Lower Yuba 101 - Bugs of the Riffles

Riffles are the Life Blood of the River 

On almost every river and stream in the Pacific Northwest riffles are the life blood of the river. This is where the bugs live and subsequently become available to trout and migratory steelhead. The riffles are home to stoneflies, caddis and crawler mayflies. Some species of swimmer mayflies also live in the riffles.

Bugs of the Riffles 

The following list of bugs are the ones you'll encounter the most when fishing the Lower Yuba River and other tailwaters or freestone streams.

The Blue Wing Olive Mayfllies - BWO's, are of the swimmer group of mayflies. The BWO nymphs live in sun struck riffles and the runs below the riffles where algal growth is present. Most BWO nymphs swim to the surface to emerge in the runs below sun struck riffles, eddy pools and calmer water. Some BWO nymphs crawl to the edges and emerge at the rivers edges and climb out on sticks and rocks to make their transition to duns. Heres a link to info on the BWO's http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/blue-wing-olive

March Brown Mayflies - The March Brown Mayflies are well adapted to spring creeks and tailwaters which in some years can provide a welcome dry fly hatch here on the Lower Yuba River. March Browns thrive in riffles and runs. They Browse on thin layers of photosynthetic growth that covers bottom rocks. Populations are diminished in tailwater locations after when scouring occurs which can happen on our Lower Yuba River. Here's a link to info on March Browns
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/march-brown-mayfly

Pale Morning Dun Mayflies -  PMDs are well adapted to spring creeks and tailwaters like our Lower Yuba River. PMDs thrive in riffles and runs. The nymphs browse on thin layers of photosynthetic growth that covers bottom rocks. Populations are diminished in tailwater locations after when scouring occurs which is definitely the case on the Lower Yuba. It seems like there are larger populations of PMD's the farther down the river you venture. Here's a link to info on the PMD's
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/pale-morning-dun

Pale Evening Dun Mayflies - PEDs are adapted to clinging to the substrate of fast water such as riffles, but commonly also inhabit the slow to moderate reaches. The nymphs are rarely found in the drift until days preceding a hatch. A few days prior to emergence the nymphs migrate from water with moderate currents to side pools, eddies and shallow runs. Here's a link to PED's
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/pale-evening-dun

Slate Drake Mayflies - Live in riffles and hey often perch on tangled branches or debris that trail into fast water They are extremely strong swimmers They emerge in late afternoons, evenings and just after dark Look for cast away nymphal casings on the rocks along or just below riffles for indications of hatch. Here's a link to Slate Drakes.
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/gray-or-slate-drake-mayflies

Mother Day Caddis - Brachycentrus - Grannoms - Grannoms build square-shaped cases and live in riffly water or runs with moderate to fast currents. Here in Northern California the hatch typically takes place in about April. They prefer shallower riffles and runs. The larvae, though cased, often become available to trout due to their common occurrence in stream drift and an unusual rappelling behavior. Here's a link to Mother's Day Caddis.
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/mothers-day-or-spring-caddis

Hydropsyche - Are net-spinning caddis don't build a case in which to live. Instead, they build a rough shelter of gravel and plant debris that they attach to the sides of rocks. Hydopsyche prefer moderate- to large-sized streams with warmer temperatures, somewhat slower currents, and smaller substrate The larvae of net-spinning caddis periodically crawl out of their shelters, let go, and drift downstream 40, 50, or even 100 feet. This activity occurs on a daily cycle, and peaks near sunrise and sunset. Here's a link to Hydropsyche Caddis
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/summer-caddis

Skawala Stoneflies - The Skwala stonefly nymphs habitat is quick choppy riffles with a substrate of large gravel and cobble. Prior to adult emergence the nymphs migrate to the banks where they crawl out of the water when ready to become adults. Usually they crawl out on the banks, large rocks or even a limb or log. Trout tend to feed on them along the banks when the hatch starts. Here's a link to Skwala Stoneflies.
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/yuba-skwala-stone

 Yellow Sally and Golden Stone Stoneflies. Like the other stoneflies, nymphs their preferred habitat is quick choppy riffles with a substrate of large gravel and cobble. Prior to adult emergence the nymphs migrate to the banks where they crawl out of the water when ready to become adults.
Here's a link to Yellow Sally's
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/little-yellow-stone

Here's a link to Golden Stones
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/golden-stone


You can go to the Fly Fishing Traditions Lower Yuba River Hatch Chart to get recommended patterns to match them. Here's the link to the Lower Yuba Hatch Chart
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/hatch_chart

The link is also at the top Navigation Bar at the Top of the Blog.

Welcome  to School!

The Swamp Thing

This is the new addition to the Fly Fishing Traditions fleet, "The Swamp Thing". It traveled all the way from Donighan, Michigan to make its home here in Northern California. As you probably have heard I'm selling my 13' 4" Boston Whaler Sport to make room for it. The whaler is in the shop right now getting the chines re-worked and a new coat of epoxy marine paint on the entire bottom. I'm also stripping out all the Philipine Mahogany wood work and refinishing it. When I'm done it will be almost completely restored. I decided to do it right!

The Swamp Thing is a 16' 1982 Lowe Roughneck. It's been around the block, the paints pretty tarnished but I rubbed it out and it looks a lot better. I've ordered some factory "Lowe" paint and I'll give it a new coat later this summer, but you know how that goes.

The controls are in the right front position and it has 3 other seats. It's got a live well, not that I'll be using it, a carpeted platform at the bow with a receptor for the post and seat. The main section is carpeted.

Here's a shot of the storage under the bow and the carpeted deck. The seat mounts in the bracket.














Here's a shot of the captain's seat with the controls. The motor also has a power tilt function that is on the shifter. There is also controls on the motor itself. It works!

The best thing about this boat, other that the fact it is a jet sled, is that it's got an Envirude factory Jet Pump. The motor is a V-4 which is known for its dependability. It's a 90 horsepower that delivers 65 hp through the jet pump. The motor is a 1993 that has very little hours on it. My marine mechanic, Steve Cyr, from Float Your Boats believes it has less that 40 hours on it.

I didn't hardly sleep last night anticpating meeting Steve to fire the motor up. He had me pull the plugs, squirt WD40 in each cylinder (it's a 4 cylinder) and let it sit for at least 2 hours. Then I cranked it over without the plugs in it to spit out the WD40. I put the plugs back in and headed to Scotts Flat Lake this morning to meet him.

When we got there he pulled the plugs again and cranked it one more time, to make sure I'd got enough of the WD40 out. He then squirted some starting fluid in each cylinder and we put the plugs back in. I attached the gas line and we crossed our fingers. It popped immediately which was from the starting fluid. I tried it again and hit the electric choke and it started after a couple of bumps. Steve kept pumping the gas line to ensure all the air was out of the line and when it warmed up it just purred. Steve pushed me off and I moved outside of the 5 mph zone and opened it up. It jumped up on plane and it flew. Fast that is. This surprised me a bit. It seemed as fast as my whaler. I took a few turns to see how it handled and it just slides through the turns. That's a jet pump.

So I guess this boat buying experience is one with a happy ending. Buying an ebay boat by relying on pictures and asking question is and was nerve racking. Especially when it was in Missouri. I had it hauled here by uship. All in all it was just a leap of faith. Looks like this time it payed off.

March Brown Emerger

We've been seeing a few more March Brown Duns lately and maybe we'll get a real hatch this year. The March Brown hatch on the Lower Yuba just isn't one that comes off consistently year after year. With the early spring type conditions and the lack of rain maybe this will be one of the good years. With that said it's time to tie up some March Brown patterns to get ready just in case.

Here's a March Brown Emerger that is tough to beat. It's worked well for me. I'm not sure where the pattern came from but this is how I tie it.

March Brown Emerger Recipe

Hook: 2x Long Nymph Hook, TMC 3761BL
Thread: 8/0 Tan
Lead: .015 wrapped along side hook shank outrigger style
Tail: Ginger Z-lon
Tail Fibers: 5 or 6 Brown Hackle Fibers
Rib: Small Copper Wire
Dubbing: Hares Ear Synthetic Dubbing
Hackle: Partridge Soft Hackle
Underwing: Ginger Z-lon
Overwing: Brown CDC Fibers

Step 1: Insert hook into vise and start the thread at the head and wrap down the hook shank just to the bend of the hook.

Tie in .015 lead outrigger style if desired.

Step 2: Separate a small bunch of Z-lon fibers, about 12 to 15 strands and tie in as a tailing shuck. Extend the fibers long and cut off 1/8" past the end of the hook.

Step 3. Select about 5 brown hackle fibers and tie in as the tail. Extend the hackle fibers about 1/16" past the Z-Lon shuck.

Step 4. (Multiple Steps)
(4a) Tie in small wire for rib
(4b) Wrap thread dubbed with a sparse amount of Hares Ear Dubbing forward to about 1/8" from the eye
(4c) Wrap the wire rib forward and tie in off. Clip off excess
                   wire.







Step 5: Prepare a small partridge hackle and tie it in about 1/8" back from the eye. 













Step 6. Wrap the soft hackle so you have a sparse soft hackle all the way around.













Step 7. Tie in a small bunch of Ginger Z-lon fibers as an underwing. Cut the Z-Lon fibers at the bend of the hook shank.

Step 8. Select a small brown CDC hackle and tie in as an overwing. Match the length of the Z-Lon underwing.

Step 9. Tie off the head and whip finish.