Yuba River

Another High-Water Year

by Matt

It’s been a while since I’ve done any good fishing and the last time I made a big trip was in the fall up to the Eastern Sierras. Unfortunately that trip was a was a bit of a bust and the window before the winter storms came sooner than expected. Mother nature did her job this winter with all the snowpack so it looks like we’re in for another high-water year.

The flows on both my home waters, the Yuba River and Feather River, have been high since the end of December along with many other tailwaters in Northern California so it doesn’t seem like I’ve been missing out on much. Blowouts and high flows tend to kill the Yuba’s good late winter and early spring hatches of skwala and march brown. Dry fly fishing is either extremely tough or non-existent making nymphing the name of the game. The new road closures on Hammonton-Smartsville and most recently Parks Bar Road is another reason the Yuba River isn’t worth trekking out to fish anymore. The fish there are still as feisty and beautiful as ever but you have to do a lot more work to find them.

Public access to the Yuba River is now limited to walk-ins below HWY 20 bridge and Hammon Grove. I’ve been anticipating public access closures on rivers and streams for several years now (because when does public land ever become more accessible?) and bought an Alpacka Raft that I could easily pack and carry. I feel like a raft or kayak is now essential for covering water on the Yuba unless you’re game for the hike. A mountain bike could work too but the large cobblestone rocks are a pain and potentially dangerous to bike on. At 6,000 CFS the Yuba River isn’t very accessible however I did find it somewhat fishable.

I fished around HYW 20 bridge as it was the easiest to access. The higher flows created a lot of good structure with different types of water to fish. The fish I found were closer to the banks of waist deep runs below the riffles. All of my fish came off of the rubberlegs stones which made perfect sense as I observed a lot of stonefly shucks in the water and adult golden stoneflies along the bank. I fished about three hours and went 2/3 which was pretty good considering the high flows. Flows on the Yuba will probably stay high until the fall so I won’t be returning anytime soon.

My time is now very limited. It definitely feels like my previous chapter of being a child-free trout bum has come to an end but with that comes a new chapter of father who takes his kids fishing. I’m still figuring it all out and hopefully all the kinks will be worked out this year so me and the kiddos can start catching some fish.

East Walker River

Mapping Out The East Walker River

by Matt

The East Walker River is one of the best trophy trout rivers in the Eastern Sierra. Of all the rivers I’ve fished I consider the East Walker River to be one of the best brown trout rivers in California. Most of my time fishing the East Walker has been on the Miracle Mile and this time I planned on exploring the canyon section of the river. The flows were stable at 260 CFS and fishing reports were saying that the river was fishing very good. I was excited to map out more access points and hopefully catch a giant brown trout.

After fishing the East Carson River I made my way to the East Walker River. I started fishing below the first bridge with the plan to backpack in and stay the night somewhere along the river. There isn’t much to say about the East Walker River except that the fishing was phenomenal. I believe a combination of factors made for the perfect fishing conditions: I figured how to fish the river, the flows were optimal, and less pressure in the canyon.

I covered about two and a half miles of new water and caught fish at every access. The fish were holding in pocket pools around large boulders and in soft seams. I was using a rubber leg stone and my BWO pattern and both were getting equally bit. I also fished streamers with good success. The fish were so aggressive to the point where I could let my streamer drag in the current and they would come out of nowhere to grab it. The majority of my big fish were caught nymphing.

The ratio of browns to rainbows I caught were about 6:4 and I must have hooked over a dozen fish each day I fished. This trip marks the most brown trout I’ve have ever caught. I hooked a lot of trophy trout but the higher flows in the canyon make it nearly impossible for me to net them by myself. I was fortunate to land a chunky brown the first night before sunset and a true big East Walker brown the following day.

The last day I fished the East Walker River the flows were reduced to 230 CFS. I didn’t know this when I started fishing and found a section that was nearly unfishable at 260 CFS to be super fishable. I was able cover a ton of water and although I feel like I didn’t find as many fish, getting around the river was much easier.

I attempted to fish the Miracle Mile section but found it too crowded. I was able to fish a small section of it on the third day and managed to bring in a nice rainbow. I quickly ran out of water to fish once I started running into people who were holed up downstream. The Miracle Mile has a lot of pros in that it is the least strenuous to get around, has the most access, and has the most varied water but it comes with con of being overcrowded and pressured.

I wish the East Walker River wasn’t so far away.

1 2 3 … 84

Keep Calm and Fly Fish™