Bunny Gulch Boys Club 7-15-10

Utah Fishing Reports & Discussion Utah Fishing General
1

:sunglasses:Had a trip planned all week to hit Starvation with LloydE, Hnaf and his bro-in-law Jason. Mama Nature musta been heavily medicated or simply missed our planning session 'cause she really blew a good opportunity. Calm, clear and warm. Yeah.

Speaking of missing, Lloyd and I barely missed having venison for breakfast. Too close. I hate it when that happens. But hate it even worse if the deer joins me in the front seat.

We were all launched on calm waters…64 degrees at launch…by about 7 AM. Lloyd was first away and quickly took care of the first fish jinx…dink perch. First of many for all of us. He said he didn’t believe in jinxes and ended up catching the two biggest perch of the day…and one walleye. Total of about six keeper perch.

Brian and Jason stuck close together since it was Jason’s first time on Starvy. A big ol’ brown gave him a dandy welcome. Beat him up, handcuffed him and broke of his jig. While he was fighting the brute he plaintively asked over the walkie talkie what to do if the fish was too big for the net. Of course he got a lot of silly responses. So, he just broke the fish off so he didn’t have to deal with it.

Lloyd had a similar experience with a big high flying rainbow…which also arranged an early release.

I had two fish stories. One was catching a perch that had both jigs of my tandem rig in it’s mouth. See the picture. Not doctored. it’s real. The second REAL adventure happened within minutes of the first. I had a heavy surge after dropping my tandem rig right straight back down to the bottom. It fought like a big catfish. No way I thought. I was right. It turned out to be TWO walleyes. First time I have ever hooked two walleyes on a tandem rig. But…the rest of the story. The fish on the bottom jig was about 3 times as big as the 17 incher on the top. (yeah, right). As soon as I could see it, it saw me and powered downward. The blood knot on my tandem rig was not up to the challenge and let go. But I still netted the smaller fish. Got proof of that one.

Oh yeah. I got the UGLY award for the day. Caught a couple of dinochubs. Both were covered with open sores from the recent spawning activities but one had a huge tumor on it’s right side. YUGLY.

We covered a lot of water today in our perch search. Fished everything from less than 20 feet out to 43 feet. About mid morning I found some larger perch in an area 28 to 30 feet deep and put a few in my basket…while releasing a gazillion dinksters. Went through a lot of crawlers. Then that shut down and I couldn’t find any more worthy specimens. About that time Lloyd announced that he had just caught a couple of toads from 36 feet of water. So I moved deeper. I did catch a few more in water over 30 feet deep but still had to wade through a lot of bitty biters to get the occasional rod bender.

Brian and Jason also caught a grundle of little perch but only scored one larger one apiece. But I think Jason was happy with his first trip on Starvy. I’m betting he will return.

Like the rest of us, Lloyd had to work his way through a lot of dinks (and worms) to score a few larger perch. But he ended up with six HEFTY perch and a 13 inch walleye. Knowing Lloyd he would mention the walleye first and the perch as an afterthought. His two biggest perch were 13 and 14 inchers. Respectable.

2

Geezeeee Pat,

You are almost making me miss unemployed times!! Nice work. The 12 hour days I am puttin in now will have to produce some Karma down the line in the form of Fishing Time or I am done..lol. I need to get out and increase my Walleye total. I am thinking of a late afternoon to after dark Deer Creek run?? Good on you guys for puttin some hurtin on the fishies. Keep your poles up and your jigs down in the mean time.

3

:sunglasses:Glad you’re workin’. Sorry you’re not fishin’.

All work and no play…gives Jack a heart attack.

I’ll do my best to even things out…from a days per fisherman standpoint. Hope ya appreciate the sacrifices I make for ya.

4

Dang i missed out again! looks like you guys had a good time

5

Good to see you guys found some nice ones. I was going to say hi, as I knew that was you over there, but I didn’t want to scare off any fish motoring my boat over. I wasthe guy in the little aluminum boat sharing The Gulch with you guys. We tried pretty hard for some eyes, but only ended up with a ton of perch (mostly small) and I got a decent little smallie. Anyways, it was an amazing day. The wind kicked up some pretty good little white caps as I was leaving about 1:00.
Nice to share the water with ya, from a distance.

6

Looking good Pat!!!

7

:sunglasses:Hey, you shoulda said howdy. I don’t mind boats that cruise in slowly and stop a reasonable distance away for a chit chat. I don’t think that affects my fishing much. My problem is with the power squadron that uses my tube for a target and roars by at rod length…wide open. May not affect the fish as much as my blood pressure…and laundry bill.

Yeah, yesterday was not a stellar day for size or numbers, but it was a nice morning to be out on the water instead of yard work…or any work. We too got off the water just as the “breeze” started kicking up. A day without wind…is not a day at Starvation.

8

Nice too see all the Walleye food doing well.

9

:sunglasses:Yeah. Everytime I unhooked a bitty perch I sent it back by telling it “Go play with the walleyes. They are your friends.”

It is good there are a lot of small perch. They grow into bigger perch…if they survive. But that is one of the good things about Starvation, compared to Yuba. There are a lot of perch of all sizes in Starvation with little chance of a crash. The only problem is that the little ones often beat the larger fish to your bait and even if there are big ones around it is hard to catch them.

10

Geez Pat! Nice fish! Glad you and Lloyd got into them. I have never been to Starvation, maybe one day.

It’s too bad you lost that double walleye hookup. I know you target the perchies and kitties foremost, but what species would you say you target next?

11

“I know you target the perchies and kitties foremost, but what species would you say you target next?”

:sunglasses:**I’m fickle. If I’m not with the one I love, I love the one I’m with. **

**I love 'em all. That’s why I generally like to fish a lake with multispecies potential. At Starvation and at other lakes I like to fish I can usually count on catching several different species on the same day, using the same general tackle and techniques. That way if one is not willing to play there are usually others that will. **

There are some trips during the season when I specifically target the walleyes. But I don’t object when perch, smallmouth, rainbows or browns show up on the end of my line. It’s all good…except those big ugly chubs.

I ain’t no purist and I ain’t a fish snob. As you recall from our trip to Mantua, I still enjoy catching bluegills too. As long as one balances the tackle and flies or lures to the species available they can count on catching more fish and having more fun.

12

Speaking of our long ago trip to Mantua, have you heard from Geoffrey lately? Seems his posts are few and far between.

13

Sounds and looked like fun! With all the work schedule rearrangin goin on right now I find myself with a whole lot of time this next week.:slight_smile: I do not have to return to work until thursay night right now. Now to get out and do a little (ok alot) if fishin’.:sunglasses:

14

:sunglasses:You up for a trip to Starvy on Tuesday next week? TubeBabe is in town and not busy so we are codgertatin’ about hitting it again.

15

:sunglasses:He pops in once in a while but I think he is more involved with “life” than with fishing these days. That happens, ya know?

16

Oh I know all too well…as do most of us in here.

Too bad Fishing can’t be a full-time job. But maybe if it was, we wouldn’t enjoy as much.

17

I am up for it. I will put it on the calendar!:sunglasses:

18

TD, nice job I’ve been wanting to get out there and hit it with the boys but this little thing called life keeps getting in the way.

good job and keep up the good work, we enjoy your posts.

19

:sunglasses:LIFE. Ah yes…that process we go through to earn the right (and the finances) to allow us to fish.

**You can believe that in the decades I have spent on this earth I have experienced LIFE in all its many splendid permutations. Good, bad and ugly. Like a lot of us I have had to “flip the switch” on fishing for a period of time in order to survive the trials and tribulations that LIFE had put on my plate. **

I get a lot of comments about how nice people think it is to be retired so that I can fish whenever I want to. All I can say is that I am properly grateful that I have survived LIFE long enough, and successfully enough, that I have the option to go fishing more. I am also grateful that the process of living has not robbed me of my health and that I still have the physical ability to do most of the things I enjoy. I know far too many folks who reach my age without the health or the finances to do much more than hold down a rocking chair and wear out television sets.

My advice to younger people is to be patient and to “take care of business”…personal, financial, family, etc. Don’t squander the opportunity to enjoy LIFE while you are living it. Much better to savor the daily blessings than to look back from old age and say “What happened? I missed it.”

I know from personal experience what it is to have to forego personal wants and needs, while working to provide for a family. But, those are not sacrifices. They are stepping stones and building blocks to the future. Someday each of them will turn to golden memories…that you can fondly reflect upon while blissfully enjoying a well earned fishing trip.

But, I gotta admit that I have done my share of grumbling and griping about having to miss a trip or cut one short because of work or family commitments. That builds character. I know because I have become a real character.

20

I love to fish Starvation. I had a great day on that beautiful body of water… enjoying old and new fishing friends… having a great experience catching and losing fish… and learning more about the characteristics of the water itself.
Arriving early in the morning after a deer almost jumped into the car was a little unsettling. I don’t think that I have ever been that close to a deer in a car without hitting it. Anyway, that experience was soon forgotten when I saw that beautiful body of water, and contemplated the forthcoming fishing experience.
I always enjoy the instruction I receive in the car from you as we travel to and from Starvation. I can’t believe how much you know: 1) about fish and their habits; 2) about effective fishing tackle; and 3) about effective fishing techniques. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me over the years.