Freestone · Mixed · Northern California

North Fork Yuba River

River Esk (North Yorkshire Moors) terrain map
Terrain map

A pretty, tumbling Sierra freestone running alongside Highway 49, with easy pullouts and pocket water you could spend a lifetime on.

Species

About as good as it gets

River steady at a fishable height. About as fair as it ever gets — go properly.

75% confidence in this read
Water temperature for brown trout
Ideal
15°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
Why this score · for brown trout
  • Temperature10028% weight
  • Flow8022% weight
  • Clarity9518% weight
  • Feeding Time5013% weight
  • Pressure807% weight
  • Insect activity6512% weight
Conditions
Level
0.88 m
Water temp
14.7°C
Estimated
Clarity
Clear
Air temp
24°C
Wind
SW 15 km/h
Gentle breeze
Pressure
1015 hPa
Rain · 48h
0.0 mm
No meaningful rain
Rain · ahead
0.0 mm
No meaningful rain · next 48h

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

How to fish it · for brown trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though time of day could be better.
Through the year
0–3 scale · June highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
GrannomHatch
2
2
Evening SedgeHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Western Green DrakeHatch
2
2
Flav (Small Western Green Drake)Hatch
2
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • CDFW general trout season; verify gear rules by reach.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
About this water

A pretty, tumbling Sierra freestone running alongside Highway 49, with easy pullouts and pocket water you could spend a lifetime on. It's wild-trout country — rainbows and a few browns holding behind every greased boulder and in every plunge. The spring runoff comes hard with the snowmelt, but once it drops and clears this is happy dry-dropper fishing, the kind where an attractor and a beadhead will keep you busy all day. By late summer it warms in the lower reaches, so climb a little higher or fish the cool of the morning.

  • Mixed
Seasons & zones
  • TroutLast Saturday in April → 15 November
Other water nearby · 5