Lower Yuba River (Wild Trout & Shad)
Marysville / Browns Valley · near Marysville / Browns Valley · Gold Country & Central Valley
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Wild trout year-round · shad May–June · steelhead/salmon fall–winter
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+) required; Steelhead Report Card for steelhead. The lower Yuba is a Wild Trout river (special regs, barbless) with a strong wild-rainbow population, plus a great spring shad run and fall/winter steelhead and salmon. Drift-boat and bank access.
What is here
- Features
- Wild rainbow trout tailwater · Great spring shad run · Fall salmon & winter steelhead · Gold-country river
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Fishing detail
- Water type
- river
- Water
- fresh
- Methods
- Fly · Drift · Casting
- Boat
- both
- Target species
- Wild rainbow trout · Steelhead · American shad (spring) · King salmon (fall)
- Intl tip
- License required (Steelhead Report Card for steelhead). A Wild Trout river (special regs, barbless) with strong wild rainbows year-round, plus the great May–June shad run and fall/winter salmon and steelhead. Drift-boat and bank access. Quieter than the Feather/American. Combine with gold-country history. Versatile and underrated.
The guide
The lower Yuba River, flowing through the gold-country foothills below its dams to meet the Feather near Marysville, is a hidde…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lower Yuba River (Wild Trout & Shad) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.21, -121.35