Starvation 8/16 : Attack of Algae Monster

[WalleyeDude]

Hit Starvation on 8/15-8/16. Got there in the afternoon but thunderstorms delayed the fishing. Finally got on the water with an hour of daylight left and shot over to the little coves west of the main state park. Last year in September caught a lot of walleye suspended in 20-30 feet of water. Began casting into the rocks and picked up a few SMBs. Jigged down and caught one 14" walleye before it got dark.

Out of the corner of my eye saw something surface that made a loud burping sound but didn't see what it was.

Went out the next morning with more light and could tell a major algae bloom was in progress. This was probably the source of the burp the night before. Had the same sucess with some SMBs and one singe walleye till about noon. The bloom continued to get worse and so did the fishing. Never caught another walleye. Couldn't find any perch. Even the SMBs quit taking jigs.

I tried bottom bouncing and jigging just a worm. I would get a very light bite but could never hook anything.

Shot up to the inlet. It was choclate milk from all the thunderstorm runnoff. Tried various other spots with very little action. dropped the underwater camera down as deep as 30 feet and still couldn't get out of the algae. I could see about 1 foot through the stuff.

The W_ blew most of the time which also made fishing a challenge.

On the upside, the wife and I caught a ton of crayfish after dark by wading in the shallow water at camp and blinding the poor little buggers with a flashlight. We boiled them up and ate "dads" till we were stuffed.

Anybody fished Starvation in August with sucess? Did the algae bloom shut them down or was I just in the wrong place? Last September is my only other experience with this lake.
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[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like a couple of tough days on the lake. Did you fish the inlet? It can be good fishing when the water is chocolate colored, the fish move in to feed on the food that is washed down stream. Good to hear you found plenty of dads. Thanks for the report. WH2
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Wow, that sounds ugly. I have hit Starvation twice in the last month, the last time being on August 9th ([url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=276011;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]LINK TO THREAD[/url]). We fished in Rabbit Gulch and the water was clear and clean, with no bottom algae at all. There were a couple of healthy weedbeds, but no nasty stuff.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, we had nonstop action in water from 13' to 20' deep...from the bottom to the top when the fish would come up and suspend below our tubes. We got perch up to 13" and walleye to 16". If we had been fishing with larger lures we probably would have caught more and bigger walleyes. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Tentatively planning another trip over next Tuesday. Will post a report. Hope the algae monster hasn't messed up my spot.[/#0000ff]
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[CROSSINEYES]

I HAVENT EVER SEEN RABBIT EFFECTED MUTCH BY THE BLOOM.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Y'know, it really isn't a "bloom", but a dieoff of the old nasty algae that builds up on the bottom in the more stagnant parts of the lake. It happens this time of year in many lakes...like Pelican. The algae dies off and starts to decompose. That creates gasses and it floats to the top.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The decomposing algae is also bad for water quality. It uses up oxygen and adds foul smells to the water. That drives the fish off to nicer areas of the lake. Walleye and perch are fish of clean clear water so they don't hang around long when the water quality goes down. You have to look around to find better water and the fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You are right about Rabbit Gulch. The natural inlets and springs seem to keep it pretty clear and clean.[/#0000ff]
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[CROSSINEYES]

YA I DO KNOW ITS A DIE OFF... STRAWBERRY IS HORIBLE WHEN IT TURNS BOTTOMS UP. ITS LIKE FISHING PEA SOUP. AROUND THIS TIME FISH START TO STACK IN LARGER SCHOOLS UNDER THE BRIDGE AND MOVE UP ON THE SHELF TO THE WEST RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE LITLE BAY TO FEED THEN MOVE BACK OFF DEEP AND HOLD NEXT TO THE BIG CEMENT PILLARS. CASTING RAPALAS AT DUSK ALONG TTHIS SHELF IS YOUR BEST BET FOR A BIG EYE.
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[WalleyeDude]

I did fish the inlet a little bit with a jig and worm. Didn't stay to long though. Maybe I should have tuffed it out a little longer. What works the best if the water is muddy?
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[CROSSINEYES]

ANYTHING THAT CREATES VIBRAITION. STICK BAITS ARE WHAT ID GO TO FIRST THEN LARGE LIKE 5 INCH TWISTER TAILS. LAST A CRAWLER HARNESS WITH BIG COLORADO SILVER HAMERD BLADES AND DOUBLE UP THE BLADES JUST PUT A COUPLE GREEN AND YELLOW BEADS BETWEEN THE BLADES. THEY WILL USE THE VIBRAITIONS TO LOCATE IN MURKY WATER.
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[wiperhunter2]

I'm not sure which inlet you fished but the Strawberry river inlet is where I have done good. The last time there I was fishing on the West side about 100 yards down from where the river dumps into the lake. We were only in 9ft of water and close to shore, using a jig and worm, we caught eyes and a few nice size browns, using the electric motor to keep us in close. WH2
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[WalleyeDude]

wh2:

I fished on the upper end (opposite end from the dam) where the narrow channel meets open shallow water. To me it felt like south-east but I'm always turned around up there.

Also fished out from the water gushing out of the tunnel. Used a jig (maribu) and worm both places. Never had any bites. Didn't stay too long at either place.
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