11-08-2008, 03:40 PM
[cool][#0000ff]After catching a few perch from a boat, while fishing Yuba with Bassrods last week, I decided to make a special shot at it with the tubes this week with TubeBabe along for assistance.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hit one of those rare days on Yuba for this time of year. Air temp above freezing, no wind at all...all day...and water temps ranging from 49 to 53. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Interesting start. Decided to launch in front of the bridge, since the low water had the water's edge way out in front of the bridge...usually has water under it. We have done that many times in the past. But, as we drove toward the dry underside of the bridge there were sand berms I had never seen before. Stopped the Jimmy and got out to look before proceeding. Good I did. The north side of the bridge pilings was blocked by a deep trench cut into the road, to keep vehicles from passing. It wasn't marked and not possible to see before you dropped into it. The south side had no trench, but the soft sand would require 4 wheel drive and a fast shot to make it through. We plowed through and hit the beach. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Just about the time we were getting ready to launch, we heard the sound of another vehicle coming down the access road and to the bridge. I saw that he was barreling toward the trench side and waved my arms to stop him. He waved back and KERPLUNK. His front wheels disappeared into the "sand canyon". [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Turned out he was from St. George area and just came down to see the lake. He saw a lot more than he wanted. We had no tow rope or shovels. He had a jack and a small shovel. He was eventually able to get out by jacking up the front end and piling rocks from the dam under the wheels. Close call.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As we were trying to come up with a plan, we noticed the "No Trespassing" sign that someone had torn down and tossed into the weeds, So, after getting the tubes ready to launch, I took our vehicle back up and parked off the road. Man. I have fished Yuba for over 35 years and it seems as if one by one they are closing down all of the access points for tubers...without having to pay a fee and use the ramp. I have a season pass, but it is no good anywhere but at the parks.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The fishing? We started by throwing crankbaits and spinner baits along as much shoreline and dam face area as we could reach with our tubes. Nary a sniff from any pike, trout or walleye. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]So, we rigged for vertical jigging for perch. Started in the same area that Bassrods and I had found a few last week. Nothing doing. Worked out into deeper water and finally found a few isolated fish in 35 to 40 feet of water. Also saw schools of baby perch on the sonar. Figured the bigguns would be in there feeding on them. We were right. Almost every large perch we caught was barfing up freshly eaten 2"-3" perchlets. In fact, one small perch I caught had the tail of a smaller one sticking out its mouth. As I took the picture, I noticed the tail of the smaller one wiggling. I pulled it out of the bigger fish's mouth and it was flopping around. That is fresh. Took another picture of predator and prey before releasing both...and both dove to the bottom.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Fishing was not fast. One here and one there. Most perch were right about 11"...and fat. We kept a couple about 10 inches and several between 12" and 13". Tried a variety of jigs and tried both crawlers and perch meat as bait. Just about all of our perch were caught on 1/4 oz. chartreuse "ultra minnow" jigs...with TD custom recipe perch strips.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Oh yeah, we saw grundles of fish on sonar, but a high percentage of them were probably carp. We caught several carp on our jigs and perch meat combos from as deep as 41 feet. Including one pic of a mirror carp with light coloring.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We started out near the dam and worked back and forth from shallow to deep...25' to 43' (deepest spots in the lake)...from the dam to the ramp. At one point I got out near the ramp and hiked back to get the car and bring it down. We finished right out in front of the ramp and got our last 4 keepers in that area. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There were some "dock danglers" fishing minnows off the end of the dock. I did not see them catch anything for the entire time they were there, but when they got ready to go they hoisted a small pike on a stringer...see pic.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Only about 3 or 4 boats on the lake. One turned out to be Brad Cutler...president of Rocky Mountain Anglers..and his boatmate. When asked if they had found any pike, his answer was "We were just running stabilizer through the motor to get it ready for winter." Sheesh. Took him all day to do it. Best excuse for a skunk I ever heard. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hit one of those rare days on Yuba for this time of year. Air temp above freezing, no wind at all...all day...and water temps ranging from 49 to 53. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Interesting start. Decided to launch in front of the bridge, since the low water had the water's edge way out in front of the bridge...usually has water under it. We have done that many times in the past. But, as we drove toward the dry underside of the bridge there were sand berms I had never seen before. Stopped the Jimmy and got out to look before proceeding. Good I did. The north side of the bridge pilings was blocked by a deep trench cut into the road, to keep vehicles from passing. It wasn't marked and not possible to see before you dropped into it. The south side had no trench, but the soft sand would require 4 wheel drive and a fast shot to make it through. We plowed through and hit the beach. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Just about the time we were getting ready to launch, we heard the sound of another vehicle coming down the access road and to the bridge. I saw that he was barreling toward the trench side and waved my arms to stop him. He waved back and KERPLUNK. His front wheels disappeared into the "sand canyon". [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Turned out he was from St. George area and just came down to see the lake. He saw a lot more than he wanted. We had no tow rope or shovels. He had a jack and a small shovel. He was eventually able to get out by jacking up the front end and piling rocks from the dam under the wheels. Close call.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As we were trying to come up with a plan, we noticed the "No Trespassing" sign that someone had torn down and tossed into the weeds, So, after getting the tubes ready to launch, I took our vehicle back up and parked off the road. Man. I have fished Yuba for over 35 years and it seems as if one by one they are closing down all of the access points for tubers...without having to pay a fee and use the ramp. I have a season pass, but it is no good anywhere but at the parks.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The fishing? We started by throwing crankbaits and spinner baits along as much shoreline and dam face area as we could reach with our tubes. Nary a sniff from any pike, trout or walleye. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]So, we rigged for vertical jigging for perch. Started in the same area that Bassrods and I had found a few last week. Nothing doing. Worked out into deeper water and finally found a few isolated fish in 35 to 40 feet of water. Also saw schools of baby perch on the sonar. Figured the bigguns would be in there feeding on them. We were right. Almost every large perch we caught was barfing up freshly eaten 2"-3" perchlets. In fact, one small perch I caught had the tail of a smaller one sticking out its mouth. As I took the picture, I noticed the tail of the smaller one wiggling. I pulled it out of the bigger fish's mouth and it was flopping around. That is fresh. Took another picture of predator and prey before releasing both...and both dove to the bottom.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Fishing was not fast. One here and one there. Most perch were right about 11"...and fat. We kept a couple about 10 inches and several between 12" and 13". Tried a variety of jigs and tried both crawlers and perch meat as bait. Just about all of our perch were caught on 1/4 oz. chartreuse "ultra minnow" jigs...with TD custom recipe perch strips.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Oh yeah, we saw grundles of fish on sonar, but a high percentage of them were probably carp. We caught several carp on our jigs and perch meat combos from as deep as 41 feet. Including one pic of a mirror carp with light coloring.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We started out near the dam and worked back and forth from shallow to deep...25' to 43' (deepest spots in the lake)...from the dam to the ramp. At one point I got out near the ramp and hiked back to get the car and bring it down. We finished right out in front of the ramp and got our last 4 keepers in that area. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There were some "dock danglers" fishing minnows off the end of the dock. I did not see them catch anything for the entire time they were there, but when they got ready to go they hoisted a small pike on a stringer...see pic.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Only about 3 or 4 boats on the lake. One turned out to be Brad Cutler...president of Rocky Mountain Anglers..and his boatmate. When asked if they had found any pike, his answer was "We were just running stabilizer through the motor to get it ready for winter." Sheesh. Took him all day to do it. Best excuse for a skunk I ever heard. [/#0000ff]
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