Central Valley

Lower Yuba River

by Ed Hood February 06, 2014

To follow up some doom & gloom for the 2014 steelhead season, I figured a post on a little central valley river that is fishing rather well at the moment: my friend, the Yuba!

Because the rivers are running low doesn’t mean all hope is lost for freshwater fishing. The Yuba River is really producing some excellent fish on dry flies currently. The fish in this river are, pound for pound, the hardest fighting rainbow trout in the state and their chrome color makes them almost indistinguishable from steelhead. Additionally, the dry weather we have been cursed with has put insect hatches into fast-forward mode. This is awesome since the river is getting big skwala and golden stones coming off right now, which means that you don’t have to fuss around with size 18 midges. Put on a juicy size 8 skwala and have some fun! Not sure what a skwala looks like? Here ya’ go:

Not only are these big stoneflies coming off, but you also have: grey drakes, blue-winged olive, and march browns! (super early!!)

I went out with a couple of buddies on January 28, 2014 after a couple of my friends had gone up there a couple of days prior and had a great day. To see how good, check out Sebastian’s post on the “Ghost Trout“. Sad to say however, we did not have much to write home about when I went up there. This often happens on this river, as the fish seem to have real finicky streaks. An incoming low-pressure system could have also played a role in this.

Ironically, the conditions were perfect for a great BWO hatch: overcast, light breeze, and a little on the cool side; yet the hatch never came off. Fish were hitting the surface with force sporadically, but we were never able to figure out what they were hitting. One of my friends had a few fish hit his dry fly, but ultimately all came unbuttoned as is often the case with these fish. The only fish landed was caught on a green caddis nymph at the end of the day.

For the dry flies, definitely have a few skwala stones in your box and yellow stimulators. There are quite a few skwala imitations out there, including: Mercer’s Flushfloater and Oswald’s Rastaman skwala, but Mike Folden, a guide who works at the Orvis Roseville store, recommends Schroeder’s Para Hopper as a Yuba River skwala imitation. Upon closer inspection on the underside of the insect, Schroeder’s hopper pattern does most closely resemble the profile of a Yuba skwala, to my surprise. Most of the commercially-tied skwalas are tied with a body that is too chunky. Fish what you feel most confident in, but on Mike’s trips, he has proven that that hopper pattern does work very well.

The Lower Yuba is typically fished from the Highway 20 bridge (Parks Bar Bridge) downstream to the confluence of the Lower Feather River (click for larger image) . Courtesy of Google Maps.

The river flows are low for what they typically are (no surprise for these drought conditions), but the river is in exceptional condition. I am a short guy at 5′ 6″ and was able to cross the river in many spots with ease, almost never going deeper than my waist. Water is still a powerful force, so definitely use your better judgement and use a wading staff when fishing this river!