Northern Sierra Fly Fishing Report

John Baiocchi reports on 2.15.17

The Lower Yuba River crested on the 10th at 83,173 cubes, and retreated down to 8k on the 13th. In the last 24 hours the water level has increased around 19k and with a draw down to about 16k. The slight bump of water shipped through the system was from Bullard’s Bar reservoir making room for increasing water inflows. I think all reservoir operators learned a little something from the Oroville Lake situation, and that greed can become a public safety hazard. 

The Lower Yuba River continues to be big, dirty, and unfishable. There is another parade of storms lined up to slam us for the next week with an atmospheric river of moisture starting this Thursday. The waiting game continues, and we may not see the river come down to 2k or below until next September, which has happened before during years of excessive precipitation and a large snowpack. 

Hard to say how the Lower Yuba River will fish once the faucet in the sky is turned off, but one has to wonder that those fish have got to be hungry once conditions clear up. The Truckee River was fishable for a little while until the last deluge hit. I had some good reports from my buddy Chris Maher who did well with streamers, and bacon / baetis nymph rigs. Currently it’s still pretty big with flows on the Glenshire stretch at 1,040 cubes and in the Canyon the flows are running a little over 2k. Like I have said before, the Truckee can be fishable sooner than most because it sits at the top of the watershed, and colder conditions allow for less melt of the snowpack…unless we have high snow levels, which are forecasted at the start of these incoming series of storms. 

Our stillwaters in the northern Sierra will be in great shape from spring until late fall. Lake Davis has risen from about 50% of capacity to 90%, and Frenchman’s reservoir from 23% to 73%. I only have 4 days in June available for the damselfly hatch at Lake Davis, and a few for the last two weeks of May. If it does not get too hot, the first few weeks of July may be an option. Call me now at 530.228.0487 to reserve your spot on my boat.

Last week I was featured in Trout Unlimited’s “Voices of the River” column with an interview about my family’s impact on fisheries conservation in California, and what my role of involvement is now. You’ll be surprised by some of the other activities I was participating in while growing up with fly fishing. Click here to see the article: http://www.tu.org/blog-posts/voices-from-the-river-jon-baiocchi-californias-guide  Also check out the new California Fly Fisher where I wrote a tribute about fly fishing legend Jay Fair in “California Confluences”. He was an amazing man, and his life story is incredible, it’s a really good read.

For those attending the Pleasanton Fly Fishing Show, I will be speaking on Sunday the 26th during the morning at 10am in building P, with my “Mastering the Dry Fly” program. It’s loaded with a lot of helpful tips, and a detailed insight on everything to do with surface presentations including water structure, tactics, and fly selection. I’ll also be working the booths of Lance Gray & Co, and Pyramid Lake Fly Fishing as well. Stop by and say hi, I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. See you there!

Jon Baiocchi
Nevada City, CA
(530) 228-0487

The Premier Fly Fishing Guide Service for the Northern Sierra;
http://baiocchistroutfitters.com/