With Putah Creek fishing tapering off to let the spawners do their job undisturbed, I plan to fish the Lower Yuba whenever weather permits.
The Yuba is a challenging river but when trout are in the mood, it can be a lot of fun. I usually fish upstream of the Hwy 20 bridge and start with nymphs. If fish ignore my offering by the noon hour, then I switch to dries or wet flies. Usually fish do not disappoint.
Last September I've had good results with dry and wet flies (Elk Hair Caddis and E/C Caddis), but with salmon spawning, trout prefer eggs and ignore the flies. After getting skunked twice in early October, I haven't gone back since.
Salmon spawning should be over soon and I plan to hit the Yuba more often during the next 3 or 4 months. I will have a report every time I go. Hopefully this river can become a good alternative to Putah Creek during Putah's spawning months.
Does anyone have a good river/stream alternative to Putah Creek during the spawning months?
I've been to the lower Yuba a couple times in the last few weeks and caught a few each time. I've been fishing downstream from the bridge. It's illegal to fish upstream of the bridge right now. I'm not sure when that restriction ends. I caught my first steelhead on a fly rod last time wohooo!. It barely measured 16". As you said, eggs have been working well. I caught the steelhead on a caddis nymph.
I fished the lower Yuba Sunday. It was blown out pretty bad from the previous days rain. Zero fish. I fished Hammon Grove and Parks Bar. On the way up, I drove to the end of Hallwood Blvd (I've never fished that area) and was confronted with No Parking signs. I found a post on this forum by a person that said the signs were put up due to a drunk driver hitting a locals fence or something. He knows the local and said the guy doesn't mind if anyone parks there and that the sheriff may or may not enforce the signs. Can anyone give me any input on this? Another place to enter if it's not safe to park there? Ignore the signs?
Todder,
I can't advice on Hallwood Blvd, but if you drive a pickup or a high clearance car/SUV, then I would recommend crossing to the east side of the Hwy 20 bridge; just past the bridge there is a dirt road that follows the river going south (downstream). Drive south along the dirt/gravel road for about 2 miles, then park the car and start fishing. The best spots are on either side of the "island" and at the downstream end of the island. Use Google map to get the lay of the land. There are several places where you can cross the river to get to the west side, but the east side is also good.
The end of Hallwood is often filled with parked cars during shad season in spite of the no parking signs. I've parked there maybe 5 or 6 times and have never had any problems. Doesn't mean you won't get ticketed.
Also, a few years ago I talked to one of the locals and he told me that the other side of the river (across from Hallwood) is trespassing and that he has called the sheriff multiple times and citations have been made. Seemed like a decent guy as he gave me a mile long ride back to my car with his ATV and it wasn't even on his way.
Thanks for the feedback, it's nice to know I have that option in the future. My brother and I fished Parks Bar today. I hooked one and lost it. Sadly, that was the only action between the both of us. Flows have been stable and the water clarity was good, just one of those days I guess.
We're planning on going to the Truckee this weekend, hopefully we'll do better.
