It's Walleye time at SFCR!

[idahoron]

I went to SFCR on Friday. It was good for me and epic for one guy I was with. Water temp at launch at 7:00 was right at 60. By 5:00 pm it was 67. it started a little slow but I got 4 walleye that were 17" to 18" 1 that was 16" and 2 that were 14" I kept the 6 bigger ones for the skillet. I did get a few bass nothing great , but I did get some real good perch. I kept some and released a bunch. I also got a couple of big trash fish I mean trout. Both were in the 5 pound range, and man did they fight. I released the first one and the second one broke me off at the pontoon, i didn't get a picture of them.
One guy that I was with got 15 Walleye the biggest was 23". He didn't keep count of the bass, perch and trout. He called his day the best fishing day he could remember. My battery died in the middle of a long ride. I was about 8 hours into a day of trolling when it gave up. I knew it was going to but I had to push it a little farther. We hooked up my boat to my buddy's boat to get back.
Another friend was also there with us in his boat and got 8 walleyes, and kept 6 for a meal. In all SFCR is popping right now. The walleye tournament is going on right now on Saturday. If the weather holds out it should be great. Here are some more oar cam pictures. Ron










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[cpierce]

Looks like a great day! Is that way down at the south end? Quite a launch channel.

What size battery do you use, and were you trolling all day? Thanks, it is a great report!
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[idahoron]

That is not a launch channel. That is the road it is in places way over 6 foot deep road[laugh] That is on the south end of the lake.
The battery I have is a series 27 marine battery. I trolled all day long. I can get about 7 hours depending on wind. I pushed it just a little too far. Ron
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[cpierce]

7 hours of trolling is impressive for any battery! LOL on the road/launch! I guess the reservoir is a little fuller than usual.

If you don't mind my asking what were you using to fish with?

Thanks! I always enjoy your reports, Ron.
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[idahoron]

I trolled with a Perch repala and a crawdad. If i would have stopped at 7 hours I would have been fine. Also the basket drags down the boat big time. If I had a bigger back rack I would just take a cooler full of ice and put fish in it. Ron
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[windriver]

Congrats. That may be one of the best SFCR reports i have ever heard. I still have not caught a walleye so I need to get down there some time.

Thanks for the report. Happy eating.

Windriver
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[idahoron]

Last year we had days that were a LOT better. Ron
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[forrest2906]

Ron, the wife and I went out to SFCR yesterday (SATURDAY left just in time for the rain to start.
Fish for a few hours and caught 2 trout, many guys fishing the walleye tourney yesterday. The trout were big and fat, will post a pic later. 16" and 18" trolling a rapala from the bassboat in deep water sarted to see a pattern
( with only 2 fish ) then the wind started and the rain began, so time to get out. Water very high, and still only 57 degrees on the fish finder...just fyi.....a few more warm days, but the eye bite has started.

Glad to see you did so well.

Chuck
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[idahoron]

what part of the lake were you at? Ron
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[forrest2906]

put in at the main ramp by the damn, and trolled from there down a ways... we left kuna late, did not get on the water till about 10:30 yesterday...basically 6 hours in the truck and 6 hours in the boat...good day out with the wife.
She likes to eat slime rockets ( trout ) so kept them both for her, i do not care for them myself.
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[idahoron]

I was thinking you were at the North end. It is colder on that end. Ron
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[mr.jigr12]

I have read several of your posts (and others), in the past. I think the one biggest thing that I see most is, people are harvesting the wrong fish. I noticed that you said, "I kept the six biggest walleye that I caught". In my mind, it would be better to keep the smaller 13"&14" walleye. They still have a good size fillet on them!

I don't have a problem with people eating fish, I just think we should be conservationist first! That means we should preserve our waters and the best quality of fish, in any species, should be released.
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[wagdog]

Man first post and you are knocking the guy for keeping legal fish.

In my mind, it would be better to keep the smaller 13"&14" walleye. They still have a good size fillet on them!

I don't have a problem with people eating fish, I just think we should be conservationist first! That means we should preserve our waters and the best quality of fish, in any species, should be released.

That's great for you. The decision whether or not to keep a legal fish is a personal one that needs no analysis or criticism.

Ron, I enjoy your reports. Keep it up!
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[dma_ayotte]

Are you from the Utah Forum???? You sure sound just like em!!! Not the way id come on board but welcome aboard anywho.
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[idahoron]

The IDFG dumps between 1 and 2 million walleye a year in there. The average fish is in the 16" range and bigger. If the F&G were only putting 2 thousand walleye in there a year I can see being selective and maybe not keeping any at all. The Walleye in SFCR are put and take. and they are being supplemented at a very high rate. I don't think you need to worry about them that much. Fish that are over 20" in my book are free to go. The bulk of the eyes are in the eatin range 16" to 18". Ron
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[mr.jigr12]

Ron, I hope you understand what I was saying! Not analyzing or criticizing YOU at all. To many of us, catching quality fish is way more fun than catching little dinks. Your statement on how many walleye are planted in Salmon, is however incorrect. According to F&G, they have only planted 4Million, in the last 10 years. No, I'm not from Utah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! However, when we do fish Starvation, we release their fish as well. Feel free to catch and cook any and all the fish that you want. I liked your comment on, if the walleye were over 20 inches, they were free to go!!! I wish more people had those thoughts! Most people will kill every walleye they catch but wouldn't think about eating any of the smallmouths that are getting out of control at Salmon Dam.
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[idahoron]

In your opinion why were Walleye put in Salmon Dam in the first place? As fish go I would rate Walleye near bottom for the fight they put up. They do rank near the top for the table. If you think that they are a great fighting fish you need to try a 5 pound catfish.
You would be right over 4.5 million have been planted in the last 10 years. BUT in the last 20 years 16,024,080 have been planted. They are not being planted for a no harvest population. Walleye are being planted for a put and take not a put and grow. The F&G is already planting fish in there for the walleye to eat. If they all got to be BIG fish they would run out of feed and the population would crash. In my opinion the planting rates were cut in the second 10 years to blend better with the forage fish availability. It could be said that walleye wiped out Kokes, crappie, and for a while perch. The reduction in planting walleye might be one of the reasons we have a better perch population and a crappie population that seems to be holding on and maybe slightly improving. I am not saying every Walleye needs to be battered and fried in oil. I am saying that I don't think the current harvest affects that reservoir that much. Ice fishing is showing almost ZERO harvest. Again almost ZERO harvest happens until the water temp gets above 60 degrees. For a short time in the summer before the slime a lot of walleyes are caught and kept. The average fish last year was right at 14" maybe a little less. This year it looks like 16" to 18" is the new average. Maybe the lower planting rates and harvest is allowing more forage thus growing larger fish.
A lot goes into raising fish and I am no expert on Walleyes.
What I don't understand is the tournaments. They catch hundreds of fish and there has to be some mortality. They also dump them back into the lake but not where they came from. The stress of the tournaments could actually be doing more harm than the catch and keepers are doing. Ron
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[mr.jigr12]

just a little information for you! at last weekend's tournament there was over 500 pounds of walleye caught and released. Only one dead fish confirmed! How many of those fish do you think would have been released by the average fisherman??? at salmon dam you can catch walleye from the damn clear to the back water area, maybe that is because we release the fish on the north end. In fact (in my opinion) the perch and crappie are making a come back because the Walleye club has put so much time and money into the reservoir. the club that most people does not know even exists, has put over 4000 trees and another 400 man made structures in the lake. Another huge factor is water levels, that allows both of those species to spawn. We would in fact have a huge perch population if the fishing game would not have put a string of trout in there that had a virus, that killed thousands of perch. Please visit idwalleye.com, if u would like to find out about the local club. We have members from all over the state.
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[idahoron]

What would be interesting is to tag those fish and see what happens to them in an exploitation study. If you could point me to a study or info on that trout disease that took out the perch I would like to see some info on that. I read a story in a magazine about adverse affects of tournaments on fish. I think it was in this months in fisherman. I didn't read it very close before I might have to go back and re read it. Ron
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[me_and_myboy]

What a great post. Where is SFCR and can I launch my 17 foot Bass Boat? We would love to get in on some of those walleye!
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