Yuba Tanka, April 6 & 10, 2013

Grass moon apogee.
Beneath, Leo ascending.
Slicks and glides fecund with fish.

Rhitogenia morrisoni.
With the heart of Regulas,
silver sides rise.

No time for lunch.
No time for afternoon coffee.
River ablaze once more.




Steak and Eggs:

Yuba River, saturday UC property and wednesday above Hwy 20 bridge.
weather,saturday am partly cloudy pm sunny, Wednesday sunny
Water temp 51 degrees, air temp 80 degrees
Flow 1000cfs
water visability, gin clear
Hours fished, 11:00am til 7:30pm
bug activity; March browns hatch noon-3pm
5wt single handed bamboo rod.
dry fly furled leader 16 feet long 4lb tippet.
Saturday 10 fish landed on March Brown dry fly and 3 fish landed swinging March Brown wet fly
Wednesday 7 fish on drys and 4 fish partridge and orange wet fly.

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-Super bowl flies 2-2-2013

Since my last post i've recieved at least a 100 emails regarding the flies I was using last weekend and what they look like. So i'll go ahead, by popular demand, and post pictures of the flies for everyone.

They're quite simple in design and in no way are of my own invention. Some are simple hybrids of typical traditional flies available at any good fly shop. The first fly is my variation I used for the Skawala stone-flys that were out and about when the sun was gleaming. I took Ralphs very productive EC Caddis, size 12, eleminated the hackle then simply added legs. If a fish would reject the fly I would then simply cut the legs off and wait until i saw the fish rise again and then sttart re fishing that area, and often the fish would readily take the fly on the first cast.

The other "dry" fly I used my dear friend Arata "Charlie" Kobata designed. He calls it The Little Brown Fly. This fly we're using as a BWO emerger. At size 18 and fished with lots of frogs fanny right on top its nice to have this 3 feet behind the Skawala when its casted farther than 20 feet from rivers edge.

The wet fly that was quite productive on saturday swung through the Foundation Hole up river, is a simple Royal Coachmen wet fly, except I changed the lead wing to a Teal feather that i think picked up on the few early Rhithrogena Morrisoni that I saw in the tailout.

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

Karma Net prototype, 12-2012

I finally got the ghost net in the mail and did a test fit to then allow me to finish up my new landing net. It fit perfectly in the hoop and then i began the tedius task of soaking the net frame in spar for a day to impregnate. This progress went very well and i then stitched the net to the frame with waxed nylon thread and gave it the alpenglow insignia and then two coats of thick spar to seal.
I realized after i brought it to share at the local fly tying club meeting that I should take some photos before i start banging it up dragging it around in my truck.
here are some close up pictures.