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Skunkless at Starvation 10-20-14
#1
[#0000FF]Woke up early and felt the fishin' itch. Weather was supposed to be good...then going bad. TubeBabe is out of town and no kitchen pass needed.

Spun the magic weatherometer dial to see if Willard might come up. Nope. Landed on Starvation. Hey, I haven't been there for a long time so I threw some Starvy gear together and boogied east.

27 degrees as I went by Strawberry. Kept going. It was a balmy 45 at Rabbit Gulch when I launched about 7. Water temp was 55...warming only a couple of degrees by 1 pm departure.

Can't recall ever covering so much water for so few fish. Oh yeah, I caught some fish but bites were few and far between. But I started at the point on the south side of the entrance to Bunny Gulch, fished the heck out of that, then worked in and out down the north side and finished way up in the west end of that long arm of Starvy.

Began by dragging a jig and fly combo fairly fast as I motored toward the south point. About halfway there my first "Starvation steelhead" (rainbow) said howdy and got some good exercise before being netted and released. Figured it would be a good day for bows and I could keep a couple later for my sis in law. Figured wrong. It was almost 3 hours before I hooked another one.

Water level was up from where it was last year. The high water mark at the south point was only about 10-12 feet above the current water level. The rains in August and September dumped a lot of new water into the lake. That's a good thing.

Worked from shallow to deep...12' to 60'...out around the point. Thought my sonar was out of order. Wasn't showing any fish. None showed up on my line either...except for one tiny overeager smallie from 48 feet of water. Silly smallie. Finally saw some marks on the bottom that looked a lot like good sized perch. But they were breezing through and not feeding. They were gone before they could tug on my line.

Tried trolling spinners across the channel to the north side of the gulch...over by the low islands. Saw very little on sonar and felt nothing on my spinners. Brought out the vertical jigs and worked my usual fave spots in that area...for nada, zip, zilch. Did occasionally see single fish go through at mid depth...or sometimes off the bottom. But nothing consistent enough to suggest a pattern. And none of them wanted to play.

Worked back and forth along the break line on the north side of the channel. Finally began to see some marks that gave me hope for some tugs. Changed up the rigging...with my "Pistol Pat" jig on one rod and a double Gulp Minnow rig on the second rod.

As I moved up from the deeper channel onto a 20 foot shelf I saw marks. Then I got a tap...followed by a munch...and a 14" walleye volunteered for dinner. Yee haww. A few minutes later I had a heavy pull down on the Gulp rig and set the hook into a nice 21" walleye. That one joined the first in my basket. But that was it for the walleyes. Those two must have been lost.

Howsomever, the water had warmed a couple of degrees since early AM and the rainbows were beginning to become more active. I saw a few roll or splash on top...including some of the footlong newbie planters. Then I started to get hits on the jigs I was using for walleye...only these fish had stripes and spots. In a hectic hour or so I got to play with several more 'bows...most right at 17 inches with a couple bigger and a couple of the little newbies. Had some pop and drop and some conservation releases. I did finally keep three for my sis in law.

Only saw one boat on the lake today. A lot different than when I was there just before the 4th of July. And there was only a light breeze until just before I got ready to go. And even the stronger breeze would not normally be enough to be problematic.

Yep. Covered a lot of water and worked hard for only a few fish. I have had worse days but I have also had much better days on Starvy. Use to be lots of perch in the lake and you could always count on a basket full of them when the other guys didn't show.

Went by Strawberry early afternoon and it was like glass. And nobody I could see on the whole lake. Wonder if the algae monster et all the anglers.
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#2
Well at least you can have some cheek meat from the 21'er. I miss perch too!

Honestly I was hoping to see a tiger or two in your hands.[Wink]
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#3
Pat, you keep trying to play down these trips lately when it looks to me like you're doing pretty well. That's some great bows and a very nice eye that probably went around 3 lbs at least so I'd be happy with that kind of outing, but then again I know troutskis don't count much for you but I'll bet they were fun to catch. Thanks for the report. J
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#4
[quote TyeDyeTwins]Well at least you can have some cheek meat from the 21'er. I miss perch too!

Honestly I was hoping to see a tiger or two in your hands.[Wink][/quote]

[#0000FF]No tigers in Starvation. But plans are working for a trip to Huntington later this week.[/#0000FF]
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#5
Nice looking walleyes, I was thinking going there one more time Friday or Saturday.
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#6
[#0000FF]Not "playing down" anything. Just remarking that ol' Starvy ain't what she used to was. I am properly grateful for anything I can get. Tugs is tugs.

And I was brung up on trout so they will always have a place in my angler's heart. I especially like the rainbows in Starvy. They are a different strain...from the Jones Hole hatchery. They grow fast, get big and really bend yer stick and zing yer string.

The walleye was right at 3#. I'd rather have a limit of 16 to 20 inchers than one or two big mamas. Fun to tussle with the bigguns but the littler ones are just right for the plate...and better eatin' too.

I was leaning toward Willard but with the muddy water from the last blow and a forecast for breezier conditions today I opted to go further east. Kinda glad I did. Even if it wasn't a barn-burner it WAS a fun trip and some good eats.
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#7
[#0000FF]Supposed to be nice Friday but windy Saturday, with a storm coming in.

Shoot me a PM and I will let you know where I found the most fish today. We can't send maps by PM but use the one attached and I can give you the numbers.
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#8
Great report, Pat.
Most people write a brief report. You write a novel. I think you did real well based on my last trip over there. I was encouraged on my last trip that I picked up some small perch. I didn't pick up any last year. Those rainbows are a lot of fun to catch and it's good to see they are getting active again. By the looks of your pictures with the two walleye, you were close to where I picked up the perch on the 4th of October.
Thanks for sharing your day![Smile]
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#9
I always enjoy reading from the master.

Thanks once again for taking us along on your adventures! [Wink]
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#10
I can't believe with the water you covered no perch were to be found, and you certainly got around. That point with the bass is quite trek from your launch area. It's unreal how the reservoir has changed in the last couple years. Hopefully we get a good perch spawn this year.

Great post as usual.
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#11
My river trip last Friday was fun, but I need practice on my fly fishing and floating skills. Ended up with 3 fish so it was much slower than your trip. Wish they would have been as big as yours on average. Instead I got one 21" and two smaller than 12". I may have to try Hyrum this weekend to see if I can catch a few bows before hard water sets in. Seems like the warm water fish are slowing down a bunch lately so I may have to leave them alone for a while. Thanks for the details. Later J
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#12
Nice eyes there. I kinda miss that lake. I need to go back soon. Great report.
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#13
[#0000FF]You write a pretty good report your ownself Tom. I know there are others who fish the lakes I do and who like to get the details for help in planning, etc.

The perch of October have gone deep for the winter. But that is usually a good area for them when they are available at all. I have had some great perchin' trips in that same area. And I have probably caught more walleye there than any other area besides Knight Hollow.

As active as the 'bows became about midday I suspect that an accomplished fly flinger such as yourself could have had a lot of action. When I catch more than a few on walleye jigs you know they are active.

I did catch one early on one of my new fly patterns. But only got one on a spinner in spite of throwing them a lot and trolling them between major moves.
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#14
[#0000FF]Thankee sir.

You gotta try those little spinner jigs. Just made up some 1/6 oz. wobble heads white with the yellow eye. They should work well with your preferred plastics.
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#15
[#0000FF]There are ALWAYS fish of all species SOMEWHERE in that lake. But without a boat and good electronics it can be difficult to find any specific species. Heck, even with all the speed, range and knowledge there are Starvyholics who strike out.

From other reports I have had there is a good crop of small perch coming along...from the last good spawn before the dieoff a couple of winters ago. And there are also a few jumbos left...if you can find them. But definitely scarcer than "the good ol' days".

Thanks.
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