Deer Creek Delight 9-28-12

Utah Fishing Reports & Discussion Utah Fishing General
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:sunglasses:As I headed down I-15 toward Provo this morning I couldn’t help seeing the big chunk of cheese in the western sky (the moon). It turned from a pale Jack to a dark orange cheddar before I turned off on 800 N. to head up to Deer Creek. Figured I could use the old full moon excuse if it was a bad day. It mighta slowed things down a bit but no skunks.

Launched at the Island ramp just before 7. Had to wade out and help a couple of guys in a big heavy boat get launched on the shallow flat ramp. Water is low and big boats got problems with launching right now. Hope they were able to make it back in by their ownselves after I left.

Still dark and air temp 43 as I launched. Water temp 61.5…only warming about one degree by the time I beached again at noon.

As I pulled away from the ramp I could see swirls on the surface and heard splashes of active fish. I was ready with a bubble and fly rig on one rod and a jig and fly combo on another rod. Hooked my first of a dozen trout today within a few seconds of splashdown on the bubble and fly. Caught several more before I could get a hundred yards away from shore. Those newly planted little finless Freddies were tearin’ it up. A few nicer ones in the mix but mostly small stuff.

**With all the humidity from the recent rains there was lots of low clouds and/or fog over and around the lake. Couldn’t even see the shoreline once you were a ways offshore. **

Worked out to the area where I had found fish the week before. Nobody home. Kept moving around, bouncing a tandem jig rig off the bottom and watching the sonar screen. Nada, zip, zilch. Was wondering if the fish had moved out deeper or if they had moved back in shallower. Then I saw a few marks on the screen…on the bottom in 28 feet. And a few seconds later I went bendo on a nice perch. Got it right to the surface and it decided not to join me in the tube and gave me back my jig.

Worked around in that general area…from 26 to 28 feet deep…seeing sporadic singles and doubles. No schools. But when I saw fish I was usually able to get munched. Added a couple of keeper perch to my basket and released a couple of smaller ones.

That’s about the time that fellow BFTer high_n_dry showed up in his toon. Could hardly see him cruising in because of the fog. We worked the area together for a while and he got to play with a feisty little smallie that posed for the camera.

**It was a lot of looking and hard work with the finesse stuff but I managed to keep dinging a perch or two from time to time. Actually got one double as I worked over a small school of them. **

The perch were acting almost like midwinter ice fishing perch today. Nibble, nibble and drop. No hard whacks or heavy pull-downs. Had to time the hookset just right or you whiffed them. I brought up my jigs several times and found that I had been “debaited” without noticing a bite. And I didn’t even get a chance for a rebuttal.

The perch seemed to be moving around. Whenever I found a group and got ready to toss over the marker buoy they would disappear. Then I would find a few more somewhere else, get ready to mark them and the sonar signals would go away. That makes it a lot harder to score a good batch of perch fillets.

**I caught perch in water as shallow as 22 feet and as deep as 35 feet today. But by 10:30 I had trouble finding any on sonar…and the ones I found were not showing any love. **

Worked into the shallow shelf out off the no wake buoys…and saw a paddle boarder moving trough at wakeless speed (see pic). Also saw some marks on sonar that looked more trouty than perchy. Started working the jig and fly combo again and connected with a few more small trout. Had one biggy that went airborne and flipped both the fly and a fin back at me. Double rude.

**Had not kept any trout all day but did finally keep one about 15 inches that was bleeding from the deep hookup with the big copper bugger. **

Had a brief meetup with HND again just before I headed for the ramp. He was not getting much love anywhere on the lake…and he was covering it all. I talked to some of the tin boat trouters coming in to the ramp as I was and they also expressed that this was a slow day for them. “Shoulda been here last week.” Man, have I heard that before.

**So I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad. Yeah, I got a minor moon job but I did catch fish and had a great day on the water. It was purtiful but the bright oranges of last week are fading quickly. The last storm knocked a lot of the orange leaves off and many of the trees are showing more grey branches now. **

Hey Glenn, glad we finally got together, even if we did mostly go separate ways. Sorry the fishies didn’t treat you better. Hope it picked up after I left.

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nice atleast you managed a good dinner for 2. i guess they are starting to get tricky there. i only got 5 last saturday near rainbow bay but they were good sized. thanks for the info TD

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Nice day. Thanks for the pics. Looks like you had good time and that is all that counts.

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A couple of those perch look like that have got into somebodys steroid stash.

This will be an interesting ice season if we actualy have an ice season this year.

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:sunglasses:Yeah, they are finally getting some size again. About three years ago…when the limit was still only 10 perch…I had some days of catching grundles of 12 inch plus fish. Here are some pics from a trip on 10-9-09…and the fish were in less than 20 feet of water.

TOAD PERCH ON PALE PERCH.jpg (297 KB)
PERCH ON FLY.jpg (264 KB)
ROADRUNNER TOAD.jpg (440 KB)

With the lake being lower this year it will freeze faster…hopefully.

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Thanks as well for a nice day. It was way cool to finally see the “TubeDude” legend himself at work on the water and catching every critter that’s crazy enough to swim his way. I now know that all the stories of years past and present are true.

Sorry about heading off. I was trying to not only find a perch school to play with, but give you a bit of breathing room as well. I do better when I can see some fish under me, and not so much at picking off the strays. I really need to learn a bit more patience. I’ve been really spoiled fishing Starvation and the WB schools at UL.

I’d like to hit a couple UL spots with you and actually hang out. Let me know when you plan to go to LB, and I’ll bring a radio so we don’t have to shout over the traffic.

The early morning fog was somewhat eerie at times (kinda horror movie-ish) as it would roll in and out, but it was a wonderful day weather wise once it burned off. I was actually quite warm which I didn’t expect after reading others posts the last week or so.

I did end up catching a medium size Rainbow on my Mini Sep RT dodger and spinner rig combo trolling about, but it self released as I chose to grab it by hand instead of using my net.

It was a fun day, and the scenery alone this time of year makes it worth an outing. I also found some more issues I need to correct with my pontoon to make it more user friendly.

Oh, and if the Dude tells you 7 am on the ramp that actually means 6:45 am and 50 -100+ yards out on the water. I thought it was a buoy at first when I drove down the ramp since it was pretty much still dark. It wasn’t until the fog lifted slightly that the uniquely recognizable silhouette, with it’s arsenal of attached gear and gizmos, appeared. And I thought I was early being on the ramp at 6:45. I’ll have to leave earlier next time so he doesn’t get a head start finding the big fish.

See ya next time and thanks again!

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:sunglasses:Thanks fer all the kindly sentiments. Sniff, sniff.

Yeah, Starvy will spoil ya for most other lakes. And the whities at UL are almost disgusting. But they do provide lots of action if you just need some tug therapy…and some fillets for the table.

Will be hitting UL with TubeBabe next Tuesday. Not sure of the venue yet. PM me if you can make it and we will synthesize watches…or whatever.

Sorry about the early blastoff. I woke up a half hour before my alarm went off. I’m still a kid and still get excited about fishing. So I got there a bit early. And…since this was our first “date” I didn’t know what to expect. I have lost count of the time I have spent waiting for fellow tanglers to show up. Some have been on time. Many are late…and some either very late or noshows. Those who know me will tell you I got a low tolerance for tardy. If you ain’t where we agreed by the appointed time I leave without you. You passed the first test. Sorry I jumped the gun.

By the way. In case you hadn’t noticed. This is Utah. You can show up a half hour late for a scheduled thing and be the first one there.

**I spent a lot of years being a type A guy in the business world. I long ago adopted the Vince Lombardi philosophy…“If you are on time you are late.” My amended version of the old saying is “Better never late”. **

I betcha can’t find anybody I know that has ever had to wait for me…for anything…and most have never showed up anywhere before I did. Wierd, huh? OC behavior in a fisherman. That’s the way I roll…errr paddle.

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nice job on the perches with size :slight_smile:

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Nice looking perches TubeDude. No walleye this season?
I’d think you would catch some by accident but they seem to be elusive. Are the bass and walleye struggling this year?

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Those are the kind of PERCH I’m talking about.

Those pictures remind me of the last couple of years that Deer Creek was closed to the harvesting of perch.

We were catching better perch than we were bass. The good water years helped out too.

Praying for some wet years to come help the fishing.

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:sunglasses:I’ve caught a couple of small walleyes from Deer Creek this year but I just started fishing it. I don’t tube it during the June post spawn prime period because that is when the power squadron takes it over. And there are several other places that keep me busy.

**I seldom fish for the bass but I catch a lot (of small ones) fishing for perch and walleyes. **

I do try to keep tabs on the overall health and productivity of Deer Creek. One of those lakes I have fished for over 50 years and will always be one of my favorites. Too bad it is also a favorite spot of so many go-fast idiots who completely ignore proximity regulations as well as basic good sportsmanship.

In the “olden days”…before smallmouth were put in Deer Creek…it was a great largemouth pond. Lots of largies up to 6# and plenty between 2 and 4. Also hordes of big perch and the lake was full of crawdads. There have been walleyes in the lake for many more years than smallmouths but they always seemed to coexist just fine with the other species.

When smallies were first put in DC they exploded, both in numbers and in size. The lake was full of crawdads and baby perch…both prime smallie fodder. Then they began to drop off in size as the food supply dwindled. The crawdad population dropped way down and the perch population was also hit hard. Big smallmouth ate perch in the 4 to 5 inch age class. But the young smallmouths formed wolf packs that would herd baby perch into the shallows and slaughter thousands in a couple of hours. Everybody wanted to blame the walleyes for the perch decline but they were not eating any more perch than they had before the smallies got there.

In recent years it has become harder and harder to catch any smallmouth over 12 inches. Ditto for the few holdout largies. Of course there are still a few bigger fish but they are not caught as often. And the happy harvesters who soak whole crawlers around the shoreline…and keep everything they catch…have removed a lot of the bigger fish. Most dedicated bassers practice catch and release but the crawler chuckers don’t.

Another factor in big fish decline has been the increase in spear fishing at Deer Creek. Those guys may only pop one or two big fish on a trip but the numbers of spearos harvesting the big fish definitely takes a toll. It takes a lot of years and a lot of C&R from anglers to produce bass in Utah that weigh over a couple of pounds. But these are the fish the spear fishermen target. Selective harvest of big fish…already limited in numbers…just has to impact the fishery.

Then there are the new illegally introduced species in Deer Creek…white bass, crappies and black bullheads. Only so much food to go around as it is and when the new introductions are competing for a limited supply of food…well, something’s gotta give.

**So…smallmouth and largemouth are down in both size and populations. Doubt they will ever get much better. Walleyes are still plentiful and fat. They get enough to eat because they feed at night when the perch are dormant and not fleeing. Easy pickin’s…and the perch population made some good progress during the past few years of early season high water…for better spawning conditions. The small walleyes have enough perch to help them grow. Then the bigger ones enjoy a banquet of “finless freddies”…planted trout. **

All that being said, there were only a few anglers who put in the time and managed any kind of respectable numbers on walleyes this last year. There was a late spring, late spawn and then the water levels started dropping quickly. At the time the fish would normally be actively feeding on their favorite spots over the flats, the water was too shallow for them and they scattered to other parts of the lake.

I am optimistic that we can find a few walleyes this fall in the deeper water around perch schools. That is something that stays the same. But finding them is never a guarantee of catching. They can be tough. And if they are well fed from dining on perch the night before they usually don’t get excited about munching on the silly stuff that fishermen bounce off them while they are sleeping off their midnight snacks.

Fishing is always good…even if the catching ain’t.

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:sunglasses:Thanks fer all the kindly sentiments. Sniff, sniff.

…“If you are on time you are late.” My amended version of the old saying is “Better never late”.

I’m - sadly - so very the opposite. My motto is more along the lines - “always late but worth the wait” - don’t know how true the second part of that is, but . . . seem to have a phobia about being first, or being one of those few early ones. Does that make me a type - “b”, or maybe somewheres closer to “z”?

Good to see your fishing reports. Seemed you’d been quiet, traveling, or otherwises engaged. Glad someone’s getting out and educating them finny friends.

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:sunglasses:No judgments from me on what you is or ain’t. By the time folks get a bit beyond the teener stage they are pretty much concrete…set in their ways. Some go out of their way to always be early. Some seemingly make lateness a fine art in and unto itself. Don’t make them any better or worser. Just whatever they are…that’s reality. Better to accept it and deal with it than to get all hyper and start beating somebody about the head and shoulders.

Kinda like my outlook on marriage. Before two folks get hitched the guy believes the girl will never change…and the girl marries the guy because she thinks she can change him. Both are usually wrong.

Just in case we DO ever put together a fishing date, you now know how I roll. If you are more than a few minutes late to the meetup spot I will not be there when you show up. I’ll be off down the road to the fishin’ hole without you.

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The 'Yote and I are on the same page. The early bird may catch the worm, but the late bird… uh, he… He’s a lot better looking. Take that.

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“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”

  • Willy Nelson
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Hey TD, pardon my ignorance, but what is a jig / fly combo rig? Do you use a three-way swivel, or is it more like a dropper?

I just read an article in a 20 year old Outdoor Life magazine about taking the treble hook off a spoon and tying an 12-18 inch leader with a fly / streamer attached to get the deep-lying / lazy trout on the bottom. Have you ever tried something like that?

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Looks like you did alright on a few bigger perch. Glad ya found a few.
I noticed that full moon too. The one in the sky :laughing:Im surprised anyone tried launching a bigger boat from the Island ramp. Doesnt sond fun. Im taking notes on the jigs hanging out of those perches mouth for my next trip to the tackletorium.

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:sunglasses:I make my own spinners and spoons. I often carry a few with crane swivels on top and bottom so I can trail flies behind them…for casting or trolling. They act the same as “flashers” on the trolling rigs used for kokanee and other fish.

I am attaching a few pics from the writeup I put together on Tandem Jig Rigs. Included are pics of the two different ways I rig a Jig-Fly combo. If I am bottom bouncing I will usually put the jig on the bottom and the fly off a dropper. If I am fishing near the surface…or slow trolling behind my tube…I rig the jig ahead of the fly and then leave anywhere from 2 to 5 feet of leader between the fly and jig.

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The 'Yote and I are on the same page. The early bird may catch the worm, but the late bird… uh, he… He’s a lot better looking. Take that.

:sunglasses:Oh yeah. There’s another saying that beauty is in the eye of the be older (whatever)…and I be older than either of you.

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:sunglasses:Sorry you couldn’t make it. But you really didn’t miss much. It was tough fishing.

On the lures…it was something old and something new. The new jingle jigs worked well until the fish started slowing down and getting finicky. Then I had to bring out my lightweight ice fishing “Rinkees” to finesse them. My last few fish were all on the small stuff. I know the guy who makes those too. And they also work great for whities.