Went out for some more shad fishing yesterday and could only access the river at Hallwood. I saw several cars on the other side of the river and wondered if there is some secret road that gets you there.
Does anyone know of any other access points below Daguerre Dam?
BTW, we caught a lot of shad again, but are getting tired of the same spots. Several locals floating by in tubes said the fishing was pretty good at the "shad pad" which apparently is local code for Marysville where some of the locals fish for shad right below the bridge.
Also, had a jackass in a speedboat crash into our fishing slot as we were casting. We barely had time to get our lines in and step back before the d-bag barreled in full speed and basically ruined a productive fishing episode. He wouldn't even look at us. What an idiot!
I edited this post and added a highlight video on Youtube from last week:
From Daugere damn to the dump in marysville there is only one access point, hallwood blvd. My Friend actually lives at the end of Hallwood blvd. Due to a drunk guy crashing into their gate the county sherrif put up no parking signs there. My friend doesnt mind if people park on the road, but the sheriff has enforced it, on rare occasiion (i havent seend anyone ticketed there yet). Asside from hallwood, all the access is private. There are roads all up and down but they are prviate. The vehicles you saw on the other side were likely farm workers working for dantoni orchards. There are people that go through to those roads to fish too, but they are trespassing (trust me, in my youger days i sued to be one of them).
As for shad fishing, the shad pad is what it is, and there are a couple more access spots where the bridge crosses teh river by hamilton smartsville road?
The speed boaters are jackasses, i have had to run out of the way more times than i can remember. I was provided an opportunity to observe vengance however when last year a speed boat was flying downt the river, missed the turn at the bend, and slammed the side of his boat into a rock wall. After i realized no one was hurt, and the boat started sinking, i began to laugh, internally.....i wonder how far they made it back down-river, lol. I personally have petitioned F&G to outlaw motored boats on the yuba below diguerre but to no avail yet. I see it as not only a safety problem, but also a HUGE problem with salmon habitat. When the salmon spawn, and they drop water levels, i see people chomping up reds with their intakes on their jets. I dont care what they say, i have first hand seen the effect of what a jet boat does to a salmon red after it drives over it at 20 miles and hour in three inches of water...bastards.
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all of a man's addictions end and begin when he learns to fly fish
Thanks for the info drifter. It's really a shame that there is only one public access point below the dam. Years ago, I remember going through an open gate near the dam and taking a dirt road to the first legal riffle. I checked and there are "no fishing" signs all over the place on every gate.
With regard to the speed boaters it is the sheer lack of decency that boggles my mind. I mean, how hard is it to slow down when you are approaching a fishing slot with people in it? These kinds just don't give a dam about other people and could cause a major accident one day due to this blindness.
I was just thinking....there may actually be a way to access through the goldfields they oppened up on the south side of the river. There are miles of mazes of goldfield roads on the south side, and about ten years ago a number of them were oppened up to the public. I could have sworn i remember a buddy telling me about how he drove down the now public roads to daguere damn. Have no clue which roads, would probably have to consult yuba county and google earth. Might be worth checking out if you want to access it closer to the damn.
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all of a man's addictions end and begin when he learns to fly fish
Inspired by your post I went to out to the Yuba to try for shad. Shad fishing was slow so I switched over to trout and put on my favorite fly the old hares ear soft hackle. First cast with the soft hackle and fish on. I look upstream and see a drift boat and it is Dave Barbieri one of the few guides that can guide below Daguerre. We laugh about catching trout on shad flies and now shad on trout flies. The shad are pretty big and feisty!
I'm really surprised the shad were hitting the hare's ear. My friend who apparently has xray vision (he kept accurately pointing out pods of shad I couldn't see at all) said he almost stepped on a 20-inch trout right about where you were fishing. Saw several splashes in that area, but that might have been the 30inch striper we spotted cruising around.
Just curious, but does your hare's ear pattern have any crystal flash in it. That would explain a lot.
Finally, I think that slot you were fishing is best done with a type 3 sinking line/shooting head now that the flows have come down a little. We tried a lot of different lines there and that seemed to work the best.
I was out there over the weekend. The most excitement came when I cast a clouser toward a striper I had spotted and hooking up...only to realize it was a shad, oh well!
Some of the shad didn't fight as hard as normal, maybe it was the heat, or it being so late in the season? Or maybe just the lower flows made it seem that way.
I think you're right about the shad not fighting as well as normal. Most of them seemed long and snakey - like spawned out fish. Yet, they were bright chrome which is something I haven't seen before. Most downstreamers are darker, almost golden red. Even so, it's still fun to hook them.
Clay yeah it took me a little while to figure out that my 300 grain striper setup was not gonna cut it. I was picking up weeds and that nasty white snot. Had to repsool with the Teeny T200. Was fishing with orange and red flies and they didn't work. Switched to the champagne flies and it was on! Snapped off a fish with my only small champagne fly and well was just struggling. Had a ton of fun with the poor man's tarpon though. Next time out will have to give you a call first. The run will probably be done by then though. As a side note Herb Burton from the Trinity Fly Shop sets up a yearly shad camp on the Yuba. I am not sure where it is... Nice video by the way!! Yes we are all a little late for the shad run, still some fresh fish though!
My friend who apparently has xray vision (he kept accurately pointing out pods of shad I couldn't see at all) said he almost stepped on a 20-inch trout right about where you were fishing. Saw several splashes in that area, but that might have been the 30inch striper we spotted cruising around.
