Scofield on New Years

[betterthanwork]

Got up early on New Years and took my boys to Scofield. Fishing for 12" cuts was fast from sun up to about 10. Size, color, and bait didn't seem to matter much as long as the jig was placed about 2' from the bottom. The hot zone seemed to be between 16-22 FOW. Weather was perfect for kids. Almost too warm for being on the ice[]
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[klam]

Were the edges still solid?

Thanks
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[betterthanwork]

Everything was good and solid. Ice was thick. There was even several Snow machines buzzing around the ice
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[odthefly]

Last year they seemed to be catching a lot of chub. Any chub this year? Why the difference in one year do you think?
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[Fishrmn]

[quote odthefly]Last year they seemed to be catching a lot of chub. Any chub this year? Why the difference in one year do you think?[/quote]
Several thoughts.
First. Last year the bucket (reservoir) was completely full of fish. It had been drawn down to roughly 13% of capacity for 3 winters in a row. All of the fish were competing for food. The chubs thrive under those conditions, and the trout struggle. Hence the UDWR stopped planting Rainbow Trout, and watched thousands of Cutthroat Trout starve. Many people commented that the Cutthroat looked like shoelaces, or Auschwitz victims. There is roughly 5 times the amount of water in Scofield this year compared to last. If the number of fish stayed the same, there is a whole lot more elbow room, and less competition for food. Some of it depends on what people are using for bait, or to tip their jigs. If you want to catch chubs, you'd probably do better with worms or nightcrawlers. And you might need to fish in areas that don't have as many trout. When there's not much water, everything is crammed together. When there's plenty of water, the chubs might want to be in the shallows and the weeds.

Second. Thousands of chubs shied away from the colder runoff and were swept over the dam. (Before the UDWR installed the control). I doubt that enough of them went over the dam to cause the population to crash. There were certainly enough left in the reservoir to spawn. Unless they've got enough predators to control the population of chubs, they'll spawn again and again, and we'll be right back where we've been for the last 17 years.

Third. Tiger Muskies will do quite well in Scofield. They'll eat chubs or trout... whichever swims in front of their noses when they're hungry. They won't do much to reduce the chubs, but they will be well fed.

Fourth. Has anyone seen a Wiper yet? I'll be surprised if they don't die before it warms up enough for them to start feeding well.

Time will tell. Tiger Muskies haven't proven to be too effective at reducing populations of their prey in any other waters in Utah. Maybe they'll put enough in to have that effect. But to think it happened in 7 or 8 months is being rather optimistic. Especially when it took Walleye almost 20 years in Starvation.



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[Lonnie]

Tiger muskey have put a real serious dent in the chub population at joes valley , which is also improving the trout fishing.
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[odthefly]

Thank you very much. I presume the ice is good and solid?
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[Fishrmn]

And the Splake haven't helped a bit. Plus they've put Tiger Muskies in since when? 2009? If the muskies have made that big of a difference, it has taken 7 or 8 years, not 7 or 8 months.

What's the definition of a real serious dent? Half? Not enough. 75%? Maybe. What percentage of the biomass is chubs? I can't see a reason to want more than just enough to keep the predators fed.

I check the camera at Joes Valley quite often. Seldom see anyone fishing where the camera would show them.



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[betterthanwork]

We only caught one chub while we were there and it was on a night crawler
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[Fishrmn]

I haven't been. I would guess that it is pretty solid though. Fishing tends to slow a little bit this time of year at Scofield. It might take a few extra days to slow down this year because the ice was a little bit late coming on. Once it caps, there is no more transpiration. Lower oxygen levels means lethargic fish.



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[Lonnie]

Several years ago The chub population was extreme in joes valley. They were using nets and netting large quantities of chub in an effort to reduce their numbers. The problem was Joes valley is a deep lake ,(160" deep) And the introduced slake go deep for much of the year. While chubs stayed shallow. Poisoning was not a real option due to the deep water. That's when they stocked the first muskies. Over the last 5-6 years there has been a very noticeable effect. And cutthroats and large splake are showing up again. While it is not out of the woods yet , I have witnessed an improving fishery, this despite the fact very few trout have been stocked over those years.
Despite the fact that you don't see fishing boats on the camera everyday, I have several friends , as well as myself , who fish it quite often. And while I can get skunked , I can also have a day where I catch a 5lb cut and a 40" muskie in the same day.
The objective of the DWR was to gain control of this water , which is being accomplished , And the muskie has been a big part of that. I suspect you will see more fish species being stocked once again in the coming years as things continue to improve. In the mean time I will enjoy it being a best kept secret Utah trophy lake.
And that is happening because of the Muskie introduction
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