Northern Pike

[Carp_Killer]

If I wanted to catch Northern Pike would I have a better chance at catching one at Utah Lake or Yuba? Or maybe another lake that I don't know about? Really want to catch one (never have yet.) I heard that they can be caught this time of year and was hoping to go out and try soon. Any suggestions?
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[PBH]

Recapture Reservoir.


Utah really doesn't have any good pike fisheries. Maybe you could look at heading to some of our neighboring states that offer excellent northern pike fisheries (Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho...)
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[Blackellunge]

topic of northern pike always catches my eye. ive caught a few good ones at Yuba since i moved here over 3 years ago but the last couple years there have been pretty brutal . I dont even bother fishing for them in Utah any longer.
I've looked into trips to states surrounding us and it looks like Colorado has some of the best Pike fisheries around, but your looking at a 500 mile drive!! Reservoir named 11mile and some of its neighbors look like a great destination .
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[Anglinarcher]

Utah Does not like them at all because they tend to overpopulate and become hammer handles, eating everything in their wake.

Idaho and Washington have done all they can to damage or destroy them. Colorado tolerates them, but still does not like them.

"Eleven Mile" in Colorado and the lake upstream "Spinney Mountain" use to have some awesome pike in the mid 80's, but they were going hammer handle even then.

I suppose I have to favor the sterile Tiger Muskie because of what I have seen, but, pike are an awesome fish.

I have not fished Yuba in quite some time, but even with the issues there, I suspect it is the best place. I use to use 6 to 8 inch lures to catch my Pike, and I suspect that most people are using much smaller and wondering whey they are not getting hit.

Got my son into some in Washington not long ago and he is using 6" swim baits on the Pike. Most are still only 30" fish but the swim baits are big enough to get the Pike's attention.

If my knee was not post surgery right now I'd take you down and show you what I would do. Shallow is good right now, but looking for food is critical.
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[ocean]

Pike are still catchable at Yuba just remember the main forage fir them there are carp. Fresh carp meat will increase your chances of catching a pike there. Tip lures with carp meat .
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[PBH]

[quote Anglinarcher]Utah Does not like them at all because they tend to overpopulate and become hammer handles, eating everything in their wake.

Idaho and Washington have done all they can to damage or destroy them. Colorado tolerates them, but still does not like them. [/quote]

Wyoming is doing what they can to minimize them.
Nevada has poisoned their pike lakes to eliminate them.
Arizona continues to struggle with illegal introductions of pike.



anyone else seeing a pattern here??


It's not that "Utah doesn't like them". It's that pike are a problem in nearly every Western body of water they show up in.

I get it. Pike are fun! They are voracious. They have potential to get huge. But they are a poor choice for our western states to attempt to manage. They might be fun for a short period of time (hmmm.....Yuba??) but the short-term benefit is certainly not worth the long-term damage. It's not just a Utah thing.


Get rid of the pike, and use a sterile alternate (tiger musky).
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[SkunkedAgain]

Okay I'm just curious and probably speculating, but in 05 we went to Alaska and flew into a lake to begin a rafting trip... the water was crystal clear and all over the bottom of the lake there were Pike carcasses that had been filleted out... I'm guess over 200-300 fish... most were 30+" long.... At the time I thought someone must have really poached a ton of fish, but I've heard since that the pike were part of the problem with lower numbers of salmon in all the rivers up there... Been wondering if perhaps they netted the lake and tried to get rid of the pike? Have you heard anything like that, that the pike are a problem for the salmon? We didn't ever hook into one of the pike and never seen any in the river, but that image really stuck in my mind of all the skeleton fish in the bottom of that lake... Anyway interesting topic to me... Later J
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[PBH]

there is a lot of information out there concerning pike problems in Alaska. It is mostly in southcentral Alaska.

Pike are native to much of Alaska, and do rather well in many areas. But they certainly are a well documented problem in their non-native range.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adf...epike.main
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[SkunkedAgain]

Yup I was in south central AK.... too bad when you get things out of place... Thanks for the link... J
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[fuzzyfisher]

still some nice pike in yuba! they are going to get hard to catch soon tho the water is coming up and they will be up in the snag's and crap hard to getting them out is going to be fun..
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