A Surprise at Utah Lake

[lifeshort]

Drove down to Saratoga City Boat Harbor Sunday morning for hopefully some catch and release white bass action. Arrived at daylight and walked out on the docks and set up. Only about 1" of ice. Dropped a small jig down to the bottom and started jigging. One ice rod and one ultralight with 6 pound test. Fishing was slower than last couple of weeks but still good. Just a perfect pace to sit in a lawn chair and relax. Only about 3 to 4 feet deep. Just right to hook a fish lift it up without reeling, release it and drop the jig back down for more. Mostly white bass but an occasional dink perch. Everything was going good until I got a little tap on my ultralight outfit and set the hook. Instead of a panfish coming out of the water the tip of the pole went straight down and line started screaming off the reel. During the fight we thought maybe a carp, maybe a big cat, maybe a walleye. None of the above.

My first northern. Lucky to land it. I dropped it on the dock and in the scramble to grab it my sons ice pole fell off the dock and in the water. It had a cardinal number 4 made in Sweden on it. Bummer
After the excitement calmed down from everybody wanting a picture that were fishing around us I put a daredevil with a treble hook on it and drug it around under the dock and was lucky enough to hook the lost pole. FUN DAY

[wiperhunter2]

Great story, thanks for sharing it with us. I know it happens but it sure is rare to hear of anyone catching a Northern out of Utah lake. How long was it?

[Fritzfishin]

Nice catch!! Wish we could catch more of them! Pike were the best thing about yuba now theyre like ghosts..

[SkunkedAgain]

Congrats, I'll bet that was fun.... J

[Kent]

Congrats Don. They are a fun fish to catch (I was fortunate to catch some in Yuba, back in the day.)

[lifeshort]

Great story, thanks for sharing it with us. I know it happens but it sure is rare to hear of anyone catching a Northern out of Utah lake. How long was it?

30"

[hook_sets]

Drove down to Saratoga City Boat Harbor Sunday morning for hopefully some catch and release white bass action. Arrived at daylight and walked out on the docks and set up. Only about 1" of ice. Dropped a small jig down to the bottom and started jigging. One ice rod and one ultralight with 6 pound test. Fishing was slower than last couple of weeks but still good. Just a perfect pace to sit in a lawn chair and relax. Only about 3 to 4 feet deep. Just right to hook a fish lift it up without reeling, release it and drop the jig back down for more. Mostly white bass but an occasional dink perch. Everything was going good until I got a little tap on my ultralight outfit and set the hook. Instead of a panfish coming out of the water the tip of the pole went straight down and line started screaming off the reel. During the fight we thought maybe a carp, maybe a big cat, maybe a walleye. None of the above.

My first northern. Lucky to land it. I dropped it on the dock and in the scramble to grab it my sons ice pole fell off the dock and in the water. It had a cardinal number 4 made in Sweden on it. Bummer
After the excitement calmed down from everybody wanting a picture that were fishing around us I put a daredevil with a treble hook on it and drug it around under the dock and was lucky enough to hook the lost pole. FUN DAY

Congrats on the surprise catch.

[Mooseman75]

Congrats on the catch and getting your pole back. Plus the other surprise....the green lawn looking like it's ready to mow in January lol

[TubeDude]

Some surprises are better than others.  That was a good one. 

Surprisingly, the Saratoga Springs Marina at Pelican Bay has probably produced more northern pike the past few years than almost anywhere else around the lake.  There is a lot more "structure" there...plus some deeper water after dredging.  That attracts more white bass and small perch...especially in low water conditions...and they attract more predators.  I know of several bigger pike that have been taken by guys pitching bass lures around the docks or fishing the rocks around the edge.

[Fritzfishin]

Theres been a couple good eyes pulled out this winter to that I know of. Just gotta fish when not many others are down there making noise...

[abovethelineutah]

What an amazing catch. Did you end up eating the pike? I've always wondered how they taste.

[TubeDude]

What an amazing catch. Did you end up eating the pike? I've always wondered how they taste.

Northern pike are great on the table.  They have firm flaky white flesh...not too far off from walleyes.  Their only drawback is that they have a row of "Y" bones in their fillets that have to be either cut out before cooking or picked out after cooking.  There are lots of videos and website articles on how to fillet northern pike.  Here are videos of two different ways.  I prefer the first method.  I just remove the fillets as I would with any similar sized fish, and then use my fingers and eyes to locate the row of Y bones and remove them...before skinning.

FILLETING PIKE #1
FILLETING PIKE #2

[wiperhunter2]

What an amazing catch. Did you end up eating the pike? I've always wondered how they taste.

Welcome to the site abovethelineutah.

[lifeshort]

What an amazing catch. Did you end up eating the pike? I've always wondered how they taste.

It is frozen whole. I need to learn how to from The Tube Dude Tutorials. Sorry for the late reply have been under the weather. I will let you know how it is