Deer Creek Variety Pak 10-13-10

Utah Fishing Reports & Discussion Utah Fishing General
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:sunglasses:Man, it was below freezing when I launched in the dark at the Island boat ramp on Deer Creek this morning. No ice in the guides but smack spang near. Water temp was 57…only warming a little over a degree by noon.

Newly planted hatchery pets were popping the surface all over the lake…and the popgear trollers were out in force to thin the herd. Almost everybody was catching them…but only a couple of fish I saw were bigger than the “footlongs”. Lotsa guys seemed pretty proud that they got their limits before heading in.

I dinged a few dinks my own self…dragging a fly on a bubble and tossing spinners. A lot more hits than hookups from those little inexperienced slimers. And a few didn’t know how to hang on long enough for a hug and a release. Didn’t keep any. Didn’t even waste the pixels on a photo. Waiting for the bigger ones that never showed up.

Gave up on trying for a decent troutski and started working the sonar and some jigs for the marks on my sonar screen. Saw a lot more than I caught…as usual. Not much to see in less than 20 feet of water. Most early blips were at least 26 to 30 feet deep…and my first perch came from about 34 feet. A whole school of dinks and underfooters. Went through a lot of worms feeding and educating those little bait thieves.

Worked out off a spot that usually produces some decent perch and saw some likely prospects on sonar. Dropped down…THUMP…hookset, tug tug. Felt like a BIG perch…or a small smallie…or maybe a walleye. S’prise! A porky 14" crappie! First one I have ever caught in Deer Creek. Last one too. No other slabs came to play.

Worked all around that area and got some half footer smallies, one small largie and another silly slimette who wanted in on the vertical jigging action. Took a picture of the little largemouth but not any of the smallies. Ho hum.

Still seeing marks on sonar in that area but the active fish either got caught or wised up. I moved out into deeper water. At 44 feet I saw a school of fish on the bottom and got a whack on my jigging rod. As I was reeling up the fish my double dropshot rodtip dived to the water and I had a double of respectable perch. Only double of the day. Biggest just under 11 inches.

A few more rattle rattle dinkster perch bites and then a solid CHOMP. More weight. Not a perch but a 15 inch walleye. ALL RIGHT. That made six species for the day…a “super slime”.

Didn’t catch a grundle of any species. Caught the most perch and trout. Nothing spectacular but that crappie was really noteworthy. Deer Creek has really been serving up some exotics this year…white bass, channel cats, bullhead cats and now a crappie. Utah Lake east.

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Sounds like a fun day on the water, even if there weren’t any lunkers! Thanks for the report!

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I din’t know DC had crappie. Any chance that they take hold in there? That would be awesome to have such a nice perch and crappie fishery within 20 minutes of Provo/Orem.

What do you know about the crappie in DC and what is your prediction for the perch and crappie in DC over the next few years oh mighty wise fishing man?![:P]

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:sunglasses:I had heard rumors of crappies in DC before but this is the first one I have seen firsthand. It was fat and healthy so it is finding enough to eat. It was also a female with ovaries beginning to develop for next year.

**One fish does not a huge population make. But sometimes fish are like icebergs…only a small part shows and the rest is not seen until it is too late to prevent disaster. **

I have fished Deer Creek since the early 1960’s and have seen the changes in the biomass and ecology. Used to be full of perch with a goodly number of rainbows and plenty of hefty browns. Lots of big largemouth bass…and no smallies. Tons of crawdads crawling all over the rocks next to shore.

**Then came the walleyes. Didn’t seem to affect fishing much one way or another. A small illegal planting took a long time to generate significant numbers. **

**The big change came with the DWR planting of smallmouth bass. They exploded. They snarfed up all the crawdads and started in on the baby perch. Wasn’t long until the perch crashed and the walleyes got the blame. But when you see wolf packs of young smallies herding newly hatched perch fry along the shoreline…and BOILING on them…you get the idea that the smallies are higher on the food chain. Lots of dink smallies today and only a few largies left. **

Perch dropped way off during the drought years, when the water did not reach up into the brushy flats for them to spawn successfully. When the drought was over then they almost drained the lake for work on the dam. Bad, bad, bad for perch spawn. The good news is that once the lake filled back up it is game on for the perch again. Last year produced more perch…and bigger perch…than I have seen in a long time…both in open water and through the ice. Still not like in the heyday, but better than past years.

**White bass and crappies are a mixed blessing. They produce prolifically…creating more edible fry for the predators. The bad news is that they also feed on the young of their own and other species when they get big enough. **

**I do not think there has been any kind of official projection on the population of either white bass or crappies at this time. Angler creel census counts and ongoing netting surveys will help develop a picture over time. **

I hate bucket biologists. They have been responsible for trashing some previously excellent fisheries. But, as much as I hate to admit it, the illegal newcomers sometimes do well and create a decent new fishery. Gotta point at perch in Starvation as an example. That lake would be a stunted fish wasteland for smallies and wallies if the perch had not exploded.

A lot of times a new species will quietly go on living and reproducing in a lake without being noticed much. If they don’t make it…and either die out, get eaten by predators or get caught out by anglers…then they never make much of an impact. However, if they have a couple of good spawns and have favorable feeding conditions then they can have a great impact on the other species…good or bad.

My prediction? Just like I always predict the weather in Utah: Fair and sunny with occasional heavy downpours.

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Very nice crappie indeed.

A lot like the slabs we caught at CJ-Strike in Idaho the last few years. It would be nice to see more like that being caught close to home. Is that one bigger than the ones you’ve caught at Pineview over the years?

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:sunglasses:I’ve caught some 15s from both Pineview and Willard. But a 13 incher is usually the largest on most trips.

I got spoiled when living in Tucson. Used to regularly get 17 to 19 inchers in the lakes down there. But I’ll settle for Utah’s footlong “slabs” whenever I can find them.

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Morning TD.:sunglasses: I looked at the DWR stocking report and found that between Oct. 4 thru Oct. 7 they planted over 50,000 Rainbows between 9 and teen inches. WOW that alot of rookies out there! Surprised there was any room for any other finny types. Know I see why there is no cause for the worries that were expressed last winter over all the limits being taken home.
Any feelings about Pinveiw trip yet? Maybe fish the narrows area soon.

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:astonished::astonished::astonished::astonished::astonished: wow those are some nice looking Crappers

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:sunglasses:The narrows usually turns on after the first of November. But, there is a good tubing/tooning opportunity for some big crappies sooner than that. PM me and maybe we can gang up on 'em.

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If I can get my sorry behind out of bed in a timely fashion - tomorrow may become my first Pineview adventure. Following some fun posts with all the smallie action there, and occasional musky swipes. Don’t really hear much about the crappie or perch.

Did you catch the gillnettingstory on DC? Seems there are some phat walleyes in there. And the surprise mudcats making themselves known (ugh). At least they’re not carp right!
Were the white bass a product of bucket biologists? It was suggested as much.
That sure looks like a pretty morning, bet it was nice to get a little sunshine on ya.

Thanks for the post. Nother nice adventure.

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“Did you catch the gillnettingstory on DC? Seems there are some phat walleyes in there. And the surprise mudcats making themselves known (ugh). At least they’re not carp right!
Were the white bass a product of bucket biologists? It was suggested as much.”

:sunglasses:Yes indeed. There are some HUGE walleyes in Deer Creek. Have been good numbers for about 30 years. (See the attached pic of a couple of walleyes harvested by spear fishermen from Deer Creek.) But, like walleyes everywhere they are not all that easy to catch…especially the bigguns.

First know mudcats were caught during the past year or so. With that many showing up in one net you gotta believe that they are doing well and are a permanent part of the Deer Creek biomass now. But, the lake already has carp and they have been in there for many years. The difference between Deer Creek and Utah Lake is that there is a balance between predators and carp that keeps them somewhat in check by feeding heavily on carp fry during the months they are small enough to eat. And, to the credit of the spear fishermen, they also shoot a lot of the big spawners.

Of course the white bass (and bullheads) were planted illegally…by bucket bozos. So far the white bass have only shown up at the mouth of the Provo River when they spawn in the spring. But if they have a couple of good spawns they will become another plentiful predator to further diminish the already sparse food supply in Deer Creek.

Perch and Crappies in Pineview? They both take a bit more dedicated fishing efforts and the best action is seasonal…fall, winter and spring. The rest of the year most anglers chase the smallies and tigers…which stay closer to the shoreline during warm months.

I guarantee there will be some perch and crappie reports SOON. I will be launching my tube there often before iceup and drilling holes afterward. I love that lake after the power squadron wimps out and departs.

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2-3 years ago, I saw a dead crappie in shallow water. like tube dude, I had heard of rumors, but that was the only one I have seen.

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Nice Crappie man! That’s an eater.

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Nice report n pics. Thanks for the crappie confirmation/proof nice one at that :sunglasses:. Love how ya take pics of peeps gettin to close. Do they ever ask why? just a side question can the bullheads get big n thick like channels? Congrats on the super slime until then[fishin]

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:sunglasses:Thanks. I appreciate your appreciation.

I used to do more than take pictures. But I have mellowed out in my old age. Now I just shake my head and take the pictures. I have a vast (maybe half vast) collection of pictures of “lonely” boaters from over the past few years. I long ago quit trying to understand when there is a big lake…with only me and them on it…why they have to move within a couple of rod lengths and pretend I am not even there.

I love it when they ask why I am taking their pictures. I usually make a comment about writing a book about stupid people and I need their picture for the cover. (Sometimes my language is a bit more “salty”)

Black bullheads are not even close to channel cats. They seldom get over a couple of pounds anywhere in their range. A two pounder in Utah is huge. Most are “footlongs” and weigh less than a pound. But, they make great targets for kids’ fishing trips and they ARE great eating. Really overlooked by a lot of folks. However, they don’t belong in Deer Creek. Like putting an ugly mixed breed hound into a high falutin’ dog show.

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** Like putting an ugly mixed breed hound into a high falutin’ dog show.**

Hey…looks aren’t everything…they are almost everything.

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Wow - that is some good info on DC. What has happened to the browns? Any decent ones still there? I often hear about lake run browns running up from DC in November. Know much about this?

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:sunglasses:There are still browns in Deer Creek, but not like the good old days. But what is?

**Same old story. Only so much food in the grocery store. When you divide it up among all of the predators something has to change to accomodate a shortage. Once the smallies (and wallies) helped reduce the population of perchlets and crawdads in the lake, the brown population sagged accordingly. **

Browns used to feast heavily each year on baby perch. These days the smallies, wallies, big perch, rainbows…and now the white bass and crappies…don’t leave much for the browns to munch on. Almost impossible to find large schools of baby perch in the spring like there used to be. And whenever you DO see a small school of perchlets it is usually being shadowed by a wolf pack of little smallmouths…mopping them up systematically until the school is decimated.

There ARE still some BIG browns in Deer Creek. But not as many because there are not as many small to middle sized ones. And, yes they do run up the Provo to spawn in the fall…but not in the numbers we used to see. The good news is that the bigguns are not as heavily harvested in the middle Provo because it is fished mostly by fly flingers and C&R anglers. Most large fish are returned to finish spawning and return to the lake. HOWSOMEVER, that is not the case in the main lake. The prevailing mentality is to keep all browns…regardless of size…and especially the big spawning sized fish. Trophies.

Basic biology. Reduce or remove the main food sources and keep whackin’ on the gene pool and you will have an adverse affect on the fishery.