Fishing Forum

[cool][#0000ff]Majja and I were supposed to hit Starvation together today. But, Majja came down with a bad case of inlawitis. Couldn't make it. But...LloydE was down for it so we hit Bunny Gulch (Rabbit Gulch) about 6 AM. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Nice sunrise, light breeze, water temp 69 at launch and 72 about 1, when we came in. Water has dropped about 2 feet in the last week but is still much higher than last year at this time.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I knew it was gonna be a bananner day for perchies when I had six hoisted out of the water within the first few minutes of starting to fish. I put on my old white cotton glove early...to prevent "perch rash". It helped a lot. I caught WELL OVER a hundred perch today and my purty little hands are hardly marked. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lloyd and I were both putting the smack down on perch, but no walleyes, when we were joined by a couple of other BFTers from the Salt Lake area. 135guy just got off his big 135 tanker plane, after several months in Afghanistan, and was ready for some fishing. His buddy Paul (Streamfisher???) did not have a tube and waded the shoreline while Shawn kicked out to join us in the perch dippin' fun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I fixed Shawn up with some of the new jigs I just finished making and some perch chunks from a newly acquired perchette. Off he went to dent the perch population. Got a nice stringer for the morning, including a porky 13.5 incher as we were coming back in.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lloyd worked hard for the four small wallies he scratched today. But, because the wind died down to almost nothing for most of the morning, he didn't have to work as hard kicking as he did on our last trip. Lloyd also got a nice smallmouth and a porky perch that probably pushed 14 inches. Like myself, he threw back a grundle and only kept a few for the fillet knife.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was in beta test mode for several new innovations and new jig designs. Everything worked well. I downloaded some of my new "bling" on both Lloyd and Shawn and they done it proud. I didn't do so bad my own self. I had several sessions of ten or more chunky perch in as many drops. And, I had at least ten or twelve doubles on my tandem rigs.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also did well with a variation on my old "hanger shot" rig...using a 5 inch piece of clothes hanger wire as the drop shot weight for dragging a weightless and floated painted body jig over the green stuff. The perch wouldn't leave it alone and I caught one walleye on it and lost a bigger one.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Mostly we all used either the fire tiger jigs or the pale perch jigs...plain or roadrunner style. Perch meat caught the most fish, but the walleyes seemed to want crawlers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Last week, all the fish were in the 22 to 24 foot zone. This week the perch were in 18 feet and the walleyes were out in 25 to 30 feet. We wasted a lot of time before finding the walleyes in deeper water and by then the bite was just about over. There were a couple of boats bottom bouncing in the deeper water. I talked to the folks in one boat and they claimed they had near limits of "eaters" and had released several big mamas to spawn again.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Had a short blast of east wind for a while and we were wondering if that would end our day early. Nope. It layed down to glass too and when we all came in about 1 it was glassy calm again. But, the clouds were abuildin' and we got sprinkles on the way home.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good meeting you guys.[/#0000ff]
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Nice job on the Perchies!!! Fantastic report and pics as always[][][][][][][]
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So are the Perch gonna rescue the Walleye so Starvation can return to a better Walleye fisherie?
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Man I am envious. I will have those pics ingrained in my head as I am helping move my brother and his wife tomorrow. Glad you all did well.
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Pat,

It was a pleasure to meet you and Lloyd. The fishing was great, the company was even better. Thanks for putting up the pictures, now my wife really does believe I caught those fish and didn't stop by the hatchery on the way home and dip the net in. I sure enjoyed giving those perch a workout I look forward to doing it again!
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TD,

I've noticed in several of your reports that you carry a squeeze bottle with a yellow top in your tube. There appears to be a dark liquid inside. What is it?

thank you
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OH BROTHER! They sure OWE you now! [pirate] How r u gonna take it outta them?

Btw, Friday's not looking so hot... keep an eye on the weather!
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[quote catfish-logic]So are the Perch gonna rescue the Walleye so Starvation can return to a better Walleye fisherie?[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Before the perch started coming on strong, the walleye fishery was in trouble. The toothy critters, with help from the smallies, had pretty well mopped up the formerly abundant chubs and were overpopulated and stunting. Lots of seegars but not many large fish. In fact, there was a contract put out to net out as many as possible to help the cause.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Since the perch have exploded, the walleyes are coming back...BIG TIME. Lots more walleyes over 20 inches and all are nice and healthy. There have been some NICE walleyes taken this year. Some over 6 pounds and a couple in the 10 pound range.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There seems to be a good balance in the lake right now, with plenty of healthy perch and lots of healthy walleyes. Unlike Yuba, Starvation has lots of aquatic vegetation, fewer carp and a good forage base, including abundant crawdads.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Some of the best fishing I have ever had on walleyes and the hope for even better times ahead.[/#0000ff]
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[quote Nica]TD,

I've noticed in several of your reports that you carry a squeeze bottle with a yellow top in your tube. There appears to be a dark liquid inside. What is it?

thank you[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]That is a bottle of crawdad scent. One of the best attractants in Starvation. I put it on the cut up pieces of perch meat and on crawlers too. Just gotta be careful to wash it off my hands before grabbing a sandwich. YUK.[/#0000ff]
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good on ya TD! looks like another great day of catching for ya!

tommy and i are going to head up friday and give it a 2 or 3 day shot.. lol looks like a great place for tommy to catch his first eye, and smally [sly]..

i think i'll give some of my fuzzy perch jig's a work out and see if they well get the eye's there! Yuba is not happening on them this year... even the perch did not seem to inpressed with then..[:/] lol so maybe them perch and eye's at starvation might give them a lick or two.. lol
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[cool][#0000ff]If the wind stays down you should have great catching on all species. Some good smallies around the rocks and grundles of perch. Some real toads showing up now too. Your Fuzzy Perchies should get them interested...especially if you sweeten them with a bit of the "real thing". [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Deep trolling cranks or bottom bouncers will probably get you plenty of wallies. They are busy and they are porky. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Not likely to catch any pike...unless it is one of those big-scaled toothless golden pike. There are some monsters in Starvation. But at least you don't have to fight off the carp to get to the other fish...like you do at Yuba these days.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good luck and post a report.[/#0000ff]
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Another great fishing day, Pat! I am still amazed how much I learn from my fishing experiences with you. It never ends. I am now keeping a fishing journal--memory getting older!

I enjoyed meeting Shawn and Paul yesterday. Hope to see more of them. I am sure they were grateful for your generosity--gift of lures and counsel.

I thank you for the lures and fishing counsel as well.
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Pat it was nice to meet you and Lloyd E, I will have to try the jigs you gave me later. thanks[] I worked on trying to clear the shore line of weeds for future BFTers. But did manage to catch a perch, 12" small mouth, three 5" smallies and my first eye 13" [cool]on a 3" jointed fire tiger rapalla. I will try to use a tube next time so i can get some more perch and walleyes. later Paul B
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Nice pictures. Looks like it was a great day for fishing and catching at Vation.
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ahh.....ok, thank you. Is there a specific brand you favor?
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[cool][#0000ff]There are a lot of crawdad scents on the market. As far as I know, they all work.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I buy the Fish Formula stuff (From Bass Pro, I think). It is only about $5 for an 8 oz. bottle. It lasts for a long time even with TubeBabe and I both using it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A lot of guys like the smelly jelly version.[/#0000ff]
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I like the gel varieties as they are less messy, and hang onto the bait much better than the liquid types.

We were at Starvation last weekend, and also tackled the perchies in Bunny Gulch with similar results. In fact our setup consists of twin hooks (long red panfish variety) spaced about a foot apart with a drop shot weight on the bottom, and it was rare that we didn't have double hook ups on a single line. I'm certain we could have done the same with the three hook limit tied on, but it would have been a reel bugger trying to control three flopping perch at a time with only two hands. Maybe I'll do it next time and snap a photo.

We're also leaving this Friday hopefully for a repeat performance. Love this place at this time of year. Your never really know what you'll pull in. Last year about this time we landed a few Brown Trout pushing 22" which were a big surprise. Two weeks previous to this last trip we did real well on the walleye with only marginal results on the perch. This trip was the exact opposite other than we never had a double hookup on the walleye.

Maybe I'll bump into some of you this weekend. I don't have a BFT sticker on my boat yet, but we're on a white Hurricane Deck Boat with maroon striping. You'd think we're water sports enthusiasts with our wakeboard tower, but we mostly fish. The tower holds up our bimini, and camper cover when we stay out all night.

Regards
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Looks like a great time all the wat around.
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[cool][#0000ff]Send me a PM with your mailing address and I will get you some BFT stickers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Sounds like another Starvation fan.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The toothy critters, with help from the smallies, had pretty well mopped up the formerly abundant chubs and were overpopulated and stunting. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff] [/#0000ff][#000000]This is true, but unfortunately the fishing population considered the chubs as trash fish and would kill them and let the seagulls eat their eyeballs without a second thought thinking that chubs were a "trash fish". [/#000000]
I caught my first perch out of Starvation five years ago next month. I thought it was crazy, it was about 4-5" long caught on a small grub. I have not caught a chub since, but I'm hoping they are coming back and laying low because when the perch crash there will be no forage for the walleye. So on and so on, when the chubs crash again hopefully the perch will regain a hold on numbers before the walleye crash again.
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