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Deer Creek 8-16-21
#1
In looking at the weather forecasts for this week, it looked like Monday might be my best shot.  And I figured Deer Creek would probably be a lot quieter with school starting.  It may have been a bit quieter but there were still plenty of non-school folks out with their noisy water toys. 



Started out bad.  I got to the water just after 6.   Before I could even get anything out of my vehicle a trailer with a single jet ski backed back and forth down the ramp and stopped right in the middle at the bottom.  No room for either of the boats that were also trying to launch.  Heard some unpleasant words.  But the jet ski got launched and was soon pulling around a skier...AT 6:30 ON A MONDAY MORNING.




After having some connection issues with my sonar I got launched just before 7...after a looooooong hike back down the hill...after having to park over 50 yards away from the store because they have all the close in parking tagged as reserved.  And after my last run-in with the booth Gestapo lady I wasn't about to try parking in a boat trailer spot again.




Air temp was a cool 54 and water at the ramp was a tick over 70.  It never warmed much before I left at noon and it actually got one degree cooler uplake toward Charleston...and the Provo River inlet.  As expected, the California smoke contribution made things kinda hazy.  Could barely make out the outline of Timp.



[Image: DEER-CREEK-LAUNCH-8-16-21.jpg]




[Image: SMOKY-TIMP.jpg]


No recent reports on species, locations or tactics...so I decided to work through my old routine.  Started by pitching plastics around the rocky shores of the island.  No perch or smallies came out to play.  So I moved around on the other side of the island and started dragging  some crawler rigs...hoping for a walleye.  Got some "rattle rattle" light inquiries I assumed to be perch so I traded one crawler rig for my tandem tube jig rig.  Big whoop.  Got 3 or 4 little "seegar" walleyes. 




[Image: SEEGAR-WALLEYE.jpg]


Moved out into deeper water (16 - 19 feet) and resumed crawler harness fishing.  Saw more fish marks appearing on sonar but still no solid takers.  Changed one of the crawler harness rigs to a fire tiger mini whirly flig with a couple of pieces of crawler on the single hook.  That's what caught ever other fish I caught today.  The first good take was a teen incher walleye...that declined to be netted.  The next good whack was a feisty rainbow that kicked my behind good before spitting the hook.  I was started to feel jinxed.  Thought I got Friday the 13th out of the way last week.




Then I got into a "keeper zone".  Got two nice rainbows (surprise) and lost another.  Then I got a 16 inch walleye that remembered how to hang on clear to the net...and lost one more.  The rainbows measured out at 17 and 19 inches.  Not bad for a day when I thought the trout would be deep somewhere.


[Image: 17-RAINBOW.jpg]




[Image: 19-RAINBOW.jpg]




[Image: 16-WALLEYE.jpg]



By now the power squadron was getting well tuned up and the attention to proximity rules didn't seem to be real big with them.  So I started my way back to the ramp.




[Image: OF-COURSE.jpg]



Got to the ramp.  Got my 3 take home fish to pose and then did the looooooooong trudge back up the hill to get my vehicle.  Boy.  We sure do some weird stuff in the name of enjoys.



[Image: TAKE-HOME.jpg]



[Image: LONG-HIKE.jpg]
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#2
(08-16-2021, 10:36 PM)TubeDude Wrote: In looking at the weather forecasts for this week, it looked like Monday might be my best shot.  And I figured Deer Creek would probably be a lot quieter with school starting.  It may have been a bit quieter but there were still plenty of non-school folks out with their noisy water toys. 



Started out bad.  I got to the water just after 6.   Before I could even get anything out of my vehicle a trailer with a single jet ski backed back and forth down the ramp and stopped right in the middle at the bottom.  No room for either of the boats that were also trying to launch.  Heard some unpleasant words.  But the jet ski got launched and was soon pulling around a skier...AT 6:30 ON A MONDAY MORNING.




After having some connection issues with my sonar I got launched just before 7...after a looooooong hike back down the hill...after having to park over 50 yards away from the store because they have all the close in parking tagged as reserved.  And after my last run-in with the booth Gestapo lady I wasn't about to try parking in a boat trailer spot again.




Air temp was a cool 54 and water at the ramp was a tick over 70.  It never warmed much before I left at noon and it actually got one degree cooler uplake toward Charleston...and the Provo River inlet.  As expected, the California smoke contribution made things kinda hazy.  Could barely make out the outline of Timp.



[Image: DEER-CREEK-LAUNCH-8-16-21.jpg]




[Image: SMOKY-TIMP.jpg]


No recent reports on species, locations or tactics...so I decided to work through my old routine.  Started by pitching plastics around the rocky shores of the island.  No perch or smallies came out to play.  So I moved around on the other side of the island and started dragging  some crawler rigs...hoping for a walleye.  Got some "rattle rattle" light inquiries I assumed to be perch so I traded one crawler rig for my tandem tube jig rig.  Big whoop.  Got 3 or 4 little "seegar" walleyes. 




[Image: SEEGAR-WALLEYE.jpg]


Moved out into deeper water (16 - 19 feet) and resumed crawler harness fishing.  Saw more fish marks appearing on sonar but still no solid takers.  Changed one of the crawler harness rigs to a fire tiger mini whirly flig with a couple of pieces of crawler on the single hook.  That's what caught ever other fish I caught today.  The first good take was a teen incher walleye...that declined to be netted.  The next good whack was a feisty rainbow that kicked my behind good before spitting the hook.  I was started to feel jinxed.  Thought I got Friday the 13th out of the way last week.




Then I got into a "keeper zone".  Got two nice rainbows (surprise) and lost another.  Then I got a 16 inch walleye that remembered how to hang on clear to the net...and lost one more.  The rainbows measured out at 17 and 19 inches.  Not bad for a day when I thought the trout would be deep somewhere.


[Image: 17-RAINBOW.jpg]




[Image: 19-RAINBOW.jpg]




[Image: 16-WALLEYE.jpg]



By now the power squadron was getting well tuned up and the attention to proximity rules didn't seem to be real big with them.  So I started my way back to the ramp.




[Image: OF-COURSE.jpg]



Got to the ramp.  Got my 3 take home fish to pose and then did the looooooooong trudge back up the hill to get my vehicle.  Boy.  We sure do some weird stuff in the name of enjoys.



[Image: TAKE-HOME.jpg]



[Image: LONG-HIKE.jpg]
Pat,
Fishing does make us do crazy stuff. Nice job on finding a few eyes. Im thinking the the nicer eyes are 30 ft or deeper. Well thats if there is any deep water left there. 
Gabe
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#3
Great report pat thanks. Sometimes having fun is a lot of work. Yes that walk up the hill, jordanelle, and deer creek makes me stop , twice to catch my breath.
That's better walleye than I could get from willard.
I don't know why the parks people can't help us out with the boat traffic, got to find a way to educate the boaters. There are some things to consider doing.
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#4
Pat,
Did you ever make it over to the area I thought you might do well at?
I am headed there in the morning.
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#5
(08-17-2021, 04:25 AM)MrShane Wrote: Pat,
Did you ever make it over to the area I thought you might do well at?
I am headed there in the morning.
This might be too late for you to read before you go, but yes, I worked along that whole area.  That's where I found the rainbows...and lots of other fishy marks...but not a lot of walleye love.

(08-16-2021, 11:52 PM)Freakyfisherman Wrote: Pat,
Fishing does make us do crazy stuff. Nice job on finding a few eyes. Im thinking the the nicer eyes are 30 ft or deeper. Well thats if there is any deep water left there. 
Gabe
You might be right.  I have had to go deeper for them in hot summer before.  And I got some good intel from another angler as I was coming in.  Will PM you.

That being said, the one walleye I kept from shallower water was full of 2" perch fry.  So at least some of the fish are coming shallow to feed on perchlets.
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#6
strong slimey work
ive skied timp a couple times
its a lot like walkin up the ramp for 7 or 8 hours straight Confused
downs are much faster on skis though
 funs  a relevant subjective thing
stopped by the other day to look for my pooper friends
waters as low as ive seen in the 2 1/2 decades ive been Utarded
[Image: IMG_8367_(2).JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds]
see any carp?
"I have found I have had my reward
In the doing of the thing" Halden Buzz Holmstrom
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#7
(08-17-2021, 01:20 PM)fishskibum Wrote: strong slimey work
ive skied timp a couple times
its a lot like walkin up the ramp for 7 or 8 hours straight Confused
downs are much faster on skis though
 funs  a relevant subjective thing
stopped by the other day to look for my pooper friends
waters as low as ive seen in the 2 1/2 decades ive been Utarded
[Image: IMG_8367_(2).JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds]
see any carp?
Yeah.  The lake was like glass until after about 10...and the power squadron started churning things up.  There were singles and groups slurping off the surface almost everywhere you looked.   There were a couple of times when they would move in almost close enough for me to touch with a rod tip.  And I thunk to myself that FSB would probably get some enjoys from exercising some of them pucker-faces.  And, as you well know, they grow some bigguns in Deer Creek.

I've fished Deer Creek going back to the early 1960s.  So I have seen some LOW water years.  The worst was the year before I moved back to Utah from Arizona...at the end of a long drought in the early 2000s.  Here are some Google Earth shots from September 2003.  Notice the old roadbed north of the island.

[Image: UPPER-DC-LOW-WATER.jpg]

[Image: ISLAND-AND-FLATS-LOW-WATER.jpg]


[Image: ISLAND-LOW-WATER.jpg]
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#8
I was thinking my next trip out was going to be Deek Creek. I think I might go some where else now. Maybe East Canyon for some smallies.

Would it be better to launch a toon by the Island.
[Image: IMG-0337.jpg]

[Image: IMG-0338.jpg]
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#9
(08-17-2021, 06:29 PM)lovetofish Wrote: I was thinking my next trip out was going to be Deek Creek. I think I might go some where else now. Maybe East Canyon for some smallies.

Would it be better to launch a toon by the Island.
[Image: IMG-0337.jpg]

[Image: IMG-0338.jpg]
You should have no problem launching your toon at the Island launch ramp.  Some boats have a problem, since the ramp is only a gradual drop...and they need to back their vehicle quite a ways out into the water to launch.  But the ramp is quite useable.  Or, you can pull off on the gravel to the side...between the ramp and the courtesy dock.  That's where I always launch my tube.  With the upcoming weather change, I'm guessing the boat traffic will decrease a bit.  And the fishing always gets better once water temps drop a bit more.  September is usually great fishing for all species on Deer Creek.

[Image: LONG-SHALLOW.jpg]

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#10
Thanks Pat, I unfortunately did not see your post until now.
I am home and all cleaned up.
Ended with five Bows, some Smallies and a Perch, but unfortunately only one Walleye that was involuntarily released behind the boat.
Missed an awful lot of hits while bb’ing but all of them minus the one were Bass/Perch like in nature.
I would dare say the one Walleye was the only Walleye I convinced to strike.
I hope that made sense?
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#11
(08-17-2021, 07:03 PM)MrShane Wrote: Thanks Pat, I unfortunately did not see your post until now.
I am home and all cleaned up.
Ended with five Bows, some Smallies and a Perch, but unfortunately only one Walleye that was involuntarily released behind the boat.
Missed an awful lot of hits while bb’ing but all of them minus the one were Bass/Perch like in nature.
I would dare say the one Walleye was the only Walleye I convinced to strike.
I hope that made sense?
Of course.  I speak fluent anglerese.  I too had a lot of "rattle rattle" inquiries...that never resulted in a positive connection (probably perch).  As we know, when a walleye takes hold the rod tip acts a lot differently.  I also had a couple of walleye arrange for their early release for bad behavior yesterday.  Didn't seem like they were taking quite as aggressively as a few weeks ago.

After doing a CSI on the walleye I brought home, I suspect that a lot of the walleye marks on sonar are likely well fed on perchlets and bit more discriminating in what they eat.  Not as aggressive as they are post spawn and before the annual baby perch glut.  I have heard it expressed that anyone who can't catch a walleye from Deer Creek in June or early July probably couldn't catch anything else at any time.

I did get some intel from a reliable source that there are some larger walleye available in a deeper spot.  Will send you an email with the particulars.
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