Thanks. Glad you liked the report and pics.
1. I have caught smallmouth all over the country…and lots of them. But, that is the first one like that I have ever seen. No “autopsy” or CSI checkout on stomach contents, but crawdads are number one on the smallie diet in Starvation, as with most other lakes where they coexist. They also eat small perch or other fry, but crawdads are traditionally tops on their menu.
2. Deciding where to go and where to launch is a combination of learning the lakes and knowing how they fish during different times of the year. My first trip to a “new” water…or a new area of one that I fish in other spots…is to survey it for both likely fish holding areas and for “tubing-friendly” launch locations. In some areas, like Rabbit Gulch or Saleratus Wash…on Starvation…I can cover pretty much the entire area in a day’s fishing, if I want to or need to in order to find fish. Generally I don’t have to go too far from the launch spot to score a few. But, if I find that my first choice of spots is “dry”, I load up the tube and go to plan B. That is one of the great appeals of tubing. Very mobile and easy to change venues…without trailering a boat or spending more gas money running from one end of the lake to another…and back.
3. I custom color many of the plastics I use. I buy plain white, pearl, chartreuse, smoke or clear glitter stuff in bulk, and then color them to fit the time, place and species I am fishing. I use the standard plastic dip dyes for major coloring…or simple two tones. But, for fancy designs…like the pale perch…I use permanent markers you can buy at the office supply stores. The colors don’t hold as long as plastic dyes, and both tend to “bleed” after they are colored…but I only do a couple at a time and usually lose them to snags before the trip is over. I always carry markers with me to make up new ones on the water if needed. I just make them up and let them dry for a few minutes in the sun and they are ready for action. I think that a big part of the effectiveness is the custom painted heads I use. As you can see in the pics, those vivid eyes and the pale perch colors on the head are real attractors. I make up the heads in several combinations of hook sizes and head weights so that I can fish shallow or deep…fast or slow…using tubes from 1 1/2" up to about 3".
4. Fishing should be at its best on Starvation throughout September…depending upon weather and dropping water temps. The current 65 degree water temp is ideal for walleyes. They will stay shallower and more active until the temps drop much below 60. Then they will go deeper. You can still catch the heck out of them, but you have to work harder to find them. Ditto for perch. I have caught them as shallow as 12 feet deep right up until the end of September, but on a trip a week later found them in over 30 feet…and by late October I couldn’t find them at all. But, every year is different.
**5. Crawdads can be a good bait, wherever they are a part of the food chain. But, at Starvation you will usually do better with a more active “search” method. That’s why so many seasoned Starvation fans bottom bounce with crawler rigs. They can cover a lot of water to find the fish. Many of them troll or bottom bounce to find where the fish are holding and then cast or vertical jig to put more fish in the boat. I suspect that you will catch more of most species in Starvation by using crawlers…or minnows…than by soaking crawdads. And I also thing you will do better using jigs “sweetened” with crawlers than just soaking a plain crawler. **
**All of the above is simply my personal opinion, based upon personal experience. Many anglers who fish Starvation have their own personal preferences and methods that work best for them. It has been my observation that finding the fish is the most important aspect of catching fish in that lake. Once you find them, and they are somewhat active, you can catch them on just about anything you like to throw. On most of my trips there I keep experimenting with different lures. It is one of my best “laboratories” for testing new lures. **
**Fortunately…or unfortunately…on good days I have more of a problem finding something they WILL NOT hit than something they will. In my fish pictures, I try to include the lure upon which I caught the fish. As I go back through the archives of my pictures from Starvation, I am amazed at the wide range of lures that have caught fish for me there over the past few years. **