My son and I are headed to Yuba Lake this weekend to try our luck there. We are quite content to catch…well, anything. My son’s main target is pike. Hopefully it isn’t too warm just yet to get them from the shore (or maybe it is just a waste of time). Searching the forum it appears that the pike numbers are down but that there are also smallies, wipers and carp (and tiger muskie). I have no clue how to fish for any of those. I know pike are ambush predators and need some structure to hide under. I am not entirely sure what lures might work best for them. So, any advice is appreciated. I am accustomed to flies and small spinners and the like used for trout in Uinta Lakes. Larger fish are an unknown.
From the forum information I think we will try near the damn and potentially near the narrows and see if the flats on the north are flooded.
I enjoy the ice shelters flying across the country at Fish Lake as the owners try to catch them. Ice anchors are a must at Fish as wind can change from a breeze to a gale fairly quick. I had a 5gal bucket get airborne about 4 feet and fly away like a kite up there.
Had that happen at Pelican one afternoon. There wasn’t even a wisp of a breeze till the wind hit. Once it did I watched the holes that I was fishing in just slide right under the sled portion of the shelter and I was off to the races. Luckily it blew me towards the truck and stopped once it hit the reeds at the edge of the lake. I have my stakes with me now. Lol
Woke up last winter with a couple inches of water on the floor of my shelter after the ice shifted over night and pushed water up through our holes… was glad I had water proof boots to get things out of the puddle and moved from that location… J
As an “old school” guy, I got tired of others asking for the GPS numbers of my good fishing spots. So I took this picture to send whenever I got that request.
I was working shift work twenty years or so ago. And one fine late February day I decided I would hit Grantsville res on a Tuesday to ice fish. Edges were soft but ice was still really thick. I was the only person on the ice but two guys were fishing the open water inlet. I drilled some holes and caught a few fish including one sweet brown. All of a sudden the whole lake shuddered! Then I heard a large boom. The Tooele Army Depot was destroying some old ammo about five miles away. I
Kept fishing for a bit and then decided to head home. Only problem was thirty feet of what was solid ice all the way around the frozen reservoir now looked like a slurpee! The blast has destroyed the ice and it was in six inch chunks. I walked all the way around looking for safe ice and nothing. The guys at the inlet said they’d go home and get a boat. But I was young and dumb so I chucked my stuff across and swam to shore. I felt pretty stupid for getting caught like that. The cold drive home helped me gain a little wisdom too. All’s well that ends well I reckon.
One cold day, Randy and I were fishing off of the campground point, west of Strawberry Marina. Because it was cold and windy, I put up my ice tent and climbed inside. I was still a little cold, so I decided to also light my propane heater. I screwed on a small tank of propane and then sparked my lighter. There was a huge flash and my tent lifted maybe 6 inches straight up. I had piled some snow around the base of the tent, but hadn’t bothered to tie it down. I reached for one of the support bars, just as a breeze caught the tent and started lifting it up. I would almost catch up to it and another breeze would start it rolling again. I ended up chasing that tent all the way across the ice, until I was almost in front of the boat ramp. I made another leap for it and was grateful to finally land on top of it. About that time, my cell phone rang and Randy asked how I was doing. I said, “Randy, do you realize where I am?” He looked outside of his tent and saw all of my gear set up on the ice, but no tent. He finally saw me in the distance.
The only damage, other than me being exhausted from the chase, was the line was burnt off, near the rod tips, on both rods, that were hanging down the ice holes. I have learned to let the heater sit for a few minutes, before lighting it, to allow for any spilled propane to dissipate.
Lol, was fishing for the almighty burbot one night in Montana on a big lake, in a big bay, as it was cold we had the flip over up, cuzn Alfie went out to check tip ups, about that time it sounded like a cannon went off and the shack lifted a couple feet and all I heard was cuzn Alfie screaming like a little girl, would have loved to see his reaction, think it probably looked like wily coyote running in the air
Years back I had my young and playful black lab ice fishing with me at East Canyon..I had an old Humminbird fish finder that required 6 or 8 AA batteries, so always kept fresh ones in a little baggie when I needed to replace…after about 15 mins. I did need to replace, and set the bag down by my chair, started opening the compartment to get out the old batteries, then my ‘playful pup’ grabs, and starts chasing around with my bag of replacement batteries…Being the well-trained dog that she was, I just hollered..“Bring it here”…which she then did, flipping it up into the air when she got back…and of course it was a direct hit, into my 6" ice fish hole…I got about 2 feet of cold, wet arm trying to make the retrieve, but it sunk fast…loved that dog for nearly 15 years…
Was out at the Berry fishing on a foggy day. Fishing was great. On our way back, I drew the short straw and had to sit in the ice sled. We came up to a pressure ridge and saw it too late. All I hear is “HOLD ON” as I feel myself skim across about 10 feet of open water behind the snowmobile. Never been more scared or laughed harder in my life.
As we wait for some ice whats some of your funniest ice moments… when I first met my wife we were pretty into yuba pike fishing and used alot of crank baits… yuba froze and I took her down to chase pike through the ice.. not knowing better she ties on a shad rap and drops it in the hole, I told her just spin your rod around the hole real fast maybe it’ll dive down :D, then last year I took a photo of her on grantsville and if you look in the background over her shoulder I somehow caught a guy falling its priceless!
My son’s main target is pike. Hopefully it isn’t too warm just yet to get them from the shore (or maybe it is just a waste of time). Searching the forum it appears that the pike numbers are down but that there are also smallies, wipers and carp (and tiger muskie). I have no clue how to fish for any of those. I know pike are ambush predators and need some structure to hide under. I am not entirely sure what lures might work best for them. So, any advice is appreciated. I am accustomed to flies and small spinners and the like used for trout in Uinta Lakes. Larger fish are an unknown.
