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[cool][#0000ff]Coulda called it BFT Friday...or bleak Friday...or dink Friday. Could been called lotsa things.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I got to the port ramp about 6:30 and got prepped to launch. As per PM agreement, Toadly and son Joe showed up to pick up some batteries and then headed to the Weber. Then high_n_dry and son Daniel drove down to the ramp with their tube and toon. Wiperhunter and Ira drove up with their boat soon after. It was a busy ramp for a while as we all prepped to launch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]22 degrees air temp and 43 degree water temp at launch. Cool, man. The boat guys headed for the narrows, where they have been doing well on small crappies...nothing over about 10 inches. Myself and the two other chilly dunkers started working out just east of the docks. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Found a few dink perch in 33 to 34 feet depth. Got one early small crappie right on the bottom with the perchies. Couldn't interest any of the suspenders cruising through at mid depth.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The tube and toon contingent agreed to work across to Browning Point and check for larger fish. Good plan...but it didn't produce anything bigger than we were already catching. So we split up. I went back to the dock area. Glen and Daniel worked further east...off Browning Point...and then out toward the deeper parts of the main channel.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was catching only occasional dink perch and was about ready to make an early day of it when Glenn announced on the radio that they were getting faster action in about 40 feet of water. Nothing real big but some bigger than we had been getting. So I figured I would give it a half hour before bagging it. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There seemed to be a pretty large school of pretty small perch scattered all over a wide area in the deeper water. The fish were hugging the bottom so close that they did not even show up on either of our sonars. But there were many drops that had instant hookups as soon as we reached bottom. And we even got a few doubles...of dinksters. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]And I got another 9" crappie to keep my first one company. I wouldn't normally keep them that small but they are wimps and don't survive the bends after coming up from deeper water.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Curt and Ira came back out of the narrows and advised they had caught quite a few crappie...but nothing approaching even a footlong. Nothing like the glory days of a couple of years ago.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I kept about a dozen dink perch to freeze for bait strips. Glenn and Daniel both kept a pretty good basket full. Glenn's wife is a great cook and she likes to fry up whole small panfish until they are crisp and then munch city.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Once the sun came out and warmed things up it was a lovely day. An occasional light breeze but otherwise glass just about all day. Good stuff. Better than combat shopping at the local malls.[/#0000ff]
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I sure miss the time years ago when Pineview was my go to place on the ice. And, it was still worth it when it became nothing but dinks for the kiddies to get them on numbers. But then it became dinksters that were hard to find and I haven't fished there in years...
Sure seems to me that this report is what I might expect this year. Makes me wonder if what is really needed is more predator fish! [  ]
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[cool] [#0000ff]It would seem that history is repeating itself. Those who remember the old days of Doug Miller perch parties on Pineview will recall that there were plenty of perch for all...as long as you didn't care about size.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The tiger muskie plantings were intended to reduce perch numbers to help increase the average size. And as long as there were lots of tigers they did a good job. Ice fishing for perch...and crappies...became a good thing...with plenty of decent sized fish of both species.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Over the past several years the tiger muskie production and plantings have declined. Guess what? The perch population exploded again and we gots nothin' but dinks again. And they are not all just young of the year. I kept and filleted a few for bait yesterday and there were perch under six inches ready to spawn...of both genders. They are stunted.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I too am ready to give up on Pineview. This makes the third year in a row that my fall trips have produced nothing but small fish. Before that I got plenty of footlong perch and crappies up to 15 inches. I would like to think that my angling skills have not gotten that much worse during that time.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I  ly predict that this winter will be as bad or worse than last ice fishing season on Pineview. There were some isolated good catches but the vast majority of iceaholics were mostly disappointed in what they brought through the holes.[/#0000ff]
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I won't give up on Pineview yet.
I have caught some Perch in the 9" size on several trips. Granted more of them are closer to 7" but it shows some promise for me.
The Crappie that I have been catching are plenty good for cooking but nothing over 10".
You you will have to wade through some smaller Perch to get to the larger ones but if we all keep a bunch of smaller Perch, we will help reduce their numbers and help the others get bigger.
Sounds like Curt went back to my honey hole.
Good to see that he did OK there for the Crappie.
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I think my boys are getting to the age where they need more than stunted panfish... Years ago I considered myself a dedicated "perch jerker" on the ice and could count on coming home we at least a meal. But the last two years I've had to pursue other species. Silly me, I prefer schooling fish sitting over a cold hole. Without the perch, that would leave me to be just a jerk... [:p]
Any prognostications on what lakes near SLC proper might produce catching in reliable numbers this winter?
In lieu of that, perhaps you could please send me your treatise on catching a cold so I don't come away with nothin' a'tall. [laugh]
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PV is doin great for bass! But I wonder when they'll crash, there's so much food swimming in that place.
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Wouldn't hurt my feelers none if some more them toofffy crittas were placed in that there pond yonder of ole ogden!
But yes the crappie slabbos that we were catching have steadily declined as well as some jumbo sized perch!
More muskies please!
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[quote utahgolf]PV is doin great for bass! But I wonder when they'll crash, there's so much food swimming in that place.[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]What??? Crash??? Your comments are confusing. The bass are doing well on the stunted perch being left unmolested by the tigers. Pineview is now like Jordanelle was 10 years ago...plenty of small perch for the bass to grow big and fat on. The bass population in Jordanelle took a dive in both size and numbers when there was a big perch dieoff and the food supply crashed.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are some good sized bass in Pineview now and with good eats they should break eight pounds within the next couple of years.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]I know there ARE still some good sized perch and crappies in Pineview. But the average sizes are almost too small to even bother with. I'm as patient as the next guy...unless the next guy prefers bigger fish too. I'd rather fish where the average size is like it used to be...9 - 10 inches...with enough footlongs to keep it interesting. Not real excited about fishing all day for the chance at one 9 incher.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There were some decent perch pulled from around the shoreline during the summer, when they were chasing the young of the year fry. But that was in one small area...not the whole lake. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Curt mentioned that you guys had shared some water last week. It has been awhile since I've seen you in a fishing environment. I think the last time was at the DWR get together in Ogden.[/#0000ff]
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"Any prognostications on what lakes near SLC proper might produce catching in reliable numbers this winter?"
[cool][#0000ff]My guess is that Starvation will be best both for numbers and for decent size this year. The former dinks have some growth and are reaching nice sizes. But that is a couple of hours away.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Deer Creek is still a question. The low water levels are likely to keep the fish in deeper water and less active than "normal" years...whatever that is. Also, I do not think the perch population is as good as during the past couple of years. There were some good catches made before it got too cold in the fall, but after that they became scarce...all over the lake. Might be hiding in the "Perch Club".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I am cautiously optimistic about Jordanelle this winter. I have made a couple of late fall exploratories and I am encouraged by the numbers of perch and the average sizes I have seen. Also some other good reports from other BFTers through the year to suggest that the perch are coming back strong...and with some size.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There have also been suggestions that Rockport is producing more perch again. Probably still not close to the big years before the crash but that lake can be productive. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We will have to watch the reports and put in some time on the hard deck our ownselves.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All of our ponds are at low levels. That makes the fish have to settle for wintering areas different from last year. Fishermen just have to look for them harder and then figure them out once they find them. In some lakes they may be shallower...with no choice for deeper water. In others they might overreact and head for the deepest parts of the lake. They do that. Silly fish. Silly fishermen.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]I am sure you know the situation with the tigers. They want to put more in Pineview but since Utah DWR has been trying to propagate their own they have not had the numbers of survivors they would like to be able to stock. Getting there.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I know you guys love your big ol' slabbos. You really whacked 'em good a couple of winters ago. But crappies and perch both have similar needs and cycles. They both need high water and flooded structure to spawn successfully. Some years the weather and the water level conditions are just not right for good spawning and recruitment and there are few young or no young from that year class. Some years there is a bumper spawn and enough fish survive natural attrition and angler predation over the next few years to leave a lot of bigger fish for harvest before their final spawing rituals. In Pineview those "last year" crappies can reach 16 inches...and perch about 13". But that only happens if there is enough food and suitable growing and spawning conditions all around.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Some folks do not know about...or remember...the "BIG FLUSH" during the early spring of 2011. The record snowfall began melting and pouring huge volumes of water into Pineview and other lakes. Pineview was already fairly high so they "pulled the plug" to dump as much water as possible as quickly as possible to avoid spilling over the dam. The fish that were hanging out in the lake near the dam at the time of the release got sucked out of the pipes and into the river below. There were reports of bushes along the Ogden River decorated with lots of big fish of all species. Of course it sucked out a lot of baby perch and crappies too...and that should have helped the overpopulation. That little incident has to have affected the balance in the lake and there have been no studies to determine just how much. There were plenty of fish of all species and all sizes throughout the rest of the lake that did not take "the big ride". Hopefully it will heal itself and will not go dry before it can recover. We still need a lot of snow this winter.[/#0000ff]
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thought that was you. Told my grandson " I bet that's Tube Dude ". we were on shore casting at the docks . Was going to give you a shout, but did not want to look foolish if i had made a mistake. Next time I will say hi . would of been nice to actually meet you. always enjoy your post, and have even copied some of your mods for my own tube.
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[cool][#0000ff]Well, at least we came closer to meeting than if we had not gone to the same lake on the same day.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Too bad you guys could not get out on the docks. There were fish suspended out off the end of the docks in deeper water. I suspect you didn't do much fishing in close there.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Sure was a pretty day...after the sun came out and warmed things up a bit.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Next time give a shout out. Worst that could happen is it might be someone else and you might make a new friend...or not. Always glad to meet fellow BFTers.[/#0000ff]
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[quote TubeDude] [#0000ff]Deer Creek is still a question. There were some good catches made before it got too cold in the fall, but after that they became scarce...all over the lake.
[/#0000ff][#0000ff]I am cautiously optimistic about Jordanelle this winter. [/#0000ff][#0000ff][/#0000ff][/quote]
Agreed. I was one of the folks that just killed 'em one trip at DC. But, 10 feet away from that one spot and you'd think the lake was empty. And, once we found where the trout were a few weeks ago we had a grand time. But like you said, we were fishing in some areas where that I've never fished before, and pretty tough to get to on the ice.
I'd love Jordanelle to be good. I've only been there once, the infamous pivotal day in history when you got skunked and I only caught one trout. I'm sure in the back recesses of your mind you still haven't forgiven me - but then, since you so royally catch so many more than me as a general rule, perhaps you've been very gracious to forget. I'd be more than willing for a rematch and challenge your superior skill against my bad luck! HAHAHA [laugh]
And yah, let's hope for a good water year to walk on!
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[cool][#0000ff]Skonk? I don' remember no steenking skonk. But I am married and I have developed a selective membory.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As I DO reckymember, that was the day I was trying out my new Showdown. And you guys kept running across the ice to join me and see what was showing on the screen. Everytime something came through it disappeared when the thundering herd showed up,[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When I go fishing with someone else it is never about the competition. That is, unless I get beat. Then you may have to look for another ride home if I am driving.[/#0000ff]
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I'm sure you have probably heard this before but if you were to write a book I would buy it. "The adventures of Tube Dude" [  ] You really are a plethora of information and we appreciate it!
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have two CD/books available. One on Utah Lake fishing and the other or Tubing and Tooning. Currently doing rewrites and updates on both of them for re-release.[/#0000ff]
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Geeez I was hopin they grew up this year. Dunno how much ice fishin I will do at pineview. Glad ya had a pretty day!!.
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[cool][#0000ff]About the last three years a lot of us have shared the same optimistic outlook..."Maybe this year the perch will have grown and be bigger." But I no longer believe it is a year class thing...just stunting from overpopulation and underharvesting. Happens with perch all the time.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I do believe that the crappies will get bigger next year. Lots of "under-footers" that will grow a couple of inches on the swarms of baby perch that will be in the lake next summer. They really are a "year class" species...depending on successful spawn and recruitment years. They may only have ideal conditions once every two or three years. The big ones from a couple of good spawns back have lived out their lives and are pretty scarce. But there seems to be a good crop of 3 year olds that may keep us happy for a couple of years.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Probably more and bigger crappies to be had from Utah Lake...or now from Deer Creek.[/#0000ff]
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I am still hoping Deer Creek will freeze this year but so far the weather aint much for ice makin......I know its early but not a lot of cold in the forecast for the next bit.
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