Back on the North Yuba!

Well...time has come once again to try my luck on the Yuba river. Since I fish by myself most of the time, it's bittersweet when the fishing's good. Great fishing days are best shared with "like-minded" fly fishing aficionado's. It's hard to plan trips with your fishing friends when they have previously planned obligations or are far away. With that said, I still had a great time as I was able to 'wrangle -up' some nice fish in the 15 to 19 inch class. Flows were pretty fast but the level was fairly low for the end of June. I tried my hand at nymph/indicator fishing using bedheads but most of the rainbows succumbed to dry flies fished wet like Pale Morning Duns, etc.

The Yuba is my home river and I am drawn to it like a moth is to a camping lantern. I can't seem to get enough of spending my time on that river gazing at the splendor of the Sierra Nevada mountians and being in "the zone" as I tie on another pattern to try. Looking across the river at the undercut bank I see trout feeding in the early morning shadows. Even with no hatch on the water I cast a dry fly right in front of him using my Z-Axis rod (which is more precise than I'll ever be). The fly starts to sink right in front of him and BAM!, FISH ON! This buck took nearly a half hour to bring in and I was a grinnin from ear to ear! "Is this just a dream?" I said to myself . No...it's real, I paused to take a pic and to give thanks for the opportunity then I put him back to be one with the river again.

I think most fly fishermen and women would agree there's few things that are finer than being in the mountains catching a 20 inch trout in the early morning light on a 3 or 4 weight rod. That's pretty hard to beat in my book. Sure, there are many other great places to fly fish for all different species like permit, bonefish, steelhead, salmon, etc.... But these mountain waters are my home and will always hold a special place in my heart.-- Tight Lines!~TD

Where's the Beef!