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I went for a quick trip to Scofield with a friend on Saturday. We only stayed a couple of hours and only pulled out 2 chubs. There were a few fish moving around, but it was tough to get them to bite.
Away from the shore the ice was thick, I'd guess ~20". Near shore it was layered ice/slush/ice. The top layer was still solid by the time we left at 10:30, but it was clearly getting softer.
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Thanks for the update and report. Funny how that place has tapered off, it used to be one of the darlings for ice off time, now it's sort of losing favor. Too bad I like things to stay good. Later J
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Yes Scofield used to be a great Trout fishery, seems like it is now a great chub fishery!
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Wish I could get there on a bait run but it's too far for that. Too bad the fish eaters didn't keep them in check. Later J
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Hit SF yesterday, two of us, and had a fair day. 34 cuts and 6 chubs. Had to fish 8 ft. of water or we would get nothing. the bite was lite and so were the cuts. One interesting thing that I've noticed is that there are almost no small chubs. All the chubs I've caught this yr are larger . seems like the meat eaters are doing the job on the little ones, and we just need to out live the big ones. I got one chub that was about 11 inches. Good fighter.
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That sounds a lot better, best report I've heard for a long time from that pond... Thanks for the report and interesting chub info... Kind of cool how proper management can hopefully avoid poisoning of lakes these days... Used to hate the wait after a pond was killed out, before it returned to good fishing.. Hope the meat eaters can stay ahead of the hoards... Later J
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So in 20 or so years we'll have a fishery again? That's the life expectancy of the Utah Chub. 20 to 30 years. In the mean time we can expect to catch small cutthroats and large chubs. Sounds like fun.
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If they had poisoned it in 2009 when they decided they had a real problem with the chubs, we would be 5 or 6 years into a recovered fishery. As it is now we've got 7 years into a so so fishery with 20 or 30 more to go.
They poisoned Red Fleet twice, and planted it with catchable fish within a month's time. Even if they waited for a few months after a rotenone treatment it would be quicker and more effective to treat it.
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Trout lakes would recover a lot quicker from a kill off than a warm water pond that requires natural spawning to restock so I can see your point. I guess I had places like Newton dam in mind where it would take awhile to build a critical mass of fish to sustain their population. Where trout can be fish able within a year. However the poisoning doesn't do anything to correct the system problem where the natural predators tend to balance the problems. Seems like every spot I am familiar with that was poisoned was only a temporary fix and they went back to the same state within a short time, but maybe you've had better luck in your area. Anyway I hope they figure out the best fix for that area. Later J
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Scofield was last poisoned in the 80s. It took over 20 years for chubs to show up. I'm of the opinion that there were no chubs in the system until someone who thinks that you need little fish as food to grow big fish put them back in. Poison it. Get it back in fishable condition and put Tigers and Cutts back in. Then if chubs are still in the system, or if some bone head puts them back in, the Tigers and Cutts can keep them in check. Without waiting 20 years to get rid of the adult (chubzilla) chubs. And if you have a fishery based on chub fry to sustain a bunch of Cutts and Tigers what happens in 20 years when the chubs do die off? Do you plant chubs? So they can spawn and provide fry?
It was time to poison it in 2009. They found limited numbers of chubs back as far as 2005 I believe. That's 11 years!
You yourself have said you want to go there for a bait run. Whoopie. The fishery that has been the second most popular fishery in the state has been reduced to a bait pond.
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Seems like chubs are hard to find these days so not to make fun of the issue, but it's hard to find a good bait source these days. No I don't think we need to keep a source of them in a prime lake, but if they're thick I have a better chance of catching a good supply. That's why I mentioned going there for a bait run. Those left handed blue eyed chubs are the best, just ask Pat. Problem is I won't drive 200 miles to catch bait even if they are great to fish with. Anyway I'm sorry for the issue and I'm not against your wishes at all. Just discussing the options and I don't even consider myself as a voting body in this decision because I don't have a dog in this fight since I've never fished the pond even after my BIL tried to talk me into going down and fishing it with him. Anyway good luck in working with the division to address the issue. Later J
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I think you know my opinion over the years when this pops up on here... All I will say is that I am surprised more Utah anglers don't target the big tigers in there.... it takes dedication and really in my opinion the right gear to target them... but it appears the drive to catch them isn't there. It would be easier for my side of the argument if there were even a handful of guys targeting them and sharing their success / tactics.... (I speak from personal experience targeting big tigers in the state next door)
If nobody is going to put in the effort and target the big tigers... it is a wasted resource / lake and they probably do need to go to plan B.
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I know people who have targeted the big tigers, and have failed. Even when they've been given the inside scoop on tackle and tactics. There is just no sense in staying with the status quo for a half dozen guys when the bays at Strawberry look like cities every weekend. There should be nearly the same amount of pressure at Scofield every weekend.
Or we could wait 20 or more years to see what happens.
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The real factual information on chubs was given in a Fish and Game report last October. if I remember correctly the average lifespan of a chub is somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 to 15 years. check out the Fish and Game report on Schofield and see what the fish and game people have to say and then kind of listen. As far as as tiger trout go I caught 1 5 pounds and 1 7 pound this year. And you do have to target them because they know what they like to eat and that'd be small chubs.
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FWIW, a DWR biologist I know told me in a face-to-face conversation that they live 20 years.
Even if it is only 15 years, we aren't into it long at Scofield. So we will have 10-12 more years of poor fishing instead on 15-17?
One question I would have for the DWR regarding Scofield is how many of those emaciated 10 inch cutts, tigers, and bows are able to make the jump into a predatory state and size? the first year or two of the slot there, it seemed like there were some that were. Now, I have to wonder, especially considering how sickly the fish look. At Strawberry, all of them do if they aren't eaten by predators or harvested. If recruitment to large size is low, then even the trophy fishery will peter out. It seemed like there were a lot fewer trophies come out of there this year compared to last.
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