All systems go for the Middle Fork Feather River! The fishing is really good right now and the flows are much lower than weeks earlier and quite perfect. There is minimal fishing pressure on the river, especially off the beaten path. Tired of the crowds in the Truckee area? You’ll find plenty of solitude in the Lost Sierra, one of the many reasons I made it my home base for 14 years.
During this time of year the MFFR can be broken into two different sections. Let’s start near the top of the watershed from Clio down to the Jamison Creek confluence. This section is perfect right now and will only be good for another few weeks as the water temps will rise significantly and most of the heavy hitters will travel downstream to find cooler water, swifter oxygenated runs, shade provided by the canyons, and pocket water. Thick lime green algae will soon engulf this section of the river thanks to golf courses and other human influences like increased populations. In decades past we never use to see these conditions of the green goo. The rock snot chokes out the bugs and does not provide the best habitat for them, even so, they keep surviving and perpetuating. Many juvenile rainbows will still remain in the area as they do not have to compete for prime lies and food from the big boys and girls. From Clio upstream to the A-23 Bridge 4 miles east of Portola provides sight fishing to the highest elevation carp in California, and top water action (think poppers, and sliding frogs) to smallmouth bass in the morning and evenings.
Downstream of Jamison Creek the water will be a bit cooler. Yesterday the water temps started at 57 in the early morning and rose to 64 degrees by the afternoon. Put those waders away, wet wading is the standard now and good advice is to wear non cotton underwear and quick dry pants. Water levels are higher than normal right now, but it’s so fishy! You’ll find trout in all types of water including faster riffles, pocket water, slower side water with structure (high grass, willows, or rocks), and transition zones of shallow to deeper water near the head and mid-section of pools and deeper runs. Your approach to start the day is to fish early! The best grab was from 7am to just before noon, and tight line nymphing (Northern California style nymphing) out preformed any other rig used (and we used them all). There is a trico spinner fall in the morning until the air temps reach near 70 degrees. Amazingly my guests and I saw very little rise forms, even throughout the day.
Afternoons tend to slow down with minimal action with the occasional fish. With a rise in water temps and a high sun in the sky, the fish tend to lay low during this time. The trout have not totally keyed in on terrestrials quite yet. The last two hours of light provide some awesome dry fly action and rising trout. This is when the Middle Fork Feather really shines. An angler can work a section of the river during the day and catch fish, but come evening the whole scenario changes with increased activity.
Aquatic insect activity has been just normal I would say.
During the day there are a few caddis out with a slighter higher amount of
Yellow Sallies and Little Green Stones (Isoplera),
and the much smaller Little Yellow Sally (Alloperla),
plus the occasional Golden Stone adult clumsily flying to its next destination.
Evenings provide many more little stone fly adults, increased caddis both
emerging and ovipositing, and more Golden Stones laying eggs.
These last couples of trips have brought back some fond
memories of when I started my second segment of fly fishing journey on the
MFFR, and when I returned back to my native Northern California in 1996 from my
days of yesteryear finishing out my professional snowboarding career in Summit County,
Colorado. You always hear old timers tell you how good the fishing was when
they were younger, and it’s true, especially on this river. Though it’s not the
same as it used to be, it’s still a special place. Being knee deep in the water
making presentations in a canyon setting with lush green native grass serving
as the peanut gallery… The ambiance of it all overtakes you. Remote solitude
coupled with songbirds and warblers providing an orchestra of melodies with the
sounds of wild trout splashing after a hook set remains in your mind for weeks
well after the trip. Isn’t that really what it’s all about? See you on the water…
North Fork Yuba River Update:
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| Upstream of Sierra City |
The flows are still a little bit high, but near perfect with
plenty of fishable water. The tighter the canyon section the more white water
you will encounter. Below Downieville the flood plain spreads out a little more
and there is even more fishable water. Water temps in the upper watershed are
54 to 59 degrees, and in the lower watershed, 57 to 62 degrees.
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| Upstream of Downieville |
Aquatic insects include Golden Stones, Caddis, Yellow Sallies, Crane Flies, and Midge. Fishing
pressure is light during the week days and moderate pressure during the
weekend. For those that know the river intimately you’ll notice both large and
minimal changes from the high flows of winter. Exploring those changes is
always a cool thing to do. It’s time to start fishing the NFYR, and it’s only
going to get better the deeper we go into summer. We're stoked!
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| Downstream of Goodyears Bar |
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