A Bit of The Feather River’s Middle Fork

Middle Fork Carp

This weekend Amanda and I went home to check on her parent’s place while they are vacationing across seas. I had planned out the weekend for the Middle Fork Feather River for Saturday evening and Lake Davis for Sunday morning. After reading some of the reports I opted out of Lake Davis for a different section of the Middle Fork near Portola where there were reports of good carp fishing. I figured I can fish and catch trout year around so lets try the warm-water fishing before its starts to slow down.

Middle Fork Feather River
The flows are low and the water is still a bit warm despite the cooler nights that we experienced when we were up there. I arrived at my destination around 5:10pm, just in time for the sun to be off the water. Fishing the mouth of Nelson Creek with my 2wt, I had a few line rippers and several smaller fish. I lost more than I landed but still had a great time exploring the river downstream. The fish were only eating nymphs.

10” MF Trout

The average size was around 8″ – 10″ and the biggest I landed was a 12″. I never seem to be around the Middle Fork at the right time of the year. I’ve seen pictures and heard of some big 20″ fish in that river.

Upper Middle Fork Feather River
Rumor has it that carp live somewhere in the Middle Fork but I have never known where. Most of the river is freestone trout water but there is a long section in Portola that is stagnant silty marsh water. The water was pretty cold for carp water but they were still cruising and feeding all over the place. I came prepared to be skunked as carp are often selective and spooky, but these carp were way easier to catch than carp from other waters I’ve fished. Unfortunately these Middle Fork carp didn’t throw me into my backing but instead went dead weight in the weeds after a few runs. I had to wade all the way into the water to net them. After catching two and missing a whole lot of others I decided to call it a day after the wind starting picking up.

As we were leaving a Mexican family had arrived and were hiking to find a fishing spot. The older abuelo gentlemen asked if I had caught any. I told him I caught two carp and he asked me if I released them to which I replied yes. He acted out being upset in a comical fashion, throwing his hat on the ground after knowing that had I released the fish. Before we got too far he caught up to us and asked how big the carp were. I laughed and gestured “this big.”