Yuba Pike?

[trollboy8]

Anyone have some information on sucess, techniques, tips, whatever about Northern Pike at Yuba?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]There seems to be a good population of the toothy critters in Yuba now. Most of the ones being taken are under 30", but there are some larger ones in there and the small ones are growing fast. They are feeding heavily on the exploding perch population and on young of the year carp, before they get too large to munch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I got several small pike last fall on a variety of spinners and jigs. They were only about 20" then. This spring they have grown and put on some girth. And, they are looking for larger food. In the attached pic of a 24" 4# fish I caught a couple of weeks ago, you can see the 7" perch it had for dinner, the night before it ate my perch pattern 5" crankbait for desert the next morning.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Pike can be found almost anywhere around the lake, as long as it has the right structure and conditions. They are ambush feeders so they locate in or around flooded brush. They hang there motionless, waiting for perch or other prey to come within range and then zoom out for the attack. There is a lot more of this kind of cover in the upper parts of the lake. Also some good spots in the narrows area.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Look for that kind of structure both off points and inside coves. I caught my fish the other day inside the little bay between the bridge and the dam, by casting in between the shoreline and a visible underwater bush. My lure got munched just as it passed the bush. Typical pike strike.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Later in the year the water drops and the shoreline structure is not as prevalent. The pike will often go to the bottom then and in the past a lot of pike have been taken from Yuba by guys dragging crawler harnesses for walleyes. I have taken them by vertical jigging spoons or jigs, sweetened with crawler or perch meat. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]BE AWARE: there is currently a regulation that you cannot POSSESS perch in any manner on Yuba. You cannot bring in perch meat from another lake to use as bait. But you can jig with whole small (dead) minnows. Chubs are good. So are the fathead minnows that are now prevalent in Yuba. We saw lots of them swarming around the edge in the basin behind the bridge last week. In the fall they come in by the bajillions and that brings in more trout, perch and pike.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Large spinner baits are good for pike in many waters. They are also good for working long stretches of shoreline quickly and are more snag resistant than expensive crankbaits. Use white, yellow, chartreuse and combos of yellow and orange (perch colors).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hope this helps.[/#0000ff]
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[Flycasting]

Are pike a good eating fish? Or just if ya smoke em?
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[jackfisher]

We used to catch a lot of Pike in Canada. They taste very good. The key is getting the Y bones out
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Absolutely delicious. Very firm mild white flesh. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The two big turnoffs for most anglers are the slimy skin and the "Y" bones. That slime on the skin also smells very musty and people tend to think the fish might taste the same way. NOT. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you skin and debone the fillets, you have some great eating. Cutting out the Y bones is not much different than removing the line of flesh bones in trout. You just make a cut on either side of the line of bones and then lift it out. You lose some meat, but the rest is good enough to make it worth the effort.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The one we kept from a couple of weeks ago was oven broiled on foil. We seasoned the fillets with garlic salt, seasoned pepper, lemon essence and sesame seeds. Then we added some thin slices of BUTTER and put it under the oven broiler until the top was sizzling and the fish flaked easily...about 7 or 8 minutes. TubeBabe, who had never eaten pike before, likened it to halibut for the flavor and texture.[/#0000ff]
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[Flycasting]

That does sound good. I have just heard that muskies and pike aren't great table fare. Maybe if they are big ones that's the case? Thanks for the info. [cool]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Most seasoned pike and musky anglers agree that the smaller fish are the best eating. Of course that is true of many species. Nothing to do with C&R ethics.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have only eaten musky once. It was a small fish that was injured too badly to release so we kept it for the table. I don't remember much except that it was good. But, the guys I fished with DID make the statement that big muskies were usually not very good.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have eaten pike in several states, and again, the people who were accompanying me advised against keeping larger fish for the pan. Usually something on either side of 5 pounds is considered the best table fare.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Like all fish, pike will be better on the table if they are properly cared for. Keep them alive or on ice until you can fillet them. Then, rinse the fillets and chill them in ice water. Cook them the same day if possible or keep them only a couple of days before cooking. If you do not plan to eat them within a short time, freeze them in water to eliminate bubbles and prevent freezer burn.[/#0000ff]
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[Extex]

I had good success with a #5 mepps with a brass spinner blade and with a black/brown rapala original floater. I have been finding them in any flooded brush around the lake.



I'm going back tomorrow with some steel leaders []
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]What's the matter? You cheap or something? Or just tired of donating lures to the toothy critters?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That dental equipment on those babies can cut through about anything...including fingers. Glad to see you know about lip grippers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Nice pic. Seems to be a good crop of pike about that size in the lake. A couple of years of continued good feeding and they will be getting some shoulders on them again.[/#0000ff]
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[Extex]

No donations for me yesterday - no pike came to play. We did manage 1 football bow and a a bunch of dinks.We found a pile of perch to play with for a while. Looks like the bigger fish are not as hungry. The water skiers ran us off at noon - I plan to go back for an evening trip and see if it is any better [laugh]
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[PrinceFisher]

Hey Pat,

Do you know much about how prolific pike are? In other words, what are your thoughts on how well the pike might multiply in Yuba?

Do you know why the DWR planted them in Yuba in the first place? Were they simply being nice, to give us some more diversity fishing-wise, or were they stocked there to prey upon a specific specie of fish the DWR wanted to control?
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[cat_man]

The pike were already there before, for many many years. The state record pike was caught there by BFTer pikeman. They have just come back in abundance since the draining.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]From what I (think I) know about the pike situation, they originally washed down the Sevier River into Yuba after a spillover at Redmond, upstream. That happened in the late sixties or early seventies, as I recall.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The pike in Yuba have never really exploded because of the competition from walleye, in the predator category. But, wherever there is abundant food, and flooded brush for spawning, pike are VERY prolific. They have become serious nuisances in many lakes of the west...usually where they have been dumped by bucket biologists. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yuba has lots of "groceries" for pike...trout planters, small carp and plenty of perch as they are still on the "do not harvest" list. There has apparently been a couple of good spawns since the draw down and there are a couple of year classes being caught from the lake. The majority are in the 24" - 28" range this summer and will spawn next spring. BOOM!.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the past, most Utah anglers figured to go to Redmond if they wanted to add pike to a yearly list of species caught. Right now, it looks like Yuba offers the best potential. In fact, there has not been much happening at Redmond the last two years...few pike and all skinny little runts. Nothing like the days of old...but then, what is?[/#0000ff]
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