>>I live near an old channel of the Yuba River near the mother lode. I was thinking of going up the left bank and seeing if I could find gold nuggets...
You can with the right gear. There’s gold in there. The right gear may be expensive, but with research and time you’ll probably find some nice gold bits. You might get better payback with gold panning / sluicing though. Give it a shot; it’s great fun.
I should have specified.. this is an old channel where the river ran over 200 years ago but is now dry... there are pear orchards along each side. So you can walk inside the channel and scan up the bank... gold is usually found along the ‘cutting’ side according to what I’ve read about deposits along these rivers.