Welcome to C & R Guide Service’s Website!

The North Yuba is flowing at 125 cfs as of this morning (9/11/09). The river is clear and the water temperatures are good although we are still seeing only small fish (see conditions report dated 8/16/09).  The Lower Yuba river flow is at 800 cfs and will remain there for the foreseeable future.  The salmon have not arrived in any great numbers!  Do not forget that the river above the Highway 20 bridge is closed to all fishing until December 1, 2009.

Pat and I are leaving for Montana and Wyoming this Sunday.  We will be back during the last week in September.  We have a day scheduled on both Nelson’s and Armstrong’s this year and I am really looking forward to the spring creek fishing.  The Firehole, Madison and Lamar will also get some attention.

Black Bear on the North Yuba

We have been doing some bass fishing the past couple of weeks.  The fish are active and are hammering top water bugs.  I love to trout fish but there is a special thrill when a bass attempts to destroy a top water bug.

If you are looking for fly fishing tackle in the Downieville area, stop by Sierra Hardware at 305 Main Street in Downieville.  Cindy, the proprietor, carries a good assortment of flies, leaders and other assorted goodies including, Keep It Up, my favorite paste fly floatant.  Check it out!

If you are looking for a place to stay in the Downieville area, give the nice folks at the Lure Resort a call at (530) 289-3465 or go to their website at www.thelureresort.com.  Recently remodeled, the resort makes a great place to stay right on the river.

If your club is looking for a speaker, I am booking dates for this year.  Since I have recently gone digital, I have only one program available right now.  The program deals with the North Yuba River and the creeks and streams that flow into it.  I gave this program on 3/31/09 to the Fly Fishers of Davis. You can contact me about rates and dates for your club at (530) 346-7065 or via e-mail.

Welcome to C & R Guide Service’s Website!

The North Yuba is flowing at 145 cfs as of this morning (8/16/09). The river is clear and the water temperatures have moderated (see conditions report dated 8/16/09).

Well, the dredgers have been stopped on all the rivers in California including the North Yuba.  The governor signed a bill a week ago immediately stopping suction dredging until the Department of Fish and Game comes up with new rules and regulations to protect the fish and water quality.  There are several places on the North Yuba that were decimated this year by suction dredgers, notably the area around Kokanee Kabins.  It will be interesting to see how the river reacts to the lack of mud and debris the dredgers normally kick up.  Hopefully the insects will repopulate some of the areas and the fish will be able to spawn without their redds being choked with dirt,  Report any active suction dredging you see to the Fish and Game Department.  The fine is $1000.00 a day.

Don’t forget to pick up a copy of Bill Sunderland’s revised and expanded edition of his popular book FLY FISHING THE SIERRA NEVADA.  The photography by Rick Martin is outstanding.  I tied the flies that are illustrated in the book. There is an excellent chapter about the North Yuba River with pictures of me and my significant-other Pat Holtan.  You can pick-up a copy in your local fly shop or you can order your signed copy directly from Mosca Loca Books, 13973 Hidden Valley Road, Grass Valley, CA. 95949  (530-274-9909).  The cost is $29.95 plus $4.00 postage and $2.20 CA. sales tax for a total of $36.15.

A word about the restaurants in Downieville.  The Grubstake Saloon is closed for the year due to the owner having knee replacement surgery.  However, across the street is the Wooden Trout Cafe.  Although the menu is limited, the food is good.  We ate there this week after fishing; I had an excellent ribeye steak and Pat had the fish tacos.  The next time we go, I want to try the Thai Curry Chicken.  The prices are reasonable and range from $8.99 to $21.95.

If you are looking for fly fishing tackle in the Downieville area, stop by Sierra Hardware at 305 Main Street in Downieville.  Cindy, the proprietor, carries a good assortment of flies, leaders and other assorted goodies including, Keep It Up, my favorite paste fly floatant.  Check it out!

If you are looking for a place to stay in the Downieville area, give the nice folks at the Lure Resort a call at (530) 289-3465 or go to their website at www.thelureresort.com.  Recently remodeled, the resort makes a great place to stay right on the river.

If your club is looking for a speaker, I am booking dates for this year.  Since I have recently gone digital, I have only one program available right now.  The program deals with the North Yuba River and the creeks and streams that flow into it.  I gave this program on 3/31/09 to the Fly Fishers of Davis. You can contact me about rates and dates for your club at (530) 346-7065 or via e-mail.

The flow on the North Yuba is 145 cfs at Goodyear’s Bar as of August 16, 2009. The flow is dropping very slowly now and the water is clear.  Water temperatures in the late afternoon above Sierra City are in the low sixties with the last temperature I took on Saturday (8/15/09) at 60 degrees exactly.  The best fishing has been early and late in the day with a slack period during the early afternoon.

We fished several sections of the North Yuba above Downieville during the last four days. The action on the main river was good for smaller fish (7 to 9 inches) but larger fish were hard to find.   I have no idea where the larger fish (10 to 14 inches) have gone.  There has been some speculation that they have migrated to Bullards Bar.  The reason for that is unknown.  There are plenty of insects in the river and the water temperatures are good.

Right now the river is excellent for beginners and novices to fish and learn on as there are plenty of smaller fish and the action is great.

FLIES:

NYMPHS:  Green Rock-worm #12, Turkey Bead-Head #12-#16, Golden Stone Nymph #8-#12, B/H Prince #14-#16, Copper John #12-#16,Green Glass Bead Caddis #12-#16, B/H Hare’s Ear #12-#16, FBB/H Pheasant Tail #14-#16, Biot B/H #14-16

DRIES:  Gold or Brown Stimulator #10-12, Parachute Adam’s #14-#16, Elk Hair Caddis (olive, tan, brown and black) #12-14, Flying Ant #12-3x long, E/C caddis #12-#16 in tan and olive, parachute ant #12-#14, beetle patterns, Little Yellow Stones #16-#18

Welcome to C & R Guide Service’s website!

The North Yuba is flowing at 197 cfs as of this morning (7/19/09). The river is clear but with the recent warm weather the water temperatures are increasing rapidly.

Don’t forget to pick up a copy of Bill Sunderland’s revised and expanded edition of his popular book FLY FISHING THE SIERRA NEVADA.  The photography by Rick Martin is outstanding.  I tied the flies that are illustrated in the book. There is an excellent chapter about the North Yuba River with pictures of me and my significant-other Pat Holtan.  You can pick-up a copy in your local fly shop or you can order your signed copy directly from Mosca Loca Books, 13973 Hidden Valley Road, Grass Valley, CA. 95949  (530-274-9909).  The cost is $29.95 plus $4.00 postage and $2.20 CA. sales tax for a total of $36.15.

A word about the restaurants in Downieville.  The Grubstake Saloon is closed for the year due to the owner having knee replacement surgery.  However, across the street is the Wooden Trout Cafe.  Although the menu is limited, the food is good.  We ate there this week after fishing; I had an excellent ribeye steak and Pat had the fish tacos.  The next time we go, I want to try the Thai Curry Chicken.  The prices are reasonable and range from $8.99 to $21.95.

Lady Bugs along the North Yuba

If you are looking for fly fishing tackle in the Downieville area, stop by Sierra Hardware at 305 Main Street in Downieville.  Cindy, the proprietor, carries a good assortment of flies, leaders and other assorted goodies including, Keep It Up, my favorite paste fly floatant.  Check it out!

If you are looking for a place to stay in the Downieville area, give the nice folks at the Lure Resort a call at (530) 289-3465 or go to their website at www.thelureresort.com.  Recently remodeled, the resort makes a great place to stay right on the river.

If your club is looking for a speaker, I am booking dates for this year.  Since I have recently gone digital, I have only one program available right now.  The program deals with the North Yuba River and the creeks and streams that flow into it.  I gave this program on 3/31/09 to the Fly Fishers of Davis. You can contact me about rates and dates for your club at (530) 346-7065 or via e-mail.

The flow on the North Yuba is 187 cfs at Goodyear’s Bar as of July 19, 2009. The flow is dropping slowly now and the water is clear.  Water temperature in the late afternoon above Sierra City is in the low sixties.  The continued hot weather, with the temperatures hovering around 100, has increased the water temperatures rapidly.  The best fishing is early and late in the day as any hatches need cooler temperatures.

The action on the main river has been good for smaller fish (7 to 9 inches) but the larger fish have been hard to find.  We fished the lower end of Haypress Creek this week below the campground.  The water temperature was a few degrees colder than the main river and the fishing was good for fish up to 9 inches.

I am getting concerned with the water temperatures, as I have never seen the river this warm this early in the summer.  The hatches are very sparse right now but generic attractors are working

Tiger Lily

FLIES:

NYMPHS:  Green Rock-worm #12, Turkey Bead-Head #12-#16, Golden Stone Nymph #8-#12, B/H Prince #14-#16, Copper John #12-#16,Green Glass Bead Caddis #12-#16, B/H Hare’s Ear #12-#16, FBB/H Pheasant Tail #14-#16, Biot B/H #14-16

DRIES:  Gold or Brown Stimulator #10-12, Parachute Adam’s #14-#16, Elk Hair Caddis (olive, tan, brown and black) #12-14, Flying Ant #12-3x long, E/C caddis #12-#16 in tan and olive, parachute ant #12-#14, beetle patterns, Little Yellow Stones #16-#18

The flow on the North Yuba is 297 cfs at Goodyear’s Bar as of June 27, 2009. The flow is dropping slowly and the fly fishing is good.  The water is clear and water temperature in the late afternoon is in the mid-fifties.  The wading conditions in the canyons above Downieville still can be difficult and you should be prepared with felts and a staff.

We have been fishing in the special regulation section from Ladies Canyon Creek to Sierra City in the last few days.  There are some difficult wading conditions in the canyons but overall the water conditions are good.  The hatches have been sparse with a few caddis and PMD’s.  I have seen a few little yellowstone flies in the late afternoon hours.  We are also having flights of lady bugs in the afternoon when the air temperatures have warmed up.  Dry fly fishing has resulted in a lot of small fish and few larger fish, even with a dry and dropper set-up. The most consistent method for taking larger fish is indicator nymphing in deeper water using generic nymphs such as the Hare’s Ear, B/H Prince, Turkey B/H and Copper John’s.

We did take a jaunt to the upper section of Haypress Creek this week.  The fishing was good for small brook trout using generic dries in sizes #14 to #16.  Finesse is the name of the game here.  The water is clear and between the good visibility and the vibrations you make walking along the bank, the fish can disappear in a instant!  It is a little early for the wildflowers at this altitude but there are plenty of mosquitos!  We finally got driven out, as even the repellent can’t keep you from breathing them in.

FLIES:

NYMPHS:  Green Rock-worm #12, Turkey Bead-Head #12-#16, Golden Stone Nymph #8-#12, B/H Prince #14-#16, Copper John #12-#16,Green Glass Bead Caddis #12-#16, B/H Hare’s Ear #12-#16, FBB/H Pheasant Tail #14-#16, Biot B/H #14-16

DRIES:  Gold or Brown Stimulator #10-12, Parachute Adam’s #14-#16, Elk Hair Caddis (olive, tan, brown and black) #12-14, Flying Ant #12-3x long, E/C caddis #12-#16 in tan and olive, parachute ant #12-#14, beetle patterns, Little Yellow Stones #16-#18

Flows on the Little Truckee are 86 cfs as of June 23, 2009.  The water is clear with temperatures in the high fifties.

We fished the upper section below Stampede on the 20th of June.  The were a few bugs hatching mostly midges, PMD’s and a few BWO’s (when the cloud cover came in).  We both took a couple of nice fish in the 18 to 20 inch bracket fishing dry flies along side the faster water in the runs and heads of pools.  The most successful pattern was a #16 Adam’s Parachute with a B/H F/B #18 pheasant tail nymph.

I was disappointed in the fish!  There was very little fight–most of them just gave it up and let themselves be released.

YOU WILL NEED A VALID CALIFORNIA LICENSE, STEELHEAD REPORT CARD AND BAY-DELTA ENHANCEMENT STAMP TO FISH THE LOWER YUBA.

On June 23, 2009, the flows on the Lower Yuba were 1750 cfs which includes the flow from Deer Creek.  The water flow has been reduced from 2200 cfs.  The water is clear with the temperature in the mid-fifties.

Pat and I fished the upper section June 21, 2009.  There was a sporadic hatch of PMD’s and a few Little Yellow Stone flies but the hatches never really materialized.  I dry fly fished with a yellow stone imitation and did wind up with one fish about 15 inches and two other rises that I missed.  Pat was unable to raise a fish nymphing.  We only spent a couple of hours fishing, as the prime purpose of the session was to acclimate our two new dogs into fly fishing with us.

FLIES:

Dries: BWO Parachute#16-20, BWO emergers #16-#20, Adams Parachute #14-#18, PMD emergers #16, PMD Parachute #16. Little Yellow Stone #16

Nymphs: San Juan Worm #12, Green Rock Worm #10-#12, FB PT #16-#18, Turkey Bead-head #14-16, Fox Pupa olive #14-16, Black AP #16-18, Hare’s Ear soft hackle #16, green soft hackle #12=#14 Hares Ear (dark) #12

The flow on the North Yuba is 342 cfs at Goodyear’s Bar as of June 23, 2009. The flow is dropping slowly and the fly fishing is good.  The water is clear and water temperature in the late afternoon is in the mid-fifties.  The wading conditions are still difficult and you should be prepared with felts and a staff.  You will not be able to cross the river back and forth easily, so some spots are not going to be fishable.   The larger fish are beginning to spread out into the shallower sections.

Small Rainbow

On June 19, 2009, I fished just below Bassett’s Station with clients.  The 11 year old daughter had only fly fished twice before.  She used a fixed line length (about three feet of line beyond the rod tip) and a size 12 parachute Adam’s to work the pocket water.  She wound up catching about twenty-five fish in a four hour session.  The fish were on Gray Drake spinners which is imitated very well by a #12 Parachute Adam’s.  Granted we had quantity over quality, since the largest fish ran about 10 inches.

On the North Yuba, I have seen a few Golden Stone adults in the evening; the fish are responding to the imitations.  Hanging a small dark nymph off the imitation will improve your chances.  Parachute Adams used in the shallower runs will give you a few fish.  The caddis are out; both green and tan running in size from 12#-14#.  

The most consistent method for taking larger fish is indicator nymphing in deeper water using generic nymphs such as the Hare’s Ear, B/H Prince, Turkey B/H and Copper John’s.  The dry fly fishing is good.

FLIES:

NYMPHS:  Green Rock-worm #12, Turkey Bead-Head #12-#16, Golden Stone Nymph #8-#12, B/H Prince #14-#16, Copper John #12-#16,Green Glass Bead Caddis #12-#16, B/H Hare’s Ear #12-#16, FBB/H Pheasant Tail #14-#16, Biot B/H #14-16

DRIES:  Gold or Brown Stimulator #10-12, Parachute Adam’s #14-#16, Elk Hair Caddis (olive, tan, brown and black) #12-14, Flying Ant #12-3x long, E/C caddis #12-#16 in tan and olive, parachute ant #12-#14

The flow on the North Yuba is 526 cfs at Goodyear’s Bar as of June 14, 2009. The flow is dropping slowly and the fly fishing has improved dramatically.  The water is clear and water temperature in the late afternoon is in the mid-fifties.  The wading conditions are still difficult and you should be prepared with felts and a staff.  You will not be able to cross the river back and forth easily, so some spots are not going to be fishable.   The larger fish are beginning to spread out into the shallower sections.

On June 13, 2009, we fished various spots on the North Yuba from Bassett’s Station thru parts of the special regulation section and took a lot of fish but with no real size to them.  Plenty of quantity, but no quality!  The weather was miserable!  Rain, wind, hail and thunder and lightning was enough to make you wish for a nice warm bar and an Irish coffee.  My guess is that the water was still cold enough to keep the bigger fish in the deeper runs and pools.  As the water warms the fish should begin to spread out into the shallower runs.

  On the North Yuba, I have seen a few Golden Stone adults in the evening; the fish are responding to the imitations.  Hanging a small dark nymph off the imitation will improve your chances.  Parachute Adams used in the shallower runs will give you a few fish.  The caddis are out; both green and tan running in size from 12#-14#.  

The most consistent method for taking larger fish is indicator nymphing in deeper water using generic nymphs such as the Hare’s Ear, B/H Prince, Turkey B/H and Copper John’s.  The dry fly fishing is improving daily.

  We also did some fishing this week on a small spring creek in the Grouse Ridge area.  The fishing was good as the fish were hungry.  It took a while for us to adapt to keeping the flies out of the trees and grasses along the stream banks after fishing on the Lower Yuba all winter and spring!  Again rain and wind made the fishing difficult.  We did take some small browns.  Parachute ants, E/C caddis and Parachute Adam’s were the hot patterns.

FLIES:

NYMPHS:  Green Rock-worm #12, Turkey Bead-Head #12-#16, Golden Stone Nymph #8-#12, B/H Prince #14-#16, Copper John #12-#16,Green Glass Bead Caddis #12-#16, B/H Hare’s Ear #12-#16, FBB/H Pheasant Tail #14-#16, Biot B/H #14-16

DRIES:  Gold or Brown Stimulator #10-12, Parachute Adam’s #14-#16, Elk Hair Caddis (olive, tan, brown and black) #12-14, Flying Ant #12-3x long, E/C caddis #12-#16 in tan and olive, parachute ant #12-#14