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[cool][#0000ff]After the recent report on low water conditions at Yuba I fired off an email to Jeff Rasmussen, manager of the state park facilities at Yuba. I asked about water level, inflow and fishing conditions. Here is his reply:[/#0000ff]
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The lake has come up two feet in the past month. We currently sit at 19% capacity. There is plenty of water on the west side off of I-15. The Painted Rocks boat ramp is still high and dry.
There have been a few fishermen that have done OK on Northern Pike recently. A 44" pike was caught just last week by a guy who has caught dozens of them in the last few months. I have not heard much of any success other than that.
I suspect there will be a few walleye caught in the next month as the weather is finally cooling off. There were several people who did very well with walleye fishing this past Spring so I suspect that it should be fair walleye fishing this Fall.
I know the perch are in there as I saw a bunch of nice sized ones caught this Spring. Just haven't seen any caught lately.
Should be worth a try. Good luck!!
Jeff
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Conventional wisdom points to the whole population being concentrated in a small area but it seems like low water gives em lock jaw, especially in the bright noon day sun. It might be worth a shot to throw some Rapalas, buggers, and other after dark goodies when the sun goes down. That's my best guess. Day time could be awesome with some finesse fishing, but we both know what it's like when you are throwing micro jigs, etc. and a monster hammers it on 4 lb. test line. Line visibility can make a lot of difference in clear water but the thin stuff isn't made for tiger Musky and, sure enough, a perch jerker will get a toothy surprise if they get a hook in the water enough times. Landing a big fish on light tackle is very rewarding but I have hooked and lost a lot of monsters by getting spooled or broken off and all I'm left with is the story of "the one that got away."At least a lake is more forgiving then a river.
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[cool][#0000ff]That low water usually is not too clear, so line clarity is seldom a problem. I generally use six pound for all species. I usually fish for perch and then based upon what my sonar says...and fish activity...I will throw some crankbaits or larger plastics. I have landed several pike from Yuba on nothing more than 6# mono...as long as they are hooked in the lip. Gotta admit I have had some hard hits that returned nothing more than a frayed line end...usually on smaller plastics. Lots of young "hammer handle" pike in there that smack the lures I use for perch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Last year at this time there were quite a few guys shore fishing with dead minnows that caught a number of pike. But the biggest ones usually go to the specialists who use big lures and fish spots not pressured as much by the other anglers. Most of the truly large pike have probably had a few "encounters" and are tough to coax into chomping on yet another "hard meal" full of hooks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I fish Yuba from late fall to iceup almost every year. In a "normal" year there may be up to 50 feet of water in front of the dam at this time. The perch fry in the lake migrate to the deepest water and the predators follow. Typically I start finding the big perch in about 20 to 25 feet of water and then each week they move deeper until they are on the bottom in the deepest spots. Last year the deepest water in front of the dam was 35 feet...and the fishing was lousy for all species. This year the lake level is even lower.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I will probably make my first "perch search" trip within the next couple of weeks. Based upon some emailed reports and what I know of the lake I am optimistic that I will do better this year than last year. It is also encouraging that there is water coming into the lake now that the water users have quit irrigating. The storms this week should also help since a lot of water is falling in the Sevier River Drainage.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the big "kickers" at Yuba the past two or three years has been the overwhelming carp population. They are piscivorous (fish eating) and they probably consume far more of the perch fry than the perch and walleye combined. That has to have a serious effect on perch populations...and fewer small perch translates to poor feeding for big perch and walleye. The pike don't care. They like perch and walleye on the menu but they will also munch a nasty young carp if they get hungry.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]These carp also make it tough for anglers to get through to other species at times. They readily hit lures...especially if "sweetened" with worm or perch meat. It is not ususual to catch grundles of carp without hooking a single (or married) perch. And they make it virtually impossible to fish by sonar alone. They are so thick throughout the lake that you never know what you are seeing on the screen. There are places where your display will be black from the bottom to the top...with carp. Kinda takes away any advantage electronics might offer. The best they can provide is depth and temperature. After that you have to guess at what could be something other than carp.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After dark? Good for an occasional pike or walleye during the summer...but perch shut down at night. Actually there are far more walleyes caught during daylight hours than after dark on Yuba. Go figure. I know guys that have fished all night with NADA and then got into the fish only after the sun hits the water.[/#0000ff]
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Any of you guys worried at all about ash coming down the river from the Twitchell fire and making it to Yuba?
Clear Creek was running thick and black yesterday. More rain last night and today means more, and more ash coming down the mountain and into the Sevier River.
I know it's a long way, and i know the Sevier is a pretty low gradient river (slow) -- so most should settle out. But, this isn't exactly your typical rain storm we're seeing down here right now, and it isn't done raining yet. That's a lot of water to dump on some barren, black, fish-killing soot!
FWIW -- Clear Creek is gone. The fish can't survive that.
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i just read your post on the other place. man that real sucks. i personally dont see Yuba getting a ton of this stuff in it, but im no hydrologist. really really sucks about clear creek, good thing it flows into the seiver, like you said, alot lower.
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[cool][#0000ff]That is a very real consideration. Saw some problems with that in Arizona, in the lakes along the Salt River drainage after a 400,000 acre fire in the watershed above. The combination of ash and the fire retardant chemicals dumped on the fire really messed up the chemistry of the whole chain of small lakes along the river. In some cases there were immediate dieoffs of some species. In other cases it raised the nutrient levels high enough to cause massive algae blooms. On Saguaro Lake, one of my favorite fishin' holes, it created a big bloom of toxic blue-green algae that forced all of the fish out of the shallow areas and into the depths. It also killed all the invertebrates in the shallow coves...like crawdads and freshwater clams. They were actually floating to the surface and the whole area would stink something awful. It took that lake at least two years to recover.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have heard from a couple of sources that fires might have been a contributing factor to big perch dieoffs at Rockport and Jordanelle three winters ago. Not sure which fire or fires were involved but it was suggested that spring runoffs from the affected areas were laden with crud that messed up the food chain in the lakes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Gee, I sure hope whatever comes down the river will be selective enough to kill carp and not the other species. Yeah, right.[/#0000ff]
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Sounds like you might appreciate this pic. Posted by a spear-fisher. If only he could get'm all!
Dang thing probably just kept on swimming!
Thanks for the Yuba info. I don't suppose they have the same restrictions on Pike as they do TigerMusky. Fun fish to hook into - those big monsters.
So do Yuba perch get as big and fat as your Starvation chunkers?
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[cool][#0000ff]Here are a couple of my own Carp "C&R" pics. Got lots of them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]No special restrictions on pike in Yuba...except for statewide possession limits. You can even use whole perch for bait...as long as they are dead.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The perch in Yuba DO get big. State records in both weight and C&R are from Yuba in the past. Used to get lots of fish over 14"...up to 16". Here is a pic taken in December of '08...the last good perch fishing was during that winter. The limit was 10 and it only took a half hour to get a limit of 13"ers.[/#0000ff]
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