Big Chico Creek

Annual Big Chico Creek Summer Visit

I try to visit Big Chico Creek every summer to revisit some of the best small stream smallmouth fishing within Northern California. With the heavy flows from this year’s runoff I was curious to see what the creek would look like compared to last year. Big Chico Creek is always a great place to beat the heat and catch a ton of hard fighting smallies on an UL fly rod in the summer.

Many of my go-to spots near Five-Mile have changed. The smallmouth fishing in this area was great for the past few years due to the deep water however now that this section is shallower the smallies have moved elsewhere. I ventured up and downstream but had a difficult time finding any decent sized fish. Once I made my way up towards Chico Creek canyon trail I began to find some nicer schools of fish and had a grand ole time catching them on krystal buggers and poppers.

Nothing big except big numbers.

Summer Smallies
Yuba River

Summer Day On The Lower Yuba

The flows on the Lower Yuba are now at a “normal” 2,800 CFS. The river has changed drastically and was difficult to fish effectively from the bank. I caught plenty of small trout both on hoppers and nymphs but overall nothing too exciting. The fish were more reluctant to take on the retrieve rather than the dead drift which was very interesting. Hot summer days on the Lower Yuba are usually not very productive but it was good get out for a few hours.

I’ve officially hit the summer slump. Hot triple digit days and too few days off work to travel have slowed down my fishing adventures. Tight lines and stay cool out here!