Conservation - Gold Country Fly Fishers

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GCFF Conservation Committee

The purpose of the Conservation committee is to be a liaison to the community for the conservation of our watersheds and fisheries by working with local conservation organizations, assisting such organizations in achieving their purpose, or providing funds or manpower for projects that further our mutual goals.

Check out the committee HERE and click on Conservation Committee Members.

Gold Country Fly Fishers Moves to Protect Wild Yuba River Salmon and Steelhead

September 3, 2025, Grass Valley, California

The Gold Country Fly Fishers (GCFF) club has been in the Grass Valley area for almost 40 years. The club meets on the first Tuesday of the month at the Nevada County Fairground in the Ponderosa building. The club's purpose is to promote the art of fly fishing and promote and support the conservation of fisheries, with particular emphasis on the “Catch and Release” ethic. GCFF members work to publicize and promote fly fishing, fly casting, fly tying, and related subjects.

GCFF’s main outreach programs have been focused on youth by hosting or supporting countless kid’s fishing outings, fishing derbies, fly casting instruction, fly tying instruction and helping with local Scouting and educational programs. GCFF offers monthly fly casting instruction from the very beginner basics to advanced level casting skills for adult members and guests. Fly tying skills and fishing information are also available to help get both new and experienced fishers out fly fishing in a family atmosphere.

GCFF is participating again in the annual Yuba Fest at Sycamore Ranch Park off Highway 20 east of Marysville on September 6, 2025 from 9 am to 5 pm. Yuba Fest is open to the public and is a celebration of the Yuba River for all people who fish and recreate on the river and to celebrate the people and groups that work to preserve and enhance the Yuba watershed.

This year, the Yuba Fest theme takes on a more significant meaning because of the proposed Nature Like Fishway (NLF) at Daguerre Point Dam (DPD). The fishway, estimated to cost about 60 million dollars, will allow all fish species to navigate upstream of the dam. This will include striped bass that eat growing salmon, steelhead and trout and American shad that compete for resources and eat fish eggs and small fish. There are concerns that allowing striped bass and shad above the Daguerre Point Dam will further threaten the endangered wild salmon and the wild steelhead and trout fishery.

The lower Yuba River above Daguerre Point Dam is a wild salmon and steelhead sanctuary, a world renowned destination wild steelhead and trout fishery, a California Fish and Game Commission, “Designated Wild Trout Water,” and is a critical part of wild salmon and steelhead recovery on the west coast.

The DPD was rebuilt in the 1960’s to include two fish ladders on either end of the dam. The dam was built to retain remnant hydraulic mining sediments and provide irrigation diversions. While the ladders still work when cleaned and maintained, the design is old and causes migration delays, particularly for wild spring-run salmon. The US Army Corp of Engineers operates the dam, but has not consistently maintained the ladders or planned for upgrades. Currently the fish ladders at DPD prevent the upstream movement of sturgeon, striped bass, and shad.

In 2014 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) salmon and steelhead recovery plan listed, “Passage impediment at Daguerre Point Dam affecting adult immigration and juvenile outmigration” and “Predation of juveniles” as two key stressors on the lower Yuba for these endangered fish. In 2018 the NMFS green sturgeon recovery plan identified DPD as a migration barrier for sturgeon. In 2015, CDFW identified Pacific Lamprey as a Species of Special Concern and listed passage barriers like DPD as a key threat. Based on these plans, fisheries agencies have been focused on Daguerre Point Dam for modifications. Unfortunately, the NLF project does not yet plan to manage predation issues.

The sturgeon recovery plan calls for two rivers supporting a reproducing sturgeon population and the Sacramento River currently supports only one. The plan indicates that the portion of the Lower Yuba above DPD is the only river reach that might meet the criteria for a second reproducing sturgeon population.

GCFF took the lead to protect the lower Yuba sanctuary above DPD from the introduction of non-native predators. As a result of an April 2024 letter, two public meetings with agency representatives were held in April 2025. These meetings led to members of GCFF being included in technical team meetings to address predation concerns resulting from the NLF project. GCFF is working with an enlarged stakeholder group and NLF project leaders to include a predation monitoring and management program as part of the project goals and operations.

Come to Yuba Fest on September 6 at Sycamore Ranch Park to learn more about the Daguerre Point Dam Nature Like Fishway project, its impacts on the Yuba River and how to get involved in protecting this world renowned wild steelhead and trout fishing destination and take the opportunity for you and your family to pick up a fly rod and try a few casts.

Download this article as a PDF

Check Out this Sacramento Bee Article Featuring our very own Conservation Committee:

Does a proposed effort to aid Yuba River fish clear a way for predators, too?

Conservation Education Board Report for April 2025

Two meetings were held by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) regarding the Nature Like Fishway (NLF) around Deguerre Point Dam (DPD). One on 27 Feb at the CDFW headquarters in Rancho Cordova and the other on 13 Mar at the SYRCL office in Nevada City. Federal staff from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was not able to attend either meeting. Participants met in person and online.

The key agency positions were as follows. The DPD, even with existing operating fish ladders, is a significant obstruction to passage of salmon, particularly spring run. The ladders will not be brought up to current standards by the owner of the dam, the Army Corps of Engineers, (ACOE). The agencies CDFW and NOAA are making the decision on the type of passage around DPD that will be needed to provide a significant expansion of spawning above DPD. Their current preferred alternative is the NLF that will include a modern plate fish screen for the irrigation diversion on the south side of DPD. The NLF will also allow the listed green sturgeon access to an additional 12 miles of the Yuba River. The key assumption by CDFW and NOAA is that the significant increase in spawning by salmon will more than offset the increased predation from striped bass that access the river above the NLF. The impacts on the quality of the sport fishing in the Yuba River above DPD are not part of their considerations. It should be noted that the Yuba Water Agency will be required to build the NLF, but YWA has the position that only the agencies requiring the structure are responsible for specifying what gets built and will be responsible for monitoring and impacts on the fishery. YWA will be funding the monitoring.

The comments from the participants were against the proposed NLF. They would prefer that the ACOE be required to upgrade the fish ladders. If the NLF is to be built, then design a high step barrier at the start only passible by salmon and steelhead and use trap and haul for placing sturgeon above DPD. A subset of that position would be to put the high step barrier in for 5-10 years, monitor the improvement in salmon production to see if the CDFW and NOAA assumption is correct. If yes, then remove the high step barrier and see if the assumption still holds true. If not, replace the high step barrier. The commenters noted that the typical water temperature in the Yuba above DPD would be too cold for sturgeon to spawn and that there is very little habitat for the sturgeon.

We await the official report from the agencies. CDFW did indicate that the meeting participants would be able to meet with their technical committees.

We appear to have the attention of the agencies.

Conservation Education Board Report for March 2025

March 24, 2025

The committee's guest speakers for our meeting were Willy Whittlesey, the General Manager of Yuba Water Agency and Danielle Conway, Fisheries Restoration Program Manager for SYRCL.

Danielle and Willy gave the group a great Co-presentation about the current and proposed salmon restoration projects on the Lower Yuba River (LYR). The program's slide presentation covered the new Rose Bar spawning areas and the Hallwood salmon rearing project. The speakers talked about the proposed new project at Long Bar as the next scheduled spawning restoration project on the LYR.
The proposed Nature Like Fishway at Daguerre Point Dam (DPD) was the first item on the regular agenda.

The committee is opposed to this project because as proposed the project would allow Striped Bass, a known predator of salmonids, into the sanctuary waters above DPD.

Our committee, local guides, many fisheries biologists, SYRCL, GCFF, NCCFFI and many local NGO groups, are going on record stating this project needs a Striped Bass barrier.

We are all waiting for answers back from NOAA and CDFW on our concerns about introducing predatory fish above DPD.

We will keep our members informed as this project moves forward.

Conservation Education Board Report for November 2024

The Yuba County Water Agency is in the process of obtaining a new operations license for their facilities. The current focus is on the operation of the Narrows #1 and #2 hydro power plants just downstream of Englebright Dam. The timing and flow capacity through these facilities can affect river water temperature and impact the flood plain spawning and rearing areas downstream of the dam.

The issues:
1- Can the releases be made to better mimic a more natural flow hydrograph, particularly for spring run salmon and steelhead?
2- Is there sufficient outlet capacity at the current facilities and how does that link to operations at New Bullards Dam (not part of the Narrows facilities regulatory review)?

Poster sessions on the license review process were presented on 13 November in Yuba City and14 November in Grass Valley. Representatives of the Conservation Committee and South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL)were at these sessions. Comments are due by 2 Dec 2024.

There is an inherit conflict between the jurisdictions and review processes of the principle environmental review agencies; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and the newer Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan 55% unimpaired flow requirements. Remember California has the most complex water delivery system in the United States and the Yuba-Bear River network is probably the most complex in the state. The relicensing process has been going on for many years.

To help provide a voice for the local non-governmental organizations the Foothills Water Network (FWN) was formed. The FWN represents a broad coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGO) and water resource stakeholders in the Yuba, Bear, and American River Watersheds. The overall goal of the Foothills Water Network is to provide a forum that increases the effectiveness of non-profit conservation organizations to achieve river and watershed restoration and protection benefits for the Yuba, Bear, and American rivers. This includes negotiations at the county, state, and federal levels, with an immediate focus on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) relicensing processes. The. The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) and SYRCL typically prepare the comments submitted by the FWN.

Conservation Committee is the FWN representative for the Gold Country Fly Fishers.