Super bowl Sunday report

Guided the Yuba yesterday. Ryan Johnston has been on it a bit this week and said the dry fly fishing had been decent and the nymph grab was good as well. He also said it was crowded...like someone put up a "free beer" sign crowded. Couple this with Yuba County Water cutting the flows Friday morning from 1700cfs to 1400cfs because it was the 2nd driest January in the last 106 years I was a bit skeptical about how fishing was going to turn out. I had expected to be fishing with an armada of drift boats and blow up toys but when I got to the put in there was one boat in and me...I saw 3 other boats and pontooon throughout the day so not to bad. TONS of wader fishermen though, every run up and down the river it seemed. Flows at 1400cfs though are still high enough where there is room for both boats and wade fishermen, but there was some spots that were a bit cramped.

There was some sporadic bursts of PMD's and a few baetis hatching throughout the day. I have yet to see one skwala flying around but I did see a bank angler hook a fish on a skwala in a swirl behind a rock. I had my clients fish skwala dries and some PMD dries over likely spots with no success and most of the people around in boats and on the bank were throwing dries so I stuck with nymphs most of the day. We hooked fish on small nymphs for the most part, the S&M Pmd nymph was the best with a few fish coming on egg patterns, rubber legs, and PT flash backs. I would say the fishing was, "good winter trout fishing", we hooked some nice fish and got grabs in most spots, but by no means hooked any monsters or had ridiculous numbers.

Fishing should just get better as the weather gets warmer and we move into march. This time of year can be pretty up and down as the weather changes. Look for hatches of PMD's, March Browns, small caddis and maybe some skwalas.

In other news it is super bowl sunday and I took the day off to hopefully enjoy a "Good Game"...I am not a huge NFL guy but Ryan and the Johnston family are coming over as well as my parents to watch the game and have some food. To all the Niners Fans I wish them good luck and enjoy the day.

In music news...if you haven't ever bought a Ryan Adams, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, or Whiskey Town Cd do your self a favor and get one...really anything with Ryan Adams is good. Pretty mellow on the verge of spring but you know there will still be some rainy and gloomy february and march days to come.

Beer News...Cracked a bottle of Sierra Nevada Hop Harmony last night. This is a big American IPA brewed especially for the Hop Growers of America Convention a few weeks ago at the brewery. Pretty sure it was only given out to attendees...I did not attend but I know people.