Swirling Pike at Yuba

Fishing Time: 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Weather: Sunny, calm, 60's

Moon Phase: 56% Moon

Location: Yuba

Bait: Swimbaits, Crankbaits, Spinnerbaits, Rapalas

Who Went: Johnny Leach, Me

Got to Yuba and it was still dark, perfect! Launched the boat into glass and felt like it was going to be a great day. We buzzed over to the first rocky point we could see. There is no stick ups this time of year as Yuba is about 20 to 30 feet lower than summer conditions. We started casting swimbaits along the rocky shoreline when I saw a big ole pike come out of the water and say hello. Little did I know this would set the tone for the rest of the morning. We started seeing pike everywhere. Swirling around, jumping, and nosing out of the water, yet we couldn't buy a bite! A boat behind us working the shoreline we just got done casting to, caught a medium sized pike and thats when I really started to get frustrated. We cruised over to another rocky point and just as we are setting up to fish a boat comes flying in and starts casting right in front of us. First cast and he had on what looked to be a nice one. He ended up losing it (karma) but now I was getting very frustrated and mad at the jack ass swooping in front of us! After casting for 3 straight hours we decided to try our luck trolling. Just as we were about to quit trolling, John had a fish on. It was a dink but at least we were on the board!

We went back to casting for about another hour and still couldn't put anything in the boat, so we decided to go home and watch college football. On the way in there were some deer down by the water taking a drink. I love seeing wildlife while out fishing.