A few 'eyes, some perch at Starvation

[TopH2O]

My brother Peter, buddy WD and I launched at the main State Park at 0830. We started in the east end bottom bouncing for walleye. After about three hours we boated three 17-20 inch 'eyes and a few bigger perch. We picked them up in 24-30 feet of water with a crawler harness. We headed to Rabbit Gulch for more perch action. We stopped by and said hello to tuber Albinotrout who was having a decent morning. We hunted around for awhile in the shallow end of the Gulch and got just a few smaller perch. We then moved across the bay and fished near one of the rock islands that has a white bouy on the west end. We got about 15 really nice perch, some in the 12.5 inch range.

Here's Will D. with his best perch of the day.


We ended up trying a few more places but we were dealing with a stiff northwest wind that made it difficult to hold position. We even dragged our anchor while trying to target the perch. We ended the day back on the east end trying for some more walleye. I picked up three more and ended the day with four walleye and eleven nice perch. WD and Peter also did pretty well. Peter did get three dandy RBT on a flat line about 30 yards back with a Jake's in gold finish. He just trolled the second pole and snared the slimers. He also got one brown of about 19 inches.
Overall a nice but breezy day. I wish I could have waited until Wednesday, but work got in the way for the other partners. Here's my take for the day. Fish fry tomorrow night!

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[FOD]

Nice haul you caught there. Those are all really fat fish. Hope to catch a stringer like that in the near future. Thanks for the post, and the report. [fishon]

Did you bleed the gills on those fish, or are they gutted? If they are gutted, why do you do that instead of just filleting them?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Nice work Mike. Sorry I couldn't make it over Tuesday...or today. Maybe Thursday.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Did you get a water temp reading?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]PS...not sorry I missed the wind. I hate that stuff.[/#0000ff]
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[TopH2O]

FOD,
I always bleed the fish I'm going to keep. I find that it cleans up the fillets and the fish just taste better. I've always done it with stripers at Lake Powell and it leaves less of a mess at the cleaning station.
I keep the fish alive in the livewell and then I cut the throats before leaving the water. At Lake Powell I bleed the stripers right away and then keep them cool until I have a few then I fillet them in the boat.



Mike
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[TopH2O]

TD,
Water temp was about 65 first thing and then it warmed to 67 by late afternoon. It got very breezy around 2:00 p.m. and the temps stayed stable. The recent wave action has made the water a little bit cloudy in many areas.
I may consider going over again on Thursday if I don't hear anything from my possible future employer. Maybe I'll just stayed retired this time!
Mike
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[albinotrout]

Water temp was 66 at 1 pm.
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[LloydE]

Congratulations on a productive fishing trip. Thanks for the report and pictures. I love to fish Starvation. I do not care much for the wind, however.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

That is one fatty of a perch you got there! Just saw AlbinoTrouts report too. Looks like you both had a good day and got on some nice fish. Thanks for sharing the story, photos, and locations you hit. Very helpful.

Still haven't wetted my tub in that puddle, but reports like yours again make me think I oughta brave the wind and the powersquad and give it a go!

Interesting to hear your catch-handling methods. I've been a little concerned about letting out much blood around my rig at waters like Newton. I dunno - just keep picturing a face full of teeth coming up to investigate! (after having my PERCH catch engulfed by a Musky Monster!)

Am I correct in remembering that Walleye aren't "suppossed" to be in that lake, and there's no limit?

Thanks for the report and the impressive photos. I guess morning is THE time on that windy location, eh?
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[jekern1015]

Redfleet is the lake where walleye's were illegally introduced and there is no limit. The limit at Starvation is 10 and that is a goal of mine to finally catch a limit up there. Most years I don't even get a limit spanning the entire year.
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[TopH2O]

Ditto to what [#4040ff]jekern1015[/#4040ff] said. Starvation's limit for walleye is the same as it is statewide. 10 walleye and only one can be over 24 inches. Good luck when you decide to give it a try.
I think I may go over again mid week next week. Perch have got to be one of the tastiest fish around!
Mike

BTW, the guy holding the perch in my first photo is my friend Will. I'm not that handsome and I can't grow a beard!
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