Fishing Forum

[cool][#0000ff]Yuba is dead to me. I shall not fish it again until it has been properly laid to rest and resurrected into a new cycle of life.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have had 3 poor trips this year. Fishing baseball. Three strikes (or lack of same) and you're out. Nobody I know has had any good trips for perch or walleye and very sporadic for the northerns.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hit Oasis this morning with Tube Ike. 27 degree air temp and 46 degree water temp at our 7:30 launch. Fished various jigs and baits at all depths from 20 feet to 38 feet for the next three hours, with only a couple of bites and one fish lost halfway to the tube. Covered the entire perimeter of the dam end of the lake, from the ramp around past the bluffs on the opposite side. Nada, zip, zero, zilch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Finally, as I was bottom bouncing a jig at fairly good speed, on the way across the lake back to the ramp, I got my first perch to the tube. A skinny 11 incher that was very pale and had sores on it. Yuck. Back in it went. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The lake was a flat bottomed bowl at 36 feet deep all the way across. When I reached the ramp area, I began to see a few more "potentials" on sonar and got a couple more bites. One of them turned out to be a healthy "footlong". Tried to release it too, but it was a floater. Only one I kept.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Saw lots of fish on sonar today, at all depths. From past experience, most of the marks were probably of the large-scaled, bugle-mouth kind. Only saw a few singles near the bottom. No large schools of what might be considered perch...or anything besides carp. I am sure there are more perch somewhere in the lake, but not in the damn dam end.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It was a beautiful day to not catch fish. Once the sun came out the cool westerly breeze went away and it was lovely. Glass all morning and even glassier as we packed up to go just after noon. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Tube Ike was a newbie at perch jerkin'. I fixed him up with some super jigs and some experienced guidance, but that was not enough. He did not have sonar on his tube so he was fishing blind. Not good when huntin' perchies. Even though he was able to stay in the right depths, with a bit of walkie talkie assistance, he did not bring in a single fish. No married ones either.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yuba...rest in peace.[/#0000ff]
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Its a day for Utah Perch jerkers. Guess I'll be going up to Deer Creek this weekend. One day of Deer Creek and a couple days chasing chukars maybe. No point in driving south till the ice comes on.
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I remembered reading this a while back.

[#4040ff]Sorry, links to competing forums are not allowed on BFT.[/#4040ff]
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Yuba doesn't sound too healthy.[:/]
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Wow! I am convinced. If you only caught two perch, then the rest of us might as well stay home. No more Yuba for me until things improve--if they ever do. For those of us who remember the good old days---plenty of walleye and perch--a day, or more, of mourning is in order.
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Wow... That lake sure has gone to hell in a handbasket in less than a couple of years... That's really too bad...

I sure hope that Echo produces for perch this year under the ice... I don't have much faith in Rockport again yet ( I went there once last year, marked a few good schools of perch but they had lockjaw - too much food in there currently for them), and Pineview isn't doing that well compared to a couple of years ago... Jordanelle sucks for perch these days...ditto for Deer Creek.

I'm going to try Echo around New Years. I sure hope that it's starting to come back, as there really aren't many other choices for perch these days... Otherwise, for warm water fish under the ice this season, it's Utah Lake or the massive drive to Pelican... Not many choices...
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[#0000ff]when TubeDude say Yuba is dead, Yuba is dead! [/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]I am sure that some overeager and optimistic folks will dismiss my rantings as those of an old fool who just had a bad day. That's cool. I am not egotistical enough to think that if I can't catch them nobody else can. There are still fish in the lake and they are somewhere and somebody can probably catch a few on any given day.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My negative outlook is based upon almost 40 years of experience on that lake and having witnessed several peak and decline cycles...boom and bust. When Yuba is healthy and there is a strong balance between predators and prey (baby perch) there is an abundance of all species throughout the lake and everybody catches a LOT of quality fish. When the balance tips and the predators outnumber the food supply, it does not take long until all the groceries are gone and the predators crash too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As this down cycle develops, there is a different element than there has been in the past. When the lake was emptied to complete some work on the dam, a VERY FEW walleyes and northern pike survived in the holes up in the Sevier River, above the lake. But, lots of carp survived in the shallow muddy pockets and the tiny bit of water that still flowed down into the empty lake. Also lots of them in the Sevier River and even more that washed down from Gunnison to restock Yuba when the water came back.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Those carp had a couple of years to have massive spawns before there were any predators at all to eat their young and provide any kind of check on their population. They had overrun the lake before there were any planted perch or newly spawned walleyes or pike large enough to be a factor...and they have continued to explode in population. They are the largest biomass in the lake. Furthermore, they have become highly piscivorous (fish eating) and now consume more perch fry than the recognized predators. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That has resulted in a much faster downward spiral than in previous cycles. And it is much less reversible. This was a low water year, with the lake never reaching the "full" mark. The perch spawn happened, and produced a lot of fry. But, with less cover in which to hide the fry were decimated early by carp and later by predators. Those that are left will likely not live to adulthood.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yeah, we witnessed gazillions of young perch in DWR nets and in massive dieoffs. We assumed that they were only a small part of the total biomass of baby perch and that the lake is healthy. I am not so confident after my trip. In years past I have seen huge balls of these young perch massing in the deeper water near the dam at this time of year. And, once I found them on sonar I could fish in the same area and catch grundles of big fat perch, with the occasional walleye. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This year I covered a tremendous area of the customary wintering zone and saw only a very few small schools of perch fry on sonar. And instead of culling a limit of 12 inch perch from a catch of 40 or 50 I considered myself luckier than most to catch two perch for the whole day of serious effort.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Maybe I am losing my touch. Maybe I am not as good at perch jerkin' as I used to be...or not as good as I thought I was. Maybe there are still gazillions of big perch hiding somewhere in the lake and I am just not good enough to find them. Maybe the fish have changed their annual patterns and no longer migrate to the deeper waters of the basin near the dam when the water gets colder.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Maybe something.[/#0000ff]
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Maybe our bad mojo has rubbed off on you [] hehe...Kait and I havent forgotten about you, just let us know when you're ready to meet up with her. No hurry, just letting you know we're ready whenever you are. Spring is fine or whenever. You're awesome!!
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks for the kind words of support. I doubt that your influence had anything to do with the downturn the lake has taken. But, then again, you guys put the whammy on things pretty good.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Probably not the best time to start training on fly fishing. But, there are always a few nice fall days when we could get out to a park and practice throwing some line. Also, if Kait would like to learn how to make a few flies we could also schedule some basic lessons. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have the flyrod and reel set aside for her whenever she is ready. Based on what you said about her being so discouraged (about fishing) in another post I was wondering if she was going to bag it all.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Some time between Turkey Day and Christmas we will be having a TACKLE CRAFT session. We used to call them "jig parties" but I plan to expand it to include a little fly tying, rod making, spinner making, etc. It will be at my place, in the big lighted garage. I will make some perch chowder and we will get together about noonish on a Saturday and just go until everybody maxes out or dies of boredom. Might be a good way to kill a bad weather Saturday before good ice fishing really kicks in.[/#0000ff]
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PLANT MORE PREDATORS!!!!!! Its the only way to turn the biomass around. Throw in a grundle of wiper and start planting foot long walleye and PIKE. In 5 years the wiper will die and the lake remains healthy. I think the carp problem could be turned around but it would take a pro active stocking approach. Wont happen... Last time I sent an email to 20 central region biologists/warm water guys. Not one response....

I included lots of pics and asked for a response about planting predators there and the finding from all the spring netting... Nothing. [crazy]

Who pays these guys!!??
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Now is a great time to learn Fly Fishing.
Pat, I think you are going to want that fly rod back.
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Well if you want I could send Murphy your way to get him off my back for a while.[:p]

Hey I am interested in the tackle craft session, but alas saturdays are bad. I got a rod that needs fixin' not to mention a toon now.[mad]
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[quote flygoddess]Now is a great time to learn Fly Fishing.
Pat, I think you are going to want that fly rod back.[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Still got plenty of fly rods left. Still know how to use them too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The outfit for Kait is from my "Fishing 101" supply. Several other BFTers have donated tackle for young or "budget constrained" anglers and I try to find good homes for it as needed.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]It is not carved in stone that it will be ONLY on a Saturday. We used to do them mostly on a Tuesday evening...that being the best for most people. If there is enough interest we might do two sessions...one on Saturday and one on some other day, in the evening. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Once TubeBabe gets back from helping our daughter in California, I will check our "dance cards" and see when it would be best for us. Then I will post some options and see where it goes from there.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the meantime, bring your ailing fishing stick over to the tackletorium and let Dr. TubeDude check it out. Maybe it gots piggy flu or somethin'.[/#0000ff]
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It has ailing glue symptoms.[cool] 15 years old and was still catching until the end of august. Also as of yesterday I now hve a oon to repair.[frown] Looks like my winter will be filled with repairs.
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It's a SAD SAD day when the master says [#0000ff][/#0000ff]Yuba is dead. That means all the $$ I spent on gear for Yuba might have been a bad idea[frown] I know people have said individual anglers can't dent the Carp population, but I think we should still try[] What are your thoughts TD. I think that if a bunch of us BFTers tried we could cause some damage to those pesky Carpinskies.
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WHAT!!!! CARP ROCK!!!!


Specially on the fly![cool]

They are my reason for going to Yuba....[]
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Well TD, it's been said that some are not pessimists; rather, just realists enough not to be optimists. You and I both know that perch run in schools and aren't very hard to find in colder months. As far as you flipper trolled Yuba, there is no other explanation for the slow fishing than a lack of fish. That lake sure is plagued with bust cycles. Just a thought but I bet that you would really enjoy taking a couple of days fishing at C.J. Strike Reservoir near Mountain Home, Idaho. I am sure that you have been there before but I can tell you that the perch, crappie, and rainbow fishing this time of year is incredible. The early morning perch fishing on the lake side of the flood gates can yield huge perch of 14" or more.
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[quote fatkidfishin]It's a SAD SAD day when the master says [#0000ff][/#0000ff]Yuba is dead. That means all the $$ I spent on gear for Yuba might have been a bad idea[frown] I know people have said individual anglers can't dent the Carp population, but I think we should still try[] What are your thoughts TD. I think that if a bunch of us BFTers tried we could cause some damage to those pesky Carpinskies.[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Sadly, we angler types cannot affect the population of any species in Yuba very much. That is especially true of carp kind. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Oh yeah, we can cause some grievous damage to a few carp. And that would be therapeutic...to us. But the sheer numbers of carp already in there, along with the spawn each spring, make it impossible to have even the tiniest effect on the overall biomass of carp.[/#0000ff]
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