Plying The Productive North Yuba With Dry Flies   By: Cal Kellogg July 21, 2009 More Articles by Cal

Anyone that regularly reads the Fish Sniffer knows that I am by no stretch of the imagination a fly fishing snob. While it is true that I spent a great deal of my teens and early 20’s fishing with fly tackle exclusively, these days I’m much more likely to have a bait caster or spinning rod in my hands than a fly wand. Yet, I still enjoy the unique pleasures and challenges associated with fly-fishing for trout immensely.

When it comes to targeting trout with flies, there is no denying the effectiveness of subsurface patterns like streamers and nymphs. But for a maximum amount of adrenaline pumping excitement, taking trout off the surface with dry flies just can’t be beat.

Here in the Golden State there are two distinct types of trout streams and rivers available to aspiring fly anglers. On one hand, there are restricted regulation waters that hold large, highly selective hard to fool trout.

The trout that inhabit these waters are tough to catch even for the most talented fly anglers. Most of the time the wise old trout that call restricted regulation waters home do their feeding near the bottom. When they do come to the surface, anglers must be prepared to match the hatch exactly in order to earn a strike.

On the other hand there are numerous small general regulation streams in the sierras that boast huge populations of small aggressive wild rainbows and browns that will come to the surface and slam dry flies all day long. This brings us to the upper reaches of the Yuba River’s North Fork.

The North Yuba is the quintessential freestone trout stream that plays host to thousands of wild trout averaging 6 to 8 inches in length with the exceptional trout topping out in the 12 to 14 inch class. Sure, these are bantamweight trout, but what they lack in size they more than make up for in their enthusiasm for a well presented dry fly.

The Yuba’s North Fork is bordered by Highway 49 for much of its length, providing easy access for anglers. Below Sierra City the river is fairly wide and a portion of it is governed by special regulations. I prefer to fish the small brush lined stretch of “river” (think creek) upstream from Bassett’s Station.

I long ago lost track of number of jewel like trout I’ve pulled--struggling--from the upper North Fork’s shady pools. In fact, I was a very young boy when my dad helped me catch my first ever trout while fishing the North Fork back in the early 70’s.
Fast forward to the present. One of the changes taking place at the Fish Sniffer is that we are attempting to slowly enter into the world of video production. A while back we found a young man named Mike Harriman that expressed an interest in shooting/editing some video for us.

Naturally, I’ve been anxious to get out on the water with Mike to see what we can come up with in terms of an edited fishing segment. In order for Mike to really show us his talents, I wanted to fish at a location that would provide both an impressive background and a chance to film multiple fish being caught.

The North Yuba seemed to be the perfect destination. The scenery is awesome and while the trout tend to be small they would be plentiful and predictable, allowing us to set up a variety of different camera angles. Mike and I set June 24 as the date for our foray into the sierras.

Mike and I left Grass Valley at around 10 o’clock in the morning and arrived at Bassett’s Station well before noon. I drove past Bassett’s and stopped in a familiar pullout where I’d watching my mom pan for gold, more than 35 years ago.
While Mike got his camera ready, I gathered my rod and vest. A short walk down stream, we located a fairly open stretch that featured a number of small pools and swirling pockets.

I waded across the stream, while Mike remained on the near shore, taking a position above me. I’d noticed some caddis flies in the air so I tied on a No. 14 orange stimulator and made my first cast.

The fly had drifted less than a foot when a trout slammed it, but I missed the hook set. In fact I got hit on the next four casts and missed every fish. I might not be good, but at least I’m consistent!

Having spooked all the trout in the first pool, we moved upstream to the next hole and I made a cast. Once again, a quick strike was the result, but this time I was able to drive the hook home. The brightly colored pansize brown fought with wild abandon and provided an impressive spectacle for Mike to shoot a close up of.

After releasing the brown, Mike and I spent about three hours hitting various sections of the stream. In all ,I hooked about 20 trout on the stimulator. Most of them were rainbows, but there were some browns and a lone brook trout. Mike captured a lot of good footage of both the scenery and me fishing. I can’t wait to see the finished product.

If you are a fly angler or would like to give fly-fishing a try for the first time, I strongly encourage you to spend a day plying the upper reaches of the North Yuba. It is a delightful stretch of water. It’s intimacy and rambunctious wild trout will erase the day-to-day grind from your mind as you retreat into the shadows to confront a lurking brown.

Watch out! She’s an experienced old girl measuring nearly 13 inches long…