01-31-2006, 01:49 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Thanks SS. Since the lake grew some ice there have been a few frustrated Rockporters looking for greener (yellower) pastures. I have heard other reports of similar success. The perch are out in deeper water, but the troutskis are all over the place, with some decent browns in the hordes of small rainbows. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'm kinda anxious to make some personal perch "census" expeditions myself on Lake X after iceout. There was a large dieoff on Jordanelle early last year too. I did not fish it nearly as aggressively as I did the year before, but there were not the massive perch catch reports during the summer like there was the year before.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, after talking with some DWR folks, I am wondering about the chubs in Lake X. They also went from unavoidable hordes to almost nonexistent. I am sure there will be lots of them showing up around their inshore spawning areas this spring, but they sure have not been the problem last year that they were in the past.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The other thing that bears some watching is the smallmouth population. Two years ago there was an abundance of LARGE smallies. Five pounders were almost common, with more than a few over six. Last year it was rare to catch any over about 4 pounds. There was either a mature fish dieoff or some other factor causing a sudden decline in the number of available large smallmouths. Hopefully we will see the bigger fish again this year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'm kinda anxious to make some personal perch "census" expeditions myself on Lake X after iceout. There was a large dieoff on Jordanelle early last year too. I did not fish it nearly as aggressively as I did the year before, but there were not the massive perch catch reports during the summer like there was the year before.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, after talking with some DWR folks, I am wondering about the chubs in Lake X. They also went from unavoidable hordes to almost nonexistent. I am sure there will be lots of them showing up around their inshore spawning areas this spring, but they sure have not been the problem last year that they were in the past.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The other thing that bears some watching is the smallmouth population. Two years ago there was an abundance of LARGE smallies. Five pounders were almost common, with more than a few over six. Last year it was rare to catch any over about 4 pounds. There was either a mature fish dieoff or some other factor causing a sudden decline in the number of available large smallmouths. Hopefully we will see the bigger fish again this year.[/#0000ff]
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