Scofield - Great place for anyone looking for bait

[gofish435]

Took a trip to Scofield today for a little float tube action.  I fished the WIA area on the west side of the reservoir from 8:15 until about 10:45 using my usual fly gear.  The fishing was pretty good if you like chubs.  I never hooked a trout  in 2 1/2 hours.

So any of you guys that are looking to replenish your chub meat now is a good time to go for it.

[wiperhunter2]

Looks like the lake is filing but the news of only catching chubs isn't good, we haven't heard a report like that in years, hopefully it was just the location you were at. Sounds like they need to stock more wipers there.

[gofish435]

Looks like the lake is filing but the news of only catching chubs isn't good, we haven't heard a report like that in years, hopefully it was just the location you were at. Sounds like they need to stock more wipers there.

I have fished three different locations on Scofield in the last two weeks and the results have been the same.

Last week I picked up 7 trout, all cutthroats and 21 chubs.

[TT600]

I would think there are a few big trout and muskies that eat chubs. Using bigger bait might keep the chubs off. Back when people were catching 17 lb tigers did they use chubs for bait?

[TubeDude]

The positive side of that is that the chubs are mostly bigguns...not the swarms of small chubs we used to see there.  The predators are doing their jobs.  Chubs live up to 20 years...and the large ones will keep spawning each spring.  But as long as there are enough predators to eat up all the small ones each year the big ones will gradually die out and the lake will be relatively chub free.  That is what happened at both Starvation and Jordanelle.  And some of the big old "chubosaurs" really got gross before they finally died out.  Here are a couple from Starvation back in about 2007. 

[gofish435]

The positive side of that is that the chubs are mostly bigguns...not the swarms of small chubs we used to see there.  The predators are doing their jobs.  Chubs live up to 20 years...and the large ones will keep spawning each spring.  But as long as there are enough predators to eat up all the small ones each year the big ones will gradually die out and the lake will be relatively chub free.  That is what happened at both Starvation and Jordanelle.  And some of the big old "chubosaurs" really got gross before they finally died out.  Here are a couple from Starvation back in about 2007. 

I agree with your assessment about not catching any small ones but for the last three years large chubs were only a small portion of the catch.  

Something seemed to change, and someone noticed that the DWR did not stock as many wipers in 2020 so that may have contributed to the increase in chubs.

[TubeDude]

The positive side of that is that the chubs are mostly bigguns...not the swarms of small chubs we used to see there.  The predators are doing their jobs.  Chubs live up to 20 years...and the large ones will keep spawning each spring.  But as long as there are enough predators to eat up all the small ones each year the big ones will gradually die out and the lake will be relatively chub free.  That is what happened at both Starvation and Jordanelle.  And some of the big old "chubosaurs" really got gross before they finally died out.  Here are a couple from Starvation back in about 2007. 

I agree with your assessment about not catching any small ones but for the last three years large chubs were only a small portion of the catch.  

Something seemed to change, and someone noticed that the DWR did not stock as many wipers in 2020 so that may have contributed to the increase in chubs.

Hopefully your findings are only a temporary and/or seasonal or localized anomaly.  I suspect that the chubs are congregating for their annual spawning thing...rather than being present throughout the lake in such great numbers.  After spawning they will typically disperse throughout the lake and become more solitary...with only infrequent catches by anglers.   Those big chubs are probably at least 8-10 years old...not recently spawned fish.  And once they get beyond a certain size they become dinner for only the largest tiger muskies.  The wipers subsist mostly on chubs less than about 6 inches long. 

I'm wondering if there are any redside shiners left in Scofield.  On my last minnowing expedition there...about 3-4 years ago...I caught a few redsides in my cast net by throwing around some of the docks.  But that was before the wipers got a good fin-hold and they have likely slurped up most of the redsides along with the smaller chubs.

[gofish435]

The positive side of that is that the chubs are mostly bigguns...not the swarms of small chubs we used to see there.  The predators are doing their jobs.  Chubs live up to 20 years...and the large ones will keep spawning each spring.  But as long as there are enough predators to eat up all the small ones each year the big ones will gradually die out and the lake will be relatively chub free.  That is what happened at both Starvation and Jordanelle.  And some of the big old "chubosaurs" really got gross before they finally died out.  Here are a couple from Starvation back in about 2007. 

I agree with your assessment about not catching any small ones but for the last three years large chubs were only a small portion of the catch.  

Something seemed to change, and someone noticed that the DWR did not stock as many wipers in 2020 so that may have contributed to the increase in chubs.

Hopefully your findings are only a temporary and/or seasonal or localized anomaly.  I suspect that the chubs are congregating for their annual spawning thing...rather than being present throughout the lake in such great numbers.  After spawning they will typically disperse throughout the lake and become more solitary...with only infrequent catches by anglers.   Those big chubs are probably at least 8-10 years old...not recently spawned fish.  And once they get beyond a certain size they become dinner for only the largest tiger muskies.  The wipers subsist mostly on chubs less than about 6 inches long. 

I'm wondering if there are any redside shiners left in Scofield.  On my last minnowing expedition there...about 3-4 years ago...I caught a few redsides in my cast net by throwing around some of the docks.  But that was before the wipers got a good fin-hold and they have likely slurped up most of the redsides along with the smaller chubs.

There were some redside shiners there last year.  The water is to murky right now to be able to tell if there are some in the shallows.

[gofish435]

I just got the results of the latest gillnet survey from the biologists.

The report is more encouraging than my recent fishing experience.  
  

[wiperhunter2]

I just got the results of the latest gillnet survey from the biologists.

The report is more encouraging than my recent fishing experience.  
  

That is great news, good to see the chub numbers a so far down, hope that trend continues but it's sure going in the right direction.

[joshomaru]

Thank you for adding that survey, gofish435!