Funny Story About Yuba

I had to share this funny story with my readers. If you read my last post, I talk about the volunteering I did with the DNR, gill netting down at Yuba Reservoir. I also talk about how well I got along with the warm water fisheries coordinator Drew Cushing, and how he really liked some of my ideas about how to fish Yuba Reservoir. I didn't think much about the conversations I had with Drew that day or with any of the other biologists, but I do remember thinking to myself that I felt like I knew more about the pike fishing at Yuba then they did as the managing biologists of the reservoir! With this said, you have to read this article from The Daily Herald that was sent to me from the Rocky Mountain Anglers Group that I'm a member of. Based off my last post you should get a kick out of it. It is almost word for word what I told Drew in our conversations during that day. So when you think your getting great fishing advice from our very "knowledgeable," state fisheries biologists, you now know that most of their information is nothing but word of mouth from local fisherman like me!

/ Utah News, Sports, Events - Daily Herald Newspaper / Utah Valley Sports News Daily Herald / Recreation / Water-activities / Fishing
ALLPHIN: The new Yuba offers great fishing
Story
Discussion
Don Allphin - Herald Correspondent Posted: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 9:45 am No Comments Posted
Font Size:
Default font size
Larger font size

Yuba Reservoir, a popular impoundment located between Nephi and Scipio just off I-15, has been a hit-and-miss fishery for many years.
"It's just a big bathtub," said Drew Cushing of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. "The lack of structure has always been Yuba's problem. But now, we are developing healthy populations of three top-of-the-food-chain predator species that are doing very well."
Northern pike, walleye and yellow perch are all doing very well in Yuba, as a recent gill-netting survey is thought to prove.
"We're still analyzing the data," continued Cushing, "but early indications are that all the species in the reservoir are fat and very healthy. The northern pike are getting ready to spawn soon and the females are full of eggs and males are ripe as well. We are still not seeing quite as many walleyes as we hoped to see, but those we are catching are very healthy fish."
Although the recent gill netting survey didn't specifically target yellow perch, Cushing believes that the perch population is improving too.
"The perch spawn last year was great," he said. "In fact, all three species are prolific breeders and produce a lot of offspring. For that reason, we're taking a different approach to managing this fishery. In years past we've tried to protect the larger fish, thinking that was the best thing to do. But at this point, we're going to target the 'top end' (larger) fish which should provide for better survival rates for all three species."
Cushing is referring to the new regulations in place on Yuba that allow limits as follows: Walleyes - 10 fish with one over 24 inches; Northern pike - 10 fish of any size, and Perch - 50 fish.
It is hoped that anglers will remove some of the larger fish so that significant numbers of smaller fish will live long enough to grow up.
With water temperatures still in the low-to-mid 40s, anglers who target northern pike should slow down and fish swimbaits on or near the bottom.
"There is no question that the big northern are eating carp and so anything in a gold color will work," said Cushing. "Rattle traps, and swimbaits are my personal lures of choice."
Walleyes will take jigs, smaller swimbaits, lipped and lipless crankbaits and are right now beginning to spawn. Once again the key to catching walleyes is to slow down, watch your fish finder and put your presentation right in front of their mouths.
Perch are suckers for small tubes and small jigs. Many anglers opt to use a drop shot rig or a small jig tipped with a night crawler.
"Starting in the third week of April, fishing on Yuba should be super and will only get better and better," Cushing concluded. "The reservoir should fill up this year and that will translate into some great fishing opportunities as the flooded salt cedars will provide some much needed structure for all three sport fish species."
Take advantage of this unique opportunity to catch fish up to 40 inches in length just an hour south of Provo. Good luck, and please send me photos of your fishing success.

Volunteering at Yuba

Three months ago I was approached by a fishing buddy who wanted me to join the Rocky Mountain Anglers Group (RMA). The RMA started about 30 years ago when a bunch of guys that didn't know how to catch walleye, got together and formed a group to help each other learn how to fish for this elusive species. Well, it worked! The RMA is known to have some of the most knowledgeable walleye fisherman in the Western United States. This being said, the fish that I have always had a very tough time consistently catching is walleye, and after only attending four meetings now, I already feel that I may be able to go out and target and catch this difficult yet rewarding species. Another great thing about the RMA is that they are very closely involved with most fishing events in the state of Utah, and also work together with the Division of Natural Resources (DNR) to help keep our fisheries as some of the best in the nation. All this being said, I had an unbelievable opportunity to volunteer and help the DNR do their annual gill netting and creel surveys on the walleye down at Yuba Reservoir. All I can say is, I missed my calling in life! Forget Geology, I should have studied Biology! I couldn't believe that these biologists could even consider this work. Seriously, I wish my boss would say to me one day, hey Chris what I want you to do is take these nets and hook the truck up to that boat and run down to Yuba Reservoir and catch as many walleye as you can in one day! Are you kidding me? Can you say dream job?!

I met the DNR at the docks at 9:00 a.m. and the weather was absolutely gorgeous! The lake was glass and the sun was shining. I met a great group of biologists that were all good guys, and I really lucked out to have Drew Cushing show up to gill net with us for the day. Drew is the Program Coordinator for all of the warmwater fish in Utah. Basically he is one of the head biologists in the state . I ended up shooting the breeze all day with Drew about my swimbait tactics and techniques I use to fish for pike at Yuba, and by the time we got to our vehicles to head for home, Drew and I stayed and talked fishing for another half hour. What a cool guy and a rarity as a biologist to be such an avid fisherman. Believe it or not, most fish biologists do not fish! Sounds crazy I know, but they truly are only biologists for the most part, and not fisherman. Anyway, after talking fishing all day and getting to know Drew, he asked me if he could go fishing with me in the near future. I was in awe that one of the top fish biologists in the state wants to ride on my boat and fish with me, so of course I told him I would love to. He gave me his contact info and said to call him in May and that we could head up to Willard Bay and fish, which is one of the reservoirs that he manages. How cool is this? Man am I excited.

As far as the netting at Yuba goes, it was a blast, but about all I learned is that I would never go to Yuba to target walleye. We caught fifteen walleye while dunking six nets and checking them each five times with an hour and a half inbetween sets. We also caught four pike, but no state record monsters like I was hoping. I took the picture above to prove there are actually walleye in Yuba, and the ones below are of the pike just because they are awesome!

On the way home from Yuba, I couldn't resist the nice weather and the fact that I already had my waders and fishing pole in the truck. I stopped by Lincoln Beach down by the "L", to see if I could land me a walleye on rod and reel instead of a 50 foot gill net. When I got there the lake was glass and I texted my buddy to tell him how nice the conditions were. Needless to say he did not believe me, so John this picture is for you. Told you, pure glass! I ended up combat fishing with all the walleye diehards, but it only took an hour of no bites and not seeing one boat or person land a fish, before my worn out body from a long day decided enough was enough. I hit the road for home dreaming about my next life as a fisheries biologist.

Coldwater Bassin at Lake Powell

Fishing Time: Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon
Weather: cool, breezy, mostly 50's with cloud cover
Moon Phase: 85% Moon
Water Temp: 49-54 degrees

Water Level: 3,619 ft amsl
Location: Lake Powell
Bait: Everything, but best was christmas colored grub with 1/8 ounce jighead
Who Went: Bobber John, Rick Everson, Me

After missing my annual Lake Powell trip in 2009, I was really excited to get down there this year. I watched the weather hourly the whole week before our trip and of course the forecast looked great all through the week until Thursday when we planned to leave. These pictures show the summit in Spanish Fork Canyon on our drive down.

Multiple cars were going off the road and here we are trudging through the snow dragging my boat behind. I’m sure people thought we were nuts! Once we got out of the canyon the snow subsided, but the wind didn't. When we reached Hanksville, the wind was whipping from the North at about 30 mph! We started making backup plans just in case the water was too rough to travel in my boat packed with all our gear. As we made our way closer to the Hite Marina, where we launched my boat, the clouds split and the lights from heaven shined down upon us. The wind was gone and we anxiously pulled down to the primitive boat ramp of the old Hite Marina that is now long been dead due to low water years.

Our hearts began to beat fast in excitement to begin the trip we had waited through a long cold month of March to go on. Launching wasn’t easy as the boat was heavy with gear, and the launch ramp was very shallow. The boat didn’t want to release from the trailer, but with some effort and determination it finally gave, and we were on our way to find a camp spot. It didn’t take long to find a great camp spot with a nice natural boat slip, and we hurried to unpack our things and get camp set so that we could hit the water for some evening fishing.

Just as I was about to lay my tent down to set it up, I noticed there was a scorpion right next to my foot. Needless to say I found a new area to put my tent.

Once camp was set we headed out onto water that looked like glass, we were so excited because this was nothing like what we were expecting from the weather reports we had read the night before.

As I turned on the fish finder the water temp read 49 degrees and I was not too thrilled. That is very cold water for bass as they prefer 55-60 degrees at the very least! We didn’t put much thought into it and were just excited to be on Lake Powell on a beautiful evening with no wind or rain. We first headed into the back of White Canyon where we were camped. The water in White canyon was stained and muddy which helped warm the water a degree or two, but didn’t do much for the fishing. We soon figured that muddy water might not be the ticket on this trip and we were right. We headed down to two mile canyon and out of the muddy water. Here is where I landed the first bass of the trip with a decent little smallmouth. Soon after, I caught another bass but this time is was a largemouth. Rick and John were excited about me catching fish but were ready to get in on the action themselves, especially after my next cast. I casted right up against a rock island and instantly an explosion occurred. This bass came out of the water and began the tail dancing they are famous for. I didn’t realize her size until she became visible at the boat side. That’s when I started yelling, “get the net”! She was a beast, and had a big round belly on her, probably ready to spawn! She weighed in at just less than 5 pounds and made my trip the first night there!

Unfortunately for Rick and John my fishing bonanza didn’t stop there. I continued to put bass after bass into the boat and even one lone crappie. Rick did end up catching a couple that night, including this nice largemouth, but man did I have the hot hand of the evening.

We decided to invite the crappie, one largemouth and 4 smallmouth over for dinner that night and they were delicious! Of course I let big mama go to finish her spawn and keep the reservoir stocked with more of these awesome fish!

The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed south to Good Hope Bay in search of some walleye. We didn’t find the walleye, but we did find the stripers. Funny thing was, they were jumping all around us but we couldn’t find anything that they wanted. Rick finally landed the only striper of the trip while trolling with a large white curly tailed grub.

The stripers continued to frustrate us so we moved on to bass fishing and found that they were just as willing to bite as the night before! John got on the board first with a nice largemouth and continued to catch smallmouth on his favorite rig all throughout the day. John’s favorite rig was a jig tipped with worm underneath a slip-bobber, and although Rick and I gave him a little grief for using a method that we referred to as the five year old method, we all knew that its a very effective method for catching fish, but it was to much fun giving him crap about it! His nickname for the trip became Bobber John!

We fished long and hard all day Friday landing quite a few good sized smallmouth, with a good mix of largemouth as well.

The evening proved to be good for me again as I landed another nice largemouth in the 3 pound range and capped off the night with the only walleye of the trip, caught right before sundown!

It was a nice walleye and we had big plans for night fishing for some more walleye and catfish after dinner, but the wind came up and put a damper on that idea. Instead we took all the meat and vegetables we had on the trip and threw them in a big pot and boiled it all up and had some awesome stew around the campfire.

The last and final day we were there was our worst. The fishing was still decent, but the wind made for tough conditions controlling the boat. John caught a very nice largemouth that got off right at the boat, and has now grown from around 3 pounds to about 5 or 6. You know how it goes; the ones you lose are always the biggest! Rick landed a nice 3 pound bass right at the end of the trip putting him on the lunker board, and I landed a few more smallmouth.

Soon the wind just became to much and hesitantly we called the trip to an end. After we loaded our gear and got back to the Hite boat ramp, a guy informed Rick that the stripers were in the bay right across from the ramp. We toyed with the thought of unloading all our gear and going over there for a couple hours, but with the wind still blowing and all our gear already loaded, we decided against it.

What an unbelievable trip! We were some “fishin fools” down there, and well surpassed our expectations in the cold April waters of Lake Powell.

It was awesome fishing with two guys that are as crazy about the hobby as I am, and I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Heading South

Fishing Time: 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Weather: warm, calm, high 60's
Moon Phase: 23% Moon
Water temp: 49-52.3 degrees
Location: Sand Hollow Reservoir
Bait: Everything, but drop shot with roboworm is what all fish were caught on
Who Went: Hunt, Me My buddy Hunt was in town this week from Portland and wanted to get away for the weekend and go fishing somewhere. We talked about places to go, but with most the lakes in the ice to no ice transition mode, we decided that we might as well head south to warmer weather. Sand Hollow, near St. George is the lake we decided on, and it holds nothing but largemouth bass and bluegill. I have heard a lot of good reports about some big bass down there and also about how beautiful the lake is resembling Lake Powell, on a much smaller scale of course. Well I can tell you that one of those reports is not true and that is that Sand Hollow resembles Lake Powell. As we pulled up to the reservoir we were very disappointed to find a catch basin in the middle of the sand dunes! It has one outcrop of red rock sandstone that is pretty cool, but besides that it was storage water held behind a big rock dike in the middle of some sand dunes! It also bordered the town of Hurricane and gave no feeling like you were getting away from the hustle and bustle of life. We were not allowed to camp on the lake and were forced to stay in a designated campground overlooking an empty subdivision that has obviously been humbled by the recent economy! We joked about the name of our camp spot and called it, the Sand Hollow Retreat overlooking the beautiful Sand Hollow Bluffs Subdivision. What a selling point that would be in their brochure! As far as the fishing, it ended up being about as productive as us finding a good camp spot! We found out from the camp host that the wind had been blowing for the last two days with gusts up to 85 mph and when we got there the good old american flag told us that the wind wasn't over yet. It was so bad we didn't even fish on Friday.This left the water temperature of the reservoir at a chilly 49 degrees on Saturday morning. There was also a bass tournament going on Saturday and the small reservoir was littered with boats. I only saw two bass caught by other boats all day long, and I only managed to catch a total of four. This was the first and smallest of the four I caught, but none were really picture worthy, all were under 2 pounds. Hunt had a rough day and didn't land any bass. I’ve heard that in mid April to May you can have 100 fish days on this reservoir so I would maybe return during that time frame, but it definitely wouldn’t be for the great camping or scenery that was rumored to be at this lake. We hit it wrong once again and I’m getting very tired of the weather not cooperating with the weekends that I go fishing. We did get gorgeous weather on Saturday and it made for a very peaceful day and evening on the lake, but the wind the previous three days in a row just killed the water temps and fishing. I’m headed to Lake Powell in two weeks and I’ve already started praying to the weather gods to let it shine, please let it shine!

My Little Fisher"wo"man is Here

Fishing Time (birth): 8:26 p.m.
Weather: Snow, abnormally warm
Moon: Full Moon
Location: St. Marks Hospital
Bait(doctor): Dr. Carrie Sloan
Who Was There: Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousin Dakota
My best fishing day following my son’s birth happened today and arrived in an even smaller package than he did. My daughter and newest fishing partner, Addison Lynn Duncan, was born today at 8:26 p.m. She weighed 2 lb 14 oz and was 16 ½ inches long. She had a little more of a difficult start than my other little fisherman Devin did. She needed the ventilator to help her breath, and they also added surfactant to her lungs because she didn’t quite stay in moms belly long enough to naturally create it on her own, but beyond that, she has done great! I now have two little fishing buddies to share the water with and I couldn’t be more excited about it! Now I just have to start brain washing them at an early age of how important fishing and the outdoors are, and to enjoy and cherish every outing they go on with their old man!

Fremont Lake "part deux"

Fishing Time: 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Weather: Perfect, clear, no wind, high 40's
Moon Phase: Full Moon
Location: Fremont Lake, Wyoming
Bait: Tube jigs tipped with chub meat
Who Went: Hunt, Dave, Newton, Scotty, Me
My annual Ice fishing trip with my buddies almost became a no show for me this year as Cari and I are both in a waiting game with her pregnancy. We have been told by the doctor that the baby should already be here, but every day at our ultrasound over at St. Marks Hospital, they tell us the baby is still hanging in there. This was the story again on Friday when they told us we were going to make it through another weekend. I took that as a doctor’s consent, and got the green light for fishing (I have an awesome wife). Just like that I was back in the game and we hit the road only to arrive at the lovely town of Pinedale, Wyoming on Friday night to pleasant cold temperatures in the low 20’s. For having a sign as you enter town that says, “Welcome to the Ice Box of the Nation,” low 20’s didn't seem too bad! The Lakeside Lodge where we stayed last year looked the same this year with a nice back porch right on the lake and two nice queen beds. Of course there were five of us, so naturally the little guy (me) got the floor. However, I came prepared this year and brought a nice big pad and sleeping bag. Fremont Lake welcomed us with this gorgeous sunset, and soon after with the biggest moon I have ever seen. Now on to the fishing… We woke up early and were walking on the ice before sunrise. I took this picture of our group with the same big moon behind them that was so beautiful the night before. We drilled our holes and got set up to fish as the sun began to make its way over the mountains. The weather was brisk, but the skies were clear with no wind, and we knew if we could hold on until the sun climbed over the hillside, it was going to be a beautiful day. Very few fish were seen on the electronics, which is the same story as last year, but we were hoping that if one did happen to show up, it would be a good sized one! I was the first one to have my rod bend, but it ended up being a small lake trout in the 18-20 inch range. The color on the lake trout at Fremont Lake are so much more dark and pronounced than the ones I’m used to catching at Flaming Gorge, so even though it was a small trout, it was still a victory in my book. After spending the rest of the morning without a bite, we decided to walk over to some locals that were ice fishing near us, to get the scoop on what this lake really has to offer. He was an elderly gentleman and was very cordial. He helped us out tremendously by giving up one of his favorite spots on the lake. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of the lake and we had to pack up everything and make a long move. When we got to our new spot we were excited we moved even before dropping a line in the water. This end of the lake was back in the deep pines and had a breath taking backdrop to enjoy while wetting a line. Soon after we started fishing, I got a hit and set the hook into what I thought was a very nice fish. Everyone gathered around and watched as the fish tore off line from my baitcaster reel and made some good runs. We were all very excited until the fish came to the surface and surprised us with its size. It was not the big fish we were expecting. On our drive over to our new spot my fishing pole must have gotten bumped and my drag became loose. I had it set very tight the night before so I thought for sure I had a really good fish on! Then to make matters worse the fish came off as I tried to pull it through my ice hole! We did get a good look at him though, and I would put him in the 5 or 6 pound class, then just as my fish came off, Dave hooked into one of his own. He was able to land his fish, and it was about the same size as the one I lost, but this one was generous enough to come out of the hole for a few mug shots. After the excitement was over, the fishing went back to being very poor and Hunt ended the night by landing one of the smallest lake trout I have ever seen, but at least he got on the board! Scotty and Newton were skunked for the second year in a row, and looked forward to getting off the ice! As the sun went down, Hunt and I sat on the tailgate of my truck and enjoyed the unbelievably gorgeous scenery the Wind River Mountain Range has to offer. We talked about how good life is when you’re in the mountains fishing, and you can forget about all the stresses of life by leaving them at home for a couple of days. If it wasn’t for these outdoor trips I think a man would go insane, but like all good things they must come to an end, and now I’m back home and dealing with the daily grind of wondering when our baby girl will enter this world! Uggh! When is the next trip?