It’s cold. It’s wet — a mixed blessing and curse for fly fishers some years, with either too much precipitation or not enough. The rivers are blown out or too low. Snow shuts down access to the lakes and streams of the high country. Surf raised by winter storms pounds the beaches. Many anglers put away their gear until it’s time to prepare for the spring trout opener, and fly fishers hunker down to tie flies or head out to the fly-fishing shows — as close as most people get to the real thing over the winter. Yet not only is fly fishing possible during the winter months, dryfly fishing is possible, too, and the angling can be wonderful if you know where to go and what to use. Among my favorite waters are the Feather River in Oroville, the Yuba River, and the lower Sacramento.
The Feather River
Many years ago, when I was working at Powell’s Fly Shop in Chico, I was introduced to a very special form of dryfly fishing for steelhead by the late Alan Clemens. I met Alan at the shop very early one the morning to travel to Oroville. Alan explained to me that we would be fishing with floating lines rigged with 7-1/2-foot leaders tapered to 8-pound test. He giggled a little when he told me that the dry fly we’d be fishing was Milt Jensen’s Pond Smelt — a minnow imitation.
I was thinking to myself, “Can this be a joke?” Knowing Alan, it wasn’t. He was introducing me to the Feather River salmon fry hatch and to fishing a minnow imitation to all intents and purposes like a dry fly, since Milt’s Pond Smelt is made with foam and floats on the surface of the water. You can see fish take it, just as if it were a Green Drake.
We arrived at the river, got our gear on, and rigged up just as Alan had suggested earlier. We went down to the river and positioned ourselves on the bank. We didn’t even wade in. He told me to fish the current line as if I were fishing a dry fly on a small mountain creek.
A steelhead grabbed the fly on the second cast. The fight was on, and I was hooked on this special form of dry-fly fishing.
Fishing the salmon fry hatch on the Feather River makes sense, because a huge number of salmon enter the river system during the late summer and fall months to spawn. These fish are headed toward the hatchery, but when the hatchery can’t take any more salmon, the hatchery workers send the fish back to the river to spawn there. Also, some salmon never make it to the hatchery. They just do what Mother Nature mandates and start spawning in the river.
Within sixty days or so from when a salmon spawns, its eggs hatch into little salmon fry. The salmon don’t all spawn at once, so some fry will have hatched even while other salmon are still spawning. Consequently, salmon fry at different stages of growth will be in the river at the same time.
The first stage of the salmon fry is the alevin. This little fish is very awkward. It has a large egg yolk still attached to it. The egg yolk gives the fish nutrients while it learns what to eat in the water. Then the egg yolk disappears, and the salmon fry turns into a small juvenile salmon. The juvenile looks like a tiny minnow and can range from an inch to an inch and a half long. Milt’s Pond Smelt perfectly imitates these small minnows.
Juvenile salmon are present in the river all year long, but the period right after the salmon fry grow into small awkward juveniles is the time to fish Milt’s Pond Smelt as a dry fly. This period extends from late December into February, with the peak in January. By May, the juvenile fish are larger and usually heading downstream to the ocean.
I like fishing in this way above the Highway 70 bridge. That section of the river doesn’t open until January 1. It is also the area where steelhead spawn in March, and you must wade carefully so you don’t disturb the salmon or steelhead redds. I usually stop fishing there when the steelhead are actively spawning, so I concentrate my efforts in January. Weather does not play a role in this fishery. If it’s sunny, raining, or foggy, the salmon fry juveniles will still be in the system.\
I fish the Pond Smelt in the current lines in the middle of the current, over drop-offs, and around redds. I fish them just as I would a dry fly, downstream, upstream cast, or up and across. A little drag on the fly is OK, too — it makes it look like the minnow imitation is trying to swim. The grabs are fantastic, and it’s hard to beat a steelhead taking a dry fly.
The rig I use is quite simple. I like a 6-weight 9-1/2-foot rod lined with a weight-forward 6-weight floating line. I use a 7-1/2-foot 3X (8-pound) monofilament tapered leader, loop-to-looped to my fly line. I attach the Pond Smelt to the tippet using a Lefty’s Loop Knot, which make it easy to twitch the fly in the water. Also, I’m not worried about the fish seeing the knot.
The Yuba River
The Yuba is a magical place in the winter, and it offers the best winter dryfly fishing you can find. On any given winter day, Skwala Stoneflies, March Browns, and Blue-Winged Olives can be hatching, and salmon fry are present, as well.
The main winter dryfly activity is the Skwala. This is a medium-sized stonefly that is active during warm winter days from January through February. When the Skwalas are active, the fish key on them. These stoneflies are a major protein source for the trout and steelhead in the river.
Understanding the life cycle of the Skwala is key to recognizing how and when to fish imitations of the adult — dry flies. Stonefly nymphs crawl out of the river onto rocks, twigs, and logs to hatch. The adults then fly off into the trees to mate. After mating, the females return to the river to lay their eggs. They do this multiple times. In favorable weather conditions, adult Skwalas can live for a month.
When the females go back to the water to lay their eggs, they do not venture far out onto the river. They lay their eggs very close to the bank. Consequently, the area close to the bank is the best spot to fish with dry flies (it is also the best spot to fish Skwala nymphs).
I try to locate an area that has a current line next to a rock bank with willows growing on the bank. That is ideal. Because the Skwalas don’t become active until it gets warm, pick a sunny, warm winter day, with highs in the 50s to 60s. You can fish nymphs during the morning hours. Or better yet, sleep in and start fishing around 10 a.m.
Begin by casting downstream into the softer water inside the current line. Make a stack mend behind the cast to present the fly first. During these months, the Yuba is usually gin clear. Spooking fish is highly possible, so use stealth.
If you see a fish feeding, go right after it using the downstream tactic. This fish is being an aggressive feeder — you, too, must be aggressive. Hookups will be like bolts of lightning. These fish really like their Skwalas.
They like them so much that the fish move to be in the best Skwala feeding areas. Feeding fish follow the hatch wherever it is heaviest, from Englebright Dam downstream to the submerged Daguerre Dam. So if the hatch is happening downriver in the Sycamore Ranch, the fish will move down there. If the hatch is going on upstream at the Highway 20 Bridge, the fish will be up there. Knowing the river and access points is key.
The rig I like to use for my Skwala fishing is a 5-weight or 6-weight 9-foot rod lined with a weight-forward floating line. I fish a 9-1/2-foot 4X (6-pound) tapered monofilament leader with 3 feet of monofilament butt material (.025-inch or bigger) added above it and 3 feet of monofilament 4X (6-pound) tippet material added to the end. This gives me a leader 15 to 16 feet long. It also gives me the ability to cast into the wind with a large dry fly. I attach the fly using a Nail Knot. You can use a Lefty’s Loop Knot if you want to provide a little wiggle. My concern with this knot is it may spook fish. There are a lot of Skwala dry-fly patterns. I prefer The Unit, which is a Jon Baiocchi fly. The favorite of Tom Page at the Reel Fly Shop in Grass Valley is Tommy P’s Flush Floater Skwala. Both of these patterns are tied specifically for the Yuba.
The Lower Sacramento River
Many anglers fish the lower Sacramento River in drift boats using nymph rigs, but the lower Sac has great dry-fly and soft-hackle swing fishing, as well. The winter dry-fly fishing is terrific if you know when, where, and how to fish.
The lower Sac is a tailwater fishery that has a constant temperature, like the Yuba and the Feather. The fish in these rivers are accustomed to that temperature, so it is always ideal for them and for the stoneflies, caddisflies, and mayflies that live it these tailwaters, making the timing of the hatches more reliable.
Caddisflies are a huge part of the ecosystem in the lower Sac. From late January into March, the caddis hatch is the Brachycentrus, also known as the Grannom. This caddis hatches during the winter months and into the spring on warm, sunny days with highs in the 50s to 60s. The hatch in some areas of the river can be prolific. The Brachycentrus is a cased caddis. The nymphs, pupae, and adults have bodies colored apple green to olive mint. This caddis likes to live in highly oxygenated riffle water.
Many fly fishers don’t know about the walk-in fishable water on the lower Sac. There is great access, if you know where to find it. One of the best public access points is at Cascade Park. This is located just south of Redding on Girvan Road. It is a county park that sits next to the river. There is a small dirt parking lot just north of the park with a trail that leads to the river. Once on the river, you have access all the way down to Clear Creek. This is prime water for the Brachycentrus caddis. It also has easy wading.
Another great access is the Deschutes Road bridge. There is road construction going on at this time, so parking during the week can be tricky. From this access you can fish from a cobble rock bar upstream or downstream. The fishing in this area is in tailouts that have shallow riffles above.
I fish both of these areas in the mornings with soft-hackle patterns, rather than nymphs. I usually fish the soft hackles between 10 a.m. and noon, take a short lunch break, then rerig my rod for dry-fly action in the early afternoon.
With dry flies, I like to use a downstream approach — the Fall River Twitch. Cast downstream and out, but not too far out — usually 20 degrees off the bank.
Stack mend the line behind the fly. This takes practice and needs to be done as stealthily as possible. The total cast and drift should not exceed 60 feet, because beyond this distance, setting the hook can be difficult. Let the drift swing into the shallow water before you retrieve and recast. This will not disturb the fishing water or put down fish. Again, this is stealth fishing.
My equipment and rigging for the lower Sacramento River caddis hatch is the same as the rig for the Yuba. Top Brachycentrus caddis dry-fly imitations include the Elk Hair Caddis in greenish olive, the CDC and Elk in mint green, Mercer’s Missing Link in olive, the Yuba River Caddis in green, and Cutter’s E/C Caddis in green, all in size 14 to 16.
Many fly fishers make the mistake of using fluorocarbon leaders and tippet material when dry-fly fishing. Fluorocarbon sinks, and monofilament f loats. Using monofilament leaders and tippet materials is the only way to go. Also, pretreating your dry fly before you fish it is highly recommended. I use a dust of crystal pretreatment and then standard fly floatant while fishing. I don’t waste fishing time by putting more floatant on a fly that won’t float. I simply tie on a new pretreated fly and quickly get back to fishing.
The depths of winter needn’t put a crimp in your fishing, and there are plenty of dry-fly fishing opportunities to enjoy — even if one of the “dry flies” is a minnow imitation.
