Fishing Forum

[cool][#0000ff]LloydE and I made a speed run to Starvation this morning to see if the mega perchies have moved into Bunny Gulch. Nope. Grundles of dinks and midsize but no toads for us two. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water level is about topped out. Shoreline trees are flooded. Water temp 65 at 7:30 launch and 68 at 1:00 boogie. Very clean and green.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We arrived to overcast and a bit of a breeze...the leftovers from the previous night's thunderstorms. Made some interesting cloud patterns but the breeze was a bit pesky until about 9 am.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Started right off with the rattle rattle bitty perch action. Went through several worms looking for bigger fish. Nothing on sonar on my usual suspect spots. Changed up depths, lures and presentations. Got dinksters and mid-size on just about anything I sent down with a piece of worm on it. No walleyes, no smallies, no slimers. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Covered way up to the end of the channel and back down the other side. Found plenty of small perch at depths from 10 feet to over 30 feet. Went through lots of worms and got lots of jerk practice. The eternal (infernal) optimist in me kept telling me there would be some bigger ones. It lied.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Found a couple of spots with more promising marks on the sonar. Brought out some of my new no-name lures to try. Curved flattened spinner bodies with a small spinner blade and bait hook on the bottom eye ring. Perchies loved it and I got a few larger than 9" for the basket.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Talked with Lloyd back and forth on the walkie talkies . His results were about the same...except he had scored a mean nasty 20 inch rainbow. Beat him up pretty good before deciding to crawl in his net. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About noon I started to prepare to get ready to commence to begin to head for the beach and go home. Had some things to do and the fishing was not stellar enough to coax me into staying too long. Decided to devote the last hour to trying for a troutski or two. Almost immediately had one slam a bubble and fly rig, go airborne and let go of the fly in midleap. I was just a spectator. Didn't even get to touch the rod before he jilted me. Whine, whine.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Nothing more on bubble and fly or jig and fly for a while so I cranked up the electric trolling motor and put out a couple of spinners. Always work on those rainbows. Right? Well, not always. About half way back to the beach a hefty bow slammed the "traffic light" pattern spinner and went through his whole repertoire of cavorting, leaping and running to impress me. I was impressed. Then depressed as Mr. Slimer flipped me my spinner and the middle fin. Trout 2, TD zip.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did catch a couple of fish on the spinners though. As I went across a mid channel hump I got a perch on first the silver/pink spinner and then one on the traffic light spinner. The latter was about the biggest perch I caught all day. Hmmmm?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lloyd and I got off the water just as the jet skis were tuning up and establishing their rights to lake ownership. They were welcome to it.[/#0000ff]
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GOOD SCHOOL OF 9 TO 11 ERS UP PAST THE BRIDGE ON THE WEST SIDE ON THE BIG SHELF... BOTTOM BOUNCERS WERE THE TICKET. THAT WAS SUNDAY.[fishin]
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Nice report TD, I wish I would have gone with my initial intent to fish the gulch but could not pry myself away from my precious Knights Hollow. I was floating, but on a pontoon. Had similar results as you except switch the perch for dinkster eyes. I probably caught 25-30 walleyes hoping I could pull some bigger sisters out, but nothing over 14 inches or so for the eyes. I did land a couple really nice smallies on the fly rod after getting tired of putting around being molested by the baby eyes. The smallies were caught from shore. Olive buggers. No perch whatsoever for the day.... funny how opposite things worked out on nearly opposite ends of the lake. I also pretty much had that end of the lake to myself, sept for a lonely bass boat with a crying baby inside. I steered clear of those guys. Guess the kid was not catching anything. BTW those rainbows are getting to be quite the day maker. Always full of fight and for some reason they like to do it above the surface.

Thanks again for reporting that end of the lake, although it might keep me at looking distance.[fishin]
First pic is an eye I caught last week.
Second is one of the smallies from today.
Third is a cluster of caterpillars I found on a tree at the lake...creepy.
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A bad day of fishing definitely beats a great day at work! Looks like you two had fun at least!

So the new "no name" lure. Looks like you molded a spoon and put a bend into it so it will sway back and forth through the water? I'm loving that Trout spinner you've made up in silver/pink. Looks promising for sure.
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I wish I could have been there to witness Lloyd willing to chase the perch when that reservoir is chuck full of walleye. Be sure to keep the pictures of that day because it may not happen again anytime soon.[]
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[#500000]And I thought that my propeller rainbow renegade was colorful ....... That traffic light thing is over the top.[/#500000]
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At least the perch are getting off some good spawns. Will be good for the walleyes and bigger perch too.

Bet the fishing will be stellar next year. Might even turn on in a few weeks too.
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[cool][#0000ff]Just goes ta show ya. The water is always greener on the other side of the lake. I was telling Lloyd that "We shoulda gone to Knight Hollow". Now maybe glad we didn't.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I think the lake is still stabilizing after filling up. The fish just have not completely set up summer housekeeping. When I look at past years' fishing logs I can see that until the water temps get a couple of degrees higher and the weed growth gets higher in the usual spots the fish find other places to hang out...and act however they feel like...without any input from fishermen.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My biggest perch day on Starvy last year was on July 26...after several other so-so trips. [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=603098;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"] HERE'S A LINK.[/url][/#0000ff]
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[quote kentofnsl]I wish I could have been there to witness Lloyd willing to chase the perch when that reservoir is chuck full of walleye. Be sure to keep the pictures of that day because it may not happen again anytime soon.[][/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Be ye not deluded my friend. Wall-Lloyd would never fish ONLY for perch when there was the possibility of a walleye on his line. The walleyes simply did not show up today. Most days we get a mix by fishing the same lures in the same areas in the same way. Not even a "seegar" for us. They were all up at Knight Hollow playing with FOD.[/#0000ff]
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[quote WaveWolf][#500000]And I thought that my propeller rainbow renegade was colorful ....... That traffic light thing is over the top.[/#500000][/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]I got my "inspiration" from one of the old Al's Goldfish lures of years gone by...used to make them in that color combo. Worked well on several waters for me. So I started making a few spoons, spinners and even small crankbaits with the red, green and yellow spots on gold hologram glitter. Fishies like it.[/#0000ff]
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[quote SatanLBZ801]A bad day of fishing definitely beats a great day at work! Looks like you two had fun at least!

So the new "no name" lure. Looks like you molded a spoon and put a bend into it so it will sway back and forth through the water? I'm loving that Trout spinner you've made up in silver/pink. Looks promising for sure.[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]The no-name lures are a "spin-off" from the weights I crafted for my "Holy Jigs" I use for ice fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of my lead molds is the "spinner body" mold. It makes the cylindrical weights I paint and use for my spinners.[/#0000ff]
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[inline "SPINNER BODIES.jpg"]
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[#0000ff]A couple of years ago I began rigging them with a wire...with loops on both ends...and using them for ice fishing weights and drop shot weights. The next step was flattening them before painting and putting a slight bend in them to create a fluttering action.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After the success I have had with the wobble jigs it was a natural evolution to try to make something out of the flattened spinner bodies. Adding a small blade at the bottom really adds flutter and flash.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]Trout spinner? I have boxes of different blades and weights...and custom paint both. I also prefer single hooks on a lot of my spinners and use my fly tying talents to decorate the hooks with feathers and/or synthetics. Always fun to play with new styles and colors.[/#0000ff]

[inline "TROUT SPINS.jpg"]
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That's some pretty crafty work. Nicely done.

The spinner on the top left looks like a killer.
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Crafting at its' finest.

Great work, TD.
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks. In reading your entertaining posts I notice that you have a fondness for whirling metal lures. Here are a few more pics of some of the fancy decorations I include on some of my stuff.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The spots and dots seem to add a new level of attraction at times. At other times "less is more" and a simple bit of flash and vibration of plain metal blades works better than the gaudy stuff.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The cool thing about making your own goodies is never about saving money...it is being able to come up with new ideas that work better (at times) than the store-bought stuff. And you can vary the size and color of the blades with the size and color of the bodies...and mess with the hooks and/or flies.[/#0000ff]

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I was certain that the weather at Starvation would not be good after the rain, lightning, and thunder the night before in Orem. However, I was pleasantly surprised and my trust in your weather forecasting was greatly increased!

I had a great time. I kept hoping for some walleye, but that was not to be. I used up a lot of worms tipping lures that the fish couldn't resist, but kept hoping for the larger critters that I know are somewhere on that body of water.

Thanks for another day of schooling. I always learn so much from you as we travel to and from Starvation. I am also convinced that your trolling motor invention for a float tube is an engineering phenomenon. I need one!!

Thanks for the new lures. I need to make another visit to your house to learn more about your painting strategies.
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[cool][#0000ff]Always a pleasure to share the water with ya Lloyd. Us old guys gotta stick together. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Let me know when you are ready to motorize your Fat Cat. I know a guy that can help you do it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also glad to put on a show and tell for the fine art of glittering. I do claim to have a few tricks I have developed.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Sending the PDF files I promised by PM.[/#0000ff]
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