I fished the Yuba River yesterday with Emerger. There were bugs everywhere (pmd's, march browns, and some skwalas). The fish were going nuts on the surface from about 1:00 to about 2:30 or 3:00. I landed all my fish during this period. I couldn't buy a bite after that. I got a couple of fish on a #16 tan micromay and a couple of others on a #14 march brown nymph. The biggest fish I landed, an 18" fish, appeared to be a hatchery steelhead. The fish was pretty beat up and dark. It only had about half of its adipose fin. The top half had been cut clean off.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
I'm glad to see that the fish are still there. The summer after the big flood, I caught a few fish like that. I am a firm believer in TWO steelhead runs on the Yuba. There's the one that's going on now, and one that starts in early July. The summer version seems to have larger fish around 24"-27". I believe these fish make the run out of the to coincide with the full moon, spawn and then high tail it back to the Sac to feed on salmon fry before heading back to the coast. Just my thoughts. I'll see you guys there in about a week!
I was taking a closer look a the picture of that nice fish and noticed the white tips on the fins. To my knowledge, steelhead do not exhibit this coloration. I have caught numerous fish above the bridge that have white tips on the lower fins. In the fall, those same fins turn darker and the white tips get really pronounced almost like a char. I asked around and the general thought is that they could be related to some of the redband strains that were introduced farther north. With all of the severe flooding in the recent years, it may have been possible for some of these fish to find their way into the Yuba system and are now crossbreeding with the native Yuba fish.
Can browns-rainbows hybridize: yes. Do they normally: no. Hybrids have been produced through artifical means in the laboratory, but the resulting offspring are not "normal" genetically and basically do not do well-poor survivorship, too many chromosomes for breeding, etc.
No, they do not. There is a difference in losing the pigmentation due to scraping along the rocks and bona fide white coloration. Look at the Golden SK60 has for the avitar. Notice the white tips? I've posted some pictures in the past ; you might find some of them. Look at the fins on this steelie to see what I'm talking about for loos of pigmentation. Note the snout as well.
Hybrids have been produced through artifical means in the laboratory, but the resulting offspring are not "normal" genetically and basically do not do well-poor survivorship, too many chromosomes for breeding, etc.
Then the answer must be no... You said "through artificial means in the laboratory". I'm a molecular/cellular biologist and more recently metabolic engineer. I can do a lot of crazy things with genes and microbes in my lab that CANNOT happen in nature (without human intervention)...
thats interesting coloration on that rainbows gill plate. No way a brown would ever naturally reproduce with a rainbow. Emerger, I assume you guys hit the same area we fished 2 weeks ago ? Thats were Im heading tomorrow, got the game plan firmly in place . Oh and the question of wether there are steelhead on the yuba has come up before, No question about it, there are steelies on the yuba, check out kienes message board and check out some of hogans browns pics.
We hit the Yuba today, and I caught a fish that looks like a twin of yours. This was 19" and pretty beat up. It fought pretty well though. We had the beginings of a good PMD hatch today, but then the wind and rain put the fish back down. There were some large fish rising for about 15 minutes before the rain started. We caught 4 between the two of us and lost a couple more. Look how similar in appearance our two fish are!!!!!!
Oneweight, it was actually Emerger that posted the picture of the fish. I didn't get any pictures of the fish I caught. I wish I had. The last fish I landed (actually the last trout I landed) had awesome coloration. It was 16" long, with a golden-olive color. The lateral line and gill plate were bright red, and he only had like ten spots on his whole body. All of the spots were between the tail and dorsal fin. There were no spots in front of the dorsal fin. That fish looked amazing!
-- Edited by JT at 01:40, 2008-03-29
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
'Iam amazed at how much you guys notice about the fish you catch..I just catch em , re move the hook and send them on there way.I never really look at there markings or color much.I dont even take pictures very often...I guess you could say Im pretty darn, boring. The funny thing is the most exiting thing for me is seeing that indicator move..That faint little twitch or a pause in its motion.I love it when I hook a fish on the most delicate takes.They say we dont even see 30% of the grabs we get. I guess I will have to take a look at a few of the boys I catch next time...
Hasn't been until recently, last few months, that I even began carrying a camera regularly. If my son were with me, yeah, I brought it along for the family album and my wife.
For me, pictures are taken only on that special occasion--No, boring would not come to mind.
That reward you mentioned of sitting back and enjoying the moment after the grab/fight is sometimes enhanced with a couple of pictures. I call that a good problem--Being reminded daily on the screen saver of those unique catches makes me want to go out more often...
-- Edited by Flying Dutchman at 21:40, 2008-03-29
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There's no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm...
JT and Emerger sounds like a good day out there on the Yuba. The river is in great shape right now. It is a long drive for me, but well worth it. It looks a lot different from a few years ago, but the best part is the bugs are back, and the fish are hungry.
Black Cloud that is a great wood sculpture. It must have taken many hours. Nice paint job as well!!
Guys, thanks for the compliments on the fish sculptures. I told Greg several months ago that I was going to post some of my art work and I'm working on getting a web site. When I saw the photo of Emergers fish, I couldn't believe how similar they were. All of my reference photos are of fish that are caught by me are or supplied by my friends. The finished piece is then a composite of different photographs. As for the hours, it is in the triple digits.
Those fish look like Yuba trout, I have caught many like that. From what I remember (have to check some pics) the while coloration on the fins can sometimes be pink/orange.
As for browns mixing with rainbows, about 12 years ago I caught a what I believed to be a hybrid on the wild trout section of Hat creek. Was the strangest looking trout I have ever caught.
The tiger trout (Salmo trutta X Salvelinus fontinalis) is a sterile, intergeneric hybrid of the brown trout (Salmo trutta) and the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). The name derives from the pronounced vermiculations, evoking the stripes of a tiger. It is a rare phenomenon in the wild, with the brook trout having 84 chromosomes and the brown trout 80.[1] Records show instances as far back as 1944.[2]
Artificially, tiger trout can be produced reliably enough to be grown by hatcheries. This is done by fertilizing brown trout eggs with brook trout milt, and heat shocking them, which causes creation of an extra set of chromosomes and increases survival from 5% to 85%.[3] Tiger trout have been reported to grow faster than natural species,[4] though this assessment is not universal,[5] and they have been widely stocked for sport fishing.
black cloud that carving is perfect. cant wait to see that web site.
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Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.