[#0000ff]fish_fanatic and I have been trying to line up our schedules to get together on Starvation. Finally did it...but on Friday the 13th and a full moon. But harkening back to my stone age math classes I seemed to remember that two negatives equal a positive. Right? Not always.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We were tube and toon on the water about 7 am. Light breeze. Air temp 45 and water temp 65. Everything was ideal. But somebody forgot to invite the fish. Thought my sonar was busto when I couldn't see anything but a flat empty bottom in all my usual productive spots.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Randy was fishless but had marked a few. Then I broke the ice with the first fish...a 9" perch on a flig and minnow. Now the games could begin. NOT. It was sometime later that Randy scored his first...a widdle wallie. A short time later he got one slightly bigger...and then a perch. And that was his total at the end of a long morning.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I scratched out a another perch...about 10". Then a long spell of casting and bottom bouncing practice over multiple bottoms and depths. I did see more fish than I caught. Finally found an area that showed a few fishy marks and had a nice wally thump. Brought a mid-teen incher walleye toward the net...but he declined my offer to go home with me for dinner and gave me back my jig. Rude.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A follow-up cast to the same area got slammed. And after a feisty fight I put the net under a 16" rainbow. Unanticipated bonus. Thought that would be my final fling at fishydom, but did stick a "seegar" sized wallette on the way back to the launch area.
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[#0000ff]Drive time there and back...4 plus hours. Fishing time...5 hours. 4 fish netted...3 species. Not my finest day of fishing...especially on a lake from which I have taken more than 50 walleyes in a day on several occasions. Heck, I'm married. I coulda got more frustration and abuse much closer to home without the early get up and the long drive.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still...a purty day with good company. See ya at Willard next month Randy. Go ahead and chime in if you have some good stuff to add...or need to correct my senile observations.
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The more disappointments I have had at starvation this year, the more I love fishing deer creek. I went out with a buddy at 1030 this morning in his boat. We tried many different spots with the same results. The fish didnt want to eat. We were almost skunked except for one 11 inch perch, a 12 inch walleye, a 4 pound starvation steelie, and a few tiny smallmouth bass. I hope the upcoming winter freezes deer creek for a long time. Im starting to lose faith in my favorite northern Utah body of water.
Gabe
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[#0000FF]Memories can be positive or negative...or both. I look back on my fishing log for Starvation in 2010 and 20-30 walleye to 22" and 50-60 perch to 14" were not uncommon entries. My logs for the past 5 years are dismal by comparison. My fond memories keep me coming back...hoping against hope for a resurgence. But each trip is like a slap in the face from a former loved one. It hurts.
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Thanks for the story, report, and Pics, Pat.
Your report will probably set my next trip over there back a couple more weeks.[
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[#0000ff] "My fond memories keep me coming back...hoping against hope for a resurgence. But each trip is like a slap in the face"[/#0000ff]
There's a term for this pathology I believe - cognitive dissonance or something along those lines. Or maybe its that old canard about repeating the same action and expecting different results... Perhaps its just everyday run of the mill angler masochism
I feel your pain though - Of late, Starvation for me, is appropriately named.
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[#0000FF]The definition of insanity is doing the same things repeatedly and hoping for different results. Kind of sums up fishing in general. I plead guilty, yer honor.
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[#0000FF]Fishing has not been good to the general fishing populace at Starvy for a while. Brief flashes of fortuitous happenstance interspersed with mind numbing boredom and frustration. I guess it was pretty tough at the tournament last weekend. And if those "in the know" have it tough, it's no wonder us amateurs don't do well.
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[#0000FF]For what it's worth, the two perch I brought home both had under 1" crawdads in their innards. Green meanie time?
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I really don't know if I have any good stuff to offer, but it was still good to spend the morning out on the water with you Pat.
I finally got off the water at 6:30 pm yes that was not a typo. I did catch one more Walleye it was in between my weeny and and small teeny, I am not sure what that makes it. I guess I have to call it a pre teeny because it wasnt very big. I did however make it over to Juniper Point where I found the Perch last week and they were there. They sure didn't bite like they did last week but I was able to catch 15 or so enough for fish tacos.
Well that does it for Starvation for the year I will be on a family vacation and then two weeks of Elk hunting. I look forward to a Willard trip with you in late October or early November.
I almost forgot thanks goes out to doitall500 for he helped a very tuckered out fisherman load up his fishing vessel. It was nice to put a face to the name and hope we can share some water in the future. Let us know how Starvation treated you and if you found the Walleye.
Walleye numbers in Starvation are estimated at 750,000 per DNR I would really like to know where the heck they are. I think I would have a better chance getting my limit with my 9mm than a fishing pole, just sayin.
PS- MY wife tells me she is sick of having fish in her kitchen sink and told me I have to start using the fish cleaning station. I told her no fish tacos for you, I think I may have been relegated to the couch. Stupid is as stupid does!!!
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Pat,
I took my boat over yesterday (Thursday) and did well on the smaller walleye. I kept my limit of 10 eyes that might have stretched to 130 inches total. I found them on a high spot that was 16 to 18 feet deep with nearby deep water all around. I also picked up 7 SMB mostly in the 10 to 12 inch range. I got all of the fish on a 3 inch crawfish colored tube jig on a 1/4 oz. head tipped with a nightcrawler. I was tempted to invite you but I'd done so poorly the last trip, I wanted to give it a try before I extended the invite.
I think the slightly cooler water is a positive thing. We should try it again in about two weeks. I'd go next week but I have to visit the folks at the Huntsman for my annual check-up. I'll be in touch.
Mike
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[#0000FF]You made a long day of it. I just don't have the stamina (or masochism) to do that any more. Glad you still found a few at Plan B.
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[#0000FF]Did you get your fuel line situation remedied?
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[#0000FF]Happy to hear you were able to scratch out a limit. Much better than most have been doing. But you put in your time on that pond and usually manage to find a few. At least we always seem to put some in the live well on our joint trips.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Not sure I want to give Starvy another opportunity to humiliate me but since it is you doing the invite I might just do it again. Didn't Britney Spears make a song about that? I don't think she was singing about fishing though.
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Its worth the teeny weeny tweener sometimes to keep the stench away. At least you won't have to go to the fish mkt either. The population of geezers seems to be exploding on lakes everywhere these days making good for conversationalists. Its always nice bumping into someone you know whether its on the lake or at the ramp. I personally been on a burnout mission all summer getting up very early just to drive 2-3hrs to a watering hole. Once on the water it becomes a health reality blast at times, a replenishing thrive when things go well. Other times one has to put in a long haul to get ur done even if you need a couple toothpicks to stake the eyelids open. Now some of those times when the wind comes up early could be a blessing as the stamina could be sending out that warning signal early itself, taking it for whatever its worth.
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[#0000FF]Yeah, okay, all right. Some of us complain about poor fishing...especially when we remember (if we still can) some of the better trips we've had on the same waters. But some of us would complain if we had nothing to complain about.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Bottom line is that fishing is always good...even if the catching ain't. And if fishing success was measured strictly by the amount of dead fish you could keep in your freezer until you throw it out from freezer burn... Well, it ain't that either. For a lot of us who have reached "geezerdom" fishing is an assertion that we still got what it takes to play the game and still stay on this side of the grass. The fish we catch are just bonus tokens handed out by the deities of the lakes to reward us for playing the game.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Ya gotta feel sorry for all the young anglers out there. Most of them have not yet learned that fishing is not a destination (catching fish), but a lifetime journey...including the sum total of all the sensory experiences you can enjoy on every trip. I do not smell skunk often, but when I do I have become pretty good at rationalizing the positive aspects of the trip. After all, complaining don't get much sympathy from your spouse or other fisherfolk.
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You know I think fishing out of a toon is making me a better fisherman, it has Been 15 years since I have owned a boat. You have the ability to run and gun to find fish but when you are fishing out of a toon or tube you better choose your launching spots well. Because I didn't want to pack my toon up and relaunch from Juniper Point I made the 40 minute commute in my toon with a 4 HP Johnson motor and I will think twice about doing that again.
This year I have started keeping a fishing log of all my trips and including everything from water levels, water temps, air temps and moon phase. I am hopeful that these records will pay off in future trips, because after I returned home cleaned my fish, showered I was out like a light. I joked in an earlier post about being relegated to the couch, well it turned out my wife ended up on the couch because I was snoring to loud. I tend to saw some logs when I am over tired and I really was worn to a frazzled.
Fyi the fish tacos were absolutely fantastic and the family all loved them. Hopefully in the future I will have enough intel to launch in the right spots so I can save myself from myself if you know what I mean. I have never known when to quit and yesterday was a prime example for you have heard about "the man against the sea" well this was me vs the Devils Mistress and the only way she wins if I quit. So we had a 11 1/2 hour day on the water but I got my damned fish tacos, you be the judge on who one this battle but my vote goes to me but I may be slightly delusional.
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750k walleye in Starvation? Is that a typo by any chance?
I believe the DWR only puts DC’s eye population at 6k.
If Starvys eye population is really 750k now I feel extra humiliation for rarely limiting there....
They should be jumping in my boat just to get a little personal space.
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A population estimate was conducted 3 years ago at Starvation for walleye....13,100 +_ 3,000 fish was the estimate result. This was very similar to the estimate conducted by USU in 2001/2002. It is likely we will conduct another population estimate in the next 3 years, but 750,000 incorrect, not sure where this number came from??
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That sounds more like it.
Not sure where the 750k number came from either.
Maybe FishFantic may remember where he heard/read it?
P.S. I WISH the 750k number was correct!!
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"You know I think fishing out of a toon is making me a better fisherman"
[#0000FF]Totally agree. I know that as a hunter you can relate to the example I use. I tell people the fishing from a float tube is like archery hunting compared to rifle hunting. It forces you to learn more about your quarry and habitat...and to use more refined techniques.[/#0000FF]
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"This year I have started keeping a fishing log of all my trips and including everything from water levels, water temps, air temps and moon phase. I am hopeful that these records will pay off in future trips,"
[#0000FF]It will not take you long to realize how valuable the info you record after every trip can be on future trips. Simply comparing info on water levels, temps, clarity, fish movements and food preferences can help you work out a game plan for the future trips. If nothing else you will look at "best bait or lures" and realize you might have gotten away from something that used to work well for you. Why?[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I have been keeping fairly detailed records of trips for many years. I not only get help in planning but also enjoy a few chuckles at some of the experiences...and just plain enjoy the trips down memory lane.[/#0000FF]
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I was being sarcastic, I should have clarified that. To be honest will you I don't think there has been an accurate survey since USU in 2014. I suspect with the abundance of small Walleye that the population has grown but as for the health of the population I would not know. I really think that until the Perch population gets healthy the Walleye will pay the price. I am optimistic about the Perch population after my last 2 trips and hope the Walleye benefit but as I was saying to TD it seems that whole age classes of Perch were not present. I hope for the Walleye that that is not so and the Perch are really on the rebound.
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Well Randy I followed your advice. after spending two hours searching with the sonar, and seeing, Nothing, really I think I saw two walleyes.I tried using a crawdad tube that was scented and got no hits. I did a drop shot with Pats minnows and got no nibbles. Spent 7 hours in two days and got two din keys. One eye and one SM.
Saturday there were lots of bass rigs out but I never saw much catching.
I think Starvation is CHECKED OFF for me.
Pat I missed you by 20 minutes, got stopped in Heber for a boat inspection.
Thanks Randy good to meet you.
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