technical. I was ready to combat the crowds and drift boats but I wasn’t prepared to fight so many. My plan was to fish the Yuba in the morning and hit the ponds in the afternoon. Luckily I was able to hook two trout and land one before setting off to the ponds.

As soon as I stepped out onto the river and saw how clear it was I knew it was going to be a tough day. I fished below the bridge for two hours and hooked two while landing one. About eight boats drifted pass me while I fished the run. I wonder how well the fishing is when there are that many boats running through all the fishy spots…
After I landed my one fish, I drove to the ponds.

First Bass of The Day

I wanted to test out a few patterns that I had tied for bucketmouth bass. My experience targeting bass using conventional tackle has influenced me to believe that bass are lazy feeders and seem to only eat when they are hungry. In order to get a bass to bite, I needed to come up with something that was foreign to them to get a reaction or curiosity strike. The pattern that I came up with was a hybrid of a robo-worm and spinnerbait.

Works In Progress

Purple is the color I have the most confidence with and that is what I threw most of the day. The pattern worked well and I ended the day with three solid takes. One while stripping and two while dropshotting. Dropshotting… what a weird way to catch a bass on a fly rod.

My Bluegill Pattern

The other pattern I tested was a bluegill pattern. This pattern looks fantastic and swims great but it’s more of a match the hatch kind of fly. I was able to get one fish to inhale it but I may need to wait until the spring for this pattern to be really successful.

Feather River

Fly Fishing The Feather River Parkway

Feather River Parkway

The Feather River Parkway is a relatively new recreation site on the Yuba City side of the Feather River. The Feather River Parkway opened in 2013 and continues to provide a safe and clean area for river recreation. This was my first time visiting and fishing the park.

The Feather River Parkway is about a five minute drive from my apartment; quick and easy. Although I was skeptical of driving on a road that crosses the levee, the signs directing to the Parkway assured me that this place was legit.

Parkway Map

The Parkway consist of a big parking area, several hiking trails, and a nice gazebo area. I felt safe to leave my car parked in the parking lot which to me was important considering the area. The Parkway was pretty clean with little signs of homeless people vandalism.

First Fish = Largemouth

Armed with my 2wt, I started fishing in a marshy area where I found several bass holding. My first fish of the day was a nice largemouth that put a pretty nice bend on my little rod. Immediately after I landed my bass, there was a small boat that decided to low hole me after seeing that I had caught a fish. These guys literally anchored twenty feet below me.

What do you do to anglers who low hole you? You low hole them back! I got out of the area I was fishing and began fishing thirty or forty feet below them. For about an hour and a half they watched without a single nibble as I hook and landed a bunch of smallies and spotties.
If your not catching fish why not fish somewhere else? You’re on a boat and you have access to the whole river why stick around here? Beats me…

All Day Smallies

Obvious structure is obvious. The levee is full of areas where fish like to hold. There are quite a few bass along these areas, although mostly smaller fish they aren’t stupid. The colder water is making them lethargic so a slower presentation with a few twitches is working the best.

The only way to hook up on these bass is to sight fish for them. They will suck up and spit your fly out in a blink of an eye if you don’t set the hook.

Lots Of Fishes

I figured out that fishing pressure is what turns these fish on or off. Certain areas will fish better than others due to this factor alone.

There a few people who call the levees home so be alert when wandering around out there.
I’m okay with people being homeless, I just don’t like the fact that they leave trash all over the place. Here’s to good karma!

Clean Up Karma
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