Sac Striper & Lower Yuba Trout Fly Fishing Report

Lower Sac Striper Fishing is good to very good. Big fish are starting to show and feed actively and numbers of schoolie and smaller size fish are in the feeding zones. Weather has been very mild for summer in the valley and cooler mornings can keep fish a bit slow, but by late morning or midday they are usually active.

Most fish are coming on type 5-7 sinking lines on everything from heavy 4/0 Rattle clousers to smaller Puglisi style flies as water clarity is different up and down the river based on tributaries turbidity. Hot colors have been olive over white, olive over yellow, and all black.

Thunderstorms in the mountains can blow out any of the tribs coming off the East side of the river and this can affect the clarity of the river downstream to the next trib – then clarity will depend on that tribs contribution to the river. Clarity of the river can change fly selection drastically so adjusting to what the water is doing is key.

Water temps are much colder this summer than normal and we have not seen the start of our late summer “Iline/sight fishing” season as clarity and water temps are not inline with our normal pattern. I would imagine that, maybe, by mid August we could see a short sight fishing season, but just may not happen this year.

Fishing should continue to be good as we approach the August 9th full moon.

Lower Yuba River Trout Fishing – Spent two days on the Lower Yuba River last week and flows are up around 2500 cfs and gin clear. Fishing is good to very good – factor between good and very good was usually the experience of the anglers in the boat. Most fish came on heavy nymph rigs that could get down to fish in the deeper runs and swirls.

Best flies were olive and tan Fox's Pupa, Mercer's Poxyback PMD, Hogan’s Lil Amigo in Brown, rubber legs in coffee or brown, and natural Birds Nest. We did fish dry/dropper about half the time to target fish in skinny water and 99% of the fish came on the dropper, but it is still a very fun and visual way to fish. I like to fish two dropper nymphs below a chubby Chernobyl and I like the bottom dropper to be a heavier tungsten beaded fly. I keep the dropper flies about 10” apart and about 18” below the dry.

Fish were active throughout the day and I imagine the cooler weather will keep this pattern going.

 

Capt. Hogan Brown 

Fly Fishing Guide

Co-Founder of the Cal Bass Union

Owner Alluvial Marketing Collective