Yuba River

Stupid For Skwalas

It’s been a little over a month since my last fly fishing outing. My fishing gear and fly tying table have been collecting dust due to my work and family schedule however I was fortunate enough to sneak out this week to check out the Yuba for the first time this year. The flows are in the 900 CFS range with makes for easy and comfortable wading. The big talk of the town right now is that the skwalas are out and are making for some good fishing. With the early spring-like weather we’ve been getting it was time to check it out.

Dinks on Dries

A while back I made a prediction that the big flows flattening out much of the Lower Yuba would make for great dry fly fishing and my prediction was true. I saw and was able to rise several fish throughout the day in some of the newer flats of the Yuba. It’s currently bug city out there with midges, mayflies, and skwalas fluttering about and the fish are on them. The only downside to this great dry fly fishing is that most of the fish are smaller and not so smart therefore they’re pretty “stupid for skwalas” at the moment. This has been the best skwala hatch in a while though so get it while it’s hot.

The best time to fish was from noon to about four with peak activity around two. Dry flies were the name of the game whereas I only had one grab on my nymphing rig.

Skwala Riser

I believe that some areas are fishing better than others but I won’t give any locations because good dry fly fishing news on the Lower Yuba spreads fast. So if you have some time and don’t mind rising a few small bows on a dry then definitely give the Lower Yuba some of your time.

Bugs Are Out And Crawlin On Me