Jordanelle Perch Search 9-8-21

[TubeDude]

I haven't fished Jordanelle for over 2 years.  The combination of declining fishing and increasing power squadron activity pretty much sent me to other venues.  But this is the time of year I have done well on perch in the past, even in low water times.  So I thunk I'd give it a try...and play with my new GoPro.

I launched at the PWC ramp.  Air temp at 7ish was 43 cool degrees.  Water temp was 63.  State park info said it was 67 so I went waderless.  Cool runnings, man.  Still, never got very uncomfortable.

Started out tossing a tandem jig rig in the area near the ramp where I used to do well on perch.  It is now full of moored boats and I saw nothing on sonar as I worked through the area.  I eventually picked up a small smallie there on my way back in for the day.  But that was the only inquiry I had over an area that used to be packed with perch.

Fired up the electric motor and headed across to the "quarry" area.  Started dragging a spinner at 1.5 mph just o see if there might be a silly slimer in town.  Got a couple of bumps on the way over but no hookups.  Got to the quarry and worked plastics along the rocky shoreline.  Nary a sniff.  Nothing on "TV" neither.  Lookin' gloomy.

Finally got to my primary target area...where brush and trees came down into the water...with holes in between.  Saw some baby perch scatter on the surface and figured I might be in the right zone.  The perchlets swarm in there every year for shelter in the stickups.  And the predators follow.  From that point on, almost every cast was chomped by either a small smallie or a dink perch.  I did get a few 9" perch but the biggest smallmouths were not much bigger.  Fun on a light rod though.

After keeping a few for the basket...and overfunning on the small stuff...I began working my way down the west shoreline.  I pitched a variety of plastics tipped with crawler.  Every time I saw a "spray" of perchlets I made a quick cast into the commotion and was generally rewarded with still another smallette.  And all the fish I brought in today were barfing up little perchies.

Only saw a couple of boats out on the main lake...appearing to be trolling for kokes or whatever.  But they were all gone by the time I headed back in just after 11.  Must not have been too productive for them either.

Only a couple of jet skis and they roared off up the lake and did not come back in while I was still there.  But the kayaks, paddle boards and other wimpy craft were represented well today.

Yeah, it was a lovely day with nary a ripple on the lake all morning.  The only downside was that after bringing my tube back to the ramp I had to hike up that l-o-o-o-ng damn ramp.  Not good on us old dudes.

[wiperhunter2]

Ira and I have been thinking about giving it a try there for some perch after reading Joatmon's post about catching some 10"ers but we have feared the same results as you had today. I was thinking you might have sweet talked someone there to let you park lower down the ramp, until I read the last part of your post. With the water being so low I know that was a long hike up. So how did the GoPro work out for you? I'm guessing you have some editing to do? Great post and pics as usual.

[fast_randy]

Great pictures. Thanks Pat. I fished Jordanelle the first day it opened, for trout. You couldn't use a boat, just bank fishing. Me and Glen Mortensen. A blue and silver castmaster would get one on just about every cast. I think cutthroat.

[Cowboypirate]

Can't wait to see the first TD vid. Expect it to be full of whitty repertoire and fishing tidbits - don't leave us hanging, Pat

[TubeDude]

Ira and I have been thinking about giving it a try there for some perch after reading Joatmon's post about catching some 10"ers but we have feared the same results as you had today. I was thinking you might have sweet talked someone there to let you park lower down the ramp, until I read the last part of your post. With the water being so low I know that was a long hike up. So how did the GoPro work out for you? I'm guessing you have some editing to do? Great post and pics as usual.

Jordanelle perch can be fickle.  You can find them in one area one day...and catch a bunch.  A couple of days later they have moved and you gotta hunt 'em down again.  I have not done well on perch in Jordy for many years.  Used to be able to get them almost anywhere...with a lot of footlongs.  But we also used to catch 20" smallies there.  And the 15 - 18" smallies were common.

I got the GoPro last week.  Getting it figured out pretty good.  Have shot and edited some footage.  Still a lot to learn and I still ain't ready to post a world-beater video.

[joatmon]

Pat, sounds like a fun trip, thanks for the info. Any thoughts on the wipers or muskies in there? Seems like both of those hybrid predators should be getting big from eating the ever abundant perchlings, but see very few reports of anyone catching them. Maybe they are feasting on kokanees? I often miss the gill netting info, so maybe I'll track down the latest to see what DWR has to say.

[TubeDude]

Great pictures. Thanks Pat. I fished Jordanelle the first day it opened, for trout. You couldn't use a boat, just bank fishing. Me and Glen Mortensen. A blue and silver castmaster would get one on just about every cast. I think cutthroat.

Times has changed.  If you have followed the reports over the years you know how the lake has evolved.  Totally different ecology.  Tough to catch much from the shore anymore...unless you show up after the hatchery truck dumps its fall load of finless Freddies.  Even though the lake has become popular for the recently added kokanee, it is still stingy for most species.  Still a few cutts in the mix, but most are rainbows...with a smattering of nice browns.

---

Can't wait to see the first TD vid. Expect it to be full of whitty repertoire and fishing tidbits - don't leave us hanging, Pat

Still experimenting with the best way and the best place to mount the camera for capturing the shots I want.  Those are important concerns when you are by your ownself...in a float tube.  I don't have a lovely assistant (like Cookie) to catch all the fish so I can just shoot the video.  Do you have Cookie under exclusive contract?  If not, how would she feel about fishing from a float tube?

---

Pat, sounds like a fun trip, thanks for the info.  Any thoughts on the wipers or muskies in there?  Seems like both of those hybrid predators should be getting big from eating the ever abundant perchlings, but see very few reports of anyone catching them.  Maybe they are feasting on kokanees?  I often miss the gill netting info, so maybe I'll track down the latest to see what DWR has to say.

DWR would definitely be a better source of real info than myself.  As I admitted, I have been a no-show there for quite a while.  However, I have followed the reports and have had contact with both fellow tanglers and DWR folks who TRY to manage the lake.  So I have seen the ups and downs...and have my own theories on the reasons for the vagaries.

I have not had access to any DWR publications on Jordanelle for quite a while.  The same for some of the other lakes.  Between Covid and funding problems there just have not been the resources allocated for more frequent or thorough studies.  But here are two of the last couple of things I got on Jordy.  Might be some stuff in there you have not yet been exposed to.

[wiperhunter2]

Great pictures. Thanks Pat. I fished Jordanelle the first day it opened, for trout. You couldn't use a boat, just bank fishing. Me and Glen Mortensen. A blue and silver castmaster would get one on just about every cast. I think cutthroat.

Hey Randy, why couldn't you fish Jordanelle from a boat, on that opening day, way back when? Unless they had a special shore fishing only day, before it opened to boaters, I fished what I thought was opening day from my boat.

[perchinski]

You'd be better off, Pat, launching at the Ross Creek ramp at the N end and working around that first bend to the S.  Both smallies & perch in that bay a tad bigger than what you got.  Same deal --- in or just outside the stick-ups in 5-7'.  And I've found out the hard way over the last couple of years that the bigger/keeper perch will hit a 4" grub, specifically that 176 Yamamoto.  Fish small bass stuff like the kuttail worm and you'll generally avoid the dinks.  I used to do the slip-bobber thing and fish vertically with small ice fishing stuff, even with perch belly slivers.
No more.  Small bass plastics fished slow, horizontal and on bottom.

[Freakyfisherman]

I haven't fished Jordanelle for over 2 years.  The combination of declining fishing and increasing power squadron activity pretty much sent me to other venues.  But this is the time of year I have done well on perch in the past, even in low water times.  So I thunk I'd give it a try...and play with my new GoPro.

I launched at the PWC ramp.  Air temp at 7ish was 43 cool degrees.  Water temp was 63.  State park info said it was 67 so I went waderless.  Cool runnings, man.  Still, never got very uncomfortable.

Started out tossing a tandem jig rig in the area near the ramp where I used to do well on perch.  It is now full of moored boats and I saw nothing on sonar as I worked through the area.  I eventually picked up a small smallie there on my way back in for the day.  But that was the only inquiry I had over an area that used to be packed with perch.

Fired up the electric motor and headed across to the "quarry" area.  Started dragging a spinner at 1.5 mph just o see if there might be a silly slimer in town.  Got a couple of bumps on the way over but no hookups.  Got to the quarry and worked plastics along the rocky shoreline.  Nary a sniff.  Nothing on "TV" neither.  Lookin' gloomy.

Finally got to my primary target area...where brush and trees came down into the water...with holes in between.  Saw some baby perch scatter on the surface and figured I might be in the right zone.  The perchlets swarm in there every year for shelter in the stickups.  And the predators follow.  From that point on, almost every cast was chomped by either a small smallie or a dink perch.  I did get a few 9" perch but the biggest smallmouths were not much bigger.  Fun on a light rod though.

After keeping a few for the basket...and overfunning on the small stuff...I began working my way down the west shoreline.  I pitched a variety of plastics tipped with crawler.  Every time I saw a "spray" of perchlets I made a quick cast into the commotion and was generally rewarded with still another smallette.  And all the fish I brought in today were barfing up little perchies.

Only saw a couple of boats out on the main lake...appearing to be trolling for kokes or whatever.  But they were all gone by the time I headed back in just after 11.  Must not have been too productive for them either.

Only a couple of jet skis and they roared off up the lake and did not come back in while I was still there.  But the kayaks, paddle boards and other wimpy craft were represented well today.

Yeah, it was a lovely day with nary a ripple on the lake all morning.  The only downside was that after bringing my tube back to the ramp I had to hike up that l-o-o-o-ng damn ramp.  Not good on us old dudes.

Nice report, thanks Pat. I am headed in the morning to Rockport on a perch venture.  Finally got a time to get out and tube. I will post my findings.
Gabe.

[doggonefishin]

 Fish small bass stuff like the kuttail worm and you'll generally avoid the dinks.  Small bass plastics fished slow, horizontal and on bottom.

This is how I do it there too and had decent to excellent action this year for smallies and perch (up to jumbo) before Rock Cliffs got closed down to launching.
Oddly, I haven't done great fishing either when launching my tube out of the PWC ramp the past couple of years. Not entirely sure why.

[TubeDude]

You'd be better off, Pat, launching at the Ross Creek ramp at the N end and working around that first bend to the S.  Both smallies & perch in that bay a tad bigger than what you got.  Same deal --- in or just outside the stick-ups in 5-7'.  And I've found out the hard way over the last couple of years that the bigger/keeper perch will hit a 4" grub, specifically that 176 Yamamoto.  Fish small bass stuff like the kuttail worm and you'll generally avoid the dinks.  I used to do the slip-bobber thing and fish vertically with small ice fishing stuff, even with perch belly slivers.
No more.  Small bass plastics fished slow, horizontal and on bottom.

Didn't know you could launch at Ross Creek.  Is there a ramp?  With my tube, motor and heavy battery I gotta be able to drive right up to my launch spot.  No hiking.

If I am serious, I also use more of the larger stuff.  But that area I fished yesterday has always produced perch on  the smaller offerings.  I did throw some larger perch colored tubes and caught fish on those.  And one of the perch I filleted had a large chunk of plastic worm in it's gut.  I have also caught a lot of perch on the larger plastics over the years.  And I have caught some bodacious bass on small 2" plastic tubes.  Just gotta have a good arsenal and keep offering different stuff until you find what they want.

[Mildog]

Ross creek at this water level would be a NO GO for you Pat. I went up there a day last weekend to check it out with my wife to stretch out legs, swim Bella throw dummies for her to retrieve and get out of the valley for a bit. It is a long walk from the parking area!! The old road goes into the lake and it is a nice place to have the dog swim and retrieve without getting muddy.
Technically is is a motor less launch area. I don’t think any body would bother you with your tube and electric motor. When the lake is high/full it’s pretty close to parking area. Saw a few people hauling stand ups and such, pretty long hike to the lake right now!
I didn’t take any pictures, sorry!
Also we checked river inlet at Rock Cliffs for kokes, very disappointing compared to last year, I checked it a little later then so may have to look again later.
Last year lots and lots of them in many different holes and runs. This year I saw 5 total all In one spot. Fully colored up and moving chasing around in spawning mode. Numbers way down , to be fair I may have to check in a couple weeks to match timing to make a better comparison. From what I saw this trip it matched up with my thoughts of much lower numbers in the lake than earlier years in the Koke experiment.
Mildog out

[TubeDude]

Ross creek at this water level would be a NO GO for you Pat. I went up there a day last weekend to check it out with my wife to stretch out legs, swim Bella throw dummies for her to retrieve  and get out of the valley for a bit. It is a long walk from the parking area!! The old road goes into the lake and it is a nice place to have the dog swim and retrieve without getting muddy.
Technically is is a motor less launch area. I don’t think any body would bother you with your tube and electric motor.  When the lake is high/full it’s pretty close to parking area. Saw a few people hauling stand ups and such, pretty long hike to the lake right now!
I didn’t take any pictures, sorry!
Also we checked river inlet at Rock Cliffs for kokes, very disappointing compared to last year, I checked it a little later then so may have to look again later.
Last year lots and lots of them in many different holes and runs. This year I saw 5 total all In one spot. Fully colored up and moving chasing around in spawning mode. Numbers way down , to be fair I may have to check in a couple weeks to match timing to make a better comparison. From what I saw this trip it matched up with my thoughts of much lower numbers in the lake than earlier years in the Koke experiment.
Mildog out

Thankee, sir.  That's pretty much what I already understood about Ross Creek.  Accessible but difficult if you gotta hike a ways.

Sounds like your earlier in the year assessment of Jordanelle kokes might be all too real...with decreased numbers and decreased spawning.  Sounds like DWR needs to do regular supplemental plantings if the koke fishery is going to be sustainable there.  Like some of the other species in the lake, we have seen what their potential is.  But without help they ain't gonna proliferate.

[Mildog]

Wonder how the perchlings will fare, lots of splake planted, wipers, smallies, perch and a few musky and the browns will have lots to gobble as well. Well fed wipers are harder to catch, maybe why not too many reports of getting many of them this year. A couple years ago you could catch them pretty easy in several spots. I’m going to check the river in a couple more weeks just for a closer time line comparison on the kokes returning.

[EyLayo]

Oh boy, look out. Tubedude youtube. (Say that ten times fast). Let’s go. What’s up guys. Can’t wait to like and subscribe

[TubeDude]

Oh boy, look out. Tubedude youtube. (Say that ten times fast). Let’s go. What’s up guys. Can’t wait to like and subscribe

Settle down son.  Still got some studying and practice to do.  Gettin' close.  Just don't expect no Cecil B. DeMinnow productions...at least at first.  Hopefully there will be a lot of piscatorial pornography (nekkid fish pictures).

Any luck on recovering your lost tackle bag?  Bummer.  But that's what happens when you get old.  I know.