Lower Yuba Fly Fishing Report

Capt. Hogan Brown reports 1.31.19

Lower Yuba River 

I have been guiding the Lower Yuba recently by far more then any other place. With new private access and good conditions, it is has been a good option for me. I use to split a lot of my time in the winter between fishing the Lower Sac for trout and the Lower Yuba, but the reality is I have come to favor the diversity and options on the Lower Yuba for trout…The sac will always have bigger fish, but the dry fly fishing, ability to get out and dry fly fish or swing the switch rod are real options this time of year on the Yuba – as well as running nymphs out of the boat or wading. 

Lots of options and every day seems to be a bit different.
The last week clarity has been an issue as there had been a bunch of low elevation snow that melted and muddied up and blew out Deer Creek which dumped into the river. Clarity as of this weekend was good enough – about 18” up by the bridge and clearing to about 2’ by the time you get down by Sycamore and even clearer at the dam. One tip I would give to people is that if you show up to fish and if you don’t have confidence in the clarity when you pull up to the bridge go down river. It literally gets better every mile or so as you go down river most days.
With regards to flies and such…last few days I have been out it is purely off color water flies. Rubber legs, eggs, #12 -14 attractor nymphs with red and flash mixed in. There are a few skwalas and mayflies around, but nothing that has inspired me to pick up a dry fly rod for a client. That said as the river clears these next few days I am sure the dry fly fishing will improve.