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Been reading all the ice fishing reports and thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth. Went to Starvation Saturday to find beautiful calm weather. Was my third trip there so far. Two previous trips were poor for both trout and perch. This one was better for the bows, but still no perch!
Arrived about 7:00am and went directly to our out of the way place north of the bridge a ways. Good ice, 12". No snow cover. Iced a 19" bow on first drop and then nada for an hour or so. Fished in 24 fow and an occasional bow would pass thru at 15'. Things started to heat up about 10:00a and my fishing companion and I limited out by noon. Attached a photo of one of the limits. The dark one was 20". Others were 19' and a couple of 16s. Other limit was identical and glad to get some for the smoker finally ... need to make some smoked trout dip as we ate all we had and gave it away for Christmas presents.
After filling out on trout decided to go out to deeper water to see if I could find some perch. Looked all over from 30 to 60', but couldn't find anything. Most fishermen are saying the Spring dieoff is to blame, but I have to agree with the park ranger that the 50 perch limit is too high and should be reduced, at least in Starvation. After the word go out that there were perch by the bridge last year, It bothered me to see all the huge piles of perch stacked up by groups of fishermen. I feel we are paying for it this year. Anyway, please excuse the ramblings of a diehard percher!
One last thing ... I feel I should be showing a BFT decal on my sled. Any thoughts about how I can get a couple?
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Nice report. On the stickers send me a pm with address info and I will get you a few.
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Great report! You did well on the rainbows. By the looks of your picture they are still full of eggs. Doesn't sound like we will need to worry about the 50 perch limit this year because no one is catching very many.[frown] If State Parks and anglers are concerned about the limit being too high they need to contact the DWR to suggest a possible regulation change for next year.
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If people really want a limit of 50 perch, fish lake is all it takes. Starvation has been really hammered the last few years, and it may be starting to show. I wonder if the same thing might happen with the improved popularity of northerns at yuba. I think some changes at starvy would be beneficial.
Good work on the rainbows! Always nice to fill the smoker.
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[quote Duckbutter]If people really want a limit of 50 perch, fish lake is all it takes. Starvation has been really hammered the last few years, and it may be starting to show. I wonder if the same thing might happen with the improved popularity of northerns at yuba. I think some changes at starvy would be beneficial.
Good work on the rainbows! Always nice to fill the smoker.[/quote]
They made some changes this year at yuba. Hopefully they will
Help.
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[#0000FF]Angler harvest has far less impact on perch than a whole host of natural factors...like spawning success, predators, disease and/or parasites, etc. Most of our northern Utah Lakes have suffered big hits on the perch population over the past few years. And most of the big reductions were because of large numbers of dead perch washing up on shore after a dieoff.
The 50 perch limit means nothing. Very few anglers ever take home anywhere near that number. Even the serious perch jerkers seldom end up with more than a dozen or so of the larger perch.
There was a study done by the University of Utah several years ago...for Yuba. It was found that walleyes in Yuba consumed 30 times the total weight of perch ever caught by anglers. The perch in Starvation get it from trout, smallmouths and walleyes...at virtually all size ranges except the very largest jumbos. And the walleyes have become both more numerous and larger over the past two years. Hmmmm?
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Sounds like Utah needs to go on a perch planting spree.
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I truly agree that the perch limit should be reduced. I'd like too see it reduced too ever lake in utah for a few years so we can actually get into some big guns some day again. I truly miss those perch days at rockport and echo on soft water last year for sure.
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Are you thinking of a bigger walleye harvest for that lake then ????
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[quote Flyfishinglover]Are you thinking of a bigger walleye harvest for that lake then ????[/quote]
[#0000FF]The current limits for both perch and walleye are probably okay. Very few limits of either ever leave the lake.
As I stated before, the controlling factors for the rise and fall of fish populations in Utah lakes are more a matter of water levels, spawning success and natural predation than angler harvest. That is...all except for trout, which are maintained through plantings. And bass, which do not reproduce in the numbers that perch and walleyes do.
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The popularity of the perch fishery in Utah ... and Idaho, and the Great Lakes for that matter, is exceptionally high. The quality of the perch in size and number drives this interest ... few want to fish for dinks. I love to catch big fish and really appreciate the Kokanee and trout, but when it comes to fishing for the table ... perch, walleye and crappie can't be beat.
I agree that water levels and predation are very important factors, but I still feel there has been excessive harvest in Starvation. Would be nice to see the State in a position to augment the population of perch there (and walleye) as Idaho does in selected lakes to improve and stabilize numbers of this very popular fish.
Fish Lake always seems to have a lot of perch, but their size sucks! I suspect that's due to over population. The Splake and rainbows should keep them in check and it does seem that the average size is increasing of late. Maybe some of those could be netted out and planted in Starvation ine lean years?
Does anyone know if there were ever perch in Strawberry?
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[#0000FF]In Utah, we are mostly limited to fishing reservoirs that were dammed to hold water for downstream water users...irrigation and community use. And since we are a desert state...subject to cycles of drought...there are many years in which the water levels during the perch spawn are not high enough to facilitate a good spawn or high recruitment. Thus we have years with few perch entering the population and some years that produce bumper crops of dinks until they grow big enough to satisfy anglers.
Perch were illegally introduced into Starvation but they have come to provide about the only protein for walleyes and smallmouths...along with crawdads. But before perch appeared both the walleyes and smallmouth overpopulated and stunted after wiping out the resident chub population. When perch are able to get in a good spawn each year, they provide plenty of young for all predators...including themselves.
I fish Starvation a lot...and keep in touch with many of the Starvy regulars. I watch the fluctuations in populations and angling success each year...and the rise and fall of the water levels. I do not claim to know more than the biologists but it does not take a long string of letters after your name to be able to correlate basic cause and effect of weather, environment, fishing pressure and harvest and other observable factors.
The cycle for the past three years has been mainly one of a multitude of small perch with only a few larger ones being taken by anglers...the result of a year of good spawning, followed by a dieoff of the jumbo perch that spawned and reached the end of their life cycle. There was a very low count of bigger fish during this period, but they were growing. The winter before...2012-2013...we were finally getting more of the perch that had grown to harvestable size. And there were good numbers.
Right at iceout in the spring of 2013, several anglers fishing for the big browns that typically get active at that time reported seeing large numbers of dead perch washed up along several shorelines around the lake. And there were all sizes. That would indicate anything from winter kill to a virus or parasite...as has been the cause of other dieoffs in other lakes. And the numbers vastly exceeded the total annual harvest by anglers.
Good luck with getting DWR to consider planting perch in Starvation. They were not planted in the first place...and they do fantastically well on their own when conditions allow. Yuba is another matter. It could use some help from Fish Lake.
The perch in fish lake are overabundant because they do not have a major top predator...like walleye or northerns...to hold their numbers in check. The few tiger muskies in the lake ain't getting the job done...and they often prefer a tasty trout to a spiny perch. True, the splake and rainbows eat small perch, but not enough to tip the balance.
You said: [/#0000FF][#0000FF][#000000]"I still feel there has been excessive harvest in Starvation."[/#000000] May I ask from where you get your information?
Perch in Strawberry? Yes, there were...prior to the first big poisoning in late 1961. I was there and saw a whole bunch of perch floating on top...along with every species of trout, suckers, carp and acres of chubs. Since then I have not heard of any perch being taken there. But there have been a few smallmouths...illegally introduced but not reproducing.
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I believe you could remove any limit on Perch and have no negative effects on Utah Waters.
Drastic Seasonal Water fluctuations limiting reproduction is the major limiting factor for a Desert State, not the bag limit.
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RE Fish Lake perch: in Canada and the Midwest lakers feast on perch during the winter cool water periods - not uncommon to catch lakers in less than 15ft. Lots of ice fisherman jig perch colored lures especially the large Rapala jigging raps. Not sure why or if the population of lakers in Fish Lake leave the overabundant perch alone.
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Not alot we can do about the perch numbers, but we can sure count our blessings on how well the 'bows are doing in Starvation! Way better sport and just as good of eating IMO. When and if we get good perchin' in Utah take advantage, but otherwise be glad we got what we got, or head north.
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