Fishing Forum

Yuba was as busy as an airport today!

That helicopter flew mere feet off the ground around DuckDog1us and I.

When we arrived late at 7:30pm it was ice tent city! Over 55 cars were at Painted Rocks, with droves of more coming in. Needless to say I was very dishartened, and had thoughts of regret for showing up at all. Luckily Yuba had a suprise in store for me.

With 1 hour wasted battling the combat fishing we took off to new waters. Sure enough we were rewarded by the Helicopter and a pike on the ice, at 30.5 inches it was a good sign of things to come!

I then beat my own personal best, a 35 inch 10lb 12oz pike!


Which was followed by a 33 inch 9lb 1oz pike!


19 lbs and 13oz of pure Utah Northern Pike.


Duckdog1us was rewarded for his patience with a 21 inch 1lb 2oz pike.


On the way home we were greeted by a ton of deer next to Mt. Nebo.




By 4pm I was catching UTA's Frontrunner Train back home with a 19.5 pound bucket of pike.


Remember that the state parks at Yuba (oasis and painted rocks)still charge in the winter. I saw pleanty of red notes on cars today.

And when you fill out your envolope to pay at the entrance, please pull off to the side while you fill out the paper!!!!! Some of us have state park passes and don't need to spend 15 minutes watching you clog up the entrance!
[signature]

TDT,

Way to put the hurt on them. It might be busy as an airport down there but all the people are deserving of a good fishing trip like you. It looks like duck dog 1 has got to go back. That's the best thing we can do for that fishery is hook all the pike you can out of there. I got a call today from some guys at the oasis camp ground at the dam. They said there was lot's of people down that way too. The more we jerk out of there through the ice the less we have to worry about them eating the 60,000 Perch they are going to put in there this spring.
[signature]

thanks for the wake up call this morning! I knew you'd do ok over there. what a difference a year makes huh? I would like to see last dec-feb parking pass money totals compared to this years. That's good it's being utilized though. Congrats on that big pike/personal best, text me when ya clean them and let me know what's in there, they all have looked plenty healthy!
[signature]

Nice catching. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Yuba has lots of pressure after all the on line reports on it.
[signature]

This is why I prefer fishing week days myself. Not as crowded.
[signature]

Good thing I did not bail to Oasis then!

I am pretty sure that was DuckDog's largest pike as well today.
We will just have to see who can break the 40 inch mark 1st![fishin]
[signature]

[quote utahgolf]thanks for the wake up call this morning![/quote]

Ouch, that is the reason why it isn't great to have your number in my cell phone. After seeing you in traffic next to me 3 times last week, I could have sworn that was your vehicle sitting in the lot this morning.

Yep, gone are the days where it is was just you, lucas, and I at Yuba.
[signature]

What was up with the helicopter ?
[signature]

[quote MR.PIKE]What was up with the helicopter ?[/quote]

Apparently it was just friends of the guys that were fishing near us. Just "dropping in" to say hi.

I was really hoping they didn't start a "helicopter guided yuba charter" or something![:p]
[signature]

[quote Fishsticker]Nice catching. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Yuba has lots of pressure after all the on line reports on it.[/quote]

Not much of a surprise, more of a shock really. I remember the days last year where it was just me or just my buddies with me and that was it.

With it being a major change for me I just needed to adapt, and I think I did well at that this time around. At first I was mortified, and in the end I was satisfied with my experience.
[signature]

Nice job. How did you manage too go fishing for PIKE when you fell in the tub on your bad hand [laugh]????
[signature]

Nice pike!!! My turn LOL.
[signature]

Saturday at Yuba was very interesting to me. We didn't plan on fishing for very long -- we had other fish to fry. So we pulled up to the dam (south side) and saw lots of cars, people, tents (?? -- the weather was BEAUTIFUL!!), and fishermen. Lots of people -- that says something. That's good for Yuba.

We noticed something very quickly. Everyone, including everyone, was fishing the southern shore of the lake. There were a couple groups right near the dam on the north side, but the majority of people were parking and walking across the lake to the south side. Nobody was fishing out from the campground. We figured "what the hello" and said let's go fish were nobody else is fishing.

I would imagine that at some point, those pike getting pounded to death in the areas the majority are fishing will eventually wise up and stop biting. Or move.

We drove across the dam and past the campground towards West beach. I was kind of frustrated that the parkies have the gates closed at the access points for West beach -- what's up with that? I swear, Yuba has to be the most uninviting place around -- gates closed, beach closed, no trespassing signs everywhere....

Oh well.

There was no evidence at all of anyone fishing out from West beach. No tire tracks in the snow from people pulling off to park, no old holes out in the ice or anything. That moonscape bottom must no be a popular place to fish. Just how we like it. So we climbed the gate and walked out in front of the trees and drilled some holes. Then we caught a couple pike, fillet them, and went on our way. (while we were there, another truck parked half a mile to the north of us and two guys walked out and fished too -- we must have started a trend!)


so, my question is: how come most anglers crowd in to a single spot when you have miles and miles of lake that nobody is fishing??

next question: The weather was beautiful!! sunny, calm, blue skies --- WHY ARE ALL YOU PEOPLE HIDING IN YOUR TENTS???
[signature]

[quote Flyfishinglover]Nice job. How did you manage too go fishing for PIKE when you feel in the tub on your bad hand [laugh]????[/quote]

You mean fell in the tub. Well I had DuckDog1us drill all the holes for me, and I switched my reel from right to left so that I could hold the rod with my left and reel with my right.

Still the 9lb'er hurt my hand pretty bad! Luckily I have another day to heal before I have to go back to work tomorrow.

Special thanks to DuckDog1us for drilling all the holes for me!
[signature]

someone sees someone else catch a pike, then the swarms crowd them! That's why i hide in my tent, so no one can see when I catch a fish! Amazed at how people will set up right on top of you and don't get me started about how rude I think it is when the 4 wheelers blow right by you within 3 feet of your setup! It's a big lake, spread out people! I like the seclusion and peace that fishing brings, yuba was that way last year. This year tho, tons of noise, people hooting and hollering and flying by camps on wheelers etc.... Definitely gotta hit it on a weekday and hike as far as ya can.
[signature]

I cannot understand it myself. I did my best to get away from the crowds and I think it paid off.

I thought Oasis woud be just that "an oasis from the corwds". I probaly would have done the same thing, gone to the west beach!

I have to agree with you on the un-inviting nature of Yuba. Lots of private property out there! On the Yuba map I bought it shows old camp sites along shore lines but now they lie on closed private property. Bummer but I am sure they have their reasons (trash, vandlisim, harassment of livestock, etc.)

How thick was the ice over on the west beach and what was the largest your pike caught over there? Hopefully the ranger doesn't make you pay to fish the west bech when you have to start from the highway!
[signature]

[quote utahgolf]someone sees someone else catch a pike, then the swarms crowd them! That's why i hide in my tent, so no one can see when I catch a fish! Amazed at how people will set up right on top of you and don't get me started about how rude I think it is when the 4 wheelers blow right by you within 3 feet of your setup! It's a big lake, spread out people! I like the seclusion and peace that fishing brings, yuba was that way last year. This year tho, tons of noise, people hooting and hollering and flying by camps on wheelers etc.... Definitely gotta hit it on a weekday and hike as far as ya can.[/quote]

Yep, what happens in a tent, stays in the tent![laugh]

I will probably just do weekdays myself. I am glad to see the harvest of the pike, but can do without the gerneral "jackass-ery" that comes with the crowds!

Oh well, as I stated beforehand, I just needed to adjust.

And for the record, I was not in a tent till the last hour of the trip.
[signature]

We fished the west beach on Saturday. We launched from Painted rocks=mistake. We were on our wheelers: a camo can am, and a green polaris pulling a double sled.

The ice on the west side was a little thicker, we at least I thought. We started by the cliffs, but was unproductive for the first part of the day. Then we moved across the lake and to the north. My wife hooked into a nice female on the first drop from changing baits. 30" and around 10-12 lbs. The fish maxed out our 8 lb scale with ease.

It was nice to get away from the crows. We stopped by a few camps on our way back to the truck. Most everybody had a slow day. The best I personally saw were 2 pike in a 3 man group.
[signature]

[quote whipper-snapper]We fished the west beach on Saturday. We launched from Painted rocks=mistake. .[/quote]

I am pretty sure PBH was talking about the north end of Yuba, not the south end. The west beach is a very popular camping area, and yes they do charge a fee when you pass through the gate up there. It is where I always camp in the summer.
[signature]

[quote whipper-snapper]It was nice to get away from the crows. We stopped by a few camps on our way back to the truck. Most everybody had a slow day. The best I personally saw were 2 pike in a 3 man group.[/quote]

Maybe it was you who came to look at what we had on your snowmobile. We were south east of painted rocks across to the other side and ended the day with 5 and missed a handful more. The day started slow and by noon finally the fish showed up.
[signature]