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I had given up on Yuba thinking the aggressive limits had reduced the northern pike numbers to nothing. The last two or three times I fished it resulted in no fish and no bites, I switched my efforts to more productive waters like Joes Valley, Flaming Gorge and others that I could expect a good chance of catching a trophy fish, but Yuba stayed in my mind as I have caught so many big pike there over the years.
This week my old fishing partner, George "Wrongway" Johnson took his grandson there and fished from the shore at the Oasis end of the reservoir. They caught 3 northerns over 36" (yardsticks) and lost a couple others that he thought we bigger which is what a fisherman should do when the fish escapes.
We arranged to go down last week end. We fished 2 hours without a bite, but decided we would come again.
Yesterday I had a meeting in central Utah and revisited the reservoir afterwards. Using 6 to 8" chubs below a slip bobber for bait (big baits-big fish) we caught 2 northerns; 1 36" 13 lb'er and 1 small 24". I had been casting lures on my second rod, but no takers.
The best part of the trip was not the fishing, but a chance to talk to the resident biologist. The conversation was lengthy, but the important thing is that his creel samples and the fall gill netting revealed good populations of healthy 36" plus pike.
very few smaller pike showed up in the nets. he believes that only pike that are large enough to eat big carp are present or at least the majority of the specie netted and showing up in angler creels are feeding on carp. No Perch showed up in the nets but some walleye were present and walleye are being caught this fall and early winter
Yearling and smaller pike that could not tackle the adult carp perished due to lack of bait fish for feed.
The bottom line is that big northerns still are present and catchable. That is exciting for me. a 42" female showed up in the smapling and there has to be more.
Northerns are relatively long lived fish and if everyone does not go kill crazy Yuba should continue to be a good trophy pike fishery for years to come.
If a good forage base can be established Yuba could become a fantastic walleye, northern pike fishery once again. Just my thoughts. Steve
Incidentally, the painted rocks end is beginning to ice up
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This is great to hear. I had pretty well given up on Yuba due to huge drop in success.
Great info. Pays to talk with biologists when given the chance. I have always found them willing to share.
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Great report Steve. Thanks for updating us.
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I was just thinking about Yuba last night. Good to see the fish are there hungry and willing to bite. I think the perch got cleaned out early this year after they were planted. Need more water and cover for them to survive.
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Hey Steve,
Is the Painted Rocks boat ramp still in the water? Not planning on taking the boat down, just curious of the water level.
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I think the ramp was still there. Water levels are coming up according to Wrongway who is watching it closely
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I know this is not really fish related but have you seen many ducks and geese on the water. Thinking of making the trek down to do a little cast and blast, but dont want to drive for nothing .. hehe
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I hear geese and see them occasionally, but by the dam is not a good place to hunt birds. After the surrounding waters freeze like chicken creek etc the geese numbers increase.Private lands limit where you can hunt so good luck. I wish I was more help!
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Me and some of my friends were down at Yuba last year for a boys weekend away and the Geese and ducks were think out on the ice around a big fisher. But the ice was not safe. Thought a few birds might be holding on the lake . Maybe I will just go with he plan to fish and bring the gun just in case. hehe
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it's muskie fishing these days down there. You will have some few fish days followed by consecutive skunks. I hope when they have the water up they plant the perch. It was a waste this past spring/summer. Yuba is tough to manage.
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My friend ice fished for pikes two years again and it was a blast we caught 6 only on was over 30 inches the rest were just 24-26 inchers! We wanted to go last year but the ice wasn't good for very long! I hope this is a good ice year! There fun too caught!
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That seemed to be the pattern this year they were more interested in deadbait than lures. I am a lure kinda guy so it kinda took the sport out of it for me lol They should plant chubs in there it seems they thrive anywhere in any conditions. But who knows what the DWRs thoughts are on it.
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Thanks for the report, those are some beautiful fish!
That lake seriously needs some shad put in by DWR. They have no where to go but down stream where they can do no harm and only improve things. Just my opinion though.
Mike
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I agree. A forage base is what it needs. Part of the problem is that everything the DWR does takes time..... Sometimes years. I'm an old man so I will probably never see Yuba return to its former glory with perch and walleye, but I prefer northerns above almost all fresh water specie. So I will take what I can get and be happy to be able to catch 36" fish on occasion with the chance that a 40+" pike will come by and sample my bait or lures.
Having said that I am still  dened that Yuba can't seem to be managed as a walleye - trophy pike fishery, but I realize that the reservoir has a lot of issues with no cover, limited structure, water rights, low water and on and on. 100,000 shad and 10,000 perch would be great feed for the pike and the remaining walleye. Just my thoughts!
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Down stream there is some great fishing that don't need the shad to over populate.
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Thanks for the report and info. My experience as well is quantity is down but quality is up. I would like to see a better balanced fishery for the future. Are small carp numbers down as well? I'd imagine that there would be some smaller carp for a base unless they get cleared out but I have a hard time thinking the carp will suffer or thin out.
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Thanks for the report. Nice looking fish. I plan to get out on the ice if it ever comes... they stocked an additional 44,000 perch in september. dnr didnt really say anything about it but its in the stocking report.
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Based on what the biologist told us, the seining samples indicated that the perch didn't fare too well. Probably ended up as a quick meal for the pike and perhaps the walleye as well.
In any case unless there is something else factoring in the sieging results I wouldn't count on good ice fishing for perch this year, However those that have patience on the ice and are in the right location might be fortunate enough to get into the pike and perhaps a big one.
Ice fishing is not my forte, but I do take disabled individuals out on the ice 2 or 3 times a year so we might target Yuba again in January providing the ice is safe. Who knows someone might catch a 40"er!
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If my memory serves me they took like 40,000 perch form Fish Lake and dropped them in Yuba. Just no cover. I know there us to be red sided shiners in that puddle once upon a time. If it could get some Deep structure so in the low water years the smaller critters might have a chance. But right know I hope the Northern'd get some of the carp out of there.
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[quote cje04]Thanks for the report and info. My experience as well is quantity is down but quality is up. I would like to see a better balanced fishery for the future. Are small carp numbers down as well? I'd imagine that there would be some smaller carp for a base unless they get cleared out but I have a hard time thinking the carp will suffer or thin out.[/quote]
Interesting stuff...a couple thoughts:
1) The size of northern pike that actually consume carp will vary with the seasons. Carp are usually only a primary component in the diets of small northern pike during the summer months when juvenile carp are present. On the flip side, large pike will utilize carp throughout the year including the winter months. Generally speaking, the only carp consumed by small pike are little young of the year carp that measure less than 4 inches in length. But, in winter the carp that are consumed are greater than 4 inches and usually greater than 8 inches.
The problem you get with carp being a major food source for pike is that since they are only available for a short window of time, the small pike struggle to find food sources except for that time period when small carp are available. This will dramatically slow their growth throughout most of the year. In Yuba, as the population of pike grows and the number of small pike utilizing that small carp food source grows, growth will also slow. And, the number of pike converting to a larger carp diet during winter will also slow...and eventually you end up with a stunted population like Redmond.
So, the question is how do you avoid this from happening? Some are suggesting that we protect the large fish...and harvest only the small fish. It is true that by protecting those large fish you will have increased predation of carp; it is also true that by protecting them you assure that they remain in the reservoir. The question is whether or not this will help the fishery maintain and grow a large number of big predators and sport fish. With slowed growth rates in smaller pike because their primary food source is only available during the summer, fewer pike are going to reach sizes where they can utilize carp year round, and eventually the pike that are already big will be gone and you will have nothing to replace them!
2) Just in the past couple years people were complaining about the number of pike being harvested from Yuba. The DWR, though, was pushing to have pike harvested to keep them from stunting. To me, it looks like their plan is working...true, we have fewer pike, but we should have more pike in that maximum growth rate zone. Now, we don't have as many small pike, but we still have good numbers of large pike....because high harvest in recent years has kep overall numbers down and growth rates up!
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