I know some of the members here like to float Jordanelle at Rock Cliffs, so I figured I would give an update. I went yesterday, early in the day. Jordanelle is still about 10 feet below "full pool", which was disappointing. However the Provo river was running at over 2000 cfs so it may yet fill. The recent flooding however has flushed a veritable forest of driftwood into the lake. This made tubing a bit of the challenge. The water is still the consistency of chocolate milk. Worse (for bass fishing) the water temps were only 46 degrees on the South side to 52 degrees on the North. It was interesting to watch the temperature gradient on the finder. I hit the North side of the bay and after a while, I started getting an occasional bite using a senko. Cool! Not so fast. I finally caught the fish. It was a chub[:/]. I ended up catching 3 of these on the salt sticks. The chubs ranged from 12 to a hefty 14 inches, but I have never would have imagined I would ever be getting chubs on a 4 inch senko. I wonder if Yamamoto and Maniac want to use that on their promotional literature.
Since I was after bass, not chubs, I left there after about 90 minutes and headed to Deer Creek, where I had a pretty decent bass bite for a couple of hours until the wind blew me off the lake. One nice green fish and a bunch of modest sized smallies.
The camera was on the fritz, so no pics, except for one pic of a chub caught with the senko protruding that I might be able to save and will post later if possible.
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A little depressing hearing the CHUB are that big. That means they can't be eaten by other fish and they can pop out many more. Action batter be put in effect before an instant replay of Strawberry.
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks for the report. I usually do not even dunk my donut up there until the runoff dies down and the junk disperses around the lake. Also need some warmer water to get the bass close to shore.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Not surprised about the chubs. Heard reports that they are jumping all over the place at daybreak. Typical. They will be spawning soon. Not a bad deal though. A high percentage of the young chubs go to feed the predators. DWR is not finding many small chubs. Jordanelle might turn out like Starvation. A population of big old chubs, spawning each year, but not having many surviving young...until the old ones die out and the chubs disappear. It is not ALWAYS bad to have chubs in a lake. Without them as forage the bass would not be as plentiful or as big.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Nice goin' on Deer Creek. I will be launching a quest for wallies next week.[/#0000ff]
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Agreed on the chubs. At Jordanelle, they are actually a nice asset as forage for the smallies and perch. I haven't caught a small one there in the 4 yrs+ I have fished lake X and the survivors are getting big! Looking on the DWR site, the 14er I caught could possibly have taken ol' Ray Johnson out of the record books ( 13 1/4 in. 1 lb 11 oz.) and the C&R record was only 14 1/4. (I Quickly measured it on the stripping apron and sent it back. It could have been 14 1/4) I suppose Ray can keep his record though. I have never aspired to be known as the "chub" guy. As I recall, you or your wife got one that big or bigger at Starvation last year also.
Good luck at DC next week. I had a notion to put on a more walleye friendly lure, but the wind cut the day short and the bass were slapping the salt sticks around pretty vigorously.
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What temps were you getting at Deer Creek ??? Last week it was in the mid 50's. Also, if Jordanelle is still down 10ft. and Deer Creek is about 50 down, WHERE IS ALL THE WATER ?????
[cool][#0000ff]There are some PORKY chubs in Starvation. Here are a couple of pics...including one over 15". Like yourself, my life goal is not to hold the state record for chubs. People already call me "chubby".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have also caught several chubs well over 14" from Jordanelle and would not be surprised to see them bigger this next year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I once caught one from the Snake River in Idaho that was over 18" and over 3 pounds.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Thirty days ago Jordanelle was 60 feet from high water. You tell me where the water is.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My prediction is that Jordanelle is going to spill soon, and the middle Provo will be running like the Mississippi. And, since they can't let Deer Creek rise any more...for the time being...the lower Provo will also be "active". There is gonna be a lotta watta runnin' downstream for awhile yet.[/#0000ff]
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Where I fished at DC, it was between 60 and 62 degrees. It looks to me that they have added a little water into DC during the past few weeks. This will likely be shortly blown out though for the June sucker spawn in the lower Provo. I do expect Jordanelle will fill, but about 10 days ago, the upper Provo was running close to 3500 cfs and I was a bit surprised that it wasn't full already.
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So when will they start filling Deer Creek ?? The new spillway looks almost complete, do they have to let it cure more ??? I was under the impression that concrete cured harder under water, but running water may not be good for it. Seems a shame to have all that water go downstream instead of being stored.
[cool][#0000ff]In a discussion over on the main Utah board, it was stated that they will be keeping the lake low all summer.[/#0000ff]
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