11-30-2011, 12:01 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Thanks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also appreciated the Google map and suggestions you PMed to me. But, as I replied there...and might be of interest to fellow perchaholics who are not that familiar with Deer Creek...the perch have an annual migration pattern during the seasons and are not likely to be found in shallower water anywhere around the lake right now.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have fished Deer Creek going back to the sixties, when perch was "trash fish". Not to me. I loved 'em then and love 'em now. In fact I take some credit for helping popularize them...especially after some angler lobbies got Deer Creek opened to winter ice fishing. In those days you could keep perch only...no trout. There was a season for those. Anybody remember the "openers".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Once folks had a chance to load up on perch, and were introduced to how good they were on the table, a lot more anglers added perch to their list of target species. And there have been a lot of out of state anglers move to Utah who have been happy to find their former faves in our state too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In interacting with other Deer Creek perch jerkers, and through my own fishing activities, I have found that perch begin migrating into deeper water once the fall water temps drop below the sixty degree mark. In late September and into October they move from shallower shoreline structure into about 15 to 20 feet of water...usually in the same areas. As the temps drop further they follow underwater points or contours into 25 then 30 feet and then about 40 to 45 feet. I have hit them several times in close succession and watched those movements almost on a daily basis.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Then, one day they are simply GONE...like my trip yesterday. But they gotta go somewhere. Right? With a more mobile craft (boat) and good sonar you can start moving out into deeper water and looking for humps and bumps in about 65 feet of water...or even deeper. They stack up in big schools. And they can be caught easily if you find them and make vertical presentations. They don't stop eating like the walleyes do when they go deeper.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Deer Creek does not freeze solid enough for ice fishing every year. But when it does the perch often move back into their previous final staging areas...at about 40 -45 feet. And sometimes they move even shallower toward the end of the ice season...especially if the water chemistry in the lower levels is degrading.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A big part of the perch picture every year is the water level situation. If the fish are orienting to a specific depth their location might be greatly different from year to year with different water levels. But if they show up each year around a mud bottom with winter worm chow then they might go there anyway...even if it is significantly shallower or deeper than "normal"...whatever normal is on a lake that fluctuates wildly from year to year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Sorry about the long dissertation. Just wanted to make the point that while I was disappointed not to find the perch...I was not surprised. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]And yes, I actually did enjoy playing with the hatchery pets...even though I diss them a lot. For recent escapees of the runways they got a lot of spunk. Hit hard and battle all the way in...most of them taking some air. Perch don't do that. But perch sure do eat better.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Also appreciated the Google map and suggestions you PMed to me. But, as I replied there...and might be of interest to fellow perchaholics who are not that familiar with Deer Creek...the perch have an annual migration pattern during the seasons and are not likely to be found in shallower water anywhere around the lake right now.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have fished Deer Creek going back to the sixties, when perch was "trash fish". Not to me. I loved 'em then and love 'em now. In fact I take some credit for helping popularize them...especially after some angler lobbies got Deer Creek opened to winter ice fishing. In those days you could keep perch only...no trout. There was a season for those. Anybody remember the "openers".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Once folks had a chance to load up on perch, and were introduced to how good they were on the table, a lot more anglers added perch to their list of target species. And there have been a lot of out of state anglers move to Utah who have been happy to find their former faves in our state too.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In interacting with other Deer Creek perch jerkers, and through my own fishing activities, I have found that perch begin migrating into deeper water once the fall water temps drop below the sixty degree mark. In late September and into October they move from shallower shoreline structure into about 15 to 20 feet of water...usually in the same areas. As the temps drop further they follow underwater points or contours into 25 then 30 feet and then about 40 to 45 feet. I have hit them several times in close succession and watched those movements almost on a daily basis.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Then, one day they are simply GONE...like my trip yesterday. But they gotta go somewhere. Right? With a more mobile craft (boat) and good sonar you can start moving out into deeper water and looking for humps and bumps in about 65 feet of water...or even deeper. They stack up in big schools. And they can be caught easily if you find them and make vertical presentations. They don't stop eating like the walleyes do when they go deeper.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Deer Creek does not freeze solid enough for ice fishing every year. But when it does the perch often move back into their previous final staging areas...at about 40 -45 feet. And sometimes they move even shallower toward the end of the ice season...especially if the water chemistry in the lower levels is degrading.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]A big part of the perch picture every year is the water level situation. If the fish are orienting to a specific depth their location might be greatly different from year to year with different water levels. But if they show up each year around a mud bottom with winter worm chow then they might go there anyway...even if it is significantly shallower or deeper than "normal"...whatever normal is on a lake that fluctuates wildly from year to year.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Sorry about the long dissertation. Just wanted to make the point that while I was disappointed not to find the perch...I was not surprised. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]And yes, I actually did enjoy playing with the hatchery pets...even though I diss them a lot. For recent escapees of the runways they got a lot of spunk. Hit hard and battle all the way in...most of them taking some air. Perch don't do that. But perch sure do eat better.[/#0000ff]
[signature]