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Fished solo from 8-noon. 38-deg driving thru Coalville. Water started at 65. Same good action for 10-14" fat & sassy smallies, but the perch have pulled up stakes.
Ran into 3 boats of guys I knew, and met 2 others, all of whom are certified perch-hounds and damn good anglers. Only one of us got some of those yellow fish with the black stripes, and he got 'em at 30'. Said he moved out there 'cuz his usual spot was taken. Had some perch strips with him, and that may have been the ticket. Smallies doing the same thing as they are at Jordanelle ----- positioning themselves
in 10-15' out from shallow, flat bays. Gorgeous day. 70 when I got off. Could have used some wind. Glassy except when the lone waterskier went by. Gonna try Rockport Sunday.
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It was a pleasure meeting up with you and sharing some insight on Echo fishing, thanks for giving me a couple jigs to try to catch a smallmouth they worked well for catching but didn't help me in the landing. Nice to meet you!!
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You were the Perch King today, and I salute you.
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Well, I dont feels so bad about my skunk out yesterday afternoon, now, if all you boys had trouble finding stripes, too. Any theory as to why the big change?
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"Any theory as to why the big change?"
[#0000FF]It's a food chain thing. Bottom of the food chain is the zooplankton, daphnia, etc. As soon as daylight hours shorten and water temps start dropping the bitty bites either die out or move deeper. The young of the year perch follow...and the predators follow them.
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[#0000FF]If you can't see any more baby perch in the shallows they have moved deeper. In Pineview we look for balls of the baby baitfish and then fish around them for the bigger fish. By late October or November the water temps have dropped to 40 or below and the perchlets may be 50 feet deep. Ditto for the crappies and perch feeding on them. Haven't had that much experience with Echo but I'm guessing the factors are pretty much the same.[/#0000FF]
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Well that's flat out rude of them...I would feed them for at least a couple more weeks up in the 20ft depth. They can have all the crawlers I can throw. Gota be better than them tiny zoobies
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[#0000FF]It's the cycle of life. The predators get an annual glut and put on some weight while the perchlets are plentiful. But as finny raiding parties thin the herds the survivors get better at hiding...or hanging out where the bigguns won't find them. DWR has actually recorded schools of small perch in Rockport hiding out below the thermocline...in water too nasty for the larger fish to follow.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]And the larger crappies and yellow perch do not only eat the smaller offspring of the year. When times get tough they also slurp up the green "soup" of the little bitty bites favored by the youngsters. Guys who fish Pineview under the ice play video games on their sonar at night. They locate a proven mud bottom and then watch "TV". When conditions are right, the clouds of little stuff form visible layers above the bottom. Then the crappies move in to feed and almost anything offered to them gets munched. Over the years I have filleted quite a few fish of several species that were chock full of the little green goobers. Yuck.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]When you're not with the ones you love (baby perch) you love the ones you're with (anything edible).[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Careful how you phrase the "throwing" crawlers. Chummin' ain't legal in this here state of Confusion. Or is it the state of Hysteria?
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Did see some 2" minnows around the ramp, but much smaller schools. Plus, I
noticed that the smallies I boated today were not spitting them up as they were
2-3 weeks ago.
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Fortunately I am not blessed with a criminal bone ( IE throwing worms). About the most nefarious I act, I remember, that I have perpetrated while chasing water critters is tipping the bait box off the boat seat, and pops made sure I did not do it twice.
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