Starvation Smorgasbord but Slow

Starvation Smorgasbord but Slow - Printable Version

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Starvation Smorgasbord but Slow - Piscophilic - 12-03-2024

Last year’s trip to Starvation, on the last Saturday in October, was a rough one. It produced 3 sub teen walleye and 2 smallies. We had rented one of the little cabins there and planned to fish Friday evening and Saturday. The fishing was so slow that we decided to get up Saturday morning head to Strawberry, mostly to convince ourselves that we could still catch fish.

This year we decided to try it again, figuring that we could again hit Strawberry on the way home, but we ended up staying. The fishing was never fast, but we got some of several species and it was enough to keep us looking.

We got to the ramp at about 9. There were around 10 trailers there already, way more than last year. The air was in the 40’s and the water was 53 degrees. We headed up to the area around the bridge and started searching. By searching, I mean we put on an SnG, a crankbait, a tube jig and some pop gear and started trolling at 1.5 mph watching the sonar for things that looked interesting.

For the first 2 hours we got no love and switched colors, speeds and sizes a lot. Finally, we started to see a decent number of marks in the top 5 feet of water. They were small and usually singles so I put out a rig with a white crystal bugger on it that I built for white bass fishing.

We had slowed to about 0.5 MPH to work an interesting looking bunch on marks when I heard a splash behind the boat. I turned my head to see a nice rainbow come flying out of the water and then realized my light rod was dancing. The bow had my bugger in its mouth! We got it in the boat and the skunk was off! 16+” and healthy, it would make a great addition to the batch I was planning to can.

A few minutes later I got a hit on the small stuff I was jigging for the suspended marks. I missed it, but it came back, and I got a 10” perch. We thought we had found the fish, but just that quickly they stopped hitting what we offered.
About noon we slowed down over another school, and I hooked another perch, or so I thought. When it came up it was a teen inch walleye. We got excited and worked the area hard, but one was all we got.

As late afternoon arrived, we were trolling again and Jon hooked a good fish on a #5 perch colored shad rap. He was hoping for a bigger eye, but it turned out to be another bow just shy of 17”. 10 minutes later he got an instant replay. Again, we thought we had found some numbers of fish and again they just stopped.

A little before dusk we started seeing more interesting groups of suspended fish, so we slowed the boat and did a lot of casting ang jigging. In about an hour we each got another perch and another walleye. My walleye hit a paddle tail chub imitation less than 5 feet below the surface over 40 FOW, a new learning for me. Again, we thought we were in the fish and then they stopped biting. We started searching again at trolling speed.

I grew up in the Rogue River valley in SW Oregon and in my youth fished the Rogue, Illinois, Umpqua and Applegate rivers. Needless to say, I knew what a steelhead was. Even caught a few along the way. So, the first time I heard someone talk about Starvation Steelhead, I chuckled mildly to myself. In Oregon you could catch rainbow trout in the rivers, but if they exceeded 20” in length, you had to tag them as a steelhead. 20 minutes into our latest round of searching, I was introduced to a Starvy Steelhead.

We hadn’t trolled far when I saw nice trout came flying out of the water fairly close to the boat. As it did, I saw my firetiger flicker shad in its mouth. The next jump the lure and the fish parted ways. It looked like it was easily 20”.
I was just putting the rod back in the holder when another one hit on my long ultralight rod that was still tipped with the paddle tail chub imitation and a piece of crawler. The rod literally doubled over as the fish cartwheeled across the surface! Then it went deep and dogged for a little while. I got it fairly close to the boat and then it made a hard run. As the line peeled off the reel I Smile

d at Jon and said, “This feels like a steelhead back home!”
When it was in the boat, I put it on the board and was surprised it was only 20.5 inches long. It was fat and deep bodied for a rainbow, weighing in at almost 4 pounds, which accounted for how hard it fought. Definitely my best Utah trout so far.

We had planned to fish hard for walleye after dark, since the only ones we got last year were near midnight, but the wind came up and it got really cold. We already had a few eyes and a lot of optimism for the morning, so we headed in for our warm dinner and beds about 9 PM.

Saturday morning was still cold with the air in the low 30’s, but at least the wind had died down over the night. We were the first boat on the ramp right at daylight and we headed back for the area we had gotten a couple of perch and eyes the evening before.

Surprisingly, the schools were nowhere to be found. After about 90 minutes we had one teen inch eye and one perch, so we put the trolling rods back out and started searching.

I started thinking that the fish might be focused on young perch, so I switched my SnG to a 3” chart curly tail. Again, they seemed to like the change as 5 minutes later it went bendo with another “steelhead” This one measured 21.5” but wasn’t as deep bodied or heavy as last night’s fish.

A few minutes after getting the curly tail back in the water, I hooked a smaller trout. To my surprise, as it got near the boat it turned into a 15” walleye!

After the walleye, things went dead in that area, so we decided to look again at the area where we had seen schools of fish yesterday. We found the first school and put on the spot lock. First or second cast, Jon got a perch about 9”. 10 minutes later I got a teen inch walleye.

The boat was staying in 20 to 25 FOW and I saw a couple groups passing by 10 feet off the bottom. I raised my offering up to match their depth. I jigged a couple of times, and the line went slack. I set the hook and said, “I think I found another eye.” As usual for this trip I was wrong. When I saw it, I said, “Jon, it’s a crappie!” “Nice Crappie,” he said as it flopped on the bottom of the boat.

I quickly dug out a rod with a slip bobber on it and set it for the depth the next group passed by at. I missed a hit on the jigging rod as another group passed under the boat. I was re-baiting it when I turned ad saw my slip bobber disappearing 3 feet under the water. I reeled it in, and it was another nice crappie! I knew they had been planted in Starvation a few years back, but I didn’t know they were getting big enough to harvest.

!!!!! Warning !!!! Warning !!!!! Warning !!!! Warning !!!!! Warning !!!! Warning !!!!!

If you are looking for a good batch of perch or crappie (or bluegill) the guidebook lists the limit on all three of those species as 10 fish COMBINED. Here’s the quote from the special regulations under Starvation Reservoir:

•Limit 10 bluegill, green sunfish, black crappie and yellow perch (a combined total)
(They are fun to add to the mix, but I wouldn’t drive all the way out there to catch 10 panfish.)

Again, we got all excited thinking we were going to get several good fish and they suddenly quit taking anything we offered.

The next couple of hours were dead, so about 3 we headed for home. It was a fun trip for getting some good fish, and some unexpected ones, but if was only fair as far as numbers of fish. We will go back again though, to try to get a steelhead or two!

RE: Starvation Smorgasbord but Slow - SkunkedAgain - 12-03-2024

Jim, that sounds like a great trip, always fun to catch a mixed bag and some of those bows were dandies... Thanks for sharing the trip with us... Later Jeff

RE: Starvation Smorgasbord but Slow - gofish435 - 12-03-2024

Thanks for the great, detailed report and pics. That sounds like a fun trip.

When did you guys make the trip? I went over the first of November and I struggled to find any fish in my tube. The fishing always seems to be good in the spring but the fall and winter have been real slow for flyfishing from a tube.

RE: Starvation Smorgasbord but Slow - doitall5000 - 12-03-2024

Great report Jim, starvation can be difficult but when you share your trip it can help all of us get better. It has some great rainbows. It's got to have some bigger walleyes it's just hard to get them to eat!!
My thoughts are they move with the seasonal change staying close to the structure but sometimes they are suspended.
Your idea of spending several days is the best way to track them down. I like those small cabins. Did they stay warm at night?
Did you find any thing in there bellies?
I do like the area around the bridge both sides. But I like the islands too.
Thanks for the details.

RE: Starvation Smorgasbord but Slow - Piscophilic - 12-03-2024

(Yesterday, 06:48 PM)gofish435 Wrote: Thanks for the great, detailed report and pics. That sounds like a fun trip.

When did you guys make the trip? I went over the first of November and I struggled to find any fish in my tube. The fishing always seems to be good in the spring but the fall and winter have been real slow for flyfishing from a tube.

It was Oct 25/26. I wrote the report then forgot to post it Sad

RE: Starvation Smorgasbord but Slow - gofish435 - 12-03-2024

(Yesterday, 07:54 PM)Piscophilic Wrote:
(Yesterday, 06:48 PM)gofish435 Wrote: Thanks for the great, detailed report and pics. That sounds like a fun trip.

When did you guys make the trip? I went over the first of November and I struggled to find any fish in my tube. The fishing always seems to be good in the spring but the fall and winter have been real slow for flyfishing from a tube.

It was Oct 25/26. I wrote the report then forgot to post it

Thanks!