So I've been hammering away at deer creek for the last month or so trying to get into some decent Bass. I'm getting schooled. Last year rocked compared to this year for numbers, and quality. I've gotten in to very few lmb this year. My excuses are
Pressure
Low Water
Wind
Over Harvest
Predation
Goofy temps
Etc
Etc
I just don't feel like the fish are there this year. Sad to see. I'm still hoping they show up, but hope is fading.
How'd the tournament go? They're usually a pretty good indication as to how things are looking. Maybe they'll post some huge numbers and I can eat crow.
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they are still there never fish the same twice
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I've had the same experience at Jordanelle so far. It seems like this season is even slower than last year.
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With the second year of low water it is making for some hard fishing.
There are still some nice sized largies in there. They have moved out deep already and with the clear water you have to stay way backed off and make some long casts to keep from spooking them.
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Well I'm not necessarily saying it's the cause of the problem I have seen spear fisherman with limits of some quality large mouth. I have nothing against spear fishing in general but it does seem fishy if you are out for food you would be taking the larger fish? If you want to eat some bass get some of those smallies out of there, PLENTY of them to go around.
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Still no updates from the tournament yesterday. Wonder how it went?
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Official results are out from Saturdays bass tournament on Deer Creek.
They reaffirm my fears, and are honestly a lot worse than I thought they'd be.
http://www.ultimatebassteams.com/results...013-06-15/
Five out of the 9 teams didn't even post a fish over 12"!
That's 10 of Utah's best bass fisherman folks.
That paints a pretty depressing picture of what's going on at deer creek.
But what's causing it???
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[quote RapalaUt]Official results are out from Saturdays bass tournament on Deer Creek.
They reaffirm my fears, and are honestly a lot worse than I thought they'd be.
[url "http://www.ultimatebassteams.com/results/northern-utah/2013-06-15/"]http://www.ultimatebassteams.com/...ern-utah/2013-06-15/[/url]
Five out of the 9 teams didn't even post a fish over 12"!
That's 10 of Utah's best bass fisherman folks.
That paints a pretty depressing picture of what's going on at deer creek.
But what's causing it???[/quote]
Lame
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[quote RapalaUt]Official results are out from Saturdays bass tournament on Deer Creek.
They reaffirm my fears, and are honestly a lot worse than I thought they'd be.
[url "http://www.ultimatebassteams.com/results/northern-utah/2013-06-15/"]http://www.ultimatebassteams.com/...ern-utah/2013-06-15/[/url]
Five out of the 9 teams didn't even post a fish over 12"!
That's 10 of Utah's best bass fisherman folks.
That paints a pretty depressing picture of what's going on at deer creek.
But what's causing it???[/quote]
First, a shout out to Richard, the winner, nice job! (He's a friend of mine)
Since I'm posting, I suppose I'll spout my inflation adjusted 2 cents, although I haven't hit DC this year.
1. The water level; Historically, DC largemouths thrive when the shallow areas around the inlet are flooded. The water bump we saw a couple years ago was perfect for the largemouths and they thrived for a time. These areas are also good spots to catch them. Most of these areas are now high and dry. The bass in the lake have moved on and reproduction will suck while the water is lower. If we get more rain and a full pond for much of the spring and early summer, they will come back.
2. Wind/weather; Perhaps on a given day, but it wouldn't affect things over a whole season.
3. Overharvest?; Certainly not of the runt smallies, which are exceedingly abundant. I wish more folks took advantage of their fine table quality. However, it could have been a problem with the bigger LMB. At least one DWR biologist I know feels that the spearfishermen had an impact on a nearby lake with regards to the bigger bass and perhaps the same thing occurred here. Maybe Joe six pack hook-and-line anglers took out too many quality ones too. It could simply be the same old BS where too many anglers are only interested in bonking a big bass to take home and validate their manhood while showing no interest in harvesting the overly abundant smaller smallies that need to be thinned. All to the detriment of the fishery.
All that said, water is the key at DC and if that place can stay at full pool for a while, the decent LMB will return. IMO, the smallies won't get significantly bigger there until their numbers are thinned and the lousy forage situation at DC improves, again by having better water conditions.
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I forgot to offer my congrats to the winners as well.
Especially considering how crappy it has fished this year.
I think you pretty much nailed it on the head. Next year will really be tough.
I'm as guilty as anyone for not taking out a bunch of dinky smb. They are pretty tasty.
We caught some pretty good lmb clear into the fall last year. I wonder where they've ended up.
Hopefully the dwr is monitoring what's going on. With the low water maybe some reg changes are needed.
That being said I know more water is what we need in the big picture.
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