Yuba River

Guided Float Trips

$650 for 1-2 anglers including shuttle

Year-round
Drift Boat Trips

The Lower Yuba River is home to healthy wild trout and a variety of hatches. Open and usually fishable year-round, this crystal-clear trout stream is home to some of the best dry fly fishing in northern California. Scroll down to learn why our guides and fishing guests love to fish the Yuba!

Flowing from the bottom of Englebright Dam, the Lower Yuba River stays clear and cold all year long. Consistent flows provide for excellent bug life and predictable hatches. Baetis mayflies are present throughout the winter months and are joined by skwala stoneflies in January and February. Early spring is a great time for March Browns and Pale Morning Dun mayflies. Caddisflies become active in April and hatch throughout the summer months. Summer is hopper time and is also a great time to wet-wade and fish trout-spey techniques. Fall is time for salmon-egg imitations and blue wing olive mayflies.

The Yuba River is less than an hour from Sacramento and within a three hour drive of the Bay Area. Guided float trips begin near the Highway 20 Bridge east of Marysville where the river emerges from the foothills into the valley. Our guests float to Sycamore Ranch or all the way to Daguerre Dam. The Yuba River is a great place to wade and we frequently spend a fair time out of the boat during a typical guide trip. We fish dry flies on 5wt rods and nymphs on 6wt rods.

Trout on the Yuba River come in all sizes. Most days we connect with fish up to 16 inches and 18 inch fish are not uncommon. The biggest Yuba River trout are in the 24 inch range. Many of these fish are likely to be steelhead rather than resident rainbows. These larger fish come to the net more frequently during the fall and winter months. There is no hatchery on the Yuba River, so it's quite rare to hook into anything other than a wild, native rainbow here.

Ben Thompson and Mat Squillante are our go-to guides on the Yuba River. Both have private access above the Highway 20 Bridge and also at Daguerre Dam. This private access makes possible a great full-day float of about 7 river miles. The section of river below the Highway 20 bridge is open year-round and excellent fishing can be had at any time of year. Every trip offers our guests numerous opportunities at quality wild rainbow trout.

Recent Yuba River Fishing Reports

July 26, 2026

Yuba River Report by Mat Squillante

Recently, every day on the Yuba's been different. Colin and I ran trips together and separately. Some days fish poked their nose up to grab hoppers and other days, they seemed more interested in nymphs - nymphing's been good. Today was a mix of top water and sub-surface action, with some fun hopper grabs. Watching a wild trout rise to inhale your hopper is always exciting. It's not red hot action yet so it takes some patient, accurate and persistent casting to pull a few fish from the shadows but the grabs are worth the effort.

April 29, 2026

Yuba River Report by Mat Squillante

Why book the Yuba now? The spring fishing is usually very good, and 2026 has been, but the weather also makes the day more enjoyable. The river lacks shade and right now, the weather's perfect – not too hot, not too cold. Flows are very fishable and the action has been good. May and June are likely to offer some good hatches that can get fish looking up.

April 10, 2026

Yuba River Report by Mat Squillante

The Yuba's a great river that offers blue ribbon fishing for wild rainbow trout. It's closer to the Bay Area than the Lower Sac which makes it a more friendly day trip option. It's been fishing well and will continue to through the spring and into the summer.