Yuba River - UCD Property

Saturday, February 1^st
Ray Nunez
(916) 276-9347
ray.nunez@hp.com

Saturday, February 15^th
Paul Meyers
(916) 785-9446
paul_meyers@hp.com

It’s that time of year. The days are short, cold and wet and Steelhead have returned from their journeys at sea. Since they have been gone for months, they are looking for fly fishers to tell their journeys. Therefore, being kind and considerate soles, 20 GBF soles on two different days will make the trek to welcome the steelhead back to their birthplace.

Ok, so the above is not the totally true. 20 GBF members will be welcoming the steelhead and hopefully enjoy their company for a few moments and then parting company so that someone else may enjoy their company.

For several years, GBF has had a relationship with the University of California, Davis to get access to waters that are typically unavailable to the general fly fishing population. UCD runs a research property that is covered with oak forest that contains deer and turkeys everywhere and best of all at one end of the property is the Yuba River. The property is a few miles above the Hwy. 20 bridge and has no general public walk in access. As a result, this area gets very little fishing pressure. This is a unique opportunity for 20 GBF members to fish for this wonderful and hard fighting fish.

On two different dates, February, 1^st and 15^th, the club has has received written permission to take some of its members onto the property. The fishout leader for the 1^st is Ray Nunez and he can be contact at 916-276-9347 or ray.nunez@hp.com. The fishout leader for the 15^th is Paul Meyers and he can be contacted at 916-785-9446 or paul.meyers@hp.com.

This is a limited access area and a limit of 20 fly fishers has been placed on the club by UCD; the following is list of requirements to help insure a successful fishout.

• 2004 GBF membership dues need to be paid by the January meeting. Those that don’t have their dues paid will be moved to the bottom of the wait-list. This is a requirement for insurance purposes.

• Cancellations are always difficult both for the person that is canceling and the person leading the fishout. However, in this case, I think the person most affected is someone on the waiting list that could go. I’m hoping that on each fishout above, we have 20 fly fishers. To accomplish this in the past, we have requested a $10 commit fee. However, do to logistics this year, this is not possible. Instead we are asking each fly fisher to be honest. If you cannot or don’t think you can go, please let me know AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Early notice means that the fishout leader has time to contact and confirm that the next person on the waiting list is available to go.

The Steelhead on the Yuba are not as big as the ones on the American; however, they fight as hard as any other fish their size. Their jumps and long runs place you into the backing. This is what fly fishing is all about, that huge rush of adrenaline! Thoughts like “Is my tippet strong enough?”, “Hum, did I test that know?”, “Ah, Do I have enough backing?” and “Wow, this is a beautiful fish!” go through ones mind.

The equipment needs for this river are simple:

Length:       9 to 9.5 foot

Weight:       6 or 7 weight rod

Reel:           good adjustable drag with 100 yards of backing capacity

Line:           floating

Leader:       3 or 4X, 7.5 to 9 foot leader (fluorocarbon optional)

Tippet:        4 or 5X (fluorocarbon optional)

Nymphs:     mayfly nymphs, stone fly nymphs, caddis lava and pupae under a large indicator that can support a few split shot. Usually this fishout is too late in the year for egg patterns to be effective.

Dries:         elk hair caddis and yellow stimulator (to imitate the squalla stonefly) can be effective if there is a hatch or insects on the water.

One thing I would like to stress is that this is big water and it is moving. Depending on power requirements, the water flow might change thought out the day so keep; therefore, keep one eye on the water level so you don’t find yourself on the wrong side of the river. A couple of things I think about before hand can help if you are going to venture into the water:

• Boots with felt and studs
• Wading staff
• Fishing Partner
• Personal flotation device
• Common sense

More information on this fishout will be provided in the February issue of The Leader, website, message board and email.