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Joe's Valley Oct. 8
#1
I had a day off on Thursday and decided to take advantage of the great weather. I took the Lund and headed down the road to Joe's Valley. It's only a little more than an hour for me to get there from Price.

I arrived at 0800 and had the lake to myself. It was 44 degrees at the boat ramp and the water surface temperature was 58. The water is a little murky now probably due to the heavy rains we had in the area last Tuesday. I'm sure Seely Creek was running high during the rain. The lake level is down quite a bit but there was no problem launching at the ramp on the east side of the lake. The ramp at Seely Creek is closed due to the low lake level.

I started fishing the area just north of the boat ramp and went for more than an hour before I had any action. I had a nice size critter follow my jig to the boat and it turned away at the last minute. No amount of teasing could get the fish interested even though I could see it on the bottom in about six feet of water.

At about 10:00 a.m. I caught my first muskie. It was on the west side near a rocky point. I was using a number of different lures but I got the first fish on a Bass Assasin 5 inch swim bait on a 3/8 oz. dart shaped jig head. I have painted my jig heads dark green so the presentation looks more like chub, the tiger's primary prey.
The muskie was about 37 or 38 inches and I didn't take it out of the water to measure it since it really didn't matter to me. I'd rather release the fish without any unnecessary handing because I think it improves survival.

About an hour later I caught another muskie about the same size. This one followed my jig right to the boat and made a big splash when it tried to get the jig when I lifted it out of the water. I dropped the jig back to the bottom in the 15 foot water and vertical jigged it a few times. The muskie hit the jig and the fish became the next and last fish I caught yesterday. So my tally was two muskie in about six hours of fishing. Muskie may be the fish of 10,000 casts, but I only cast about 800 times to get two toothy critters. I'm ahead of the curve.

I did have some better days last fall when I caught as many as 7 muskie in one day. I think the reduced visibility in the lake is a good thing because the fish aren't as spooky. When the water is clear you can see many of the fish just hanging out waiting for something to ambush. Remember when you can see them, they can see you.

I hope to make a few more trips before the ice takes over. It might even be worth trying through the ice. I've caught northerns at Yuba through the ice, so maybe a guy could get one of the muskies using the same methods and baits later this year.

Later in the day two other boats came out. I talked to two young men in a small boat who were trolling. They went around the lake twice and each time they passed me I asked them if they'd had any luck, they didn't even get a hit. They were probably trolling for trout.


Mike
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#2
Thanks for the report Mike [Wink] I've got all of next week off on vacation and was debating on whether to head down there for an overnighter or stay with plan A and fish Pineview.
You're absolutely right about the water clarity there. When its very clear like most days, and the fish aren't very active, that place can be a real bear. A few years back Wildcat94 and I went down there. The water was real clear, and we had at least 100 follows between us. In the end I managed to put a 36" & 38" in the boat and he got blanked. I was glad to get the two fish that I did, but we worked our butts off for them! Fred K.
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#3
Great day for sure. Thanks for sharing.
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#4
Great report Mike, we sure don't get many from Joe's valley. What are your thoughts on the perch fishing at Starvation this Winter?
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#5
Great day of musky fishing for sure!

I've been wondering about this body of water - its a heck of a drive from the SLC valley . I may have to camp and fish it a few days next year. How big the musky get in there?

Musky get super lethargic in the winter , they can be caught on rare occasions but are nowhere near as aggresive as a Northern when its iced over. ( if only we could use live suckers!!!)

thanks for the report
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#6
I'm hoping there are enough perch in the 8 to 10 inch range to make the fishing worth while at Starvation this winter. Last winter the conditions were marginal and I only fished it a few times. There are a bunch of small walleye and the rainbows are always fun to catch and great for smoking. You can count on me being over there as soon as there is safe ice. We should plan a get together like we did two years ago.

Mike
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#7
The DWR biologists I've talked to have seen a few muskie in the 44 to 45 inch range. I caught two 41.5 inch fish last fall at this time. I caught a total of 14 muskie last fall in four trips. I will probably give it another try before the ice takes over.

If you do decide to try Joe's Valley there is a good US Forest Service campground on the west side of the lake. It doesn't have electrical hook-ups but there is water, a table at each site and a fire ring. Good luck if you give it a try.

Mike
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#8
[quote TopH2O]The DWR biologists I've talked to have seen a few muskie in the 44 to 45 inch range. I caught two 41.5 inch fish last fall at this time. I caught a total of 14 muskie last fall in four trips. I will probably give it another try before the ice takes over.

If you do decide to try Joe's Valley there is a good US Forest Service campground on the west side of the lake. It doesn't have electrical hook-ups but there is water, a table at each site and a fire ring. Good luck if you give it a try.

Mike[/quote]

Now you're tempting me.[Wink]
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#9
Here's a 42" that I pulled out of there last year. That's been my biggest from there so far. There will be some real tanks coming out of there very soon though! Fred K.
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#10
I'm pretty sure your fish is one of the 41.5 inchers I got last October. I recognize the Smile on it's face. It knew you were going to release it. [Wink]

Nice fish and photo. I was fishing alone when I got my two biggest and the photos are not as good.

Mike
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#11
nice going!
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#12
[quote TopH2O] You can count on me being over there as soon as there is safe ice. We should plan a get together like we did two years ago.
Mike[/quote]

Sounds good Mike, if this winter turns out to be a decent one for the perch, I'm sure we can plan another get together. l'll be looking forward to it and we can make plans after we see how it looks.
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#13
Well way to go Mike, I'm glad to hear your still around. Did you make it over to Starvy when we spoke last? No boils at Powell, or at least not where we were. I may try to find them in a couple weeks.
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