Fishing Forum

[cool][#0000ff]Fall has fell. Cooler temps. Colors on the hillsides. Lots of good fishing ahead. Wanted to hit Starvation at least once more before I point my tube in other directions.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I got launched at Bunny Gulch about 7:30 AM. Air temp 50 and water temp 62...warming only a couple of degrees by early afternoon. Only a slight ripple on the water that never got much worse through the entire day. Dead flat calm through much of the morning. Nice for a change.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The walleye tournament, with all of the prefishing and heavy tournament pressure over the weekend probably but a bit of a damper on the fishing. The fish were scattered and not very active. But, we still scratched a few nice keeper perch, some walleyes, a few feisty smallies...and of course some hard-fighting rainbows.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There were lots of perch in water as shallow as 10 feet, but they were either very small or got beat to the bait by the dinks. We had to look for isolated larger perch in deeper water in order to avoid donating bait to the dinksters. Most of my larger perch...and a dozen or so walleyes up to 13"...came from about 21 to 25 feet deep.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Smallies are still hanging around shallow structure but will probably head for deeper water in the next week or so, when the water temps slip below 60 degrees. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The rainbows were a lot fewer and a lot less aggressive than in previous weeks. I blame the heavy pressure on Bunny Gulch during the tournament. But, I managed to keep a couple for a "Starvation salmon" dinner.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All in all, a beautiful day. Air temps about 75 when we got off the water at 2. Still only a light breeze. Definitely one of our better weather trips. But, it will probably be my last jaunt over there until iceup...if that happens this year. You never know with that lake.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Noticed a lot more color showing up on the hillsides on the way home. Yep, fall's fell.[/#0000ff]
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As usual another fine catch for the master. Nice to see a few big perch still lookin. How long before the perch slow down. Will they stay active till ice up? After Ice up they get tough to find. Thanks for another great report.
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[cool][#0000ff]In most years the perch and walleye head for deeper water when the water temps start dropping. Won't be long until they are in 30 to 40 feet of water...and then 60...and deeper.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Actually, it is a case of the fish following the groceries. The baby perch (primary forage) go deep to follow their food (zooplankton & other invertebrates). The predators follow.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The perch and walleyes have been notoriously hard to find under the ice. A few successful chilly drillers have found them on some trips...but they do not seem to stay in the same spots all winter. And, they change their schedules too. They may move in and bite well in the early morning or late afternoon but will either move out or develop lockjaw through the rest of the day. It can be frustrating to see a lot of fish on sonar and not be able to coax a bite. It is equally frustrating to swiss cheese acres of ice and not find any marks at all.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We got more ice cover last year than in most years. It was thicker and lasted longer...giving ice anglers a lot more opportunity to search out the fish and develop new insights. There were a lot more fish caught through the ice last year than in many previous years and much was learned. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That does not mean we can count on an easier time of it in coming ice seasons. Just as with open water fishing on that lake it is still a new trip every time out...and you still gotta look for the fish and figure out how to make them bite. It can be a long trip with little to show for it.[/#0000ff]
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Ah yes fall, the time when fishing slows for me and train season takes off.[cool] Nice report. Thanks!
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another boom at the Bunny - looks like. Again a good variety of species sampling.
So do you target certain fish for a while, or just swing it and and see what hits? I know your own jigs seem to draw your perch and walleys well.
No cats at Starvation, eh?

Now a couple reports back you made it sound like them fat flippy trout were going to pick up. Are they just down 'today' cuz all the competition buzz? But likely to slap on the feedbags again as waters cool?

Curious - do you mark points on a GPS while you're floating to come back to for drilling?

Again - those impressive plump perch. Hmmmm.
Do you scale then filet, or just skin while you filet?

[cool][#0000ff]No catfish in Starvation..."to speak of". In other words, I have heard no reports of any...and they are not an "official" species...but that does not mean that some bucket bozo has not put a few in there at some time. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Multi-species: One of the things I enjoy about Starvation is the number of available species and that they all hang out in the same general areas and they all respond to the same lures and tactics...most of the time. So, I can rig several different rods with different rigs and just change up as bottom conditions and fish concentrations change on my sonar. Most days it is like Forrest Gump says..."Like a box of chocklits...you never know what you're gonna get."[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That being said, it is possible to target individual species if you know the lake and the species you might like to focus on. But you really do have to know what you are doing, where to fish, how to fish them and what you are seeing on sonar. And, you still have a good chance of finding other species on the end of your line too. Tough duty.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I do not use GPS. Most good spots are easily found by past experience, triangulation and sonar. And because the water levels change so much during the year a good spot on any given trip is likely to be useless within a couple of weeks...or any other time until the same set of conditions occur there again. The ecology and feeding patterns on the lake change constantly so every trip is a new trip. But, with experience over several years and keeping trip logs to remind me of what worked in the past under the conditions I anticipate I can usually work out the locations and patterns fairly quickly. Definitely a combination of science and art.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The trout fishing should get better in the coming weeks...right up to iceup. They will get more active and hang out closer to the surface and in shallower water so that they will be available to more anglers with a wider range of flies, lures, baits and presentations. Too bad that lake is such a long drive. Too bad for anglers. Better for the fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When I fillet perch I fillet, skin and debone them all in one session. Takes me about 30 seconds per fish. [/#0000ff]
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[cool]Anothor great report n pics thanks love those crazy perch tons of fun[fishin]
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Great report, Pat! Thanks for sharing.

Autumn is the best time to fish, no doubt about it. Well, I guess anytime you can get out to fish is 'the best time to fish', but you know what I mean.
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