Milton Lake - The Ultimate Stillwater Challenge

Milton Lake (Reservoir) is a small impoundment along the Middle Fork of the Yuba River 2 miles below Jackson Meadows Reservoir.  Its renown as one of the premier still water fisheries in the West. The lake has a rocky past, plagued by mismanagement and the introduction of AIS (namely bullhead catfish), however, California DFG finally figure out the secret sauce, fight fire with fire.  They currently manage this as a barbless C&R fishery and are successful in maintaining a self-sustaining population of mature brown trout (and rainbows) which keep the AIS in check. 

Known for trophy trout, this fishery requires both patience and skill, bring your "A" game and long, light leaders.  Match the hatch and wait, wait, wait.  These discerning fish don't care how far you came to hook them, they're finicky and fickle, emerging from the deeper channels from time to time to feed, then retreating once the hatch wanes.  In 1993 the lake was drained and restructured, from a perch high above the lake you can see the 10ft deep channels created by excavators designed to give the fish access to the shallower reaches of the lake's eastern boundaries at the confluence of the Middle Fork of the Yuba River.  Yeah, that's right, a steady stream of 45 degree water feeds this impoundment year round, its like the Little Truckee...with a lake to keep the fish there year round.  From what I've read, large fish migrate into the river in the spring (rainbows) and fall (browns), but CA shuts this fishery down between Nov and April, so check the regs.  Check out the Middle Fork of the Yuba confluence (below).

Also check my killer shrimp scampi...

And my most awesome campsite in the entire Jackson Meadows Res. area as proven by scientific studies...no neighbors to be seen!
So nice, the boat is right next to the camp site...picture perfect

Behold, "Trout Truck" keeps a close vigil over the lake... 2013 Power Wagon!

Majestic vista perched above Milton Lake

My eldest son catches a fish before me, spinning rod with fly gear rigged to it, he's the man!

Busted a couple of busters off, but this is indicative of what I actually got to the net, small feisty browns.  I'll say this, I believe the folklore of 2+ foot rainbows and browns upward of 30" in this alpine impoundment, the former I can definitively attest to via a sightings along the northern shoreline with the sun directly overhead, i saw a couple 25" bows amongst another 100 in the 14-16" range.

Man, it don't get better than this, my three son, me and a cold one!  Can't wait for my daughter to join us in a couple years!

Thanks for looking!  

PS: don't take a trailer down past the inlet of the Yuba unless you first walk it, its rough and there are almost no turn around areas, use EXTEME caution, took me a half hour to get out, nearly had to use the winch to pull the trailer out.

Fall River Oregon - The Perfect Place to Teach Kids

Anyone familiar with the Fall River near Sun River, OR, a spring creek tributary of the Deschutes River would, at first blush, say I'm crazy....but hear me out.  This 8-mile technical fishery is know for making grown men cry, but despite this being one of the most frustrating, 15ft-leader, 7x tippet, #22 fly, perfect drift rivers, there is a section along the fish hatchery which is regularly planted with nice Crane Bows of catchable size. Though they're hatchery fish, they learn the ways of the river quick, and while they're not exactly simple to catch, there are enough of them that your bound to hook up.  The terrain and stream shore is very kid friendly and the water is crystal clear so the kids can see the fish they're targeting.  The river hydrology is quite conducive to roll casting with an indicator which is perfect for younger guys.  These fish are real jumpers and put up a healthy fight and most are wary, requiring that you switch up leaders and flies to get the take.  There is just enough action and technical skill involved to keep both child and adult engaged for hours.

PS: You'd have to see it to believe it, but after a few days on the river I learned that under one of the log jams in one of the deeper holes, when the sun shines just right you can get a visual on 3 VERY large fish, I mean 22, 24 and 26 inchers; right smack dab next to the hatchery.  No doubt these fish feed on the planters that get released there weekly.  During the day they're almost impossible to see and even more difficult to cast or drift to, however, at dusk they'll come out into a feeding lane where a carefully mended drift on 7x can spark some interest.  Again, you'd have to see it to believe it but I hooked the biggest of the bunch, more like a steelhead.  I'd put him at 26" (6-7lb) and I'd put the duration of the fight at 4-5 seconds before he broke the surface and was off.  Even if he stayed buttoned up, the chances of landing a fish that size in that tiny river in between about 6 criss-crossed logs, 2%, but holy crap, I couldn't believed how big some of those fish are in such a small creek, now I know why its so famous!  During the entire trip I probably saw 3 similar sized fish but only hooked the one.