Yuba River Fishing Guides and Conditions, California

About the Yuba River

The lower Yuba runs twenty-four miles from Englebright Dam through the old hydraulic mining country to the Feather River at Marysville, and it is California’s most interesting wild trout river. There is no hatchery program for trout here. The rainbows are wild, they average larger than most tailwater fish, and a good number of them behave like small steelhead when hooked, which is not a coincidence given the anadromous history of the system.

Guided days split between drift boat trips from the Highway 20 bridge down to Sycamore Ranch or Daguerre Point and walk-and-wade trips on the long gravel bars. The Yuba is famous among western anglers for its skwala stonefly hatch in late winter and early spring, when good fish look up in cold water, and for strong caddis and pale morning dun activity later. The riverbed is a legacy of hydraulic mining, so it is wide, cobbled and constantly rearranging, and the fish hold in specific seams that a guide who fishes it weekly will find far faster than a first-timer.

The Marysville gauge reads the lower river below Daguerre Point Dam. Flows are managed for water delivery and for salmon and steelhead, and they swing seasonally. Something in the several-hundred to low-thousand cfs range gives good wading and clear water; big winter and spring releases push the river hard and shut down wade access. Flows can change with little notice, so check the gauge the morning you fish.

Marysville, Grass Valley and Nevada City are the nearby towns, and Sacramento is an hour and a half away, which makes this the most accessible wild trout river in Northern California.

Access

Englebright Dam and the Narrows: top of the tailwater, limited walk-in access.
Highway 20 Bridge: the standard upper boat launch and a popular wade access.
Parks Bar and Sycamore Ranch: county park access with camping and river frontage.
Hammon Grove Park: mid-river access on Highway 20.
Daguerre Point Dam: fish ladder and access; boats must take out above it.
Simpson Lane and the lower river near Marysville: access toward the Feather confluence.

Seasons

January through March: skwala stoneflies, cold water, the signature Yuba season.
April through June: mayflies and caddis, moderate flows, excellent dry fly fishing.
July through September: warm afternoons, early starts, technical fishing to wary fish.
October through December: salmon in the river, fall nymphing, fewer anglers.