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[#0000FF][url "http://us14.campaign-archive1.com/?u=81543442399c32c0fce942192&id=567f47b3c1"]LINK TO NEWSLETTER[/url]
Here is the December newsletter. Looks like some fun stuff...including making Lindon Harbor an ice rink for the winter. Not enough water for ice fishing so might as well get some good use out of it.
I about choked when I read the ice fishing suggestions by Danny Potts. Totally out of touch with current conditions at Utah Lake. No fishing possible in the harbors and the white bass population has crashed. And as for stomping on the ice to herd the fish underneath to other holes you have drilled...????
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Success herding the schools of bass ...I've got to learn this trick.
Sounds like herding cats
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I have always been interested in fish herding!!! I have been looking for for a trade tech school or a intern program to learn this mystical art. If any one knows of some good info ,or of a place let me know, i cant find anything on the NET about it...... HA.HA.HA..
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[quote Koko21]Success herding the schools of bass ...I've got to learn this trick.
Sounds like herding cats[/quote]
[#0000FF]Really NOT funny. If Utah Lake gets any lower we will be herding the fish across dry lake bottom. Maybe get some trained "fish dogs" to flush them out for us when they are hiding in the rocks or weeds. Be hunting for fish with shotguns and size 6 shot instead of casting jigs with size 6 hooks.
I've heard (not herd) of putting the "hurt" on the fish...but never putting the "herd" on them.
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Methinks Dan has gone "potty" as the Brits say. (Nothing to do with outhouses.)
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[#0000FF][#0000FF][b]I say, old chap. Is "dotty" similar to "potty"?
[/#0000FF]I've known Dan for many years and I have great respect for his "book larnin'" on Utah Lake and on things piscatorial in general. But having an education is no substitute for empirical knowledge gained through personal experience.
In earlier times, when the ecology and fishing on Utah Lake was much different, there were a lot of things that worked just because the fish were more numerous and less edumacated by happy harvesters.
This was not the first time I have read published reports or articles by him that suggested off-the-wall techniques...or made generalized statements that were simply not applicable under prevailing circumstances.
But I do know that he caught a white bass once. He has also caught lots of bullheads...and even a stray walleye once in a while. Probably not for a long time though, or he would be more in touch with reality.
Dan is one of those "unique" personalities who can raise eyebrows and cause eyes to roll simply by the mention of his name to those who have "experienced" him.
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It will be a regular stompede. [
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Live to hunt----- Hunt to live.
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Pat,
If the white bass population has crashed will that mean the larger walleye will be hungry and easier to catch in typical locations? Or does the walleye population even follow the bass population due to all the carps and June suckers to eat which don't have as spiny of fins?
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[#0000FF]Walleye can and do eat whatever they can find. That includes the young of all species...including their own. They even eat crawdads and small catfish and bullheads. But white bass in all sizes are the main forage item for a healthy population of walleyes.
The white bass population has been way down the past couple of years. This past spring there was poor runoff (again) and water levels were still very low around the entire lake...so that there were no exposed rocky areas for the white bass to utilize for spawning either. Result...poor spawning for the third year in a row. Then there was the toxic algae bloom that hit at about the time any baby white bass that actually hatched were still feeding on phytoplankton and zooplankton. Not good.
In good years it is possible to visit any harbor around the lake...and many protected shallow areas...and find the surface boiling with baby white bass feeding on midges at daybreak. Easy to catch a grundle for bait on small jigs or flies. This year? Myself and other cataholics could not find ANY baby white bass...ANYWHERE. The combination of poor spawning and the algae bloom seems to have completely wiped out the new recruites. Not good.
One observed result is the noticeable drop in walleye numbers. It has been getting worse the past two years. Even the diehard wallie chasers have been blanked more often than rewarded. I gotta admit that this is the first year EVER that I have not caught even ONE walleye on Utah Lake. I usually catch a few by accident, while fishing for white bass and other species. But this year I couldn't scratch a walleye even when I targeted them. And I ain't the only "seasoned" walleye fan to have to make that admission.
Walleye will eat young carp when they get hungry enough. But carp grow faster than white bass and quickly grow larger than any smaller walleyes can eat. June suckers? Haven't heard any numbers back from DWR yet but the early word was that there were fewer spawners upriver in the Provo. And the river was full of carp about that time, with those fish trying to find better living conditions than in the main lake. Carp and spawning fish are not a good thing...for the spawners. And with the toxic algae bloom happening about the time the newly hatched (if any) Junies were going out into the lake? One can only guess that the Junettes did not find a welcoming and nurturing environment.
All predators in Utah Lake readily snack on baby June Suckers. Those tender spineless morsels are welcome on any menu. Even in normal years a lot of the young are snarfed up before they ever have a chance to become spawning adults. When there is a serious decrease in the main forage base...white bass...I'm sure the munch factor on suckerkind is even greater.
Utah Lake and white bass is like Powell and shad...or Willard and shad. When the forage base is plentiful the predators dine well. They live long and prosper. But when the grocery store shelves are bare the predator species that depend on the prey either die off or stunt.
I'm predicting a dismal fishing year on Utah Lake this year...for just about everything but catfish. The bad returns will start showing up about the time everybody is looking for the white bass "run"...and they ain't even walkin'. But even before that the wading warriors at Lincoln Beach will all be crying about the poor walleye run.
And by summertime even the catfish will not be as fat and healthy as they were this past year. BLK might get his 36 incher this year, but it is likely to weigh only as much as his 26 inchers did the two previous years.
The sky is falling.
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