Any info on Yuba

[UTFISHING]

I was thinking of going down to Yuba this weekend.

Any recent reports out there?

I've only been there once ice fishing for pike but would like to take the boat out and give it a try.

I am thinking the water would be a little warmer then here at Willard and the fish just might be biting.

I guess it got a little bit of everything down there tigers, pike, walleye, perch etc etc.

Just figured I would ask if anyone has been there as of recent as I can't find any posts or reports. 

Thanks in advance.

[Fritzfishin]

Went about 3 weeks ago fished a few hours 0 bites.tried worms, jerk baits, spoons, swim baits, curl tails ect.

[TubeDude]

I suspect that the extremely low water levels...combined with the expanded limits on all fish...probably resulted in a great reduction in available fish population.  The last time the lake went so low, DWR planted it with rainbows in the spring...after the lake refilled...and there was some good trout fishing for a couple of years. 

After the last big drawdown, the northern pike made a big return...from a few that had survived in the pools in the river upstream.  There were very few walleyes that survived and perch were harvested from other waters and stocked back into Yuba.  But after a few good years they also declined back to negligible numbers.

With the lack of a reliable forage base, Yuba has trouble maintaining any kind of fishery.  When there are a lot of perch, they spawn enough to feed both themselves and some other predators.  But without chubs or shiners there is not much food for big fish.  Immediately following the last big drawdown, there were a lot of fathead minnows for a year or two.  But the rainbows and the perch slurped them all up and it was back to meager eats.  One year we were catching 6-8# rainbows and 13" perch.  Then the fathead minnows disappeared and the big fish starved out and it was tough to catch a skinny rainbow over 14 inches...or any perch at all.

I miss the Yuba of old.  Abundant walleyes up to 30 inches.  Tons of big perch...some up to 16 inches.  Frequent catches of northern pike and even a lot of big catfish.  And being able to fish in the scour hole below the dam...until vandalism got it closed to public access.  With the wacko weather patterns and increased demands on the water by downstream users...and the power plant that owns the water...it is highly unlikely Yuba will ever reestablish itself as a premier Utah fishery.  Whimper. 

[UTFISHING]

Thank you that's a lot of info.

Maybe I will just go out to Willard and give it a shot then..

Again thank you both for all the info..

[taggmon54]

I iced fished mid Feb and caught 6 walleye. Went up with boat a couple weeks ago no bites. Water cold only mid 40s. Going to try again hopefully this weekend.

[UTFISHING]

Thanks Taggmon

I'm just wanting to try out some different waters other then Willard bay as that's been 99% of where I have been fishing..

[taggmon54]

Thanks Taggmon

I'm just wanting to try out some different waters other then Willard bay as that's been 99% of where I have been fishing..

I am always looking for different bites. This year was first time ice fishing Yuba. Figured since had luck would try open water up there. They were happy with net surveys up there the last few years for walleye and tiger muskies. Pike #s down.

[UTFISHING]

I just wonder how dry did it get last year?

I know that they had good netting but if the water dropped a ton it could have had a big die off.

[TubeDude]

I just wonder how dry did it get last year?

I know that they had good netting but if the water dropped a ton it could have had a big die off.

I had a personal report from a kayaker who fished it several times toward the end of the open water season.  For a while he was getting lots of wipers, but then it dropped way off and the water was only about 12 to 14 feet deep right off the dam.  Don't know how low it actually got, but someone catching a few walleyes under the ice is probably an anomaly...with only a few fish being concentrated in a smaller area...and very competitive for the small amount of food available.  Once the lake fills a bit the remaining few fish will be widely scattered and I doubt anyone will be doing very well.  Hope I am wrong.

[UTFISHING]

Sadly I hope you're wrong also but it stands to make sense...
Thanks ?

[Fishpro22]

I iced fished mid Feb and caught 6 walleye. Went up with boat a couple weeks ago no bites. Water cold only mid 40s. Going to try again hopefully this weekend.

What do you use to catch walleye through the ice? One of my biggest goals is to ice a walleye in the winter.

[jjannie]

I iced fished mid Feb and caught 6 walleye. Went up with boat a couple weeks ago no bites. Water cold only mid 40s. Going to try again hopefully this weekend.

What do you use to catch walleye through the ice? One of my biggest goals is to ice a walleye in the winter.

That would be a great goal!

[taggmon54]

I iced fished mid Feb and caught 6 walleye. Went up with boat a couple weeks ago no bites. Water cold only mid 40s. Going to try again hopefully this weekend.

What do you use to catch walleye through the ice? One of my biggest goals is to ice a walleye in the winter.

I used jointed minnow with pieces of crawler

[TubeDude]

I iced fished mid Feb and caught 6 walleye. Went up with boat a couple weeks ago no bites. Water cold only mid 40s. Going to try again hopefully this weekend.

What do you use to catch walleye through the ice? One of my biggest goals is to ice a walleye in the winter.

There are no "no-fail" lures or techniques to catch walleyes through the ice...on any waters...especially in Utah.  As in open water, most walleyes caught through the ice are "on accident"...while fishing for other species.  If walleyes are in a feeding mode they will hit most of the same jigs and baits you use for the other species in the same waters. 

If you look on YouTube you will find a lot of videos showing techniques used by ice anglers in other parts of the country.  But you have to consider that most of those fisheries have far greater numbers of walleyes and good forage bases to keep them healthy.  Also, they are able to use live minnows in many of those areas...and we are not.  But some midwest wallie whackers do well on a jig tipped with only a minnow head...or just part of a minnow.  And that can work well in Utah too.

I suspect that any walleye remaining in Yuba will be easier to catch than those in other waters with more food resources.  But in former years...when there were a lot of perch still in Yuba...young perch were the primary food source for all predator species.  So using any kind of jig or spoon with a piece of perch meat would get both perch and walleyes.  Here's a pic of a morning's catch on Yuba back in 1982.

[Fishpro22]

Thank you both for the info! Definitely wish we had good walleye fishing here than those other states. They are lots of fun to catch and very good eating!

[Fritzfishin]

Only took 6 trips to get one finally

[Jig-fisher]

Only took 6 trips to get one finally

Nice fish and a great picture!

[Therapist]

Ah, that picture brings back memories of Yuba in it's heyday!! Ranger Pat would leave the restroom open and the heat on so we could change, then after a trek across the ice, we would set up and have a day catching those jumbo perch. Many times we had to take our heavy gear off and get a tan on the ice. We were the only ones out there, a group of about 6 of us, had the whole res to ourselves. Terrible having to be so lonely !! Last fish I caught down there was a Northern




The rod handle was the only thing I had to measure it with, was about 36 inches from the butt of the rod to the first guide. I estimated the weight at about 15lbs. My first ever Northern. Will be pursuing them alot at Ut.Lake this year !!

[Fritzfishin]

Miss the northers, haven't got one in years

[doitall5000]

You might try those toothy tiger muskeys at jordanelle. I would like them taken out of there