Starvation 02-05-13 late bloomer

[TopH2O]

What started out as a gathering of far-flung BFTers ended up as a perch catching bonanza after we got rid of the dead weight and went to our real honey hole.
It was a beautiful day on the ice. We launched from the Indian Bay area and took ATVs and a snow sled about 1.5 miles over to the area north of the Highway 40 bridge.

[url "http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc127/topwater52/IMG_4708_zps38fba566.jpg"]http://i212.photobucket.com/...4708_zps38fba566.jpg[/url]

The catching was modest for the Starvation Steelhead and practically nil for the perch. Fortunately wandering soul Rowdyfish couldn't take the slow fishing and he started scouting for fish in a very large area. About 30 minutes after the Wasatch front guys left, Rowdy located a good concentration of perch that wanted to play. During the last few hours this afternoon we experienced almost non-stop action for decent size perch, many just under the 11 inch size range. My largest measured perch was 11.75". The eight of us who ended the daylight on the perch took home about 130 good size yellow barred demons.

[url "http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc127/topwater52/IMG_4712_zpscfea5c4f.jpg"]http://i212.photobucket.com/...4712_zpscfea5c4f.jpg[/url]

Location, location, location. Rowdy found the biters about 400 yards east of where we spent most of the day.
We really felt sorry for our northern Utah buds. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. At least they got to taste my perch chowder. It's the real reason they drove all the way to Starvation. Maybe next time they won't leave before we decide to show them where the perch really are hiding.

Mike
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[JustJim]

Good job! Be there soon!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000FF]It was a beautiful day...and great chowder. But that is the farthest I have ever had to go to get skunked. No love from Starvy for me. Only a few taunting bites.

At least TubeBabe held up the honor of the family by catching a couple of nice rainbows.

If you are going to get that many people on the ice you should have at least checked where they stocked it before you got everybody set up in the barren wastelands.
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[Samson44]

I am heading up there Saturday. I am taking my 11 year old daughter. hopefully she will be able to horse 1 of those big rainbows up through the ice. we will be working both sides of the bridge, looking for the perch. I do realize there will be a tournament going on, and it will probably be a little crowded. but I sure look forward to spending the day with her. I get the most pleasure watching her catch fish. if anyone could please give me any advice, that might help for a decent productive day, it would be much appreciated. me and my brother went last Sunday, in between the 2 of us caught 6 of them rainbows. I could use some advice on the perch and walleye, the other white meat. thank you[]
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[TopH2O]

I can tell you for sure, if you're wanting to target the Starvation Steelhead (rainbow trout for the newbies) concentrate on the 18 to 30 foot range in water deeper than about 50 feet. We were seeing most of the trout action on suspended fish that were passing through fairly regularly.
I got my trout on a flashy [#0000bf]TubeDude[/#0000bf] jig with a brass spinner on the tail and it was tipped with a piece of nightcrawler. A depth finder makes all the difference in the world. If you see a suspended fish high in the water column it is almost always a rainbow trout or possibly one of the good browns that are in Starvation. A suspended target at 38 feet yesterday turned out to be the near jumbo in my photo. We were fishing in water that was 56 to 62 feet deep. I've heard some reports of perch being caught on both sides of the bridge and in water as shallow as 42 feet.

The perch have been within a foot or so of the bottom and you need to pay attention. Don't just put your line down and walk away to chat with the neighbors. I hold my perch rod all the time so I'm ready when the extremely light strike comes along. A smaller presentation seemed to work best. I was using a silver 1/4 oz. Kastmaster as a weight and attractor with an 8", 4 lb. test leader down to the terminal end. I used a very small jig, probably around 1/16th of an ounce and tipped the hook with a perch eye or small piece of perch meat.

If you hear from anybody about actually catching walleye on a consistent basis through the ice, PM me and I won't tell anyone else. I promise.
[]

Have fun with your daughter. It's quality time that passes way too fast. It seems like my 24 year old son was 12 years old just a few months ago.

Mike
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[TopH2O]

Hey guys and gals in yesterday's Starvation group. I found a pair of gloves on my table when we moved to the honey hole. It was after you Wasatch front folks left the ice. They are camo fleece on one side with leather palms. Sold by a major outdoor retailer who is not Sportsman's, Scheels, Big 5 Sports or Walmart.

I think they might belong to Curt. Let me know and I'll get them back to you sometime in the spring when the weather warms up. []

Mike
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[wyoguy]

We were indeed saved by Rowdys wandering nature. It seemed the rest of us were content to sit in one place and accept the skunk or near skunk. Good reminder of what we all probably know, fish are where you find them, but you do have to look! Was great getting out with so many BFT people and having some good food, perch chowder, canned kokanee, pastrami made from goose breast, smoked salmon, smoked whitefish and cisco.... some great eats!!
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[rowdyfish]

Had a great time as usual, it was good meeting up with fellow BFT folks. Lunch on the ice was fantastic. Glad we dodged the skunk and finally got into the perch. Can't wait for the next get together.
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[wiperhunter2]

Those gloves were not mine but thanks for thinking of me Mike. I really enjoyed getting out there with you guys yesterday, good times for sure. It was great to meet some of you guys for the first time and as always see old friends. Before I had to leave, I noticed Rowdy moving to that new location, I'm glad you guys got into the fish, sounds like you have the fixings for another batch of your awesome perch chowder, it sure hit the spot. Thanks to everyone involved in making that outing a success, even if some of us left early, it was well worth the effort to get there and meet so many new friends. I was thinking there must have been about 25 people there, did you get a count? It was a great day, couldn't have ask for better weather with little to no wind. Did your brother ever move back over with your group and get in on the action?
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[TopH2O]

The gloves are looking more like MINE with each passing hour. It was good to meet you after the PM's we've swapped.
Peter did come back from Rabbit Gulch because they didn't find any perch. He and TJ fished near us and I think they got some fish. They had to leave about 45 minutes after you guys took off. The fishing was best from 3:45 until 5:30 when we packed up.

I'm sure we'll get together again before the ice melts into liquid.

Mike
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[Samson44]

Thanks for the insight and helpfful hints. I am so excited for saturday. Its been hard to go to work this week. Ive wanted to play hookie. Stopped and got my little girl her own ice pole last night. Its go time!! Oh by the way, in order to use a perch eye to catch perch, you must have first caught a perch prior to extraction of the eye of the perch. I tried to find them in the fridge next to the nightcrawlers and Waxy's, but they were sold out. just kidding!!. thanks again for your help.
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[dubob]

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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Sorry for not replying yesterday, but I was nursing a VERY painful lower back and wasn’t on the computer at all. [:/][/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Those gloves would be mine. I noticed they were missing yesterday and thought I had left them in the side pocket inside my tent. Now I don’t have to set up my tent to look for them. Just hang on to them for now and hopefully I’m good for another trip over there in the next week or two.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Thanks again for the chowder; great stuff. [][/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]It was nice to finally meet you and your crew. I look forward to doing it again. I wish I’d taken a picture of that 19” bow I caught, but my camera was back at the ramp in the truck. That way I won’t lose it. [crazy][/size][/#800000][/font]
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