Starvation

[panfisher]

Did any one fish Rabbit Gulch this week end, how is the ice, any perch.
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[adam19]

Yeah I was there Saturday. Is was between 7-8 inches. Caught some bows but couldn't track down the perch.
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[panfisher]

Thanks
Taking some kids on Saturday.
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[adam19]

Green medium jigs with the white and red speckled rubber gizz things worked the best. Orange was OK too, at least for trout. With wax worms. Good luck with the perchin!
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[gmanhunter]

Good luck on finding perch period. Heard about gill netting that was done on the lake turned up very little perch. Not sure what is causing the decline in them, but a few guys I talked to said they couldn't catch any this summer. Hope you can find them. I wouldn't mind taking a trip down to catch some myself.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Several reliable anglers reported seeing large numbers of dead perch around the shoreline, right after iceout. They were all sizes but seemed to be more small ones than larger ones.

Most of us dedicated perch jerkers had a tough time finding any numbers of perch all summer. A few here and there but not many schools. Best I could manage was 5 to 10 in a day...in places where 100 a day is common during better years.

Starvation is a big lake and there are still plenty of perch there. But they are not as plentiful or as concentrated as in years past. The number of larger fish still there should be able to bring off a good spawn for future years. But I am guessing the numbers will be down for a few years. That could have some affect on the walleyes too.
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[TopH2O]

There were 9 perch in Starvation. Now there are only 5 left. Three fewer 18" rainbows as well.

Mike
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Hardly worth making the trip now.
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[TopH2O]

I had to quit yesterday at 2:30 p.m.. I told the 5 remaining perch I would be back on Thursday. Then it will only be worth going for the smoker Steelies.


Mike
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]With your connections you should try to get them to stock another truckload of perch.

As fun as those SSs are, there are plenty of suitable substitutes within closer proximity.

Still...masochist that I am I will likely make at least a couple of trips over...just to verify that you have indeed denuded the lake of perchkind.

Just finishing up on those new rattle-flash goodies for calling in the fishies from a greater distance.
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[Parkerpg7]

What were the sizes of the rainbow?
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[Lettsfish]

Fished Rabbit Gulch on Monday 7:30 till 1:00pm. There was plenty of ice 9" to 10" with easy access. Could not find perch, but the rainbows were 17" to 20" and feisty!

TD - keep making those perch color jigs. I don't know about the big perch at Starvy, but the trout had nothing but crammed bellies with perchlets. The biggest one had 10 undigested and 6-8 partly digested perch and still wanted to bite.

So, for those in the know, would that indicate that the trout are feeding fairly shallow?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I think you meant to respond to TopH20. You have to click on the reply button in his post to do that.

But I seem to recall he mentioned 18" rainbows. That is about the average size of the holdovers. There are also a bunch of recent plants that are 12 to 13 inches. And there are more than a few over 20 inches. Great fish.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Trout are like the perch and walleyes. They go where the groceries are. If the water is coming up and flooding the weed beds in Rabbit Gulch the perchlets will be hanging out in the weeds and the predators will be close by.

In the past couple of years I have found all species in water as shallow as 10 to 12 feet at the upper end of the gulch...and all feeding on baby perch. But I have caught my biggest perch deeper...and the bigger rainbows seem to move back up and cruise middepth in deeper water after a food run to the shallows. But they still hit jigs. Guess they gotta floss after a big meal.

By the way, Starvation is where I did most of my early experiments in developing my "pale perch" pattern. It has remained one of my top producers there, as well as in several other waters. Those silly 'bows in Deer Creek love it too.
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