Starvation Slammin' 9-26,27-17

[TubeDude]

[#0000ff]Met up with TopH20 for our annual fall fling on Starvy. Made it two days...Tuesday and Wednesday...with an overnight stay in Duchesne.

Cold with a stout breeze Tuesday morning. 36 air temp with a water temp just under 60 degrees...down about 9 degrees since last week. And the fish were reacting. Had to look in spots different than TopH20 had found them a week ago. But once we found them we caught enough to make a good trip.

Stopped off in between prospecting spots to visit with gofish435 waving his flyrod from his tube. He was literally "chilling" but had scored a couple of trout and smallies. Always good to share the water with good folks like Tom.

Toppy and I finally found a semi pattern in Bunny Gulch...along with several other wally chasers. We finished day one with perch, smallmouth, walleyes and trout...a Starvy Slam.

This morning there was ice on the boat cover, and the same cold westerly breeze as Tuesday. But the breeze was lighter and it warmed quickly when the sun came up and the wind died down as usual about 9ish. Turned into a really nice day.

Again, we both got a Starvy Slam for the day...with perch, smallies, wallies and slimers. I only stayed until noon...not wanting to get back to Salt Lake too late and get caught in the afternoon (non) rush hour.

I hope TopH20 is able to post some of the pics he took this morning of a purtyful sunrise...with a blue heron fishing in the shallows near the boat dock.

Thanks for the great trip, Mike. We gotta do it again some more.
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[doitall5000]

I always look forward to your report, good report and lots of pictures. I'm hopping for a break in my schedule to stay a day or two.
It is puzzling that everyone is still catching 11 inch fish. I thought to try deeper water, but still only catch 11 inch fish. They got to be down there, maybe a hole different attack, jigging rapalas, spoons.?
I found good walleyes at deer creek on watermelon curly tails, on a 1/8 oz jig. That was in the weeds and 9 ft of water.
Last year it was camper in bunny gulch, but I'm liking the idea of hotel in the big city. just 2 miles away, and hot meal too. What hotel did you use?
doitall
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[MisterCompletely]

Good to read your report. I had to cancel my Starvy trip and hotel reservation about a month ago, but now you're making me want to set that up again.
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[TopH2O]

Typical thorough report my friend. One minor correction, we fished Tuesday and Wednesday. We old timers sometimes lose track of time, don't we? It was very good to be out on the water with you again, always a good time. I only stayed until 3:00 p.m. and then headed back to Price. I tried my spot above the bridge and had no luck at all for over an hour of effort. I fished for about 90 minutes when I headed back to our "semi-pattern".

I went back to Rabbit Gulch and fished in the same general area we fished Tuesday afternoon. I got a few nice perch (11 inches) and 3 more walleye. I have included a few photos from our trip, including the desired close-up of our feathered friend from this cold morning. There's a photo showing you actually IN a boat holding one of your Starvation Steelhead. The last photo is of the fish I caught after you headed out.

One surprise occurred when I cleaned the fish. Both of the perch had 3 inch crayfish in their stomachs. The walleye all had empty stomachs.

We will definitely do it again.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Like most Utah waters, the population and size ranges of the fish are dependent upon year class success...spawning, recruitment and forage. Starvy has always been an up and down lake for walleyes. It goes through a cycle of lots of small fish and then settles into a couple of years of fewer fish but bigger fish.

The successful wallieologists this week reported catching in all the way from 9' to 25' depths...with no discernible difference in size ranges or concentrations. There were a few 20 inch plus fish in with all the smaller ones. But they were fewer and farther between. Our best luck was in 15 to 17 feet of water...on the edges of sparse weeds with rock in the area.

We stayed in the new [url "https://local.yahoo.com/info-173579081-studio-6-duchesne;_ylt=A0SO80BQjcZZVJgAnCxXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyNTB1ZWFsBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwM4BHZ0aWQDVUkyQzNfMQRzZWMDc3I-"]STUDIO 6 [/url]hotel. Nice facilities but spendy...at $100 a night for single. Also, not very soundproof. Lots of noise all night. And the complimentary "hot" breakfast (starting at 6 am) was not spectacular. Make your own waffles...in line with 20 other people...only one machine. And the biscuits and gravy? Warm gravy and biscuits still cold from the refrigerator. Had better.
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[TubeDude]

"One minor correction, we fished Tuesday and Wednesday."

[#0000FF]When you are among those whose lives are "7 day weekends" time blurs...and one day is pretty much the same as another. I only pay attention at all just to avoid fishing on weekends or holidays with all the amateurs.

Thanks again for good company and a good trip. Glad you found a few more fish to make it worth hanging around for a while. I had my fish cleaned and was on the road by 12:30. Pulled in my driveway barely 2 hours later.

Thanks for posting the pics. You do good work.
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[wyoguy]

Sounds like you two 'ole duffers had a good couple days. I've got to get down to your 'laboratory' and replenish my jig heads. Now that you aren't going to ice fish any more you will have time to come up with many new inventions.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]It would be good to see you whenever you make it down this way again.

Always got something new goin' on. But I still keep a supply of the tried and true stuff too.

Let me know if there is something in particular you are looking for.
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[gofish435]

Hey Pat I'm glad you and Mike were able to track the fish down. I can't believe it was your first trip over there this year. I guess you've been having way to much fun on Willard & UL.

I'm sure you guys had a lot of fun along with putting some meat on the table.[]
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[SkunkedAgain]

Nice job guys, glad you had a fun trip.... and thanks for the report, sounds and looks like it was fun... Later J
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]As I was driving on the way to the lake early Tuesday morning I was thinking how weird it was that here it was almost October and I had not fished Starvy yet this year. Heresy. But between some knee issues and a lot of weird weather situations I just didn't get over there. Too much good fishing closer and I find it hard to justify driving that far just to watch whitecaps blowing by while my tube waits on the shore.

But, just like riding a bicycle...fishing Starvy is easy to pick right up again after a layoff. Just wish it was closer or that I wasn't such a wimp.

We did find some fish and had a good time. But it still ain't like it used to be. All I have to do to make myself whimper is to read reports from about 10 years ago...with days of 30-50 walleyes, over 100 BIG perch, etc. Of course there were still lots of big chubs then...and no rainbows. Always a tradeoff. I could live without the rainbows in favor of the perch and walleye...but I would guess the lake would not have as much appeal to you that way.

Hoping to get in another trip before it gets too cold.
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[gofish435]

[quote TubeDude][#0000ff]
We did find some fish and had a good time. But it still ain't like it used to be. All I have to do to make myself whimper is to read reports from about 10 years ago...with days of 30-50 walleyes, over 100 BIG perch, etc. Of course there were still lots of big chubs then...and no rainbows. Always a tradeoff. I could live without the rainbows in favor of the perch and walleye...but I would guess the lake would not have as much appeal to you that way.
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You know Pat I'm happy just being able to catch a variety of fish. That is one reason I have fished Starvation as much I have the last few years. I have had some fun finding out what kind of flies the other species like and creating some new ones to see what will get there attention.

I find it hard to drive past Starvation to go to Strawberry anymore. For years I never even thought about stopping at Starvation, always thought it was too windy and I didn't buy a park pass back then and without one your pretty much confined to fishing around the bridge.

I hope you can make it over one more time this year to fish it in your tube. It sounds like I need to get back over to Rabbit Gulch if you guys left any fish over there.[]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I think the quick drop in surface temps has the trout moving back in shallow...as in the back end of the gulch. Saw quite a bit of surface action. And several of the trout I caught on jigs did a "pop on the drop", just after my jig splashed down. Others picked the jigs up off the bottom as they were being hopped back in toward the boat...in an average 15 feet of water.

I thought about you several times and remarked to Mike that there was a lot of troutlike activity in areas you usually fish a lot. I am sure that you would get some action if you hit it soon...and might pick up some of the "other guys" too.
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[_6x_]

Beautiful pictures! Best time of the year, right now.
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[fsh4fun05]

I'll be up there Saturday morning. Hopefully things have steadied a little bit as I'll be after some of the big girls. Hopefully I have some pics and a report to share.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Good luck...both with Mama Nature and the mama fishies.
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