Rockport 1/29 AM...Love me some perch!

[MWScott72]

It took some doing, but after a few minutes of initital success followed by 1.5 hrs of dead time, finally found the school and was able to follow it for a couple hours.  Definitely had to be mobile to keep on the fish.  Fished the west side around Rocky Point (further south than I was earlier this week).  Best lures were a green/yellow halie on the bottom with a chartreuse teardrop jig 10"above.  40ish FOW.

Lots of folks around and people were catching so long as the school stuck around.  Once the school moved, you had to move with them or it was dead city.

Interesting point, the early, early AM bite was great in the dark, but as soon as the sun came over the mountain, it was like someone turned the switch off.  That's when the searching began...

[Fritzfishin]

Nice haul! I'm definitely lacking on the perch this year! With my fish lake trip being canceled ill have to figure out some closer lakes.

[catchinon]

How big were they? Looks like some good ones in there.

[wiperhunter2]

Looks like you have them figured out, way to go. Thanks for the detailed report. I sent you a Private message yesterday, please reply when you get a chance.

[icerman]

It took some doing, but after a few minutes of initital success followed by 1.5 hrs of dead time, finally found the school and was able to follow it for a couple hours.  Definitely had to be mobile to keep on the fish.  Fished the west side around Rocky Point (further south than I was earlier this week).  Best lures were a green/yellow halie on the bottom with a chartreuse teardrop jig 10"above.  40ish FOW.

Lots of folks around and people were catching so long as the school stuck around.  Once the school moved, you had to move with them or it was dead city.

Interesting point, the early, early AM bite was great in the dark, but as soon as the sun came over the mountain, it was like someone turned the switch off.  That's when the searching began...

Congrats on the catching!  I was there this morning and only 1 person in our party of 4 caught a perch.  Moved from 37 FOW out to 65 FOW; the only place we marked and caught our single fish, was in 60 FOW.  NO one around us caught any fish.  We were on the West side, even moved over to the rock cliff area by the dam, nothing!  I have no clue where "rocky point" is, but I must not have been even close to it!!!

[Jmorfish]

It took some doing, but after a few minutes of initital success followed by 1.5 hrs of dead time, finally found the school and was able to follow it for a couple hours.  Definitely had to be mobile to keep on the fish.  Fished the west side around Rocky Point (further south than I was earlier this week).  Best lures were a green/yellow halie on the bottom with a chartreuse teardrop jig 10"above.  40ish FOW.

Lots of folks around and people were catching so long as the school stuck around.  Once the school moved, you had to move with them or it was dead city.

Interesting point, the early, early AM bite was great in the dark, but as soon as the sun came over the mountain, it was like someone turned the switch off.  That's when the searching began...

Might as well just put out the grid coordinates...just sayin'....

[MWScott72]

How big were they? Looks like some good ones in there.

Had 7-8 hens that went over 1/2 lb and were 11-11.5".  Avg was between 9-10".

[Dayfish]

It took some doing, but after a few minutes of initital success followed by 1.5 hrs of dead time, finally found the school and was able to follow it for a couple hours.  Definitely had to be mobile to keep on the fish.  Fished the west side around Rocky Point (further south than I was earlier this week).  Best lures were a green/yellow halie on the bottom with a chartreuse teardrop jig 10"above.  40ish FOW.

Lots of folks around and people were catching so long as the school stuck around.  Once the school moved, you had to move with them or it was dead city.

Interesting point, the early, early AM bite was great in the dark, but as soon as the sun came over the mountain, it was like someone turned the switch off.  That's when the searching began...

Might as well just put out the grid coordinates...just sayin'....

Amen brother! Stop hot spotting on that little body of water!! Let people figure it out

[catchinon]

It took some doing, but after a few minutes of initital success followed by 1.5 hrs of dead time, finally found the school and was able to follow it for a couple hours.  Definitely had to be mobile to keep on the fish.  Fished the west side around Rocky Point (further south than I was earlier this week).  Best lures were a green/yellow halie on the bottom with a chartreuse teardrop jig 10"above.  40ish FOW.

Lots of folks around and people were catching so long as the school stuck around.  Once the school moved, you had to move with them or it was dead city.

Interesting point, the early, early AM bite was great in the dark, but as soon as the sun came over the mountain, it was like someone turned the switch off.  That's when the searching began...

Might as well just put out the grid coordinates...just sayin'....

Amen brother! Stop hot spotting on that little body of water!! Let people figure it out

Hey guys, play nice. From the Utah Board Rules :
 
"[font="Open Sans", sans-serif]HOT SPOTTING: [/font][font="Open Sans", sans-serif]When a poster of a new thread does not wish to ID a certain body of water, NO MEMBER will reply giving the name of that body of water or asking where that body of water is located. In the same regard, if a member wants to post all the details on a spot they fished....they can do so without being harassed for hot spotting as long as the fish were caught in a legal manner and no laws were broken."[/font]

Besides, I don't see what he wrote as hot spotting. I know that I couldn't figure out exactly where he was fishing and don't see his report as being different than thousands of others I have read here. And he did say that you had to hunt all around to find them and then figure out how to follow them as they, the fish, moved all over.

[Dayfish]

It took some doing, but after a few minutes of initital success followed by 1.5 hrs of dead time, finally found the school and was able to follow it for a couple hours.  Definitely had to be mobile to keep on the fish.  Fished the west side around Rocky Point (further south than I was earlier this week).  Best lures were a green/yellow halie on the bottom with a chartreuse teardrop jig 10"above.  40ish FOW.

Lots of folks around and people were catching so long as the school stuck around.  Once the school moved, you had to move with them or it was dead city.

Interesting point, the early, early AM bite was great in the dark, but as soon as the sun came over the mountain, it was like someone turned the switch off.  That's when the searching began...

Might as well just put out the grid coordinates...just sayin'....

Amen brother! Stop hot spotting on that little body of water!! Let people figure it out

Hey guys, play nice. From the Utah Board Rules :
 
"[font="Open Sans", sans-serif]HOT SPOTTING: [/font][font="Open Sans", sans-serif]When a poster of a new thread does not wish to ID a certain body of water, NO MEMBER will reply giving the name of that body of water or asking where that body of water is located. In the same regard, if a member wants to post all the details on a spot they fished....they can do so without being harassed for hot spotting as long as the fish were caught in a legal manner and no laws were broken."[/font]

Besides, I don't see what he wrote as hot spotting. I know that I couldn't figure out exactly where he was fishing and don't see his report as being different than thousands of others I have read here. And he did say that you had to hunt all around to find them and then figure out how to follow them as they, the fish, moved all over.

Although there is nothing illegal or against BFT rules on what was posted originally, where are the ethics?  it seems like a bit of overkill to make posts like that on a lake that is the closest lake to the largest population in the state. Think about it. It is not hard to figure out where on the lake he is talking about especially if you go anywhere near there and see the 8000 holes that have been drilled  previously. There are plenty of competent fisher people out there that have spent their time and energy to find fish as I am sure other posters have as well with good intentions. What i find objectionable is seeking to validate  fishing prowess and inviting the rest of the Salt Lake valley to that small section of ice on a shrunken reservoir. If you want to ban me for voicing my opinion then so be it. Here's an idea--how about everyone using some discretion when posting how good of a fisher person they are--especially in this sever drought  

[wiperhunter2]

Although there is nothing illegal or against BFT rules on what was posted originally, where are the ethics?  it seems like a bit of overkill to make posts like that on a lake that is the closest lake to the largest population in the state. Think about it. It is not hard to figure out where on the lake he is talking about especially if you go anywhere near there and see the 8000 holes that have been drilled  previously. There are plenty of competent fisher people out there that have spent their time and energy to find fish as I am sure other posters have as well with good intentions. What i find objectionable is seeking to validate  fishing prowess and inviting the rest of the Salt Lake valley to that small section of ice on a shrunken reservoir. If you want to ban me for voicing my opinion then so be it. Here's an idea--how about everyone using some discretion when posting how good of a fisher person they are--especially in this sever drought   

Ethics, how is this about ethics, hotspotting is about telling others the name of a small body of water where anyone could go a wipe out a population of fish there, RP is a fairly large body of water and most members have no idea where this member was fishing and even if they do, there is little to no chance that they will be able to repeat what this member was able to do. IMO only the best of the best would be able to accomplish what the original poster did. You giving this member a hard time about doing good while fishing sounds like sour grapes IMO but if you really think that all the perch in RP will be wiped out by a member sharing info like this, you need to rethink your position because it just is not possible. Perch, white bass and crappie are some of the most prolific fish in the state, even if you were able to catch 90% of the population it would not do more that put a dent in the population for a few years. IMO this is a non issue and hardly worth the effort I took to write this reply, the reason why I even replied is because I believe exactly what Catchinon said in his reply to you. On the other hand, if this was about a really small body of water, where someone could easily wipe out a population of trout, by posting about the location, then I'd be on your side 100%.

[Jmorfish]

It took some doing, but after a few minutes of initital success followed by 1.5 hrs of dead time, finally found the school and was able to follow it for a couple hours.  Definitely had to be mobile to keep on the fish.  Fished the west side around Rocky Point (further south than I was earlier this week).  Best lures were a green/yellow halie on the bottom with a chartreuse teardrop jig 10"above.  40ish FOW.

Lots of folks around and people were catching so long as the school stuck around.  Once the school moved, you had to move with them or it was dead city.

Interesting point, the early, early AM bite was great in the dark, but as soon as the sun came over the mountain, it was like someone turned the switch off.  That's when the searching began...

Might as well just put out the grid coordinates...just sayin'....

Amen brother! Stop hot spotting on that little body of water!! Let people figure it out

Hey guys, play nice. From the Utah Board Rules :
 
"[font="Open Sans", sans-serif]HOT SPOTTING: [/font][font="Open Sans", sans-serif]When a poster of a new thread does not wish to ID a certain body of water, NO MEMBER will reply giving the name of that body of water or asking where that body of water is located. In the same regard, if a member wants to post all the details on a spot they fished....they can do so without being harassed for hot spotting as long as the fish were caught in a legal manner and no laws were broken."[/font]

Besides, I don't see what he wrote as hot spotting. I know that I couldn't figure out exactly where he was fishing and don't see his report as being different than thousands of others I have read here. And he did say that you had to hunt all around to find them and then figure out how to follow them as they, the fish, moved all over.

Although there is nothing illegal or against BFT rules on what was posted originally, where are the ethics?  it seems like a bit of overkill to make posts like that on a lake that is the closest lake to the largest population in the state. Think about it. It is not hard to figure out where on the lake he is talking about especially if you go anywhere near there and see the 8000 holes that have been drilled  previously. There are plenty of competent fisher people out there that have spent their time and energy to find fish as I am sure other posters have as well with good intentions. What i find objectionable is seeking to validate  fishing prowess and inviting the rest of the Salt Lake valley to that small section of ice on a shrunken reservoir. If you want to ban me for voicing my opinion then so be it. Here's an idea--how about everyone using some discretion when posting how good of a fisher person they are--especially in this sever drought   Roger that...I'm certainly glad when he, or anyone, can catch lots of fish legally...I've had a couple good trips lately, right to the place that was described, so I also wonder why someone would want to put out a pretty detailed description of that spot...I also enjoy giving my report, successful or not so much, on most fishing trips....I'm a pretty successful duck hunter.. (well, not this year) I scout and build my own blinds..would I report publicly where my blind is? Probably not, maybe a friend or 2, or I WOULD TAKE YOU THERE...same with most fishing spots, like the one mentioned...I know intentions are good, and apparently it's ok to take detailed pictures, descriptions, even gps coords if you want, but why?  Like I've said before, part of the fishing experience is doing the work, finding your own "hot spot"... share it with someone if you like, but not everyone...hope it's not Tent City next time I try...Guluk...

[MWScott72]

Dayfish-
I'm sorry you feel that I am stepping on your toes by posting up on the results of my day. Just like everything that appears on social media, this was one of the few banner days sandwiched in between many more that weren't even close to being productive. If a person doesn't understand this, they are watching way too many outdoor shows that edit out everything except the catch or shot.

Lots of people out on the lake yesterday. Lots of people in the same vicinity of where I was at, no secret there. I noticed some people catching fish and some that weren't. Even if someone is in the right spot, that doesn't mean they're going to catch fish. Lots of those same people in the area stopped catching fish when the school moved...and it moved ALOT! So, they could have been in the general area, but even 10-20 feet meant the difference between catching or not.

One of the biggest keys to being successful, IMO, is being observant. Whether it's scouting for big game or waterfowl, being willing to switch up your fishing presentation or move based on what you're seeing...it all matters. Sometimes, I do better at this than at other times, and there are plenty of people that are way better than I can ever hope to be.

[wiperhunter2]

Dayfish-
I'm sorry you feel that I am stepping on your toes by posting up on the results of my day.  Just like everything that appears on social media, this was one of the few banner days sandwiched in between many more that weren't even close to being productive.  If a person doesn't understand this, they are watching way too many outdoor shows that edit out everything except the catch or shot.

Lots of people out on the lake yesterday.  Lots of people in the same vicinity of where I was at, no secret there.  I noticed some people catching fish and some that weren't.  Even if someone is in the right spot, that doesn't mean they're going to catch fish.  Lots of those same people in the area stopped catching fish when the school moved...and it moved ALOT!  So, they could have been in the general area, but even 10-20 feet meant the difference between catching or not.

One of the biggest keys to being successful, IMO, is being observant.  Whether it's scouting for big game or waterfowl, being willing to switch up your fishing presentation or move based on what you're seeing...it all matters.  Sometimes, I do better at this than at other times, and there are plenty of people that are way better than I can ever hope to be.

Right on, so true. I know some folks that were there last week and experienced the same exact results, they were fishing within 15 ft of others that were really getting into the school, when they came through and they did not do that well. IMO the reason you did so well was you were constantly on the move chasing them, that is something few of us are willing to do, once you get set up. Kudos to you for figuring them out. Also thanks for being thick skinned about those members that don't have the same thoughts as you, when it comes to sharing info. None of us are the same but one thing we can all agree with, is the fact that we enjoy getting out and doing what we love, fishing. BFT is a site where we all can come together and share as much or as little as we like, within reason.

[2knots]

Well done, nice mess of perch

[obifishkenobi]

Good work thanks for sharing.

[catchinon]

I have always wondered how much I should share and how much to keep to myself. I have seen posts that detail practically everything and then don't name the water. Why do we want to know how soft the edge was, how deep they fished, lures that worked, etc., etc. What is the purpose of such a post? Evidently to show what a good time they had and how successful they were, which is fine with me. I have had the idea that the forum was for sharing information and to help others succeed. I look at TubeDude's posts as examples. He usually details out what he did and knows. I have gotten the feeling from time to time that a certain cadre of insiders are keeping information to themselves. I wouldn't be half the fisherman I am (not that great) had others not shared their knowledge with me. I have been criticized by friends and family for revealing too much in my reports. I respect them and have toned it down somewhat since then.
I would like to clarify what the purpose and mission of BFT is. I couldn't find a clear statement in the Guidelines. What do you all think?

[icerman]

MWscot72, I for one am thankful for your posts. I do not feel you were hot spotting. I was at Rockport Sat. and got skunked! I moved around and looked. I avoided the crowds. No one I talked to caught fish!

Years ago, BigfFish used to be a very helpful website. People would report their success, what depth, color and bait they were using. You could read about catching at a variety of lakes, learn the ice conditions, etc. People were so helpful to give advice to help others be successful. Not I am about ready to stop participating in this sight. It has become next to useless for information, conditions, etc. People get all worked up about such simple things. Fishing is not like big game hunting or fowl hunting. There is such a limited number of game and reproduction is so limited. Most of our fish are planted, few are native. Many are over populated. I remember when there were thousands of people ice fishing on Rockport. They did this for several years. The perch still are not wiped out! In fact, the size actually got larger, though the numbers of dinks caught were less!

Thank you to those willing to notify of the conditions, share depths and effective bait/jig, etc. That's OK if you don't give the GPS location of your hole, that location can vary regardless!

[Cowboypirate]

Sorry I am late to this party. As a moderator I have to chime in, even if late. Hot spotting will forever be a hyper sensitive subject with passion for both sides of the debate. My opinion on the matter does not matter. What does is the rules of the forum. They clearly state you can post with, or without, sharing details. But, you can't bust someone's butt for doing either. 

Pretty simple. 

As for our BFT mission - my opinion - To share what we love with others. If we make it more complicated than that we miss an opportunity to rub shoulders with amazing passionate people. 

Seems like we can move on from here with no harm nor foul and get back on the ice. I will bring the jerky

[dubob]

I have always wondered how much I should share and how much to keep to myself. I have seen posts that detail practically everything and then don't name the water. Why do we want to know how soft the edge was, how deep they fished, lures that worked, etc., etc. What is the purpose of such a post? Evidently to show what a good time they had and how successful they were, which is fine with me. I have had the idea that the forum was for sharing information and to help others succeed. I look at TubeDude's posts as examples. He usually details out what he did and knows. I have gotten the feeling from time to time that a certain cadre of insiders are keeping information to themselves. I wouldn't be half the fisherman I am (not that great) had others not shared their knowledge with me. I have been criticized by friends and family for revealing too much in my reports. I respect them and have toned it down somewhat since then.
I would like to clarify what the purpose and mission of BFT is. I couldn't find a clear statement in the Guidelines. What do you all think?

We live in an ever-changing world.  I became a BFT Member in September 2007.  The attitude of most members back then was one of being able and willing to share as much information with other members as possible.  For most Utahns who pursued fishing with a passion, BFT was THE place to hang out and tell tall tales.  As I recall, the hot spotting rule hadn’t been formalized yet and we were mostly happy to share.  Fakebook hadn’t risen to the level of participation it sees today and we had lots of happy activities amongst us.

Fast forward to today.  Websites are being outgunned by social media sites and dyeing a slow death because most folks I talk to on the ice get their information from those social media sources and have never heard of BFT.  Instant gratification from their hand-held devices is where its at for most folks under say 50.

I don’t think the overall mission of BFT has changed since I joined in 2007; its goal is still to share fishing information with other like-minded folks in a friendly and respectful manner.  Occasionally, the respectful part falls by the wayside, but most of us are capable of having a conversation without resorting to character assassination.  And, of course, there is a very small group of members who don’t have the social skills to disagree in a friendly manner.  I have 3 of those members on my ignore list.

For me, the BFT Mission Statement would look something like this: “Provide forums for people with a passion for fishing of all types to share information in a friendly and respectful manner based on member’s experiences gained while in pursuit of their fishing passion.”

Well, you did ask what I thought.