Fishing Forum

[#0000FF]Gofish435 convinced me that Monday would probably be the best tubing day this week...with wacko weather forecast for later in the week. So I met up with him at Rabbit Gulch on Starvation.

Met BFTer Panfisher there as I was getting set up. He had spent the night. Reported catching a few fish.

I took a little time setting up my Escape for its second trip. Had made a few tweaks since last week at Willard. Finally got on the water a bit after 7 am. Air temp mid fifties. Water temp mid sixties.

I was hoping that the rising water temps would bring in some perch...and maybe a walleye or two. Still a few degrees to go for the perch comfort zone. But there have been some walleyes showing up. Amazed that the water level is still right up to the tippy top. Thought about bringing some back with me for Utah Lake.

The new ride worked well...mostly. But my sonar was not showing many fish at all. Battery was good. Connections were good. But no fishy marks. Kept moving and grooving...dragging various plastics and Gulp minnows. Had one nice trout hold on long enough to go airborne and flip me the middle fin before sending back my jig. And got a few half-footer smallies. Hard hits and fun on light gear. But not what I was after.

Finally worked my way into an area with some real fishy marks on the bottom. Got one of them to chomp my Gulp minnow and went bendo. Hoping for a walleye but settled for a feisty 16 inch smallie. Fun Fun. Not long afterward I sent my Gulp minnow down to another mark. Again, a whack and a wiggle. Less of a wiggle this time. But the white fins showed it to be a walleye about an inch shorter than the previous smallie.

No skunk today, but it was not a stellar day on Starvy. Guess I'll wait 'til the perch move in before I hit it again.

Gofish435 waved his magic wand (flyrod) all day and was rewarded with rainbows and smallies. At least that was his score when I left early at 11ish. He will probably come up with some story about slaying them after I left. That happens.

Got to see WaveWolf for the first time in too long. He is recovering from some medical issues and came down to lend immoral support to us other tuber types. However, his toon had some issues with the motor mount so he mostly waited on the bank for me to return...so we could chat and formulate some plans for modifications.

Quiet today...even for a Monday. But the power squadron probably hit the Gulch hard over the weekend. At least the dumpsters were full of evidence. The sound of horsepower was just beginning to waft across the water as I departed.

Lots of fun on Hwy 40 right now. One lane with closures and flagman stops all along it..from Park City to Duchesne. Love progress. Sure will be nice when they get it finished...Again.
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[#484848]Although the day was kind of a bust with the motor mount issues. I really enjoyed being out, just doing.[/#484848]
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[#484848]That is probably the calmest water Starvation has had for a long time.[/#484848]

[#484848]I looked for you in the rear view mirror to see if you had made it through with the pilot car, but I guess you must have waited for the next one.[/#484848]
[#484848]It will be a good road when they get it done.[/#484848]
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Hey Pat, I'm glad to see you made it home alright.

As far as my slaying them after you left, one more rainbow and smallmouth in three hours is not what I would call fast fishing. It was fun to get together for the first time this year. It is going to take some getting used to seeing you in a red boat. All the PVC is a dead give away that it's yours. You've got a nice set up with all your stuff located for quick access.

It's too bad the fishing wasn't better. I talked with a couple of gentlemen that were fly fishing (Plastic Navy)and they each caught two nice rainbows and when they cleaned them they said that there was very little in their stomachs. Must be on some kind of diet. They certainly weren't too interested in what I was offering them.
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[#0000FF]Glad you could make it but sorry you had "issues" with your gear. I had some seat problems (again) but managed to tough it out until I came in to see you at 11.

Actually, I was living right with that "caravan" thing. I left a few minutes after you did and I drove up to the back of the line just as it was starting to move. I was the last one the flagman let through. Wasn't enough to convince me to drive to Wyoming or Idaho to buy a lottery ticket though.

[/#0000FF]"[#0000FF][#484848]It will be a good road when they get it done."

[/#484848]Ha! My wife and I have lived in several places where they began long-term road projects around us just after we moved in. And we began to laugh as we said "Sure will be nice when they get it finished." And, in most cases they did finish...right after we moved somewhere else...to a new project.

Seems like they have some new project on Hwy 40 every year. It is a permanent part of the summer orange cone storage program.
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[#0000FF]Not sorry I let you talk me into coming to Starvy. I always like to fish it...even if it does not always "feed" me well. Fishing is not just about catching. At least that's what we say when fishing was lousy.

Interesting about the lack of stomach contents in the rainbows. There was nothing in the walleye either. But the smallies I caught had full tummies and I could see crawdad parts in the throat of the biggest smallie. I don't recall ever finding a bow with nothing in the innards. Almost always full of insects, zooplankton, perch fry or snails. Even a few with small crawdads. A noisy weekend on the Gulch might have shut down their feed.

Glad you at least caught a few to bend your stick. The smallies and bows are fun to catch. But i prefer to wait until more walleyes and some perch start showing up. I truly do like playing with your rainbows but they are not my first love.

Hope the weather treats you well on your trip north.
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Thanks Pat for the Starvation fishing report. By the way, I love all the stuff your helped me rig on my toon. So nice.

I still have not been up there to catch walleye. I would love to go with you or meet you there on the next outing. Let me know when you think it might be good to get perch and walleye. I want to give it a go.

Nice new rig you have there. Surprised you bought one of Scaddens. His are so pricey, but maybe they are the best. Anyway, it looks good. People will not be as likely to run you over now with that bright red. Fish like red too Haha.

Keep the nice pics and reports coming.
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[#0000FF]I'd be happy to accompany you on that wunnerful pond...except on a weekend. Typically July through early October are best for perch. Walleye start earlier and stay later. Almost always some rainbows if you target them...and some if you don't. Ditto for smallies.

The last couple of years have been poor for perch and less than stellar for walleye. But the perch seem to be coming back and the walleyes too...although both species are not common in larger sizes.

Next trip over will probably be toward the end of July. Shoot me a PM with your availability days and times and we can hatch a plan.
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Good to meet up with you and talk for a few minutes, picked up a few more trout heading over to the island, Got 2 perch there.
Headed over to the state park for the night did not do any better over there, alot of small SM, 1 small walleye at dusk on jerk bait.

Started filling up for the big weekend, so we pulled out early.
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[#0000FF]Always good to meetup and chat with a fellow BFT tuber/tooner. Glad you found some more fish. I suspected there might be some perch over by those islands. That is usually where I first find them each year. Good deep water coming up fast to perch habitat. I get some good walleyes and trout over there too. That will be my destination on my next trip.

I'm guessing you wouldn't wanna be anywhere on that lake from now until next week. It gets silly on "normal" summer weekends. Bodacious on long holiday weekends. But the perch should be showing up in good numbers by the middle of the month.
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We were also at Starvation on Monday.
My son was on his tube and I took my grandson with me on the boat. We stayed on the South side of the bridge and fished along the shoreline.

Tried bottom bouncers for a while with no success for Walleye so we switched to dodgers and worm harnesses with the down riggers.
That was the trick for getting the rainbows to play.
We kept 4 bows that went 16" to 18" for the smoker.

My son did well from the tube for trout and a few walleye using his fly rod and sinking line.
His best fly was a good old Olive Wooly Bugger.
He also picked up several smallies.

My grandson had on a smaller fish that got off before I could see what it was. He thinks that it may have been a Kokanee.
I know that Kokanee were stocked in Starvation this year, so it could have been one.

Thanks, Pat for your tips and maps. They were very useful.
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[#0000FF]Glad the info helped. And glad you guys found a few fish. There are times that inlet area holds more fish.

Interesting about the olive flies. They also worked well last year. I know of one 28 inch walleye taken on a size 6 "green meanie". Always good for smallies and the bows too.
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Hey TD; I went to see Dave Scadden today to see if there was a more custom fit motor mount. In the conversation I told him about yours that was flattened and fit down in the crease between the tube and the bottom. He said he would like to see a picture of it.
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nice
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[#0000FF]I sent him pics of the one I made for my Renegade, along with the rod holders, etc. I had planned to send him pics of the Escape when I finalize my designs a bit.

Not sure he wants to hear my feelings about the "slip out the back, Jack" problem with the inflatable seat. Still working on a suitable remedy for that one.

I will probably go ahead and send some preliminary stuff...including the motor mount. I have pics from several different angles.

We can probably make a custom fit one for you for less than $10. Mine was just a little loose with those bungee cords but I lashed the one down on the Renegade with adjustable straps and it was rock solid. Here are a couple of pics.
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