08-06-2014, 08:13 PM
[#0000FF]I sometimes fail to heed my own advice. This morning was one of those times. I usually tell folks to leave Deer Creek to the power squadron this time of year. But this morning I had a silly urge to try a quick perch search. Shoulda stood in bed.
Launched at the Island ramp about 6:30 am. Calm with leftover clouds around the fringes...from last night's shower session. Air temp a refreshing 53 and water temp 70. Figured the trout would probably not be in the upper part of the water column. Figured right. Not much besides carp near the surface. Saw a few isolated fishy blips in the 20 foot zone...both on the bottom and over the bottom in deeper water. But they weren't having any of what I offered...various jigs, etc.
Headed for the island. Figured there would at least be a few Deer Creek trophy smallies in residence. There might have been a few in the scattering of sonar marks but they weren't up for playtime. I tried casting close and working out. And I tried vertical jigging over visible fish marks. Nada, zip, zilch. Unless you count a few feeble "rattle rattle" inquiries from some unknown micro species.
Set up with two tandem jig rigs...tipped with crawler. Thought I might find a stray perch or two. I did find one. Had a porky 10 incher almost to the tube before he realized that my interest in him was not likely to be beneficial to him...and he released himself. Facing skunkdom.
Covered a lot of area, vertical jigging with the two tandem jig rigs. Went through several worms lost to ghost munchers. Then I began to hook up with a few under-footer smallies. Probably got a half dozen or so...in depths from 23 feet to over 35 feet. The mid-size sonar marks near the bottom said perch (maybe) but those silly fish turned into bitty bass as I reeled them to the top.
Had one that appeared to have lost the front part of his upper jaw. Bluntnose. Thinking maybe Bassrods set the hook too hard on that trophy.
Up until about 9:30 there were only a few angler boats on the water. But the power squadron had already put in a minor appearance. Saw one trout troller working along the shoreline...not more than 50 feet from the rocks...and a water skier roaring through the narrow gap between the angler and the shore. Why do they think we want to see their fine boat and excellent skiing skills up close and personal?
Then someone must have put a diversion from the highway into the state park parking lot...for big boats only. A steady line poured in and the ramp became a busy place. I had to beach my tube on the gravel between the ramp and the dock and drive my vehicle across the gravel to retrieve my stuff.
Water level is still a bit higher than the low point of last year...so even larger boats can launch easily. So
. And as long as school is not back in session and the water temps are warm the power squadron will rule over the anglers...and the fish.
Talked to a couple of boating anglers who were smart enough to come back in about the same time I did. They both said they had been trolling for trout...deep, with riggers...and neither had caught anything. They both reported seeing plenty of sonar marks in the right spots but no love on anything they dropped down.
There was also a group of bank tanglers who moved around several places between the buildings and the island. They did not stay long anywhere and I never saw any evidence of them catching anything.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Launched at the Island ramp about 6:30 am. Calm with leftover clouds around the fringes...from last night's shower session. Air temp a refreshing 53 and water temp 70. Figured the trout would probably not be in the upper part of the water column. Figured right. Not much besides carp near the surface. Saw a few isolated fishy blips in the 20 foot zone...both on the bottom and over the bottom in deeper water. But they weren't having any of what I offered...various jigs, etc.
Headed for the island. Figured there would at least be a few Deer Creek trophy smallies in residence. There might have been a few in the scattering of sonar marks but they weren't up for playtime. I tried casting close and working out. And I tried vertical jigging over visible fish marks. Nada, zip, zilch. Unless you count a few feeble "rattle rattle" inquiries from some unknown micro species.
Set up with two tandem jig rigs...tipped with crawler. Thought I might find a stray perch or two. I did find one. Had a porky 10 incher almost to the tube before he realized that my interest in him was not likely to be beneficial to him...and he released himself. Facing skunkdom.
Covered a lot of area, vertical jigging with the two tandem jig rigs. Went through several worms lost to ghost munchers. Then I began to hook up with a few under-footer smallies. Probably got a half dozen or so...in depths from 23 feet to over 35 feet. The mid-size sonar marks near the bottom said perch (maybe) but those silly fish turned into bitty bass as I reeled them to the top.
Had one that appeared to have lost the front part of his upper jaw. Bluntnose. Thinking maybe Bassrods set the hook too hard on that trophy.
Up until about 9:30 there were only a few angler boats on the water. But the power squadron had already put in a minor appearance. Saw one trout troller working along the shoreline...not more than 50 feet from the rocks...and a water skier roaring through the narrow gap between the angler and the shore. Why do they think we want to see their fine boat and excellent skiing skills up close and personal?
Then someone must have put a diversion from the highway into the state park parking lot...for big boats only. A steady line poured in and the ramp became a busy place. I had to beach my tube on the gravel between the ramp and the dock and drive my vehicle across the gravel to retrieve my stuff.
Water level is still a bit higher than the low point of last year...so even larger boats can launch easily. So
. And as long as school is not back in session and the water temps are warm the power squadron will rule over the anglers...and the fish.Talked to a couple of boating anglers who were smart enough to come back in about the same time I did. They both said they had been trolling for trout...deep, with riggers...and neither had caught anything. They both reported seeing plenty of sonar marks in the right spots but no love on anything they dropped down.
There was also a group of bank tanglers who moved around several places between the buildings and the island. They did not stay long anywhere and I never saw any evidence of them catching anything.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]