The “Callibaetis” Mayfly is of great importance if you are going to be fishing stillwaters. The number one mayfly that you need to be familiar with is the Callibaetis. They are the most important stillwater mayfly of all. There are some respected anglers here in Northern California that believe that there is no insect more important to the stillwater angler.
Golden Stone
Golden Stoneflies behave in a manner similar to salmonflies, but they are a tad smaller. Nymphs are large and live in riffles and rocky, bouldery areas with moderate to fast current. They often lose their grip and are taken all year by trout. An appropriate pattern dead-drifted near the bottom is effective. Choose your imitation carefully, however. Many fly shops …
Little Yellow Stone
The Lower Yuba River has what I would classify as a minor population of little yellow stoneflies. The Upper Yuba River and the Truckee River has a major population. For this reason geting to know the The Little Yellow Stonefly is a good idea. The “Isoperla” nymphs live in riffles and rocky runs with moderate to fast flows. They are …
The Yuba Skwala Stone
It’s late January and the word on the streets is that the Skwalas are out. It’s time to tie up some big bugs and get ready. The last time I fished the Yuba I picked up a couple of nice fish with a Mercer’s Skwala Nymph. It’s a good one. The Skwala activity on the Lower Yuba River can start …
Green Rock Worm
The two larval species most imitated by anglers are Rhyacophila (green caddis or green rockworms) and Dicosmoecus (October caddis). However, the effort may be misplaced because these are not the caddis larvae most consumed by trout. Rhyacophila are common in extremely fast riffles on medium-sized streams, and while trout sometimes feed heavily on the larvae, it’s usually during the low …
Hydropsyche Caddis
Each year I always look forward to summer and the hydropscyche caddis hatches. This bug is also commonly referred to as “the summer caddis” the “spotted sedge” or the “net spinning caddis”. On the Lower Sacramento River the bug takes on a brown or cinnamon cast. On the Lower Yuba River the bugs tend to have a green cast. The …
The Mothers Day Caddis
When I think of the Mothers Day Caddis which is the American Grannom of the Brachycentrdae family of caddisfly, I think of the day I had on the Lower Sacramento River in April a few years ago. I was checking out the message board for NCFFB and came across some photos that had been taken the day before. There were …
Tricos
Tricorythodes or Tricos are members of the crawler group of mayflies. There are nine species of Tricorythodes found in the western states. Only one Tricorythodes minutus is of importance to fly fishers. Tricos are the smallest mayflies in North America, but their hatches and spinner falls are so heavy that the largest trout in the stream will move up to …
Gray or Slate Drake Mayflies
As far as the Slate Drake and the Gray Drake Mayflies are concerned,there seems to be some debate as to what genus that the larger Gray or Slate colored mayflies we come across on the Lower Yuba really are. The concensus is that they are Drakes. Are they the genus Siphlonurus or are they the genus Isonychia? I’m not an …
Pinkies, Pink Alberts or Pink Ladies
When the PMDs are out and about on the Lower Yuba River there, a pattern that is often mentioned to imitate the duns are “Pinkies”. They work. But the pattern is really a pattern designed to imitate the “Epeorus” mayflies. These yellow mayflies are important on many streams throughout the West. Here on the Lowewr Yuba they are around but …
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