I scouted the river today and got in some serious therapy with a healthy serving of solitude. It was such a gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine and a high of 63 degrees, and t-shirts were the norm. Flows are still very low at 575 cubes, and the water is really clear. The bird life today was off the charts, my first encounter was a very large Golden eagle who passed over head so low, I could distinguish every feature on the bird. Blue herons, snowy egrets, merganser ducks, songbirds, sparrows, buffle heads, and countless others. It was amazing.
The big news of the day is the Skwala stone flies are starting to hatch, I found a couple of them today among the stream side cobbles hiding underneath. I fished with my friend Taylor Wells of Tailwalker Guide Service in the afternoon and he had two flyers land on him. It will take some time to get all the fish keyed in on them but we were surprised to see a few risers, and a few fish caught, or raised. We both have been waiting months for this to happen.
Effective methods have been indo rigs with Jimmy Legs, eggs/beads, Hogan's Military Mays and his Little Amigo, Copper Johns, and also worms. For swinging, alevins, small minnows, and BH Hare's Ear nymphs proved results today. Dry fly presentations so far have been BWO's when we have clouds, and now Skwala adults like Tom Page's signature pattern, the Skwala Unit, and Stimis.
Dry weather ahead for the next 10 days with a slight cooling trend, and a possible change in the jet stream on the 17th, bringing some much needed rain. Not looking good. At least the Skwalas have woken up and we should see some steady daily emergences in the weeks to come. Lastly, I'll be up in Montana fishing the Big Horn River from the 12th through the 17th, and will be unavailable for guide trips on the Lower Yuba River. Have fun out there....
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