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[cool][#0000ff]Today might have been my last tubing trip for 2008. Maybe. If not, it was a good one to end the year on. Great weather, great company and great fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Waljustia and I hit the water to the west of the Oasis ramp about 9 AM. Dead calm, no breeze and temps almost up to freezing already. Very little ice in the guides before the warming sun kicked in.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temps ranged from 41 at launch to 43 about noon. It was a surprise to see that the water had come up about a foot and dropped 2 degrees in temperature since last Sunday. We noticed some skim ice out in the middle of the north bay coming in, and the DNR biologist said there was about a half inch of ice up near Painted Rocks. Won't be long now.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]With the slightly deeper and cooler water, the fish had moved a bit since a few days ago. It took a few minutes to find them, out in 45 to 47 feet, but once we got in the zone we started exercising them. Since the average perch was running over ten inches, we decided not to keep any less than about 10.5 inches. We both got limits of the bigger fish, including some in the 13 inch range. Fat little piggies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Once I had a quick 7 or 8 bigguns in the basket, I began to experiment with different lures. Turns out that I caught "basket sized" perch on at least 7 different lures...and several colors...including glow chartreuse, pale perch, fire tiger, and glitter white glow. a fairly large chunk of perch meat produced the most and biggest fish, but I also caught a couple of gooduns on my drop shot rig and a piece of crawler. Probably caught well over 30 perch, but only a few dinks...including the "15 incher" in the pics.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The young DWR biologist was at the ramp again. He parked and watched us fishing...along with a couple or three other "perch jerker" boats on the lake. He came down to take counts and measurements as we beached our tubes about noon. He was impressed with the average size of the fish we kept, and was happy to hear that the fish we quickly released had all been able to power back down without becoming floaters.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Took W to Reed's Drive In in Nephi on the way home for a super sandwich and fries. Perfect end to a perfect day.[/#0000ff]
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That almost looks like Kent in his Portabote behind W in that pic. Sounds like another great day out there for ya Pat...I think I work too much.
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I'm glad to see them hog perch still in yuba. the best 2 pics are the last 2, I'm happy to see the dwr guys out and about checking fishermen. later chuck
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[cool][#0000ff]Couldn't have been Kent. Those two guys actually caught some fish. But, they only caught 15 between them...including small ones. We smacked 'em bad.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here's a better pic so you can verify it ain't Kent. I didn't think there were that many guys brave (foolish) enough to fish from one of those.[/#0000ff]
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Great report those perchies are looking good . I am headed out there tommorow on my boat probably for the last time this year. Where the perch hugging the bottom or were they suspended? Mrs ocean wants to eat some perch so i amtaking her on a perch hunt tommorow.Last ice season bruce caught a nice fat perch and i have never heard the end of that catch ! So i am in need to get me one bigger than his ]
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[cool][#0000ff]The fish were definitely bottom huggers. In fact, several were caught while the jig was resting on the bottom and the fish picked it up. I caught several on my "dropshot" rig by dragging a perchmeat/jig combo on the bottom with a worm baited dropper a foot above...but out a ways behind the tube so that both were probably dragging the bottom. It is a very clean bottom...no snags all day.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The key seemed to be watching the sonar and moving back and forth between 42 and 47 feet. Rarely did we get bit any shallower or deeper. The fish we caught shallower were all dinks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You will see a ton of fish on sonar, but most of them are probably carp (see attached pic). It was interesting that most of my biggest fish came while I was seeing nothing on sonar...and a couple of times I was commenting to W on the walkie talkie when BAM. I think the larger fish are more solitary and cruise around by themselves. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We found fish all the way between the ramp and the bridge. But, the area straight out from the buoy by the fence produced several nice fish for each of us.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good luck. Say hi to the fambly.[/#0000ff]
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Thanks for the advice i will start shallow and see if i can pick one of for bait . Thats one of the spots i ice fish. I am going to check a few other spots if the weather holds up . Lisa hasnt caught a fish since July and since she works and goes to school tommorow will be the first time in a long time we have the same day off miracles do happen.
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[quote Theekillerbee]That almost looks like Kent in his Portabote behind W in that pic. [/quote]
Not me, I wouldn't mind chasing the pike, but have no interest in going after perch. But my real need is to walk on water again -- it has been too long since Henry's Lake.
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TD-
Thanks again for a great day on the water. Man, that big fat perch looks much smaller in photos w/ big ol' me as a backdrop.
I caught all my perch on TD's Ultra minnows/perch meat.
With the exception of my biggest fish, I was goofing off with a chartreuse sonar when it hit. I thought I snagged a carp. Was very surprised to see a big fat perch hooked in the mouth.
Pat schooled me in more ways than one. he had his limit in the basket (Remember they're all 11" or bigger) while I had one in mine.
Then, there's me.
To say that the perch in Yuba are a healthy size is an understatement. So many other places in the state fishermen would be happy to catch and keep the fish we were throwing back.
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[cool][#0000ff]Hey Bro, good times. That was your first time fishing Yuba. You started slow but you finished fast. As I recall, you got the last 4 or 5 decent fish. And, with big fish honors you have nothing to be humble about. You done good. There are a lot of Yuba "regulars" that can't score a limit of toads like you did.[/#0000ff]
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Very nice Pat
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks. Are you guys in hibernation now?[/#0000ff]
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Howjadooit? Every time you post pics from Yuba it's glassy. Every time I go there I gotta fill my pockets with rocks to keep from gittin blowed away & I'm purty chubby around the belly.
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We fished Willow Beach Thanksgiving,biggest 15 lbs Striped bass
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[#008000]Nice looking perch ! You gonna make up some of your famous chowder ? [/#008000]
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[#008000]Ahhh, Reed's. Been a spell since I had some of those great victuals.[/#008000]
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As always, great report Pat, those are some real fatties you have there. Does the rule about keeping the first 10 perch you catch start in January?
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[quote Fishhound][#008000][/#008000]
[#008000]Ahhh, Reed's. Been a spell since I had some of those great victuals.[/#008000][/quote]
Boy, you're not kidding. TD told me I need to have a burger from there, and recommended the Pastrami burger. Now, I might make the drive again just to take my wife! Good eats there!
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[quote GEEZER]Howjadooit? Every time you post pics from Yuba it's glassy. Every time I go there I gotta fill my pockets with rocks to keep from gittin blowed away & I'm purty chubby around the belly.[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]Hey Tom, ya gotta live right and worship often...at the church of the 7th day angler. In case you didn't catch my post from last Sunday, I went down to pray for good weather on Thursday. It worked.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In reality, I am properly grateful for the blessings I receive...especially calm days on Yuba. I have had plenty of the other kind...enough to appreciate the good ones when I get 'em.[/#0000ff]
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[quote Fishhound][#008000]Nice looking perch ! You gonna make up some of your famous chowder ? [/#008000][/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]Made up a batch of chowder a couple of weeks ago. Still working off the extra calories and trying to get my arteries to soften up a bit more. That stuff is good, but hazardous to your health. Oh well, if ya gotta go somehow, it could be worse.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Gonna wait 'til TubeBabe gets back in town tomorrow and see how she wants them. Chances are we will scampi them over pasta. Still decadent...but deeeeeliciawurst.[/#0000ff]
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[quote wiperhunter2]As always, great report Pat, those are some real fatties you have there. Does the rule about keeping the first 10 perch you catch start in January?[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]Thanks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The mandatory "First 10" rule applies from Jan. 1 to April 30. Still not sure I can get behind that regulation. I do not condone someone killing a bunch of small perch to cull out a limit of larger fish...when they are pulled up from water deep enough to cause the air bladder to protrude from their mouths. But, after observing the REALITY of the situation over the first year that Yuba has been reopened to the harvest of perch I fail to see how the law is REALLY helping. And, if the goal is to protect fish taken from deep water, why arbitrarily start the restricition by the calendar...Jan. 1? Perch go deep enough to cause problems as soon as the water cools in the fall. I have caught perch with the "bends" for a couple of months already. But, most of them are able to power down and survive. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Like many others, I hit Yuba several times in January and February this last winter...checking out the unmolested perch population. Surprisingly, some of the best perch fishing was in water less than 30 feet deep...and the perch did not suffer much from the rapid ascent to the hole. Those that came off at the hole...accidentally or "on purpose"...seemed to rocket right back down to the bottom without any problems. Others noticed this too, and the practice of shaking off the little fish without touching them became common...even when most folks knew they were being watched by a spotting scope from that tan truck at the top of the hill. The majority of "wasted fish" I observed were those left on the ice by slobs who killed the fish and left them because they were too small to take home and fillet.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I don't pretend to be a biologist, or to know more than the trained professionals whose job it is to manage our fisheries. However, I have known and fished Yuba for several decades...and through several boom and crash cycles. I have observed that no matter what DWR tries to employ, to manage that lake, it will still be subject to the same old up and down routine. They might delay the inevitable for a year or two, but they will never make it a level and stable fishery...for any species.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My point? Forget the RAC process on such a volatile and unstable fishery. Set the regulations each year, based upon water levels, net surveys, angler creel census and input...and COMMON SENSE. Under the current program, the lake is analyzed to death but nothing gets done in a timely fashion. A species population can explode or crash within the time it takes for DWR to decide to do something...anything. In the meantime, anglers miss out on great short term fishing opportunities, and by the time things are changed there are no more fish left to pursue.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In short...at this time there is an overabundance of food (perch fry) in Yuba. Heavy at the bottom end of the food chain. Consequently, adult perch are feeding well and growing fat. Walleyes also. They are so well fed on perch that they are seldom caught by anglers...in spite of a healthy walleye population. The pike? As the top predator they eat everything else. No worries. Yet.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The carp one of the big BAD factors right now. I have never seen so many. Utah Lake South. They account for a large percentage of the biomass of Yuba and it will explode even more this next year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yuba is vulnerable. One bad spawning year and the lake could go crash city in one year. If Yuba does not fill enough to get the water up into the vegetation by perch spawning time, the balance of the ecosystem could tip...or fall. Once the system becomes top heavy with predators, the baby perch disappear from the system and all of the predators become very easy to catch. Just as before the last crash, EVERYBODY can catch walleyes. But, when the ice recedes after a hard winter it is SILENT SPRING. Everything has croaked from starvation.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That's a lot of words to say that I disagree with the mandatory "First and Ten" rule. It makes no sense. It really does not save any small perch and it makes it tough on someone who drives two hours for 10 fish and has to settle for nothing but dinks. And, two years from now when there are NO perch left of any size, we will ask ourselves..."Why did I have to keep those little ones? Everything died anyway."[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Again, I am not a biologist. But, I know what I have seen...and I ain't seen much from DWR that would ever make a difference on a lake that is regulated by weather and water users more than a fisheries agency. To me, it is like building a row of sand castles on the beach to stop a tidal wave that is gonna come in whether you do anything or not.[/#0000ff]
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