Keepin’ it live on HWY 49

I always like to read Andrew Harris’s book about Plumas National Forest Trout Fishing Guide. The book helps me dream at night when I sleep. A couple of things that I wanted to accomplish this year were to be more productive in Stillwater trout fishing and to catch a brookie or two. I have been reading about how nice the Lakes Basin is in Harris’s book. There are tons of lakes to fish. Some you can drive up to them and some you have to hike to them. I liked the idea of fishing Young American Lake. It was totally off the beaten path. The hike didn’t seem to be that bad. I looked on my Plumas national forest map and saw the hike was only a mile long. I read that I could drive to Tamarack Lakes and make a cross-country hike. It seemed very doable in my eyes.

After hashing out the trip w/ my wife, who is worried I will get killed on my adventures, I left the house around 11am. I was thinking that I would wait for the sun to warm up the bugs & the fish for me. I was going to be about 7250 feet above sea level. I remember on my last trip to Red Lake that the fish were more active in the warmer parts of that lake and I was thinking the fishing should be very similar. Also, I was thinking if I drive to Truckee, go North on California Hwy 89, and then link up with California Hwy 49, I could save some time. To get to the Lakes Basin on Hwy 49 from Nevada City, one has a lot of turns and curves. Plus descents and climbs out of the South, Middle, and North Fork Yuba River valleys. I was thinking I should get there in over around 2 hours. I was totally wrong, because on the way, there was so much road construction. Then the final climb over the Yuba Pass, I had to wait for a pilot car to take me over, as Hwy 49 became one lane because of construction. Ok, I could live with that. I got to the Sardine Lakes road around 2.5 hours after leaving Sac-Town. Then I was faced with another unseen dilemma.

On my map, which is the Tahoe National Forest map, I guess the Lakes Basin is on the boundary of the Plumas & Tahoe National Forest regions, the road that I thought would take me up to the Tamarack Lakes, was nothing more than a goat trail. In fact I couldn’t even drive up to the Upper Sardine Lake. I came to a part in the road where my left front tire would just spin in the loose gravel. Shucks!!!! Luckily for me, there was a hiker on the road that knew all about the Lakes Basin. She laughed at me when I told her I wanted to drive up to the Tamarack Lakes. She knew of only one way to get there and that was turning off of Packer’s Lakes road, which I past by to get to where I was located at and to hike to Tamarack Lakes. Only then I could get to Young America Lake, but I would need to take to trail to the Sierra Buttes, the highest point in the region and hike down to Young America Lake. She told me that I would be playing w/ survival, because the hike down would be treacherous. Also, she thought if I did do it, I would need to start early in the morning. Damn!!!!


So I went to contingency #1, parking the car at Lower Sardine Lake, then hiking up to Upper Sardine Lake. I was prepared to hump with my Float Tube on my back. I had been practicing for this, by going to the Sacramento Bar pond. One cannot drive up to Sacto Bar Pond. So I would rig myself for a 20 minute hike. After a couple of times, I got the rigging correct. So, I began my hike Upper Sardine. The hike was not a problem. I made the trip in about 15 minutes. A lil’ sweat, but I thought the sacrifice was worth it. It was a beautiful lake & there was no one there on it
Great or so I thought. In the back of my mind, I thought, maybe that was because there were no fish in the lake. I noticed there were some Damsel Flies in the air and some Dragon Flies too. Ok, I would give it a shot. After a couple of hours of casting and not seeing any fishy activities, I thought this was a lost cause. The sun was going down in a hurry. Hmm, contingency #2, the North Fork of the Yuba was right around the corner. So I didi-mau down to the confluence of the NF Yuba and Haypress Creek. I knew there was the Wild Plum Campground there could provide me river access. However, when I got there, I was a bit turned off. There was the settlement of Sierra City right there. Then I heard the dreaded noise from generations that miners use. I thought & didn’t even get out of my car. I would fish what I knew at the NF Yuba. I had a lot success west of Downieville. I thought I could still get there before the sun went completely below the horizon. So I quickly (as legally as I could) got to one of my favorite holes on the NF Yuba.
I got there with about an hour of light left. That was the best decision I made all day. There was a caddis hatch going down. Add to the fact there were gnats and mosquitoes flying around too. On the first cast, I was able to catch my first fish of the day. Eureka!!! This was what I was talkin’ about. It wasn’t that big, but there was something going on here that I could see & make adjustments. Like using two dry flies (Elk Hair Caddis and Black gnat imitations) on a leader about 12 feet. For the next hour, I was either losing grabs or catching fish. On my last cast, I had a strong tug on my flyline, but my last blood knot on my leader gave out & a fish took my flies from me. Now, I have to concentrate and begin learning to tie my most successful dry flies that I have used in the past month, Elk Hair Caddis, Mosquito, and the Black gnat dries. I have learned the smaller they are, the more successful I would become in catching. So now I am off to fly shop to get some #18 hooks and begin my next venture in fly tying. Tight Lines friends until the end!!!