TubeBabe and I met up with TopH20, Dick and Allen of the Price Perch Posse again yesterday. What a difference a week makes. Last Tuesday it was balmy temps, little snow on the ice, no wind and lots of porky perch. This Tuesday it was 10 degrees colder, several inches of new snow on the ice, pesky cold breezes all day and the bigger perch were mighty scarce.
We stayed all day in the same GPSed area we had done so well last week. Lots of dinks (as usual) but only one toad and several sub-toads for the group. I landed the only rainbow and lost another at the hole. Other anglers we talked to reported similar success…or lack of same.
Highlight of the day was the Chowderama provided by H20. The smoked “Starvation steelhead” with cream cheese and crackers was a great appetizer for the steaming (but quickly cooling) perch chowder that followed. No survivors. Nobody didn’t like the chowder and there wasn’t any left. Funny to see folks licking their soup bowls.
**We suspected that the thick new layer of snow was mostly to blame for the change in fishing success. We guessed that the larger perch had either moved to deeper water or were simply less active in the lower light conditions under the new snow covering. **
**At one point, TopH20 layed down on the ice, peering into a hole…with a coat over his head to block the light. He reported seeing hordes of dink perch but no larger fish. We accused him of making a “face down snow angel”. **
One other group of anglers coming off the ice reported that they had a camera and had seen a few good sized perch early in the day, but that that none of them would even look at the baited jigs. I later got another report that some guys had done pretty well on larger perch by fishing deeper water.
**I gotta admit I probably overdid it a bit yesterday. We usually get off the ice shortly after noon, since the bite is generally slow by then. Yesterday, we stayed until almost 4. The combination of a twisted back from a fight with my auger…dehydration from not taking anything to drink…and the added exertion of trudging a heavy sled on a long trip through the new snow…well…it whupped my aging behind. I “hit the wall” going back in and I am grateful to Dick for dragging my sled the remaining distance back to the vehicles. Once I was able to sit in the car and get rehydrated…and a bit of energy food…I recovered quickly. **
Last week we were all prepared to write a finish to our ice fishing for the year. The good fishing kinda renewed our fever…for a week. But, after being abused on Starvy again this week harsh reality set in again. Stick a fork in me…I’m done.
Sounds like you all had a fun day. Those Starvation Bow sure are chunky!
I like TopH2os old school fishfinder ! Done that before. The newer type of FF are much easier!
Joe and I went ice fishing up in ID. this last Monday. We decided to make hot lunches too. We had Grilled cheese and elk steaks! It sure make the difference when you have a HOT lunch! Think it will become the way to go for us.
With the season starting to wind down it wont be long till the tubes and tunes are wet once again! Cats beware.
As you predicted they aint there every time and they wont bite sometimes when they are. Maybe you should do a little of your engineering on that ice sled. Maybe a motor, some tracks, radar antenae, maybe a remote control. Sort of have it deliver your stuff on the ice, drill your holes and have hot coffee ready when ya get there.. Glad you recovered from the ordeal, sorry you didnt find the jumbos this trip.
“As you predicted they aint there every time and they wont bite sometimes when they are.”
And sometimes I would rather not be right.
Yeah, it would be nice to have more “creature comforts” on ice. But that would take away some of the “charm” of ice fishing. I have voluntarily elected to do without tents, heaters, wheelers and some of the electronic gadgetry that other iceaholics seem to require for a perfect ice fishing experience. But I might be tempted to “upgrade” a bit to extend and enhance my hard deck enjoyment in the future.
Yep more toys. Its amazing the things we talk ourselves into needing. For 20 years I carried a bucket that was also my tackle box and my chair. I carried 1 rod…before the two pole permit and a hand auger…Its amazing I ever caught a fish…I have the same problem with hunting gear, now I am getting to old to carry all my necessities
going that way next week want to hit all the good spots hoping they stay frozen. I hail from mt. pleasant(central) and going to see the grandsons in altamont. hope to fish DC, starvation, pelican lake and any other area that are still frozen. In regards to all the (crap)stuff i bring which is alot already seems like I’m bringing more for the grandkids. camera, poles, tent, food, extra clothing will need an 18 wheeler soon. The boys make for good pack mules though hauling all the stuff out and in. NEED ANY INFO ON PELICAN LAKE ICE HOPING TO CATCH A BUNCH FOR THE GRANDSONS.
The good news is that the whole Vernal area has remained largely free of “global warming” this winter…and especially the last couple of weeks. All reports are of good ice, good access and good fishing. Best success has been on the east side. Just follow the trails and drill wherever you feel lucky. If you don’t get fish quickly, be prepared to move around a bit. Usually doesn’t take a lot of looking to find some fish. Use the standard small jigs with crawlers, waxies or meal worms.
I was very glad to see your post this morning. It’s obvious you are in good spirits and fully recovered from yesterday’s ordeal getting off the ice. You had us a little worried coming off the ice.
We had a lengthy discussion on the drive home concerning the target for next week’s outing. Alan of course wants to hit Mill Meadow again but I’m not sure that would be a wise choice. Everyone seems to say it’s slowed down quite a bit.
I haven’t ruled out a return to Starvation if the reports improve.
Once again, glad you’re back in fine form. Until the next get-together…Mike
Thanks fer yer kindly concern. Happily I didn’t check out yet. Don’t plan to for a while neither.
Good luck if you terminal masochists ride again next week. If so, it will be without me. Putting up my hard deck toys until the water firms up again later in the year. I got other options now.
Let me know when you are putting the boat on Starvy. I’ll either climb in the boat with ya or put the rear view mirror on my tube so I don’t run ya over.
thanks for the info. was hoping all the cold weather up there was done especially for me HA HA. had a great time last year at pelican but had not taken the grandsons due to unsafe ice at the edges last year. i’ve stocked up on a lot of little jigs. I even took your advice and cut down 3 of my longer poles to 42". haven’t had a chance to try them out but looking forward to using them. thanks again for your help. hope to fish with you and your wife someday. can’t get my husband out much so you sure are lucky. not many women love to fish as much as i do.
We debated those exact questions out there on the ice yesterday. We did most of our fishing in the same spot where we had such good luck last week. The water was 13 to 16 feet deep with a solid mat of vegetation on the bottom. We did move around a little and we fished in water as deep as 45 feet and as shallow as 10 feet without finding any of the larger perch. I don’t know how the snow cover on the ice affects the perch. There obviously is less light getting through the cover so I guess one could assume the fish might go shallower where there is more light.
Perch and walleye however are low light predators, so maybe the decreased light doesn’t affect them as much as other fish. All I can say is that we’re stumped and looking for the same answers. We did get some perch last winter in water as deep as 60 feet in Rabbit Gulch. We tried that depth more than three weeks ago and didn’t have any success.
As the week before, we were fishing a shelf in 15 feet of water…that dropped off quickly into the 45 foot deep channel. That area is covered with short growth of green weeds, which continued to stay healthy under the clear ice with plenty of sunshine coming through. That greenery grows invertebrates and attracts small perch that feed on them. The small perch attract the predators…big perch, walleyes and trout.
Perch are close relatives of walleyes but unlike the nocturnal toothy critters perch become mostly dormant after dark. That makes them easy pickin’s for the predatos that feed after dark.
Since perch prefer bright sunlight they generally are more active on bright days and when there is good light penetration through the ice. The thicker the snow and the lower the underwater light levels the less active the perch become. And the longer the lake remains capped the less the perch feed and the lighter their bites. At least that is the way it is for the big fat pregnant females. The dinks seem to feed actively no matter what the conditions.
It is pretty certain that there are some larger perch still hanging out in the shallower water…dining whenever they become more active for a short time. But a higher percentage of the larger perch have likely retreated back to the depths of the deeper channels in the lake…up to 75 feet deep or more. Best fishing during these conditions is usually in water from 35 to 55 feet deep but active biters can sometimes be found both shallower and deeper.
TubeDude thats how it goes one day your on next week your off thats just that lake but i but you had a good time with the rest of the BFT friends out there. Question for you what were you guys using and how many little perch did you catch?
Best access is the “normal” turnoff from Hwy 40 a mile or so before you get to the bridge and a mile or so after you pass the “Strawberry River” sign on the south side of the road. There is a left turn lane and some mail boxes but no official marker on the road to direct you to Rabbit Gulch. You will immediately be going east on old Hwy 40 and you follow it straight to the lake. Don’t turn left at the fork or you will get lost in the backcountry…out among the oil wells. Attaching a map to help.
I don’t think there are many of the standard open water fishing spots that haven’t been drilled through the hard deck. And most of them have produced at least something…at one time or another. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any “go to” spots that consistently produce large numbers of fish on every trip. The fish just move around too much and have different schedules for peak activity. There are times your screen can be full of fish and you can’t buy a bite. At other times you stare at an empty screen wherever you drill and you’d swear the fish were all dead…or having a party somewhere and you weren’t invited.
Starvation is a big lake with lots of variations in depth and structure. There are lots of fish of all species but there is just too much underwater real estate for them to take advantage of and it is often more a matter of luck and timing to get fish than anything to do with real skill.
But, us fishermen love to be abused and Starvation is a favorite hangout for masochists.
" Question for you what were you guys using and how many little perch did you catch?"
We used a variety of jigs and jigging spoons…tipped with waxies, crawlers and “flavored” perch pieces. Same stuff as we used last week to load up. A bit more experimenting this week just to try to find something else that might work better.
**I pretty much stayed with my “go to” rig…a pale perch “Holy Jig” (pictured with the rainbow) and a white glow “Rinkee” about 2’ above on a short dropper. I used perch meat on the HJ and crawler on the dropper. **
Last week all my larger fish came on the HJ/meat setup. Ditto for this week. In fact, I caught the only jumbo…just under 11"…and several about 8-9" all on the HJ. I strongly suspect that part of the reason for the success of that rig is that I bounce it on the bottom and then raise it just a few inches to let the little jig on the short wire rest just above the bottom…right at the top of the short weed growth. The big perch seemed to be cruising through with the weeds tickling their bellies and not coming up off the bottom much to eat anything they had to work for.
And, last week the larger perch often hit somewhat harder than the dink perch. But this week it was hard to tell the difference. In fact, I caught my largest perch by showing Alan my “cocked wrist” wrist snap hookset technique. I had just told him that “Hooksets are free” and you sometimes had to give a quick snap even on the light bites…because the bigger fish were biting just like the small ones. As my rod tip twitched…just like it had with several dinksters before…I gave it a quick upward snap…and the rod tip stayed in place…and then pulled down. Couldn’t have been a better show-and-tell. Unfortunately, it was tough to duplicate.
How many little perch did I catch? Not as many as most weeks but more (percentagewise) than last week. The smaller ones were not as dense when the bigger fish were cruising the area. But I still molested a lot of the juveniles. At least a grundle or a grundle and a half. Unlike some members of this forum I do not carry a clicker or even attempt to keep an accurate count…unless I am approaching a limit of keepers.
We all caught a surprising number of little 3-4 inch two year old perch. Amazing how they can work on your baited jigs until they get the point of even a size 6 hook inside their mouths and signal for a ride upstairs. As most of us know, perch this size are “walleye chow” and are also prime vittles for smallies, larger perch and both browns and rainbows. It is good to see lots of them in the lake because that means all the other species still have plenty of groceries. But they sure can be a nuisance when they swarm your jigs before the bigger fish can mosey over for a serious looksee.
TubeBabe and I met up with TopH20, Dick and Allen of the Price Perch Posse again yesterday. What a difference a week makes. Last Tuesday it was balmy temps, little snow on the ice, no wind and lots of porky perch. This Tuesday it was 10 degrees colder, several inches of new snow on the ice, pesky cold breezes all day and the bigger perch were mighty scarce.