Yuba-ku 4-19-2014

Like a circling Osprey, discerning.
Turbid water boils.
Stone fly's of pale yellow,
emerge from riffles..

Under the Grass moon,
Salmonoids rise.
From bridge to their lies.
Hiking, I anticipate them.
Splash.
I cast,
Splash.
Another charges,
then into my net,
landed.

On broken water,
again and again, we,
fish and I, repeat.
This sacred dance countless times.

Yuba-Ku 2-20-2014

Waxing Snow moon sets.
Salmoniods rise, the Skwala beat.
Oh mighty boo!

Dry fly perigee.
Methodical drifts, mend.
The Princess screams.

Yuba renga, December 2013

12-1-2013
Osprey on the wing.
Pillows of white in blue.
Northern Migration calls.

Clutched talons,
scales spectrum reflecting.
Dinner,
enroute to wintering grounds.

12-20-2013
Konkow,
Maidu,
Nisenan and
Miwok
their foot steps followed.

Upriver.

Stand and cast,
in the flow, sudden chill.
numb toes.

12-27-2013
Today Catching?
as certain as the sky?
Like Neutrinos?
My fly untouched.

Osprey darts.
Eagle swirls and dives steeply.
his trout,
a stolen meal.

On my glasses,
view blocked, this strange stick.
A Skwala, too early.

12-30-2013
Back again,
your treasure like nicotene.
Today before dawn,
Venus rising,
the mornning star.

To the Narrows,
following,
Black Phoebes' work the next glide.
Their periodic aerial sallies entice.
Always on the move.
From willows,
they dance,
they catch.

Following.

Soon,
their secret now shared?
more early stones,
an Uva phantom,
todays code, unlocked?

I behold three,
unlike the eagle,
these set me free.

Middle Fork Stanislaus 11-4-2013

Swirls and glide,
my fly and fish together.
like peanut butter and jelly.

Brand new waders.
leaking in the leg, sloshing.
Me so cranky.

Twilight above.
On an Ashen Light wing,
a Bald eagle,
up canyon, soaring.

Emigrant Wilderness 2013

9-10-2013

The trail,
Forested white fir.
Inner laced of roots and earth exposed,
Like fingers of an ancient wizard.

Split in two but not.
Nearly identical from germination,
Limbs, bark and trunk.

Hot cider, carefully stirred,
Up to my fingers tips.
This spoons handle,
cut off.

9-11-2013

Serenaded by cowbells.
All,
night,
long.

9-12-2013

Majestic twins,
Together above us, hovering.
Reaching arms, lobed.
This limbed canopy,
Like the river systems we’re traveling.

Traverse, up sloping benches.
Contour south, now west.
Dark dihedrals of Granite Dome,
Finally in view.

9-13-2013

Willows and meadow,
lakes fringed with snags,
A study in patient line untangling.

High rocky cirque, lakes,
Emerald blue and green.
They’re magnetic to my feet.

From Corral Canyon,
a ribbon of Foxtail pines and fir,
as if they were guides,
we follow to camp.

9-14-2013

With confident feet,
along granite slabs.
Higher we clamber,
steeply,
steadily,
finally,
a spectacular perch.

In this tidy bowl,
Frequent breeze blowing.
We’re grateful for our,
cozy hats.

Along the border,
Granite sidewalks, undulate into
sky blue water.

Casting along,
Looped into silver snags.
Another lost fly.

Above me cliffs brood.
Scampering and climbing.
A fish I chase,
for dinner.

Forks of the Stanislaus

August 2013

Big trees and sour grass,
We hike under giants of old.
Towering cathedral,
shade and light filtered.

In this rivers flow,
Swirls and bubbles,
then babble.

Like a brook.
ancient voices.
stories told.

Even tiny stones can erode big stones.

Granite speckled.
Silver and black with iridescent shades,
as does its fish.

Yuba Tanka 4-21-2013

On the airs current,
lumbering.
Isoperla fulva drop,
dapple the surface.

With accuracy,
uninhibited,
trout leap to this bounty.

My puppet?
Palmered catskill style and biot.
Another rainbow rodeo.





meat and potatoes:

ya you know... bamboo rod, dry flies and lots of fish.

photos by Roger Williams

Yuba-Ku 3-8,9-2013

As the Osprey kites.
Brodiaeas and Ceanothus along the way.
Teal and rabbit fur glide and rise.

My cast web, connected.
Maybe it's me who's really netted?
Moon in Pisces,
go figure.



meat and potaoes:

Yuba River, friday below Hwy 20 bridge, saturday UC property.
weather, friday sunny warm, saturday am partly cloudy pm sunny
Water temp 48 degrees, air temp 70 degrees
Flow 1300cfs
water visability, gin clear
Hours fished, 9:30am til 4:30pm
bug activity; friday sporadic Skawalas. saturday March brownand PMD hatch 10:30am-1pm Skawalas about pm
5wt single handed bamboo rod, 4/5wt bamboo spey rod, now broken from a big fish not landed.
245 scandi line 12 foot furled leader. dry fly furled leader 16 feet long 4lb tippet.
3 fish landed swinging March Brown wet fly, Teal and rabbit
4 fish landed on March Brown Para/dry fly/emerger size 12
3 fish landed on Skawala dry size 12

Yuba Renga 2-1,2-2013

White tail and talons,
above the river's way.
Soaring and gliding.

Trouting with friends,
some old, some new.
The Yuba's bounty, we catch.

Fluid flow,
full of wonder.
My speckled friend rises.

Sloshing and casting,
soggy socks, leaky waders.
Along river's edge.

Ring of the rise.
BWOs skitter the surface.
Little brown fly, the code.

My own private
super bowl.

meat and potaoes:

Yuba River, friday below Hwy 20 bridge, saturday UC property.
weather, friday sunny warm, saturday am partly cloudy pm sunny
Water temp 48 degrees, air temp 70 degrees
Flow 1450cfs
water visability, gin clear
Hours fished, 9:30am til 4:30pm
bug activity; friday abundent Skawalas. saturday BWO hatch 10:30am-1pm Skawalas about pm
5wt single handed bamboo rod, 6wt bamboo spey rod
scandi lines various poly leaders. dry fly furled leader 16 feet long 4lb tippet.
6 fish landed swinging royal coachman wet fly
3 fish landed on Baetis CDC dry fly/emerger
9 fish landed on Skawala dry

Yuba-Ku 12-15-2012

Yuba-Ku 12-15,16-2012

Bear tracks from Rose bar.
Animal guide, I follow.
Riffles of plenty.

Mountains of Blue oak.
This wilderness, a mistress of illumination.
Maze of willows.

Rivers edge.

Walking streamside,
endless Pliocene cobbles.
My sore ankles.

Swallows dart, Baetis dance.
Morning risers, dawn briskly.
Venus ascending.

This water,
from peaks and passes, draining,
through the placer vein.

meat and potaoes:

Yuba River, saturday UC property. sunday above Parks Bar/Timbuctoo
weather, saturday am partly cloudy, pm light showers. Sunday am/pm showers
Water temp 48 degrees, air temp 56 degrees
Flow 1300cfs
water visability, 2-3 feet, fishy green tint
Hours fished, 9:30am til 4:30pm
bug activity; random stone fly shucks seen, BWO hatch 11:30am-1pm
5wt single handed rod, 5wt graphite switch rod, 6wt bamboo spey rod
scandi lines various poly leaders.
19 fish landed swinging rubber leg stone nymph
7 fish landed on Baetis CDC dry fly/emerger

Yuba Soy-Ku 12-9-2012

The holy grail?
Full of trespass, today not so holy.
A hydrolic way, like flowing Soy,
one fish to hand, rainbow friend.

Granola and Soy:

Yuba River, Blue Point.
Clear and sunny weather,
Water temp 50 degrees, air temp 65 degrees
Flow 3800cfs-2800cfs
water looked like Soy 12 inches of visability
Hours fished, 8:30am til 4pm
Zero bug activity
9'5wt single handed rod and 5wt graphite switch rod
1 fish landed nymphing, 1 fish on streamer but not landed
Successful flies: copper john, rusty zonker

October Shreders

These are going to shred! I'm getting ready for my annual hallowen trip to the Mac. This year i'm join friends of the GPFF club on the river and I really have focased on developing a true set of game changer flies for this river.
My go to caddis dry fly isn't neccesarily a dry but an emerger or spent caddis. I've had great success all over california with it. My R&D river of choice has been the A game Yuba River near Smartsville. hands down, these "Rainbow Trout" are as strong, witty and forceful as any Stealhead you'd meet and on top of it they all seem to have graduated with PHd's from an Ivy-league college.

Often sometimes I swear they seem to just want to humiliate you off the river. Fish seem to swirl flys just to see if there's line connected, often this is percieved by the fisherman as takes with no fish at the other end...
Anyways, these flys ive been tying for the Yuba have been specificaly targeted as Rhyacophila and Hydropsyche hatches. However for the McCloud I hybridized the patern to fit the Dicosmoecus syntax of Puppa and Emerger stages this fall on the "River Cathedral".

Yuba-Ku 8-31-2012

Mars and Saturn Set.
Fruits of the rise, Salmonoids tail dance.
Once in a blue moon.

Steak and Eggs:

Yuba River, below Parks Bar Bridge
Clear and sunny weather, windy
Water temp 52 degrees, air temp 85 degrees
Flow 1000cfs
Hours fished, 10:30am til dusk
Zero bug activity
9'5wt single handed rod and 5wt graphite switch rod
13 fish total, 4 on dry fly, 9 on swung soft hackles
Successful flies: Black and orange Stimulator size 8,
Partridge and pheasant soft hackle size 14,
Partridge and copper soft hackle size 14,
Golden Stone nymph size 2

South Fork and the Monarch.

Tumbling freestone glides,
hidden Iridocytes hover in place.
You,
veiled in shimmering opalescence.

The gateway guarded,
Sentinel looms.
Fish of the Monarch.

Steak and Eggs;

South fork Kings River between Hotel Creek and Roaring River
Et; 4 hours, wet wadding.
18 fish total, 8-15 inches, 15 Rainbows and 3 Browns
flow 200cfi
gear; 3wt 7'11" sage SLT and 4wt 9' bamboo switch rod
flies; Goddard Caddis,Tasty Bite,Mac & Cheese, HS Stimulator and Partridge and Orange.
Beer; Sierra Nevada Torpedo and Mammoth 395 IPA

Yuba-ku 6-8-2012

Your scales, dappled light.
Reflecting spectrum I wish to hold.

Mano-a-Mano.

The Mac and Cheese;

Yuba River above Parks Bar Bridge
Hours fished: 9:30am to 8pm
9 fish total: 1@20" 1@18" 3@10" 3@8" 1@4"
Water temp 53 degrees, flow 1650, air temp 91 degrees
Method: Spey cast slack nymphing, and Spey cast swung wet flies.
Gear: 6wt 11 foot Bamboo spey rod 350 grain scandi line, 10 floating polyleader.

Flies: Isoperla stone "Tasty Bite", Caddis puppa "hydropsycho" and infrequens CDC emerger "spitznatz"
Observed insects, Yellow Sallies, sporadic PMD's and Spotted Sedges.

Hydropsycho

Spitznatz

Tasty Bite

Yuba-Ku 5-13-2012

Teal and cream,
swinging to the swallows swoop.
spotted rainbow friend.

Riffles woosh then glide,
from snowmelt,
              rolls then boils.
In my hand,
             she,
                  spring bright.

Steak and Eggs:

Yuba River above Parks Bar bridge, east side
hours fished; 8:30am until 4:30pm
6wt 12 foot Bamboo spey rod, and 5wt graphite rod
Wet flies, Nymphs
Blue Note size 18, Teal and Cream size 14, Tasty Bite size 4
11 trout landed, sizes; 1@22", 1@19", 3@ 18", 5@16, 1@12
5 trout on soft hackles, 6 on nymphs
river flow; 2300 cfm
water clarity; Gin clear
water temp 50 degrees F.
air temp 85
bug activity; pink PMD hatch 9am until 11:30am & lady bugs in afternoon.
slightly cloudy