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.

Yuba River

Gonna Catch All The Fish

Murky Yuba Day

The Yuba is still murky but continues to teach and reward those who learn. The flows are somewhat stable at around 1,000 CFS and the clarity is about 2ft – 3ft with clearer conditions in the shallower water. The skwalas are out but the tinted conditions are making it tough for the fish to see them. Nymphing is the name of the game.

Murky Water = San Juan Worm
I’ll Have a Worm On The Rocks

Veteran fly anglers will tell you that San Juan worms are “not real flies” and if you fish them you might as well be using bait. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. When conditions are wet, worms will crawl to the surface in efforts to try and move greater distances. Contrary to popular belief, worms do not come to the surface to avoid drowning as they can survive for long periods submerged underwater.
The majority of my hook ups were on red San Juan worms and after looking around a bit I found the reason why. Match the hatch!

Skwala Time of the Year

The skwalas started coming out in the afternoon but the fish weren’t on them. After nymphing most of the day I finally saw a fish rise and switched to a skwala dry. My first cast upstream and I get the take. A great rise but I wasn’t able land it; still, it was exciting to finally get a fish to come up and grab a big dry fly.

One of the Best Yuba Natives I’ve Landed

Looking for trout in murky conditions is like looking for hidden treasure. The fish in the Yuba only bite once a day therefore once you find and hook one it’s pretty much game over for that fish. Today I landed four out of nine; definitely one of my better days.

Rootitus
Rootitis is one of the most common afflictions of beginning nymph fishers, and it will seriously limit your success. How do you know if you have rootitis? If you find yourself parked in one spot fishing nymphs for 30, 20, or even ten minutes without getting a strike and not moving, you have rootitis. Many of the anglers I watched today on the Yuba have rootitus. Cover water and keep moving!

Strong Pretty Bows All Day
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