Browns at Deer Creek?

[LurkinLizard]

I hear...that there are brown trout in Deer Creek. I've never caught one. Walleye, smallies, sunfish/bluegill, rainbows, yes. Never a brown. Is there a particular place or technique that works better?

Just wondering []
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[Blueboy22]

I was ice fishing two years ago at Charleston on Deer Creek and a guy next to me caught a 17" Brown that looked like a torpedo, Ha ha. It's the only time Ive seen it.
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[tacklemaget]

[cool] The provo is full of browns so the inlet is probably a good spot also fish at nite browns seem to eat more at nite
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[LurkinLizard]

lol 17" is a nice fish! Thanks for the info!
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[LurkinLizard]

[quote tacklemaget][cool] The provo is full of browns so the inlet is probably a good spot also fish at nite browns seem to eat more at nite[/quote]

Thanks TM! I've never caught anything at the inlet but maybe now's a good time to start. [] Thanks!
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[picespursuer]

There are some big browns in there. Back in the 1980s some kid caught one that was 17 pounds on cheese. I've caught a few over 20 inches--always incidentally while fishing for other species.
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[Catcherman.]

If it were me for browns I would go next door to jordanelle........
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[LurkinLizard]

[quote picespursuer]There are some big browns in there. Back in the 1980s some kid caught one that was 17 pounds on cheese. I've caught a few over 20 inches--always incidentally while fishing for other species.[/quote]

WOW....how cool would that be? Thanks for the info!
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[LurkinLizard]

[quote Catcherman.]If it were me for browns I would go next door to jordanelle........[/quote]

I have to admit I'm pretty paranoid about the fish consumption advisory at Jordanelle. And we eat a LOT of fish. Thanks for the info, though!
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[joshomaru]

2 things to consider-
A- you can always catch and release, and there are a good number of really nice browns in jordanelle and
2- the water in jordanelle ends up in deer creek. Just sayin []

I'm personally not a big fan of eating trout, and when I do, I'm picky about where I eat them from. And -I again, this is my personal opinion- browns are the best fighting and worst tasting trout.
Don't be discouraged if it takes a while to hook into a brown from a reservoir. They can take a little more...dialing in.... than say a rainbow.
Good luck!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Used to be a lot more browns in Deer Creek in the days before the smallies. Big browns were perch eaters...and now the small smallies eat most of the baby perch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here's a pic of some large perch and a few of many browns caught one afternoon near Charleston fishng small tube jigs that looked like baby perch. It was common to catch perch, browns and bows on those little jigs fishing in 6 to 12 feet of water near the weeds during the summer...after the perch had just hatched out.[/#0000ff]

[inline "BROWNS - PERCH - DEER CREEK.jpg"]
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[flygoddess]

[quote joshomaru]2 things to consider-
A- you can always catch and release, and there are a good number of really nice browns in jordanelle and
2- the water in jordanelle ends up in deer creek. Just sayin []

I'm personally not a big fan of eating trout, and when I do, I'm picky about where I eat them from. And -I again, this is my personal opinion- browns are the best fighting and worst tasting trout.
Don't be discouraged if it takes a while to hook into a brown from a reservoir. They can take a little more...dialing in.... than say a rainbow.
Good luck![/quote]


You would think like the old saying "$*** rolls down hill, but looking at the advisory charts, the water flowing to Deer Creek AND Deer Creek are good to go. That is strange, but maybe it somehow gets filtered.
What the heck, it is either mad cow, swine flu, bird flu, or pesticides in the end, so lets all eat candy!!!!!
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[Therapist]

No one hunts browns the way they used to. TD has a pic somewhere in his files of an afternoon, off the Island where he had a mixed bag of Browns, Perch, and Walleye. There were some really nice fish in the group.

If you want to pull a "Ray Johnson" and troll all night with large Rapala's, I am sure that you could get into several of the bigger ones that are still there. Remember, you are hunting, not fishing, kinda like Musky fishing, You will spend hours and hours for a single fish, but it will be a pretty good one. Husky 13 Rapala's in Perch or Rainbow trout would be the best.

[TubeDude]

"You would think like the old saying "$*** rolls down hill, but looking at the adisory charts, the water flowing to Deer Creek AND Deer Creek are good to go. That is strange, but maybe it somehow gets filtered."

[cool][#0000ff]Filtered? You're sorta kinda right. It's a food chain thing. The bad stuff flows into the lake from the mineralization in the surrounding mountains...and as a legacy from the mining operations. Then is is absorbed by the vegetation and invertebrates...and eaten by chubs and perch. The chubs and perch are then eaten by larger predators...and the oogies are concentrated at higher levels in the food chain.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]The good news for downstream waters is that a large part of the original heavy metals are either settled into the sediments of Jordanelle or absorbed into the food chain...with relatively little flowing on into Deer Creek. At least not enough to get the ecolologists agitated.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]What I have always found "interesting" is that red flags go up with almost any mercury findings in our waters...or fish. But the levels that make "eeek-ologists" freak out are only about 1/3 of the levels commonly found in canned tuna and in fresh swordfish...and other salt water species.[/#0000ff]
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[flygoddess]

True enough, even store bought fish.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]You are right. Not many "brown baggers" seen on Deer Creek any more. Part of it is because there are apparently fewer browns in the mix. And part of it is as you say...different tactics and techniques involved to get serious.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Just like Starvation and the Gorge...two other waters known for holding decent browns...a big part of finding and catching the browns in Deer Creek is timing. The bigguns feed mostly at night. But late evening and early morning can work, especially early and late in the year when water temps are lower. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]During the rest of the year I tell people to fish browns and rainbows completely differently. The rainbows are usually in shallower water and in the upper part of the water column. Browns are more like walleyes...near the bottom in deeper water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I know a couple of guys that do well by trolling big Rapalas deep on downriggers...discovering the techique by accident while fishing for rainbows. I also know a couple of guys that catch some good browns on big swimbaits...bottom bouncing for walleyes. Also some folks that catch browns on bubble and fly rigs...with big buggers...fishing parallel to steep rocky shorelines after dark. And at least one person I know uses leadcore to troll big nasty streamer flies near the bottom in a couple of spots. Loses some gear but catches more browns than folks who don't fish for them the right ways.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I got lots of pictures from the "olden days" but I lost the one you are referring to when my computer puked a couple of years back. One of the things I didn't have properly backed up. [/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]But, here is a pic with memories...Greg Jonas and a hefty brown caught just off the end of the island on one of my old "perch urchins". [/#0000ff]
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[inline "7# BROWN.jpg"]
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[doggonefishin]

Last season, through the ice, on all 5-6 trips I made to DC, I caught at least one and often more brown(s) on every trip. They were all between 13-18 inches long. They tended to be near the bottom where the perch were. The rainbows were more often suspended.

If Deer creek freezes over, ice fishing would be a good way to catch one IMO.
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[walleyebob]

Yup. I've always caught my biggest Browns at DC when I get tired of fighting big wind in the afternoon. I put on a big Perch pattern Rapala and troll it deep behind a 3 oz. snap weight. Almost always catch a couple Browns before I get completely bored(I hate trolling for trout) and go home or back to heavy bottom bouncers and crawlers for Walleye.
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[LurkinLizard]

[quote doggonefishin]Last season, through the ice, on all 5-6 trips I made to DC, I caught at least one and often more brown(s) on every trip. They were all between 13-18 inches long. They tended to be near the bottom where the perch were. The rainbows were more often suspended.

If Deer creek freezes over, ice fishing would be a good way to catch one IMO.[/quote]

Oh wow, never ice fished DC but heck yeah I'd love to try that, if DC freezes this year!
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[LurkinLizard]

[quote walleyebob]Yup. I've always caught my biggest Browns at DC when I get tired of fighting big wind in the afternoon. I put on a big Perch pattern Rapala and troll it deep behind a 3 oz. snap weight. Almost always catch a couple Browns before I get completely bored(I hate trolling for trout) and go home or back to heavy bottom bouncers and crawlers for Walleye.[/quote]

Don't have a boat...[frown] only have ever trolled once, when my grandpa's brother took us out on a pontoon boat. I was about 7. I have caught walleye at DC though []
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