Feather River, Yuba goldfields, Yuba River

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Fall

by Matt
Fat Healthy September Bow

The leaves in the valley are starting to turn orange, brown, and yellow; all colors of the fall. The temperature has also been on the decline despite the triple digit heat wave that we had last week. September is a transitional month leading into October, one of the best months to go fishing. Although September can sometimes be hot all the way up until the following month, we have been blessed this year with early lowering temperatures. If timed right, you can find excellent angling opportunities as the fish go on a feeding frenzy to prepare for the winter. I haven’t gotten out much due to the heat but here is just a little update on my recent trips to the Yuba and Shanghai Bend.

Pretty Yuba Bow

Yuba River
Upstream of HWY 20 bridge is now closed until December 1st, therefore anglers will now have to concentrate downstream of the bridge. The Lower Yuba River in the fall is one of the most pressured valley waters during the salmon egg bite. The river is easily wadeable and a lot of fish are on the bite meaning possible crowded conditions. Hopefully the salmon won’t have too much of a problem moving upstream this year which such low conditions. The egg hatch doesn’t really start until late October so until then its either nymphing or streamers. With lower water levels, >600CFS, nymphing can be more productive throughout the day than streamers but streamers will always produce better quality fish. There is also a late evening caddis hatch for dry fly enthusiast.

This trip I decided to try something different with my presentation. I’ve read about using a full sinking fly line for streamer fishing. So far I’ve only used floating line and sink tips so this was an experiment to find which was more productive. Armed with a type IV full sink line, I tried my luck.

First Couple of Overcast Days In A While

The day was overcast and I actually got rained on earlier in the morning; the first raindrops of the fall. It was a great day to be out on the river and I had it all to myself. This marked my first time throwing streamers downstream of the bridge and I did pretty well considering how low the water is. The day ended with five hits, three takes, and two landed all on the Hero Sculpin. Nice healthy 16”+ bows too.

Yuba Goldfields
After catching a few trout on the Yuba River, I ended the trip with a visit to Secret Pond. The bass are on the feed and are all post-spawned leaving them skinny and hungry. The sinking line worked great for the pond and caught me a few nice bass. These largemouth aren’t as hard fighting as Yuba bows but they are super fun to catch.

Big Mouth Skinny Bass

Feather River – Shanghai Bend
The Feather is where I first tested out my full sinking line streamer set-up. It took a bit of time to get use to the casting and retrieving, but I eventually got the hang of it and caught a few bonus fish. The bass out here are abundant but they really like to sample the fly versus eating it.

Shanghai Bend Hardhead

I’d like to fish the Truckee but the drought conditions are really messing up the flows there. As of right now it’s bare minimum below Boca. A lot of California anglers are leaving the Truckee alone until the flows come back up. I’m going to try and get back up to Plumas County to fish Lake Davis and the North Fork of the Feather. The fish are beginning to turn on for the fall bite and there is little fishing pressure right now. This is the perfect time to get in on the action before the fall rush.

Ellis Lake

Why You Shouldn’t Eat Fish From Ellis Lake

by Matt
North Ellis Lake

After a long day of fishing you bring home a cooler full of a bass, bluegills, and crappie. The fish look healthy, no sores or anything unusual. You fillet the fish, batter them up, and throw them into the frying pan. The aroma of fresh fish smells absolutely amazing. You’ve invited a few local buddies over for a good ole fish fry with plenty of fried fish and beer to go around. “These fish taste great! Where did you catch them?” asks a friend. “Oh, I caught them from Ellis Lake!” Everyone immediately stops eating and stares at their plate. Their faces in shock and a tingle of terror runs down their spines as they realize what they’ve just eaten.

You sir, are an asshole.

The original purpose of Ellis Lake was to serve as an overflow area for
the Feather River. That purpose has long since been abandoned and now
Ellis Lake is pretty much a retention pond. The water diverts to
nowhere, therefore the lake becomes polluted by the structures and
things that surround it.

When Ellis Lake was in its prime, the water had less pollutants and healthier fish. I heard from Tom, one of my Ellis Lake buddies that fishes the lake often, that ten years ago someone pulled a 14-pound bass out of the lake. The picture of the bass was posted at a now closed bait shop off North Beale Road. These were the times when there were bigger fish in the lake and taking home a few smaller ones to eat was probably okay. Less contaminants were around and the water was a bit cleaner.

First Tenkara Bluegill

Flash forward ten years later, the water has become very murky with a lot of debris, mostly
feathers and litter, that float on top. Although the water is
disgusting, the fishing can be good for fish less than 10 inches. If you
catching anything bigger than that good for you! While fishing the lake a few days ago, I was catching crappie after crappie. I heard they are good tasting fish and was almost tempted to take some home but my instincts got the better of me. Don’t eat these fish! You know you’re not suppose to!

Temptingly Delicious Crappie

I understand that fishing is often a means of survival. A lot of people fish so they can feed their families. No fish, no dinner. But let me tell you something about surviving off your catch, you’re not gonna live very long if you keep eating fish from Ellis Lake!


(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Here are some facts about why you shouldn’t eat fish from Ellis Lake.

E.Coli.

  • This bacteria is found in our intestines and the majority of the strains are harmless. But certain notorious strains of E. Coli can cause gastroenteritis (infectious diarrhea), urinary tract infections, and neonatal meningitis (swelling of the membrane). E.Coli is often found in contaminated water or food.
  • Fecal matter can contain E. Coli that can contaminate a water source. Ellis Lake is full of geese and ducks that leave their feces on the benches, grass, buildings, and sidewalks. When someone sprays it down or when it rains, the feces are washed into the lake as runoff. There is no freshwater coming into the lake and no water leaving the lake. You do the math.

Mercury in bigger fish

  • The bigger the fish the more mercury it has accumulated. Fish that feed off other fish such as bass are notorious for having more mercury the older and bigger they get. This reasoning is easy to follow. Small fish have a bit of mercury from eating what they eat. Big fish eat small fish and bigger fish eat big fish. The mercury food chain.



Toxin storage in fat and skin

  • When a fish eats something that is contaminated, the toxins get stored in their fat. Fat is flavor therefore I don’t think the fish from Ellis Lake would taste very good. Nevertheless you are eating fat toxins that a fish has accumulated throughout its age.
  • Ellis Lake is most likely full of toxins from all the garbage that ends up in it. The fish probably eat some it too unfortunately.

Bottom Line:
Don’t eat fish from Ellis Lake.

No Eating Please
1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 23

Keep Calm and Fly Fish™