Yuba chillathon 1-10-08

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Rode down with Bassrods and his fishing buddy Brent. On the ice just after 8 AM. 16 degrees air temp, with a light breeze coming up that just got stronger through the morning. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Roads snow packed but passable for most cars. Not deep snow on the ground or on the lake. Edges safe, but slightly soft in a couple of spots at the end of the ramp. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One other group on the ice ahead of us, set up at the south end of the island. They moved after we had set up and went to the west side, possibly to get out of the strenghtening breeze.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Neither Brent nor myself brought augers. Bassrods assured us that his old "reliable" always started. Well, it did, but the coil spring on the starter failed after the first few holes. So, we ended up having to stay in one place pretty much. Oh, Bassrods moved off and drilled a couple more holes, since the early fishing was slow where we started. But, when he motioned us to come over..and we did...his auger failed. Nice goin' Cliff.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Fortunately, BFTer DiggerDan showed up about then, with his dull Mora. It drilled a couple more holes for us, but the fish Bassrods had found...had left. I went back to the first few holes, where I had at least caught a couple of fish early. Good move. Had another eight on the ice within minutes and hollered at the others to get back over...but only after I got mine.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]By using larger lures, hooks and bait chunks, I was able to avoid hooking a lot of little fish. I ended up with two just over 8 inches, two over ten inches, and the rest about 9 inches. Didn't land any toads. Bassrods scored one that was a fat twelve incher and Brent got one over 11. DiggerDan also scored a couple of decent ones.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Tried out my new rod rack and my new sonar setup today. Both worked very well. Brought five rods, each rigged with different lures. Caught fish on all five rods and all five lures. Tipped all of them with "CPP"...custom prepared perch. I doctor my perch tidbits with salt and crawdad oil the night before a trip. The extra flavor works well. Probably caught the highest percentage of all the fish we iced today.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The bite slowed down when the other guys got back over to the original holes...naturally. But, one here and one there and we finally had everybody pretty well limited out just before noon. The temperature had risen to 23 by then, but the wind chill factor must have been close to zero. Just about took the flesh off our faces walking back to the truck in the cold wind.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There was a young "temp" DWR survey guy waiting at the parking area. He checked everybody's licenses and fish...for count, size, etc. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Our original plan was to hammer a quick limit of perch and then change venues...maybe to Ninemile. The cold wind and the broken auger helped us decide that our next stop should be Salt Lake, so we got home early. Thanks Bassrods.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[Flycasting]

Good to see that you made it on the ice Pat... you must have been going through withdrawals. []
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]The doc has had me on some GREAT meds...but they were starting to wear off. Bassrods and Brent kept me lashed down in the bed of the pickup and only cut me loose after they had all their gear ready and could have a head start. But I still smoked 'em. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Was great to "break the ice". Will be doing a whole bunch more from now on.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[bassrods]

I have fixed my auger all ready [sly]and ready for the next trip, but we will use your auger then sense you don't like my 24 year old auger[pirate]....But it did start and ran great.....[]

You may have got your limint first but I got the biggest..[][cool]and this one is for you[angelic][angelic][angelic]...
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]No. Next time we will take both augers. My 3 horse is noisy but it will allow me to give my ears some rest by getting further away from you. You get us guys together and you get the poster pic for "noise pollution".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]No complaints, my friend. It was still a good day. I think we probably did better than any other group we saw.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[fuzzyfisher]

wow dude i did not know ya were there!! [] i would have come over and said Hi at lest! [sly].

looking at that pic of bassrods. over his right sholder i'm the little speck out in no man's land.. [crazy]..

i was in 10 feet of water and had all the perch i could have needed.
[signature]

[2fishon]

I was there today also. I fished the west side of the island. I stopped and said hi about 11 on my way out. I thought DiggerDan was Fuzzy. Alot more people showed up after eleven. I took the crappy road over to the dam side on my way home. The ice looks terrible over there. I don't think I'd risk it. It didn't look like anybody else had either.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Sorry we missed ya. Let's plan something for next week. Have tackle, will travel...and TubeBabe is going to be in Arizona for about 10 days.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Our game plan was to work into shallower water too, but since my legs are no longer strong enough to kick holes in the ice...without an auger...we stayed where we started.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[fuzzyfisher]

how about fish lake next week.. i was planing on hitting FG but the ice has other ideas [unsure]. so a quick change in plans and it's now a 3 or 4 day fish lake trip.[sly].lol i think foot'er is going to come on down as well.. your welcome to fish with me any time ya like TD you know that [sly]. just let me know when your going to be there and we will hook up.
[signature]

[lavaman]

Nice going you guys- glad to see you finally made it out, Pat! That pole-holder setup looks pretty awesome, I'll have to make one soon.

I noticed those perch are a little on the 'pale' side...why is that? And did you guys catch anything besides perchies?

Great pics like always.
[signature]

[bassrods]

We only got perch, the color is what it is for the perch in Yuba they seem to be that way in there...
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]All we caught besides perch was a chill.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are quite a few members of the bass and panfish family that turn lighter or darker under different conditions. It is generally either a water chemistry or a light intensity situation. With yellow perch, they tend to be brighter colored in warmer, clearer and shallower waters. Same with bluegills and largemouths. When you catch them from deeper water, under a light filtering cap of snow and ice, they look much lighter. The perch you catch from murky waters also have a pale washed out look.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Last summer we caught some perch from Starvation, early in the morning, before they had a chance to get much light in the new day. They were that pale washed out color. But, a short time after we put a few of them in our baskets, and the sun hit the water, they darkened up to typical perch coloration. I have seen the same thing with bluegills. [/#0000ff]
[signature]

[wiperhunter2]

Nice report and great pictures Pat and the rest of you guys, sounds like there was a lot of BFT member there. I thought you said you were going to wait to hit Yuba until they lifted the 10 perch limit[]? I know, you just couldn't stand it any longer and I don't blame you. If I lived closer I might think about it but there is plenty of great perch fishing much closer for me. How far did you have to walk to get to the spot you fished, it looks like a few hundred yards? I've never been to the Painted Rock launch area, is it hard to get to?
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Sheesh! You're just fulla questions, ain'tcha?[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]1. I would not make a solo trip to Yuba, just for a few perch, but that don't mean I wouldn't hitch a ride and split costs three ways. My mama drowned all the dumb ones (except my sister).[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]2. With the current perch population, there are places you can drill and score within a hundred yards of the ramp. Just that nobody is fishing some of the close in spots this year. I trudged to the island with Bassrods because he had the auger (for awhile) and he wanted to hit a spot that he had caught fish previously. In years past I have hammered perch through the ice all along the north shoreline. One of the best spots is right out off the big hump just east of the ramp.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]3. Painted Rocks is not any further than going to the main State Park near the dam. Just a different route. Good highway all the way to the turnoff to the lake. You turn south (off I-15) toward Gunnison at the last Nephi offramp...by Flying J. Then you turn off at Levan and continue on to the well marked Painted Rocks turnoff. You will be going west a short distance on snow packed road until you come to a Y in the road. Going right will take you several miles to the dam. Going left puts you at the Painted Rocks facilities. Lots of parking and camping and a good launch ramp. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have lots of pictures taken during both open water and ice conditions. PM me if you want more info.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[bassrods]

TD when you cleaned your perch what sex was yours???

Why I ask is all the ones I did was full of eggs, and the ones I got on the first was all full of eggs too...

And they all had minnows in them too....
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Since all WE (pro anglers) catch are the big fish, most of them are going to be females. Yes, all of the ones I kept were full of eggs, and the fillets were really not that thick. The fish were sorta skinny except for the full bellies.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I did not find many minnows in the ones I caught.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Whenever I have fished waters like Jordanelle or Pineview, when there is a mix of sizes, the males with milt in them are usually about half the size of the females with eggs. By using those larger lures and larger hooks and baits yesterday, we probably avoided hooking the smaller males.[/#0000ff]
[signature]