Monster Pike at Yuba

On Saturday morning Kristian and I set out for Yuba Reservoir in search of monster Northern Pike and possibly a Walleye or two. We made it out on the water and began trolling for Walleye around 7:30 am. I rigged up a few spinner harnesses on wire lead in case we hooked any pike while trolling for walleye. We ran bottom bouncers with no luck. We switched to crank baits and continued to strike out. So we rigged up the swim baits and started working the shallows for Pike. This was not our first time chasing these toothy animals around the reservoir. We visited a couple of years earlier for a tournament and had little problems catching our limits of hammer handles. Although the largest fish was only about 24 inches I was able to secure 2nd place. Since then, we've been dying for a second chance to land a heavier fish. We noticed right away that the bite was a lot slower than we had experienced our previous visit. We continued casting and adjusting our presentations with only a few bites. After moving a few hundred yards down the shore line Kristian hooked into a solid Northern and broke our dry spell.

After this exciting specimen got our adrenaline going we started pounding the shore line with a new vigor. We had several more bites and I was able to play a healthy sized fish to the boat before letting it slip off my line. The score remained 1-0 and before I had a chance to even things up I heard the greatest three words in the English language, "I got one". Measuring in at just over 35 inches this beautiful beast was just the type of fish we were after.

I felt a little silly taking a picture with Kristian's fish but I couldn't help myself, this thing was awesome. Besides, it was the only photo opp I would get this trip.

At about noon the clouds started in on us and the wind pushed the waves higher and higher. We had no choice but to make a run for it. We fought the rain and rolling swells while making our way back to the boat ramp. Neither one wanting to give up we kept casting to the shoreline near the dam hoping for another bite. It took a couple bolts of lightning to finally scare us off the water.

Final score Kristian 2, Boat Captain 0