Lower Yuba Fly Fishing Report

Jon Baiocchi / Baiocchi’s Troutfitters

It was a beautiful out last Friday on the Lower Yuba River, air temps reached the 70’s and fishing pressure was very light. My guest for the day wanted to concentrate on being better at dry fly fishing, and swinging flies. The blue wing olive hatch was very light yet still yielded a small pod of working fish. Perfect presentations and dropping down to 5x, and small #20 bwo patterns were needed. These fish were being extremely selective to say the least. Water temperatures ranged from 53 to 56 degrees and visibility was very clear.
Most of the spawning salmon are done dropping eggs, and so many of them looked really beat up as they chased each other around. It won’t be long before they die and give back to the ecosystem with nutrients. The turkey vultures are having a field day eating the rotting salmon, they like to sit in the trees next to the river and when all is clear they fly down and feast. Pegged beads are still taking some nice rainbows that hover downstream of the salmon redds.

Coating your eggs with pearl nail polish makes them look fresh and milky. Some anglers even put on a thin coat of Gorilla glue on them to make them appear freshly milked. As always stay clear of any redds whether they be from salmon or steelhead, and do not walk through them. The amount of salmon in the Lower Yuba River was light this year. I talked with an old timer from the rock quarry and he told me the amount of salmon in the 70’s was thick, and the numbers of them going up Daguerre dam was staggering. I can only imagine how prolific the run was before the white man appeared.

As the egg bite comes to a close there will be a transition time of the resident rainbows switching back to consuming aquatic insects as their main staple diet. Also consider having some salmon fry and fingerling patterns in your box for swinging purposes. I’ve caught my bigger fish during this time when the fingerlings are pushed down by the currents of the Lower Yuba. Remember the section of river upstream of the Parks Bar Bridge opens December 1st. See you out there, and good luck.