Starvation report...sorta 11-5-10

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Besides ice fishing I can't remember ever fishing Starvation much after about mid October. That lake is notorious for hiding all the fish from October to May. Pretty tough for the hard deckers for the most part. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]ParrMark and I have been trying to get our schedules to line up for a trip for several weeks. Today it all came together. Both of us were free (reasonable, anyway) and the weather forecast was good. We figured it would either be very good or very bad...or somewhere in the middle. Had it covered.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched at Rabbit Gulch about 8. Pleased to see that they had shut off the outflow and the water is rising nicely again. Air temp was 36 and water temps were between 50 and 51 at launch...rising only about a degree or so throughout the day until we left at 2.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I suspected that they had packed up all the walleyes and most of the perch...and put them away for the winter. But, I was hoping MAYBE one or two. I was pretty sure there would be a rainbow or two to play with. And that's the way it rolled.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]ParrMark and I went different directions, fishing different stuff at different depths...keeping in touch by walkie talkie. I was mostly working the bottom but saw virtually nothing on sonar on the bottom from 15 feet deep out to over 40 feet deep. Nary a sniff.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Jesse was dragging a bubble and fly rig and he was first to score...a "Starvation steelhead"...a broad shouldered 'bow of about 17 inches. He got another one a few minutes later, but it was somewhat smaller and earned a smooch and release. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I finally worked uplake into about 52 feet of water and began seeing some marks on sonar...both on the bottom and a few feet above. Down went the double dropshot rig along with the tandem jig rig I had been working. Had two hookups and long line releases within a few minutes but it was almost 10 AM and the smell of skunk was growing stronger.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still fishing right on the bottom in 52 feet of water I had a thump and set the hook into something with weight. I was hoping maybe a walleye. But noooooo. It turned out to be another SS...Starvation steelhead. Didn't put up much of a fight until I got it close to my tube and then it went wacko. Jump, jump, zing, zing. Fun fun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Kept looking and working for perch or walleye. Saw some likely prospects on sonar but they all had their little middle fins upraised. Surly little suckers. Then I got another rainbow and shortly after lost a fish that felt different. I told Jesse that it felt more like a perch than a trout. Sure 'nuff, within a few minutes I actually brought up my first and only perch of the day. It was a porky footlong. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It remained beautiful, sunny and calm all day, with only light "fishing ripple" breezes. Made it easy to fish finesse but the fish were few and the ones we found didn't seem to want to play. Both ParrMark and I each finished with 1 perch and kept 3 trout. Not bad for a day when nothing was really expected. Since they dumped the rainbows in Starvation you can usually count on at least having a few of them come out to play.[/#0000ff]
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[FishKillr]

Great post pat.

Shawn M
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[FOD]

Thanks for the report. Its nice to see the rainbows are doing what they were meant to do....BUST THE SKUNK
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[ForbiddenX]

Nice report and thanks for the water temps. Looks like the water is still down abit from where it was last year at this time.

Thanks,
Paul
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[TubeDude]

[quote ForbiddenX]Nice report and thanks for the water temps. Looks like the water is still down abit from where it was last year at this time.

Thanks,
Paul[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]The lake dropped a lot lower in October than it did last year, so it is taking longer to come back up after the water users shut off the spigot.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It started out about 2 feet lower in spring than the previous year too, and began dropping sooner. Less water in the system this year and greater demand.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still, not as low as I have seen it in the past. And hopefully we will have a good snowpack in the Uintas this winter to fill 'er up again. I am guessing that by Ice fishing time it will be several feet higher still.[/#0000ff]
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[ParrMark]

Great report and pics Pat! Thanks again for a fun and entertaining day (as always).[cool]
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[LloydE]

As you already know, I was unable to join you yesterday. Great pictures and report--as usual.
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[mactuna]

Nice report Pat, should have tried the other side of lake in the area past the dam.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I don't do deep trolling or bottom bouncing. The Rabbit Gulch area is best...most of the year...for my style of fishing. Quicker to get to and easier to launch a float tube too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also wanted to check some spots for potential ice fishing in that area. Generally the fish will be settled into their winter areas by now and you can come back after iceup and find them in the same spots. Generally.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]However, I almost always begin my yearly fishing on Starvation by fishing the upper end of the lake first. It makes sense that the fish would be there late too. We had some decent ice fishing up there last winter.[/#0000ff]
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[Northman]

Boy that water sure is clear! How far down could you see? Those are some beatiful fish. Thanks for the report.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]For some reason Starvation has remained very clear all year. I'm guessing the visibility was easily 10 to 12 feet. On one trip earlier in the year I could look down and see schools of fish swimming around the edge of some rocks in 16 feet of water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Glad you liked the report. [/#0000ff]
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