DC Browns

[LOAH]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 4]Earlier this week, I had some business in the Salt Lake Valley that happened to be right down the road from the Jordan River.

After my formalities had concluded, I stopped in for a few casts and within three casts, had a big sucker on the line, literally.



Today, pre-set plans for both days of the weekend meant that any fishing would have to be carried out locally. Deer Creek fit the bill, so I set off in hopes that the perch or bass might be in close to shore.

Other people I saw coming back to their cars hadn't reported any luck, so I was a little bit nervous about my choice.

Getting to my first spot, signs of life were limited to a marmot on the rocks, but I thought I'd try my luck anyway.


After quite a bit of fruitless casting, I finally got some action about an hour into my stay. Four small rainbows came in pretty quickly, using a marabou jig and a rainbow Blue Fox. They all looked pretty much like this:


Only finding the small rainbows in that area, I figured a move was in order, so I took a bit of a walk and settled into a little area that looked inviting.

My impression was that it would be a long day and that I might just have to accept what I'd already caught, but then a large cloud blocked out the direct sunlight and my next cast yielded a good brown!



Previously, I had only caught browns from Deer Creek once and that was on my birthday back in December. Two came to hand that day, one right after the other.

Well, following that same pattern, my next cast brought in yet another fine Deer Creek brown.


The clouds moved away for a bit and the sun was shining brightly again. That also meant the bite vanished.

While casting away, I noticed the latest and greatest watersports craze, "Flyboarding".





It actually looks pretty cool. They can supposedly launch people as high as 40 feet. Neat-O.

Eventually the clouds came back and what else? More browns! A couple of hard tugging bad boys shook off before I met them, but there were still a few that made it in. It may not have been expected, but it was certainly welcome!





The day went from a big question mark to a big exclamation point and all that needed to happen was for some clouds to move in. Crazy how that works sometimes. There may not have been a lot of fish, but my time spent was rewarded with a valuable lesson in the workings of the enigmatic Deer Creek browns.

I'll have to test this method again in the future and see what happens. For now, I'll just bid a big thanks to Deer Creek for what I would call an excellent day on the water, especially in the short time I had.



Happy Fishing, Humans.[/size][/font]
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[Blueboy22]

Do you every have a bad day of Fishing, lol
Thanks for sharing.
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[LOAH]

Is there such a thing?[]

There are days that really don't go my way, that's for sure. I hit Currant Creek with my family about 3 weeks ago and that was a bit disappointing for me.

I had re-spooled my reel with some P-Line C21 or something. It's a fluoro hybrid.

Well, that totally sucked. It didn't matter what kind of knot I used, I lost a ton of gear while casting and even more while fighting in nice fish. There were several fish on the line that would have been over 20", but that crappy line kept breaking ever time.

I'm not used to that happening. Meanwhile my wife caught the nicest fish of the day (that was landed) with her good old mono.



We still caught fish though and that can't really be considered "bad" right?

Sometimes I get really stubborn when something isn't working and instead of changing my tactics, I end up getting skunked. I earn those skunks though.[sly]
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[RonPaulFan]

"... The day went from a big question mark to a big exclamation point and all that needed to happen was for some clouds to move in. Crazy how that works sometimes. There may not have been a lot of fish, but my time spent was rewarded with a valuable lesson in the workings of the enigmatic Deer Creek browns. ..."

Wow! Great catches! I want to understand the dynamics of this. What are the brown trout thinking? What are they seeing? Is the depth you were fishing a depth where they would be vulnerable to predators from the sky? Do birds see fish deeper in the water with a beam of sunlight? When the birds hunt, are they diving into the water near their shadow? Are they using the brightness of the sun to obscure their approach from their prey by diving out of the sun? What do the Brown Trout know about this? Would the fish feel safer from predators from above in full sunlight by attacking your lure, if presented at greater depths? What is the depth limits of predatory birds? What was the range of depths likely from your lure presentations? Are the lures different in appearance with direct sunlight? Did your lures have any shiny reflective surfaces to producing flash?
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[RonPaulFan]

"... The day went from a big question mark to a big exclamation point and all that needed to happen was for some clouds to move in. Crazy how that works sometimes. There may not have been a lot of fish, but my time spent was rewarded with a valuable lesson in the workings of the enigmatic Deer Creek browns. ..."

Wow! Great catches! Great photography! Significant observations!

What can be learned from this? The combined knowledge of participants of our fine and large group must be immense, so this is a learning opportunity.

Your post is particularly important to me because I decided I want to focus on shore fishing with lures one more season and I'm thinking of maybe boat fishing after that, if we somehow have another year before nuclear war.

I want to understand the dynamics of this cloud phenomenon with catching brown trout.

What are the brown trout thinking? What are they seeing? Is the depth you were fishing a depth where they would be vulnerable to predators from the sky? We can easily observe when the birds are hunting and catching and if that's different in full sun or in cloud cover or if the birds move out of cloud cover to hunt in full sun, so anyone notice?

Do birds see fish deeper in the water with a beam of sunlight? When the birds hunt, are they diving into the water near their shadow? Are they using the brightness of the sun to obscure their approach from their prey by diving out of the sun? What do the Brown Trout know about this? Would the fish feel safer from predators from above in full sunlight by attacking your lure, if presented at greater depths? What is the depth limits of predatory birds? What was the range of depths likely from your lure presentations?

Are the lures different in appearance with direct sunlight? Did your lures have any shiny reflective surfaces to be producing flash?

What other questions should we be asking to discover the answers to the cloud phenomena?
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[Travis23]

I always read your posts, because I know it will be detailed and with good fish.
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[LOAH]

Thanks.

First of all, I think you're running too fast with the predator theory, only because at the depths I was fishing, it would not be an issue.

If I were to make an assumption, based on what I saw yesterday, I would say that the browns are down where a particular food source is. Whether that source is crayfish, baitfish, or other, I don't know.

I've heard in the past that DC browns (and many other lake browns) go deep during daylight hours and tend to stay close to rocky structure. Perhaps the crayfish and baitfish are currently deeper than they will be as the water warms.

Many reports of nicer browns being caught at night in rivers and lakes alike also might suggest that they are somewhat light sensitive, like walleye are known to be.

If that's the case, the deeper water makes sense. Full sunlight on the surface of a lake can play some tricks with the light. Ever get a sunburn faster in the water than on the shore? Same type of thing where light might be magnified under certain conditions rather than diffused.

I really don't know.

With the clouds, perhaps that triggers certain activities with aquatic insects. I've heard that certain hatches tend to occur more frequently with overcast skies. That may contribute to their supposed willingness to feed.

Let's also keep in mind that a pretty good front was moving through the area while I was there and a pressure system may have played a role in all of this. It's possible that the clouds blocking out the direct sunlight was just coincidental with optimal barometric conditions.[crazy]

So consider this with those possibilities:

I used either a 1/16oz or 1/8oz jig head (lost all my preferred heads) and a Gulp minnow. I was on the steep railroad side, where the shoreline plunges to deep water very quickly.

Casting out as far as I could with 4lb line (maybe about 75ft), leaving the bale open, and letting the rig sink to the bottom, I then closed my bale and started hopping the jig back toward me.

Most of the browns hit within 3 or 4 jigs of the rod tip. That tells me that I was dropping it right into their neighborhood. Based on how long it took for my rig to hit bottom, I'd have to say I was definitely fishing water that was more than 30 feet deep, but how much more is unclear.

Like I said, predation would not be a factor in this pattern. I agree it's interesting though. I just have to check myself though and realize that this was an observation from one day on one lake and there's no telling whether or not it indicates the existence of an actual pattern.

There are so many variables involved that making any kind of assumption would be jumping the gun.

I do appreciate the interest though and I enjoy geeking out on fishing related topics anytime.[]
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[a_bow_nut]

Another thought about the clouds might be the light connection that happens at dawn and dusk.

Predators are real active at these times during the day and when the cloud moves in it may simulate the dawn/dusk condition. I have had the same thing happen over the years at different lakes. It can sure make for some fun times.
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[RonPaulFan]

Thanks for geeking it out with me and for the new information that I agree tells us predation is not the main factor due to the depth.

It's amazing how much a skilled fisherman can tell of the bottom by feel. I've been trying to develop that feel. So far, I like that I feel the action of swimbaits on a tight line retrieve, but my bottom picturing ability by feel is lacking.

Thinking of this here at Sandy Pond, while using a sensitive IM8 carbon fiber rod with braid, I cast out a half ounce jig head to try to feel the bottom. I picture nothing of the bottom doing that except I only feel when it snags the plants on the retrieve. But, just letting it drop to the bottom after casting and without some amount of retrieve to have a tight line, I have no idea when it touches the bottom. It's black magic to me.

But, on predation, I see, here at Sandy Pond, schools of trout constantly chased by cormorants and staying alive is clearly more on their minds than feeding as they have no interest in any of my lures and will even swim around them.
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[a_bow_nut]

One way to tell when you hit bottom is to watch the slack in you line. After time you will notice the change in how much slack is in you line when it hits bottom.
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[carsonc1974]

I can also confirm experiencing hits with light changes. Infact we experienced it last weekend at DC but while trolling... it was a slow day but all of our hits and catches happened when there was a cloud overhead. Quite strange.....
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[SBennett]

RPF,
If nuclear war is only a year away it is MORE of a reason to get a boat.
If I were you I would go get a brand new Raptor with a Verado 175 hanging off of it and I would put it on a credit card!
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[RonPaulFan]

Actually, I'm one of the rare few who lives debt free.

I'll buy or build a sailboat to enjoy my choices of the world's two hundred twenty thousand miles of coastline and inland navigable waterways using free wind without dependence on fuels and societies that produce them as we enter troubled times of The Great Collapse.

My fishing interests include all types and all places in the world because I plan to enjoy sailing the oceans. This also explains why I have such a wide selection of fishing equipment that includes saltwater equipment and why I want to experience all of the types of fishing Utah has to offer while it's still here.

I still have to figure out how to cast my surf casting rod.
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[gaetzchamp]

Good stuff as usual. I really love that picture of that black tiger - what a great looking fish. It looks like a fall-spawning brown.

As for the cloud talk, when fishing streams, I often key in the transition zone of where there are shadows on the water...with the majority of hits coming from the shady side. The trout like the shadows and I'm guessing they feel they are more secure and stealthy there. Maybe it brings out a more predatory behavior in them.

Gaetz
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[RonPaulFan]

[quote gaetzchamp] ... I often key in the transition zone of where there are shadows on the water...with the majority of hits coming from the shady side. The trout like the shadows and I'm guessing they feel they are more secure and stealthy there. Maybe it brings out a more predatory behavior in them.

Gaetz[/quote]

Wow! I need to try that. While bicycling, sometimes cloud shadows will be moving near my pace and I can ride with it right on the edge. I suppose fish in a lake might do that and a boat can be there.
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[sinergy]

[quote RonPaulFan]I want to understand the dynamics of this cloud phenomenon with catching brown trout[/quote]

My theory on this is Birds of Prey when the sun is shining down on the water Birds such has hawks, eagles and cormorants have a better view down in the water so Fish go deep. When the clouds move in Birds are harder to see and fish are less threatened.

@ Loah nice Catch gonna try to hit DC this weekend but the weather man is starting to change my mind .... [:/]
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