Rockport Report 02/28

[Springbuck1]

Interesting you were having success so deep. My last two and only outings on Rockport had success at mostly 30' with only perch caught. Caught quite a few at 11" but most were 9-10" and some smaller. I'm thinking of one last trip before it gets too hot this weekend, but 50 feet seems pretty deep.

 The depth IS interesting. My M.O. these days is just to drill holes in a zig-zag, deeper and deeper as I go. I raely need o be deeper than 35' at PV, Rockport, or Hyrum.

My first or second ice-fishing seasons ever, off Cemetery Point, catching 8" perch, I saw an old-timer farther out, catching more and bigger perch, so I went over to beg information.  He claimed the secret was fishing deep and moving around a lot.  I rushed out to 50 feet to try this new wisdom, and immediately caught three 11" and two 9.5" perch immediately out of two holes.  Well, THAT sold me, and for the next couple of years, I almost always fished deep.  Of course, I eventually figured out that it only worked sometimes. 

Also early on, fishing Rockport on a slow day where most of us were picking up a few trout here and there, I saw a guy just hauling in large perch several hundred yards away. My partners around me all expressed surprise, saying RP used to be great for perch, but hadn't been in years (this might have been around 2002). When he left we went over to his hole and dropped a line, and he had been catching those perch in over 90 feet of water. 

So, what I really wish is to I could learn WHY.  I deeply covet the ability to walk up to  a lake, test the breeze, sniff the air, feel the temperature, humidity, and pressure, photo-period, time of year, time of day, and say, "They are going to be medium deep, over rocky bottoms, probably feeding lightly on scuds..."etc. and have even a decent chance of being right.