I must say I am a bit delinquent on blog posts but here is
the deal, I absolutely love spring and have a really hard time getting
motivated spending any more time then I absolutely have to staring at a
screen…unless the giants are on or a short list of TV shows I DVR to watch late
at night is on. The weather has been awesome and though I have a guilty feeling
every time I revel in it as I know we are in a terrible drought and that we
need some monsoon esque storms to move through….75-80 degrees and sunny. Fishing
has been off and on but for the most part pretty damn good…I haven’t heard much
about the opener but I have a hard time believing in drought year where most
rivers, creeks, or lakes are fishable throwing flies at fish that haven’t seen
them sense November good go bad. Here is my reports and what has been going on
along with news on other things of great importance…sports, music, things.
Lower Yuba River
– So the Yuba is UP! Yay! Flows are up to 1100ish cfs but I am not sure how
long that will last…hopefully awhile as it is nice to have the river back
looking like a river and the Yuba I know and love. I don’t go there if the
flows are around 500-750cfs…I hate it that low. I floated it Saturday with
clients and the fishing was pretty damn good, as the Yuba goes about as good as
it gets. We hooked lots of fish and landed multiple fish in most runs and many
of the fish were in the 16-18” bracket with 1-2 that were pushing 20”. The fish
seemed to be podded up but were moving into the flats and runs that had not had
current in them at 500cfs. First time in months that I had fished the flats on
the Yuba…loved it! Hot bugs were mayfly nymphs in the morning and caddis and
rubber legs midday into the early evening. There were a few PMD’s and Caddis on
the water from morning to midday but I couldn’t buy a fish on the surface. We
got a few refusals that seemed like the fish were pretty apprehensive to eat a
dry fly…from what I have heard they got pounded on dries for a good month.
Afternoon and evening had a good number of little yellow sallies flying around
but again we couldn’t get a fish to come up.
Lower Sacramento
River Trout – Fishing seems to have calm down from the ridiculous
fishing that March and Early April were offering. Fishing has been good during
specific windows throughout the day on different stretches. For example fishing
can be tough in the morning then good in the afternoon or vise versa on other
stretches. That is pretty typical of this time of year as May can be a pretty
tough month on the Lower Sac for trout. June-August fishing will pick up again
in the lower stretches.
Lower Sac
Stripers, bass, and shad – fishing tightened up with the cold front
that moved through that last week. I struggle to catch fish on the front or
back end of a cold front out here. Prior to the cold front fishing was
decent…getting a few stripers and bass and hearing rumors of shad. Water temps
are in the 62-64 degree range which should get fish on the feed here soon as
the weather stabilizes. Water clarity is an issue with a 1-2” of viz and a brown color to the water
but with stripers I don’t worry to much about that…bass and shad I would feel
better with some clearer water.
Lower Feather
River Spring Steelhead – They are in and the recent rain moved a few
fish around and up. Swinging flies and nymphing with caddis and basic
attractors is still catching fish. Fishing should continue through Mid May but
May slow down earlier with warmer weather as the flows are low and water temps
could warm up.
Water that is open
– My goal is to get up to the NF Feather over the next few weeks as that is one
of my favorite trout rivers to fish right after the opener as with the drought
I think it is going to be a short window up there this year also I am looking
forward to floating Pit 1 and getting my feet wet on Pit 3. I have a few dates
booked up at Clearwater lodge so soon I’ll be up there.
Music News…I
have kind of been in a music funk lately. Listening to a lot of oldies but
goodies and not really connecting with much…Until this weekend I hung out with
my buddy Chuck Ragan and he gave me an advanced copy of his new disc “The Flame
and Flood” and it is SICK! It maybe that nearly all the lyrics were written
while he would camp out on the Lower Yuba River so every song even the instrumental
ones have this river/fishing vibe that I love! The lyrics all relate life and
lifes ups and downs to rivers man it is awesome…I also discovered this band the
Red City Radio and their new Self Titled album. Pretty damn solid. Good mid
tempo punk rock in the Gas Light vein. I presently listening to it over and
over on youtube…I should buy it here and stop stealing it online…
Sports News:
All I have been watching is the Giants… So I would like to make a strong
statement in that I was not one of the people pulling the fire alarm after we
went 3-10 or even now that we are in last place 3.5 games back and sitting at
8-11. There are so many good things happening!
Justin Maxwell?! Who would of thought. Our “thin” outfield
now when Hunter comes back is all of sudden thick with 4 guys that can get it
done and rotate throw keeping injury prone Pagan healthy and I don’t have to
yell at Gregor as much or with such passion as I can just say oh he is a bench
player giving a guy a rest…I can swallow his 0-5 and 1-4 nights much easier if
I know he won’t be back in the line up for another week.
Chris Heston…what a stud. Yes he had his “welcome to Coors
Field” night but he still battled and kept going after hitters and getting it
done. I worry a bit about Casey but hell Bochy has faith in him and I have
faith in Bochy…though when Duffy comes in and plays so well it is hard to watch
Casey hit into double play after double play. I am a bit concerned about the
Vogie spot in the rotation but he did well last start and it sounds like they
will let him start in LA against the Dodgers Wednesday against Greinke…we will
see.
Bottom line I love baseball and I am pretty confident when
we get our guys back (Cain what is the deal with him) and our hitters start
hitting we will be fine. That said the West is going to be a brawl. The Padres
are for real, the dodgers are stacked and hell the Rockies and DBacks are not
going to roll over this year.
Other News…
If you would like me to take you fishing, share knowledge
about fishing/rivers/and how to catch them with fur and feather along with
hearing my opinions on baseball and music here are my available dates…
June 10-12, 22, 26, 29, 30
July 9, 10 , 12, 14, 17, 19-23
August 8, 9, 22, 23, 29, 30
%2Bcopy.jpg)
