YUBA 12-11

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Family commitments forced me to cancel a trip to Bear Lake with Kent. Figured the day was shot anyway, so headed for Yuba with both float tubes and auger. Hoped the warm weather and wind might have opened up some water for tubing.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Got there about daybreak. Found the lake too thick for tubing and too thin for walkin' and drillin'. Sloppy edges all around the lake. Too wide and too thin to even plank out, if I had a plank. From the looks of the fractured ice, and the color of what was left, I doubt I would have chanced it even with a plank. Remaining ice couldn't be thick enough for safe fishing. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Air temp was 24 when we got there, but I am sure that the temps later in the day didn't do much for refreezing the lake. A few more days of warmer weather and that ice cover could break up in a wind storm.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We did find the remnants of Ocean's rock pile. Maybe it was somebody else's. Didn't bring in CSI to check for prints. I know where I ain't gonna drill if the lake refreezes.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Drove around to walleye point and looked at the new "reef" they have created to provide structure during higher water conditions. Too bad they couldn't do that in several other areas around the lake. Observed a lot of brush growing on the exposed banks, and that could be good for perch and wallies if the water comes up...I hope, I hope.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]A long round trip with no fishing for the deadly duo. Tis the season. Gotta take care of family business. Hope everybody else smacked 'em good.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[fuzzyfisher]

hey dude sorry to hear you did not even get to wet a line out there today..
hey if you really are looking for a tube place thats open you might want to try huntington north.. in the town of huntington.. or Joe's valley just down the road re-opened today.. i'm thinking i just might have to brack out my tube and head for Jos's valley and give'n them big splake a try..

dude on fish?
Ron
[signature]

[tynyum9800]

Here Ocean drilled a nice hole for u and were not even able to use it dang the luck.
[signature]

[Hellsangler69]

Thanks for the report . I hope to make it there sometime if it freezes up again good . Never been there before so would like to see it while it is low water . Thanks for the pics .
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Seeing a lake when it is low can be good, if you take pics, mark GPS points and otherwise make notes of potential structure when the lake rises. Problem is, Starvation has never been a lake with much structure. Now it is a lake without water.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I'm sure I speak for many who have fond memories of the "glory days" of Yuba, when I say that seeing the current lake is a heartbreaker.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The last pic, of the tailout water below the dam, is even more of a heartbreaker. Used to have lots of good fishing down there until vandals got it declared off limits. The only thing you will catch down there now is a fine or some buckshot. So .[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Thankfully, the trout planted in the lake are creating an interesting fishery while we wait for "better times" (perch and walleye) to return. I am guessing that if the lake refreezes it will be worth a couple of exploratory trips to see how the trout respond to ice jigs.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[Fishrmn]

Here's my prediction for Yuba.

I'll bet there's going to be some folks who complained that the DWR were trying to make Yuba a trout fishery who will miss the big 'uns when they're gone. The trout will grow big in a hurry for the next couple of years. And when they quit planting them, the last batch to go in may just die of old age. By then everybody will be fishing for perch and walleyes.

Fishrmn

[CBR]

Man that sucks you didn't get to get your hook wet. But I bet you did some good scouting for hot spots to hit when the water level is up this spring.

Thanks for the shots, can't wait to get up there for some hard water action.
[signature]

[ocean]

Hey TD i never thought about the rocks on the ice before because i never had an auger before.Now i know better .Hopefully the ice melts a bit and the rocks fall through.
[signature]