This LTFF Level 2 Lower Yuba River Fishout on Saturday and Sunday, October 21st and 22nd 2023 is offered initially to ONLY those registered Level 2 Learn to Fly Fish (LTFF) students. This fishout will be limited to a total of 10 students---two groups of 5 students each.
The Lower Yuba flows out of Englebright Reservoir in the Sierra foothills near the gold mining town of Grass Valley. This is one of the closest wild trout fishing venues to the Bay Area; a roughly 3 hour drive from San Francisco. These waters are known for athletic, hard fighting wild rainbow trout and steelhead. The river below the highway 20 bridge is open year round for fishing. The water above the bridge up to the Englebright dam is closed to angling from September 1st to November 30th for salmon spawning.
The typical rainbow trout in this section of the river is around 12-18”…smaller than what you may encounter say on the Lower Sac, but you won’t forget the fight! These fish jump and run---you will be in a fight all the way to the net.
We will drift the river with 3 guides out of the local fly shop in Grass Valley, owned and run by Tom Page. There are many guides along the Central Valley that guide this river: Tom and his crew know it very well.
Late October is also when salmon are returning to spawn in the Lower Yuba river, some 200 miles worth of river and San Francisco Bay travel from the ocean. It’s quite a sight to see these large salmon swimming in the river so far from the ocean. Spawning salmon means that the trout are keyed in on salmon eggs, and we will likely be fishing indicator rigs with an egg pattern and a caddis nymph beneath that. Tom and his team will provide a lecture on that sort of rigging setup.
Cost: The registration fee will be $375 per person for a full day guided trip. This will include guide fees, terminal tackle, flies and lunch on the river. It does not include guide tips, transportation, or lodging accommodations.
Required Gear: Your standard 5 wt, floating line setup, sunscreen, hat, water, and sunglasses. You will not need waders or wading boots to float the Lower Yuba. Although you may decide to bring along your waders and wading staff if you choose to fish another day, walking and wading the Lower Yuba.
You MUST have your 2023 California fishing license AND a 2023 California Steelhead card to fish the Lower Yuba.
The guides will provide leaders, tippet, flies, indicators and split shot as well as spare rods. You are encouraged to bring your own as well to further engage in learning your knots and rigging. 9 ½ foot, 5wt tapered leaders with 5wt tippet (flouro often encouraged for nymphing, but your rigs will likely have split shot on as well).
Lunch and non-alcoholic drinks will also be provided by the guides.
Meeting Time and Place: The exact meeting time will be updated in the pre-fishout zoom call, but plan to be ready to go on the river by 7AM on your guided day.
We will gather on the south side of the river at the Highway 20 bridge near Smartsville.
Map coordinates: 39.218155, -121.336479
Accommodations: It is highly recommended that you plan to stay at least one night in the nearby area as it can be a very long day of both fishing and driving round trip. Grass Valley/Nevada City is about a 30 minute drive from our meeting point. You will find a good variety of Air B&B type options, small inns, as well as the historic Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley and the National Hotel in Nevada City---both Gold Rush era hotels that have recently been refurbished to high standards. Marysville/Yuba City are also about a 30 minute drive in the other direction on highway 20 and offer a variety of adequate, motel type accommodations.
Camping option: Sycamore Ranch Campground in Browns Valley. Go to https://www.yuba.org/departments/community_development/parks_&_campground.php This campground is about 15 miles east of Marysville on Hwy 20. The GPS address is 5390 Highway 20, Browns Valley and it will be on your right if you are traveling east. It is easy to miss so keep an eye on the odometer out of Marysville.
Reminder—it’s late October, so plan for cool evenings!
This campground is also where we will EXIT the river float. It’s about a 10 minute drive from the campground on highway 20 to where we will meet to start the float trip.
The campground has paved roads, is lit at night, and has indoor plumbing and hot showers .
Cancellation Policy: There are no refunds. In the event that a student is, for any reason, unable to attend, he/she may resell his slot (rod) to another LTFF member (by first pulling from the waitlist if one exists). It is the sole responsibility of the student to manage this transaction.
For more info: Bruce Greenwood brucegre@pacbell.net