# My Yuba Pike



## freedomcell (Nov 8, 2010)

Caught a PIG today!.. What a rush!

We have been camped the past 4 days at Yuba Lake State Park. Been catching lots of Northern Pike in the 16-22 inch range. Today was our last day here, and as we were packing things up getting ready to go, we decided to hit the docks at the boat ramp in hopes of catching a few more Pike before we left and headed home. 

Prior to this trip, I had never caught a Northern Pike. We heard and read several reports about fishing this lake, both good and bad. We did our homework though, felt we were here at the right time, got some good gear that we felt would help up be successful, and asked the fish gods for their blessing.

We hit the docks around 9:30, I was helping my 8 year old girl and 4 year old son on the south dock, I would cast each pole out and let them reel them in. My boy was able to land 3 Pike all by himself and had one get away right at the dock. My daughter was a little less patient and resorted to trying to catch minnows along the shoreline. 

Eventually, after an hour or so, my boy got bored with reeling in and his arm was tired, so he gave me my rod back. By this point we had switched to the north dock, while our friends were still fishing the south docks. My son headed to assist my little girl in catching minnows, our friends went to go try their luck along the shoreline, and I had the dock to myself. A few casts in, I hooked up with something big! 

My first thought was, "Great, I caught a nasty, slimy Carp!" I had my drag set according to the 16-22 inchers we had been catching all week, and this thing took off on me. My 12 lb. test zipped through my thumb and forefinger, burning my hands. I tightened up my drag a hair, brought it in, and it made a second run.... zzziiiiiiiiinnnnggggg!!!! What a rush! At this point, I know it is not a Carp, as I have never had a Carp run like that consistently. I quickly began yelling for my friend who was about 100 yards up the beach. I sent my 8 year old daughter and told him to bring the net, I had a biggun!

After the second run, I fought him in within 15 yards and he surfaced. At this point there was no doubt this was by far the biggest freshwater fish I had ever hooked up with, and I was determined not to let him get away. He began another run, my thumb and forefinger on fire and my buddy had made his way back over to the dock with net in hand.

So here we are, myself, my 4 year old son, my 8 year old daughter, my buddy Matt, his 3 year old daughter, and his 8 year old son all on a dock, extremely excited, trying to land this whopper Pike! 

He made another run, and we all got a good look at him as he surfaced, obviously fatigued from the fight. Kids were scrambling around as I brought him in after his fourth run, and Matt was able to get the net under him. As we are bringing him up, the net breaks! Now he is making another run, this time trying to get under the dock. I can see that my lure has reversed its position in his mouth and am concerned that he may get away. I'm trying to keep my line taught, but my line is now ran through the broken rubber netting on the fish net (Sorry Matt, I owe you a new fish net ). 

I tell all the kids to clear off the dock, as I am sure the only way I'm getting this thing in is to get it to the shore. I tell Matt my plan, and we move cautiously towards the shore. On the way, I kick off my shoes, and as I get to where I can touch, I jump in, line taught, and carefully pull him up on the bank. The second he hits the bank, line breaks, I grab his gills (which were very sharp as my thumb can attest) and pull him up and let out a huge woohoo! We are all excited, pumping fists, high fives, etc. The park manager comes down and takes a few pics, and we measure him out. 40 inches!!! What an awesome end to an awesome trip! Thanks to Matt for helping me land him, and to the Officer at the Park for letting me borrow his dog leash to hold him. Whew! Time to go again!


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Wow, what a great pike! Yuba's looking pretty good these days.


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## nate1031 (Jul 2, 2008)

Awesome! Congrats! That's great that the kiddos got into some fish and that's a perfect way to end the trip. Maybe the fishing gods rewarded you for being a good dad and getting the kids into fish! ha


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## Tigru (Oct 15, 2007)

Awesome story and catch! Congrats


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## Joethafoe (May 24, 2012)

UGhhhh. Nice post, nice read. Hoping to catch something near that big. Are you gonna eat it. If so let me know if you havnt yet.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

They're not bad. When I ate one, I didn't even fillet it. Cleaned out the guts, threw it in the oven, and it was just fine.

I bet they're great when they're filleted and breaded. Probably a lot less fishy.


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## hattrick (Aug 29, 2011)

Great story to go along with the beautiful fish. Thats a great reward at the end of 4 days of fishing.


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## freedomcell (Nov 8, 2010)

LOAH said:


> They're not bad. When I ate one, I didn't even fillet it. Cleaned out the guts, threw it in the oven, and it was just fine.
> 
> I bet they're great when they're filleted and breaded. Probably a lot less fishy.


I filleted two that were 20 inches. I breaded them with pancake mix, as it was all we had, and fried them in butter. They were excellent.


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## muysauve (Jan 7, 2008)

This is one of those fish stories that will only get better with time; I bet that was a hoot reeling that thing in. Those teeth on that thing look like they could do some serious damage.

Great Fish!!! Congrats

Also you make want to start marketing your Pancaked Fried Pike. Sounds good!!!


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## Moostickles (Mar 11, 2010)

What a great fish! Pike are still on my bucket list, and I think I would be happy with that one!


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## EvilTyeDyeTwin (Aug 9, 2011)

Great fish man! What a rush...glad to see Yuba making a come back from the days of being just a stupid carp fishery. Now if we could get the SMB and Catfish back it will be like the good old days again! I spent many summers as a kid windsurfing down there....mostly just carp were caught after the big draw down for the dam repairs.

Now this next part is just friendly rubbin k.....glad you did not catch 2 of those things....the write up on that would have taken the record for longest fish fight rant *-HELP!-*


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## coachmitchell (Nov 19, 2010)

Awesome fish. Hoping to get down there at some point this summer. Great story as well. Nice job.


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## freedomcell (Nov 8, 2010)

EvilTyeDyeTwin said:


> Now this next part is just friendly rubbin k.....glad you did not catch 2 of those things....the write up on that would have taken the record for longest fish fight rant *-HELP!-*


Guess I did get a little long winded. I typed that up right after I caught her so that I could remember all the details. Should have posted condensed version I guess


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

I really enjoyed the exciting read and the great photo with your family. What an awesome day! I wish I could catch a whopper like that... 8)


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## tye dye twins (Mar 8, 2011)

Hell yeah! Closer than Redmond too!


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## freedomcell (Nov 8, 2010)

tye dye twins said:


> Hell yeah! Closer than Redmond too!


We drove down to Redmond on this trip as well, but we got skunked there. I really just wanted to check it out, but was not very patient as I wanted to get back to Yuba.


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## EvilTyeDyeTwin (Aug 9, 2011)

freedomcell said:


> tye dye twins said:
> 
> 
> > Hell yeah! Closer than Redmond too!
> ...


That is too good...usually people go to Yuba...get skunked...head to Redmond...and get some pike. It would be nicer if it worked out like your trip though...what a catch...great work man!


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## Bscuderi (Jan 2, 2012)

Nice fish! Good thing you took your pole back that fish would have drug that boy in


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## #18Fan (Jan 3, 2012)

One of the better reads for sure! Sounds like the kind of fun im longing for. What's the trick to catching them? What do they like?


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## Mr Tibbs (Apr 24, 2012)

Someday I will learn how to catch these beasts! Great story and great fish!!


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## freedomcell (Nov 8, 2010)

Thank you for the compliments. #18fan-we were having success with crainkbaits in golds and greens. Several different lures worked, but gold and greens were the trick. I actually caught this one on a green bass lure,and the only reason I was using this lure was because my buddy lost the gold rattletrap I'd been using all week. I was pretty bummed when he lost my lure i had the most success with. Ended up being a blessing in disguise though. Now he is taking all the credit for my catch


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## wan2bhunting (Jun 11, 2012)

I was just there last weekend and we caught several between 19-22" but nothing that big! Thats awesome congrats! what were ya using? We were using some rattle baits!


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