08-18-2012, 11:47 AM
[cool][#0000ff]Yuba is a lake that goes through cycles. I have fished it since the 1970s and have seen a whole lotta changes through the years. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It is a big featureless-bottomed lake with little to no structure so the fish don't have much to relate to. Also, it is merely a water storage tank for the Delta power company and they have rights to all the water. There is no minimum conservation pool established to protect fish in poor water years so it gets drained whenever there is a drought. All fish die and we start over.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In between there are peaks and valleys in the fish populations and species ratios. There have been some peak periods in the past where there were lots of fish of all species...and fishing was superb for brief two or three year periods. These were usually followed by the predators (walleyes and pike) reducing the perch (forage) population to the point that the perch were not able to keep up and everything crashed. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]During the last drought, lasting until 2004, the already low lake levels were allowed to drop until there was only a small trickle of the Sevier River running down the lake bed. That was so they could do some major rebuilding on the old dam. Just about all the fish in the lake either died or moved upstream to find the sparse deeper spots in the river and wait it out.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We had a good winter in 2004 and the lake filled up again. Since there were no fish in the lake for anglers, Utah DWR planted large quantities of rainbow trout. They did well and grew big and fast on the diet of fathead minnows that had washed down into the new lake and had exploded without predators.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Rocky Mountain Anglers and DWR had teamed up to harvest perch from Jordanelle and replant Yuba with perch. But that was all that got replanted into Yuba. There were a precious few walleyes and northern pike that survived in the river...and a few channel cats. But they were on their own.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The perch population boomed...with no walleye or pike to thin the herd. And in two years they had helped the trout slurp up the fathead minnows. The biggest trout disappeared and the ones that were left no longer grew much bigger than about 16 to 18 inches. Then the northern pike had a couple of good spawns and they put a hurtin' on the progressively smaller rainbows.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The REAL story of Yuba these days is the scourge of carp. They have always been in Yuba but have always been kept in check by the predators. With big predators mostly absent for a few years the carp population did a Hiroshima. There is not only a huge carp spawn each year but there are also vast numbers that get washed downstream at the end of the irrigation season when Gunnison Reservoir upstream on the Sevier gets drained.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The carp in Yuba are obscene. They are not the herbivores that carp are in most waters. They eat everything...just to survive in their numbers. That includes the eggs and spawn of other species. They are so far ahead of all other species in terms of numbers that there is no chance of enough predators surviving through the juvenile stage to turn the tables. The only exception seems to be the northern pike. They protect their nests and they eat carp with relish.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If you want your kids to have a good time and catch fish...use a piece of worm either under a bobber or fished right on the bottom almost anywhere around the lake. They will catch plenty of carp. There are still a few perch in the lake but nobody catches them in any size or any numbers. Not like the boatloads of jumbos that were common in the past.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You can still catch an occasional catfish. And there are some big ones. Once they get big enough to eat carp they grow some shoulders. But there are not the numbers to justify making a special trip for them.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Walleyes? In days of old you could catch limits by casting jigs or fishing crawlers or minnows in many spots around the lake. Now it is rare for even the best walleye experts to catch more than one or two on a trip. And on some trips they will go through six dozen crawlers...catching carp...without hooking even one walleye.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Northern pike are about the only species that has survived and prospered well enough to provide a worthwhile fishery. Indeed, they are the "carp" of all gamefish species. They are hardy and spread fast...and often destroy most other species in many lakes where they have been illegally introduced.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In Yuba the pike spawn up in the flats on high water years. We had a couple of those recently and the population jumped up again. Before that and now the lake has dropped again and the pike are having a tough time finding good spawning areas where they can get good recruitment and protect their young from the ravenous carp. They have peaks and valleys too, according to water levels.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The last good spawn years have produced a bumper crop of pike in the 20 to 30 inch size classes. Everybody is catching the heck out of them right now. The bigger ones...over 36 inches...are less plentiful. But there are some over 40s in there for the good and lucky.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It is harder to find something that pike WON'T hit than something they will. They will smack just about whatever you are fishing for other species...plastics, crankbaits, spinners, spoons and even walleye crawler harnesses. That is what caught the Utah record pike a few years ago.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Best bets are medium sized diving crank baits in perch or fire tiger colors. They will also hit almost anything with chartreuse or white. Big plastic swimbaits are prime for some of the bigger pike but you have to figure on "collateral damage" to your expensive plastics with every fish you catch.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are probably more pike harvested and removed from Yuba by bait fishing "bank tangling" locals than by anglers from remote areas with their fancy boats and refined tackle. Simply soaking a big minnow on the bottom accounts for lots of pike going home to dinner on local anglers' tables. Pike will also sometimes pick up a slab of cut bait but fishing a strip of perch meat on a jig works double well.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Smallmouth bass are currently on the upswing too. They have always been in the Sevier River and occasionally have a good spawn year in the lake. Probably more smallmouth being taken this year than I can remember in any year past. Fish the standard plastics and hardbaits.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Bottom line? There are better fishing holes in Utah for almost any species other than northern pike. But even though it ain't what a lot of us old timers remember...from former glory days...it is still a nice place for water recreation...including fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It is a big featureless-bottomed lake with little to no structure so the fish don't have much to relate to. Also, it is merely a water storage tank for the Delta power company and they have rights to all the water. There is no minimum conservation pool established to protect fish in poor water years so it gets drained whenever there is a drought. All fish die and we start over.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In between there are peaks and valleys in the fish populations and species ratios. There have been some peak periods in the past where there were lots of fish of all species...and fishing was superb for brief two or three year periods. These were usually followed by the predators (walleyes and pike) reducing the perch (forage) population to the point that the perch were not able to keep up and everything crashed. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]During the last drought, lasting until 2004, the already low lake levels were allowed to drop until there was only a small trickle of the Sevier River running down the lake bed. That was so they could do some major rebuilding on the old dam. Just about all the fish in the lake either died or moved upstream to find the sparse deeper spots in the river and wait it out.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We had a good winter in 2004 and the lake filled up again. Since there were no fish in the lake for anglers, Utah DWR planted large quantities of rainbow trout. They did well and grew big and fast on the diet of fathead minnows that had washed down into the new lake and had exploded without predators.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Rocky Mountain Anglers and DWR had teamed up to harvest perch from Jordanelle and replant Yuba with perch. But that was all that got replanted into Yuba. There were a precious few walleyes and northern pike that survived in the river...and a few channel cats. But they were on their own.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The perch population boomed...with no walleye or pike to thin the herd. And in two years they had helped the trout slurp up the fathead minnows. The biggest trout disappeared and the ones that were left no longer grew much bigger than about 16 to 18 inches. Then the northern pike had a couple of good spawns and they put a hurtin' on the progressively smaller rainbows.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The REAL story of Yuba these days is the scourge of carp. They have always been in Yuba but have always been kept in check by the predators. With big predators mostly absent for a few years the carp population did a Hiroshima. There is not only a huge carp spawn each year but there are also vast numbers that get washed downstream at the end of the irrigation season when Gunnison Reservoir upstream on the Sevier gets drained.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The carp in Yuba are obscene. They are not the herbivores that carp are in most waters. They eat everything...just to survive in their numbers. That includes the eggs and spawn of other species. They are so far ahead of all other species in terms of numbers that there is no chance of enough predators surviving through the juvenile stage to turn the tables. The only exception seems to be the northern pike. They protect their nests and they eat carp with relish.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If you want your kids to have a good time and catch fish...use a piece of worm either under a bobber or fished right on the bottom almost anywhere around the lake. They will catch plenty of carp. There are still a few perch in the lake but nobody catches them in any size or any numbers. Not like the boatloads of jumbos that were common in the past.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You can still catch an occasional catfish. And there are some big ones. Once they get big enough to eat carp they grow some shoulders. But there are not the numbers to justify making a special trip for them.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Walleyes? In days of old you could catch limits by casting jigs or fishing crawlers or minnows in many spots around the lake. Now it is rare for even the best walleye experts to catch more than one or two on a trip. And on some trips they will go through six dozen crawlers...catching carp...without hooking even one walleye.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Northern pike are about the only species that has survived and prospered well enough to provide a worthwhile fishery. Indeed, they are the "carp" of all gamefish species. They are hardy and spread fast...and often destroy most other species in many lakes where they have been illegally introduced.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In Yuba the pike spawn up in the flats on high water years. We had a couple of those recently and the population jumped up again. Before that and now the lake has dropped again and the pike are having a tough time finding good spawning areas where they can get good recruitment and protect their young from the ravenous carp. They have peaks and valleys too, according to water levels.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The last good spawn years have produced a bumper crop of pike in the 20 to 30 inch size classes. Everybody is catching the heck out of them right now. The bigger ones...over 36 inches...are less plentiful. But there are some over 40s in there for the good and lucky.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It is harder to find something that pike WON'T hit than something they will. They will smack just about whatever you are fishing for other species...plastics, crankbaits, spinners, spoons and even walleye crawler harnesses. That is what caught the Utah record pike a few years ago.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Best bets are medium sized diving crank baits in perch or fire tiger colors. They will also hit almost anything with chartreuse or white. Big plastic swimbaits are prime for some of the bigger pike but you have to figure on "collateral damage" to your expensive plastics with every fish you catch.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are probably more pike harvested and removed from Yuba by bait fishing "bank tangling" locals than by anglers from remote areas with their fancy boats and refined tackle. Simply soaking a big minnow on the bottom accounts for lots of pike going home to dinner on local anglers' tables. Pike will also sometimes pick up a slab of cut bait but fishing a strip of perch meat on a jig works double well.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Smallmouth bass are currently on the upswing too. They have always been in the Sevier River and occasionally have a good spawn year in the lake. Probably more smallmouth being taken this year than I can remember in any year past. Fish the standard plastics and hardbaits.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Bottom line? There are better fishing holes in Utah for almost any species other than northern pike. But even though it ain't what a lot of us old timers remember...from former glory days...it is still a nice place for water recreation...including fishing.[/#0000ff]
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