With the light snowpack, it’s going to be an early season. Start planning now for your Sierra adventures. The inns and hotels will be getting booked up.
The flows are up, but they will be coming down sooner than usual. When the flows hit 400 cubic feet per second or less, the fishing is ON. I keep an eye on the USGS guage below Goodyears Bar, here is a link.
This film was funded by Patagonia. They make great products and support environmental causes. The film highlights the efforts of the Sierra Buttes Stewardship to build and maintain the local trail system. These connected trails connect people to this beautiful place and the small communities that are dotted throughout.
From Eileen at Mountain Valley Living:
High in the mountains of the Northern Sierra snow melt and natural springs gravitate together and begin their journey down a magnificent watershed, and The North Fork Yuba River is born. Surrounded by a coniferous forest and polished granite boulders that have been worn to a glimmering shine this river is also home to native wild rainbow trout that sparkle like jewels in the mountain sunshine. There is also nonnative Brown trout here that are the offspring from their parents who made the journey up the river from Bullards Bar reservoir in search of the perfect spawning grounds. The North Yuba also attracts anglers from all over the state who make their own journey to ply the waters whether it is by fly or lure. Here is a place than can offer unbound beauty, adventure, solitude, and a chance to hook into a trophy trout!
As you make your up Highway 49 from Nevada City there are numerous major access points along the way upstream after the first bridge crossing near the Canyon Creek trailhead. Other obscure access areas are mere pullouts with steep descents down to the river and only for the most adventurous souls. What sets this river apart from the many grand waters of Northern California is the type of water preferred by fly anglers; pocket water, pools and gin clear water.
The North Yuba is open year all year for fishing but with special regulations. There is a “wild trout” section from Sierra City to Ladies Canyon Creek and only barbless flies and artificial lures may be used with a two fish limit if one decides to keep their catch. Most fly anglers practice “catch and release” fishing so that the populations of wild trout may grow bigger and provide others with the enjoyment of catching the big one. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s regulation booklet provides all the information a visiting angler needs to be legal here and should be reviewed before venturing out onto the water.
Winter and spring conditions are rather tough for successful fishing, low water temperatures and high water makes it difficult for even expert anglers. The most productive fishing takes place after spring runoff has ended which normally takes place sometime in June. As summer engulfs the North Yuba so do the aquatic insects that the wild trout eagerly dine on. Hatches of mayflies, caddis, and stoneflies fill the air and offer exciting “dry fly” fishing, presenting flies that float on the surface of the water enticing a trout to rise to the occasion and devour the artificial offering. Great fishing continues through even the hottest dog days of summer as the upper river still provides cold water. Fall is a special time on the North Yuba, leaves glow showing their spectacular colors and the trout feed more aggressively knowing they have to fatten up for the long cold winter months ahead of them. There is also a special aquatic insect that hatches this time of year and even has a cult following amongst fly anglers. The October Caddis is a large specimen with a burnt orange color that brings up some of the largest trout for a floating prime rib dinner drifting down the currents.
There are no special tackle requirements to fish the North Yuba, a 3-5 weight rod matched with a floating line and leaders to 4-6x will perform nicely. Sierra Hardware in Downieville is the only place in the area you can find terminal tackle and a large assortment of the “go to” flies that work best on the river. There is also a current fishing report posted in the store which will help visitors eliminate the guess work and get straight to business when picking out the right fly to use.
The North Fork Yuba is a fascinating river with a surprise around every corner. I really love this place; it reminds me of learning to fly fish on the North Fork Feather River when I was a boy. It’s a rough and tumble kind of a river with a fast pace, and the roar of the white water echoes off the canyon walls. Where Robins stuff their bellies full of stoneflies, and take retreat on a low branch of a pine next to the river. They eat their meal, gaze about, and take in the sights and sounds of this most impressive watershed.
Haypress Creek joins the North Yuba just above Sierra City. Haypress offers small rainbows and, in its upper stretches, small brook trout. Above Sierra City on hwy 49 take Wild Plum Road to access Haypress and a nice section of the North Yuba. There are lots of small trout in Haypress. There may be planted fish at the campground but wild fish can be found upstream via Haypress Creek Trail. The trailhead is located on the north side of the bridge at Wild Plum Campground.
Fly Fishing Putah Creek California
Putah Creek is a unique tailwater fishery that was created by the construction of Monticello Dam. Before dams were built on the creek, it was a natural Steelhead spawning area that the dams and resulting lakes destroyed. The dam didn’t destroy all the fishing opportunities though. It just created another one that otherwise would never exist. Like many tailwaters in the warm southeastern United States, the dam created a cold, rainbow trout fishery. This one lies in the foothills of the Sacramento Valley of northern California providing good fly fishing opportunities for trout within close range of the Bay Area and Sacramento.
Putah Creek flows from the Coast Range of Northern California into Lake Berryessa but it’s the section of the creek below Monticello Dam that’s offers excellent year-round trout fishing. The water, which is discharged from the lower part of the lake, stays cool in the hot Summer and doesn’t freeze in the cold Winter. It has a good population of aquatic insects and a thriving population of trout that grow year-round.
Large trout move upstream from Lake Solano, located downstream of Monticello Dam. Trout up to twenty inches have been caught. There are also some large brown trout that migrate upstream during the Fall from Lake Solano.
Discharges from the dam are based on agricultural demands. Flows can vary from 60 to 90 cfs during the cooler months up to 500 cfs and more during the warm months. Most of the time during late Spring, Summer and early part of the Fall, large amounts of water is discharged to assist agricultural needs further downstream. By the middle of the Fall Season, the flow usually drop, providing great fly fishing opportunities. Fly Fishing Putah Creek during late Autumn can be a very rewarding experience.
Putah Creek Fly Fishing Guide:
Putah Creek is a very productive wild trout fishery but the trout are not necessarily easy to catch. Some anglers call them technical fish, meaning they can be rather selective as to what they eat. The different flows are usually the difficult part to master. The flows are often to high to wade. Anything about 250-300 cfs makes for tough wading conditions.
Keep in mind that during the Winter a many of trout in are either stocked trout that haven’t be use to eating the natural aquatic insects and other trout foods in the creek. Some are spawning fish that have moved upstream from the lake. This makes the fly choice deceptive at times because you don’t necessarily know what your fishing for. Stocked trout aren’t selective and the wild ones are. It is best to base your fly selection on catching wild trout. The stockers will hit about anything at times but the wild ones won’t.
Access to the water is easy. State highway #128 runs parallel with Putah Creek between Winters and Napa. There are five county operated fishing accesses. They are placed in ideal locations with anglers in mind. You pay a small fee to park at the access areas but you can park along the road. You can also access the creek just below the dam.
Though the creek drops at a relatively low declination and there are some long stretches of slack water. When the flows are low, the creek is quite different and fish are usually located in the deeper runs. High sticking is popular and a good way to fish the deeper runs.
Putah Creek Hatches and Trout Flies:
Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in Putah Creek and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726
There isn’t a lot of diversity in the aquatic insect population. The most plentiful species are Blue-winged Olives and Midges. The BWOs consist of several different species including about five Baetis species. These hatch in the spring and early summer and again in the Fall.
Baitfish and sculpin are plentiful. Often, sculpin pattern streamers is a very good fly selection. It is best to fish them during low light situations.
Midges hatch year-round but are more important during the cold months when few other insects are around. Most of the midges are cream colored but there is also some light green colors and a few blood, or red midges. Quite often, fishing imitations of midges is about the only way to go.
Putah has several species of caddisflies, most of which are net-spinning caddis called Spotted Sedges. There are several species including some called Little Sisters.
The Spotted Sedges hatch off and on, depending on the exact species from April though October. They range in hook size from a 14 to a 18. There are also a few Green Sedges. These hatch in May and June.
Terrestrial are popular in the Summer. The banks have plenty of ants and beetles and grass hoppers are fairly common.
We believe in taking care of our wonderful watershed. We practice catch and release and fishing. If you want to eat some trout, I can point you to some spots with planted fish that you can catch and keep on your own.
We will be using barbless hooks that are easily removed from the trout’s mouth. Barbless hooks are Much easier to remove from your skin as well. Very rarely do trout try to swallow the flys that we will be using. You’ll be taught how to land and handle a fish to prevent injury. Fly fishing is a joy. In order to make it sustainable, we need to protect our wild fish.
37 miles of river that follows highway 49 from near Bullards Bar reservoir to the high altitude of Yuba Pass near Bassets Station. Lots of wild trout reside in this river and its tributaries. Off the beaten path, you’ll find beauty, solitude, and California history. Visit this amazing place on your own or join me to learn about the river, it’s amazing resident trout, and how to easily catch them.
It’s best to focus on the lower river from the highway 49 bridge to Goodyear’s bar. No need to get up early, wait until the air warms up. In the lower section you can also find very large Brown Trout in the bigger plunge pools, and catching them is not easy. Today (Monday) was totally different, a nice sunny morning and the water temps came up quickly. I had rising fish throughout the day and they were very selective, something I’m not accustomed to seeing on the NFYR. Lots of bugs out like many different kinds of caddis, Little Yellow Sallies (alloperla), Pale Morning Duns, Golden Stones, Little Blue Winged Olives (pseudocloeon), and the one those selective trout wanted, the creamy yellow crane fly in a size 18. Effective flies include E/C caddis, yellow humpy, bwo loop wing, Mangy Prince nymph, Copper John, and the Red Headed Step Child.