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Starvation Survey 8-14-13
#1
[#0000FF]This is my week for "checkin' out" places I haven't fished for a while. Monday it was Lindon...Utah Lake. Today it was Bunny Gulch on Starvation.

Launched into a light offshore breeze about 6:45. Water temp 67...warming to 69 about the time I left at 11:30.

Nice and calm but the fishing came to an early end when the "Noise City" crowd started running around the lake in their jet skis about 9:30. They ran right over the shallow areas where the fish had been holding and all the fishy marks on my sonar went bye bye. No more tugs neither. Guess even though it is midweek there will be no peace for fishermen until after school starts.

Got off to a good start in about 12 feet of water. Found some fish blips and they voted for the jigs I offered. Got several walleyes...some underfooters, a couple of footlongs and one nice 16 incher I invited home for dinner. Threw back some dink smallies and kept one 13 incher as company for the walleye.

Kept working S turns over the dropoff into the channel...looking for 11 to 14 feet and dropping down whenever there appeared to be inhabitants. Found one area with some small clusters of sonar marks rather than the singles I had been fishing for. Whatchaknow? Perchies. I brought several to the tube...smallest about 8 inches and biggest about 10 inches. Kept three to round out a dinner.

That was about the time the noisy chorus of jet ski motors began tuning up. And, as I mentioned before, they made a run all around the edge of the lake right over top of the productive depths. After that it was rare to see any marks and I did not get another bite in about two hours. I'm guessing the power squadron had been camped there for a couple of days and the whole Gulch had known the wonders of their noisy motors. That would account for the scarcity of fish and the sudden shutdown after the first go round.

I are a fisherman and an optimist. Gotta be both. So I motored around to several previously generous spots...at different depths...looking for the vanished fishies. Occasionally I would see one or two cruising above the bottom in deeper water but they would never play with me.

Got three species today...one short of my usual "Starvation Slam". No trout in evidence on the top or anywhere below. Water is warm and I suspect the trout have gone deeper...or maybe up into the Strawberry inlet arm like they did last year under similar conditions. A couple of guys in a tin boat came by and said they had not caught anything in two days. Appeared they were trolling for trout.

Water level is about 12 feet down from high water mark. That is about 3 feet lower than it was on my last trip to Starvy...on the 19th of July. I have seen it lower at this time of year in the past.

Think I'll probably hold off on Starvy until toward the end of September. Get the power squadron thinned out and the water a little cooler. That should get the fish more plentiful and more active.
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#2
Thanks for the update. I was thinking of heading there next tuesday, but if the water is still too warm and the power squadron is as you say, then I may go to scofield instead.
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#3
[#0000FF]Mid September to the end of October is usually prime time at Starvy. But every year is different.
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#4
I will have to see what my calendar says about that time.
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#5
BFT Floatilla? [Smile]
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#6
That is a neat idea, may have to come to fruition.[cool]
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#7
Great post as always.

Your assumption of the weekend carry over of the power squadron is absolutely correct. We were there Friday - Sunday boat camping on the water, and the recreational crafts were out in full force from sun up to sundown other than Friday evening following the big cloud dump. Many of the serious boat fisherman we saw were putting there efforts in at night and totally avoiding the daytime rush.

Unfortunately now that the campgrounds are finished this will be the normal at starvation. We talked to the camp host prior to launching, and it sounds like they are going to try and keep the facilities open year round, and so far this year sites are booking up 2 months in advance. [frown]

The couple that we went with did well under the bridge both days for large trout, and I saw numerous limits from shore anglers as well. I suspect, as you stated, that the trout are all pretty deep right now. We didn't see any of the surface activity like we did earlier in the season even in the morning or late evening. We had a hard time finding any large schools of perch, but did manage a good group across from the marina in the back of the cove our last morning, which gave us enough for one meal the night we returned.

Fun trip, but not like the good old days. Sounds about the same for you.
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#8
[#0000FF]We have had a few there. Rabbit Gulch is a large area with lots of different structure and zones. Plenty of room for multiple tanglers.

I don't do the organizing any more. I just go fishing and if other members show up that's cool.
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#9
Heading up there this Fri/Sat for Ultimate Bass trmt. Full report upon return.
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#10
[#0000FF]Thanks.

Glad you guys found some fish. Starvation is a big pond and there are lots of fish. But it takes a combination of knowledge, luck and good electronics to find them on any given day. The fish can be anywhere...or nowhere. You cain't ketch 'em where they ain't...but finding them is never a guarantee that you can catch them. Fun, fun, fun.

Perch numbers and angler success on them has been way down this year. There were early reports of some big perch dieoffs after iceout. Seems to be some credibility since they are definitely not around in any kind of quantity. Divers report seeing a few schools...and some big perch...but this is the first year I can remember that there have not at least been a bunch of dinks...all over the lake.

Hope cooler weather thins the crowds and cooler water brings the fish back into shallower water.
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#11
Very true on the lack of dink perch. Makes you wonder if there was even a successful spawn for the perch this year.

We used to bring very large schools of small perch up to our swim platform with baited hooks, but not this year. Especially so in that bay across from the marina. We used to call that area "The Aquarium" because of the masses of fish that you could see on a clear sunny day all around. Not the case now. We saw what looked like large schools of very small minnows cruising the channels in the weed bed, but I'm suspecting those are carp minnows with the quantity of large carp swimming around in that area.
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#12
[#0000FF]Could be carp minnows. They tend to stay fairly shallow and hang around protective cover. But they grow fast and are several inches by the end of summer. Small perch school up but are usually a bit deeper...also around cover like deeper weed beds.

In years past, TubeBabe and I would also be able to bring up large numbers of perch...once we found some. On one trip we found them on the bottom in 25 feet of water, but when we began catching a few and bringing them up to the tube a lot of the others followed. There were literally hundreds of perch, of all sizes, swimming right around our fins. Easy to drop a jig to the larger fish and pull it away from the small ones.

Not this year.
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#13
[quote TubeDude][#0000ff]
I don't do the organizing any more. I just go fishing and if other members show up that's cool.
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[#500000]Shoot me a PM a day or two before you go ...... Us old guys can get out at the drop of a hat.[/#500000]
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#14
[#0000FF]Gotta be careful about what kind of hat you drop and where you drop it. Littering laws ya know?

I was thinking about you but figgered you were all tuckered out from all those Oregon fish. Also, on some of my trips I keep it open until the last minute. Almost cancelled yesterday because of a revised forecast for wind early. Thankfully, they were wrong...again. Can't count the times I have been blown off the lake in spite of a forecast for calm conditions...and have enjoyed nice calm weather in spite of a bad forecast.

If you promise not to turn around and go back home after a meetup in Heber I'll definitely give you a notify next time. Thinking maybe the first week of September. Stay in touch.
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#15
[#500000]I got a little fog burn, and I had to get used to the hot weather again, but I should be good to go for some great fall fishing.[/#500000]
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