TubeBabe and I headed for Bunny Gulch yesterday for a worm killing session. Got 'er done. Mighty was the slaughter of wormkind and great was the catch of multiple speciesâŠperch, walleye, smallies and rainbows (Starvation Steelhead).
Air temps 60 at launchâŠ7:00 amâŠand 90 at 1:00 pm take out. Water temps 66 to 70. Water levels still quite highâŠnormal level for about late June.
Started with the customary dinkster perch onslaught. Actually caught doubles on a tandem rig a few times. But once I reached my first target area I began to get a bunch of âsmall-eyesââŠwallies from 7" (seegars) to underfooters. Was catching more of them than dink perch.
Moved out to deeper water (28 - 30 feet) and found fewer fish on sonar but began catching a larger class of dink perch and smalleyes. Grundles of both. Found a couple of areas that must have been paved with the junior sized toothy ones. Scored a rare double on walleyes on my tandem rig. But some of the fish in that area were also bigger. Got quite a few footlongs, and early teen inchers, including a couple of 15" and a 16" fish. Not huge but better than dinksâŠand big enough to fillet.
Also picked up a few stray smallies in that area. But the biggest might have gone about 12". Fun and feisty. Probably could have scored more smallies if I had worked the rocky areas rather than the deeper flats.
Big perch were scarceâŠas they have been in past trips to Bunny Gulch. Picked up a basket fish here and thereâŠwith the biggest about 11". Had one humongo right up to the surface but only lightly hooked by a thread of tissue. A couple of head shakes at the surface and the 13-14 incher let me have my jig back.
Had some good fun with the everlovinâ âStarvation Steelheadâ. Caught one early on a bubble and fly but they went deep in the warm summer water as soon as the sun got higher. Picked up several on small tube jigs and on my âNo Name Lureâ while fishing deep for perch and walleye. They love that red and chartreuse tube (RC Killer) and also like the white with a red eye. But they absolutely creamed the no name in pale perch color with a little gold blade. However, in the warmer water they did not put up the same battle they do in cooler times. They stayed deep and slugged it outâŠand not one hit the surface. Totally uncharacteristic.
When we launched, TubeBabe stayed along the south shoreline of the gulch and I worked across to fish the breaklines of the north part of the channel. She fished shallowerâŠ15 to 25 feetâŠand had about the same success as I did across the channel, fishing deeper. She also got only a few decent perchâŠamong oodles of dinksters. She also got lotsa wee walliesâŠwith a few keepers. And, she also got a few smallies and enough rainbows to keep a limit of 4. A couple were pushing 20".
There was a light ripple on the water until about 9 am and then it was glass until after noon. A couple of serious anglers wandered back into the gulch late in the morning and fished close together along the emerging rock ledge on the south side. They reported getting a few nice perch in the 22â zone. There were NO jet skis or water skiers in our area all day. Loved it. School in session, hunting season and midweek all combined to calm the waters. Peace.
A bit after noon we noticed our fish getting stressed and going belly up in the baskets and debated whether to make a speed run to the car and put them in the coolerâŠand fish a while longer. The fish were still biting fast and furious. I caught some of my biggest walleyes after 11 am. But when the puffy white clouds on the horizon began to swell up and get darkâŠwith the sound of distant thunderâŠwe decided to boogie early. Good move. The black clouds closed in behind us as we headed down the road to our traditional stop at Betos in Heber City.