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Today I caught ~20 perch and 4 white bass, off the docks at the Utah Lake State Park.
On 1/3/22, I caught 176 white bass and no perch, fishing off of the same docks. On that day, three of us caught ~400 white bass and only 1 perch.
What a difference a year makes! BTW - my notes reflect that the water is ~ 1 1/2' shallower this year.
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There was a huge dieoff of white bass between ice out and the spawn this last year. White bass of all sizes were found floating in many parts of the lake. Samples of the dead whities were taken by DWR biologists but nothing definitive was ever found to be the cause of the mass dieoff.
They didn't all die (obviously) but the toll was enough to greatly affect their numbers. They did not show up in the hordes they usually do at spawning time and very few were caught through the summer...usually only one or two per trip instead of the many that usually are available for those who seek them. White bass numbers have been low for the past three or four years after a similar dieoff a few years ago. That is LOW compared to the vast schools that many of us are used to finding. But they are prolific and they will come back. Only takes a few spawners in a good spawning year to rebuild the population. They are prolific.
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And our current snowpack is pointing toward a good spawn this year!
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January 1 numbers are encouraging, but the REAL clincher is the April 1 snowpack.
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01-06-2023, 12:38 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-06-2023, 12:45 AM by joatmon.
Edit Reason: fix mistake
)
Kent, I've seen similar trends over the past couple of years. Last summer, Craig and I had to work hard to find any white bass for fresh catfish bait, often turning back to our freezer stocks. This winter, my catch has been about 10:1 yellow perch to white bass and I've observed similar results with other folks at the docks. However, I also see a few fisherpersons who seem to get more white bass than perch, so not sure what they are doing differently? Even when they show me and I try to copy what they are using/doing, I don't catch ay more white bass than otherwise.
Most white bass I've caught this winter have been in the 9-10.5 inch range. Craig pulled out a larger one (11.5 inches) earlier in the winter. Suspect we'll have a size gap due to die off this year and the poor spawn. Maybe part of what we are seeing from a few years ago? A couple of winters ago I stocked up on white basslets (5-6 inches) from Lincoln Beach harbor channel, but that was in 5 feet of water vs 1-2 feet now...
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j.o.a.t.m.o.n.
jack of all tackle, master of none
