Starvation Reservoir Discovery

Watch the video here!

Starvation is a big reservoir with plenty of room to explore, and it has a reputation for being a pretty diverse fishery. That made it a good place to start on a new project.

The idea is pretty simple. I want to visit 50 waters with my family, fish them, figure out what works, and share what we discover. I will be putting the information here on Utah Fisherman and also making videos for a new YouTube channel.

So Starvation was one of our first stops.

Starvation Reservoir is best known for its Walleye, but it also contains Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Wiper, Yellow Perch, and other species. The combination of cold-water and warm-water species makes Starvation an interesting destination for anglers who want to target several different fish during a single trip.

We started out on the north end of the reservoir and began exploring. I was still getting used to the boat, so there was a little bit of fishing and a little bit of figuring things out. We found some rainbows and walleye and started getting a feel for the lake.

Then we got checked by a DNR officer.

After that we went back to fishing, but we couldn't quite get back on the fish we had been finding earlier. Instead of beating the same water to death, we decided to head toward the south end of the reservoir.

We started looking for rock piles and the bridge pylons. Once we found some structure, we started finding fish again. The perch were very cooperative, and we caught quite a few of them. We also picked up a number of smaller walleye.

We even hooked into a really nice rainbow. Unfortunately, that one didn't make it to the boat, but that's fishing.

After spending the morning fishing, we took advantage of the afternoon and did skiing, wakeboarding, tubing and a little cliff jumping. You gotta love Starvation. You can fish, explore the reservoir, pull the kids around, and still have plenty of water to yourself.

After getting back to camp, we still had some daylight. We grabbed some fishing gear and headed down to the shore. This turned out to be one of the better surprises of the trip. We started catching rainbows from shore, and some of them were pushing 18 inches.

There is something pretty satisfying about catching a good-sized trout from shore after spending the day chasing fish from a boat. You don't need a bunch of electronics or a complicated setup. Sometimes you just need to find the right place and put a bait in front of a fish. We caught several good rainbows before calling it a day.

 

For me, Starvation checked a lot of boxes.

We found walleye, perch and rainbow trout. We caught fish from the boat and from shore. We found places to fish, explored different parts of the reservoir, and had plenty of room for some family boating and watersports.

We didn't figure everything out. In fact, there are still a lot of things I want to try the next time we come back.

We brought our bounty home and finished the trip the best way I know how—fish tacos.

Watch the video to see our trip to Starvation Reservoir and what we found.

Manila Pond Madness

Over the past several years I have been afflicted by, "The Muzzle Loader Deer Hunt Course". It's a real thing, look it up. For what ever reason, each year as the deer hunt gets closer some unplanned, unanticipated event comes up preventing me from participating in the hunt. This year my work schedule prevented me from taking time off. For some unexplained reason I opted to get up and take the family to Manila Creek Pond instead of hitting the hills this Saturday morning.

Bluegill action was non stop and everyone was able to catch more little fish than they had fingers to count them. I decided to take the opportunity to teach the boy the basics of fly fishing. Within a few short minutes he picked up the back cast and started showing early signs of a new addiction. He fished non stop for almost three hours catching bluegill about every other cast.

Scattered between the Bluegill we caught several Rainbow Trout and somehow one of them ended up swallowing the hook. We tried everything shy of mouth to mouth trying to revive the poor little rainbow but despite our efforts he bellied up.

Not long after our failed release we caught the attention of a near by seagull who gave us an interesting show.

Eventually we had to pry the kids away from the pond in order to take them home for lunch. Nobody kept count of the number of fish we caught this morning but my best estimates are somewhere north of fifty.

Final Tally:

A whole lot of Bluegill

& a Beautiful Morning

Strawberry in September

I received a text from a friend insisting that we should go fishing this weekend. The peer pressure was overwhelming and I gave in. We brought our two oldest boys and arrived at Strawberry Bay Marina just after 7am with hopes of catching a tagged Rainbow Trout.

The boys were excited and quickly started making dollar bets on who was going to catch the first fish. The worms proved to be the ticket as we all took turns reeling in Cutthrout.

It was nowhere near our best day at The Berry, only landing about a dozen fish. However those we did catch were heavy, most were pushing the 22" mark with a couple just over.

We never did bring in a Rainbow but had a great time regardless. The afternoon winds started up early but we stuck it out until about noon before heading back for pizza.

We noticed a big gathering at the visitors center on the way out and realized the salmon were running. Red, hook jawed salmon splashing through the shallow winding Strawberry River, AWESOME!

On the way out of the visitors center my boy was wearing a new shirt. I asked where he got it and he responded that he got it because he made a donation. I ask what money he donated and he replied, "The dollar I won catching the first fish, duh!".

Final Tally:

12 Hefty Cutts

0 Rainbows

0 Tags

1 T-Shirt

Silver Lake on the 4th of July

To celebrate Independence Day we decided to hike to Silver Lake located up American Fork Canyon above Silver Lake Flats Reservoir. We started early to avoid the crows but still found a parking shortage. The day was slightly overcast and a bit cooler than it had previously been this summer, a perfect day for a hike.

We had great little hikers that made the entire trip to the lake unassisted. The hike in was 2.2 miles with a 1400 ft elevation gain. The first half of the hike is through green quaky forest riddled with wildflowers. The second half of the hike includes a couple of stream crossings and ascends rapidly toward a granite basin.

The lake is normally pretty cold but is much more bearable after the steep hike. I would only recommend swimming during the warmest parts of the summer. The beginning of July was a little early for a dip but don't tell that to the kids.

As the little ones slowly made their way into the cold water I rigged up a rod and selected a nice looking prince nymph. Every cast produced a bite but it took about two dozen attempts to successfully land a beautiful little Grayling.  After landing a few more grayling I started around the lake in search of another promising spot. The north end was shallow and weedy but produced several colorful Brook Trout.

The kids entertained themselves finding rocks and and a variety of little critters. We only spent a few hours at the lake before prodding the kids back down the trail. The views, dark green forests and beautiful fish species make this hike a splendid and hidden fishing hole. I am sure we will be back soon.

Final Tally:

3 Grayling

4 Brook Trout

1 Frozen Little Girl

5 Skinned Knees

Early Spring on Utah Lake

I had this crazy idea that I should learn the fishing secrets of Utah Lake since it is only 5 minutes away and easily accessible. In the morning we drove 20 minutes down to Lincoln Beach to try for spring Walleye.

I had recently purchased a couple of planer boards and wanted to give them a try. We trolled for several hours with more than a dozen snags but no recognizable bites. Other fisherman reported having fish on but not able to land any. But thats what they all say!

 It was a beautiful spring morning and the view of the mountains from the lake was spectacular. The planer boards worked exactly as I had hoped, except for the lack of a 10 lb trophy Walleye, we had nothing to complain about.

I ran worm harnesses 6' behind inline sinkers 10' behind the planer board. On the next trip out I plan to swap out the trailing treble hook on the worm harness for a single hook and maybe use a float on the harness to avoid the snags.

2015 Wasach Back Quad Fishalon

I am not going to lie, I get pretty excited for ice fishing season every year and even more so about the Back Quad Fishalon. As the tournament approached I was very concerned for the thickness of ice on the reservoirs but I figured that if the ice was not safe they would postpone the event until open water and continue as an open water tournament.

Day one of the tournament came at East Canyon Reservoir. Getting onto the lake was a little sketchy but the ice seamed fine once we were away from the edge. Most of the action happened in the morning and the first Rainbow Trout was the largest of the day measuring just over 17". I felt excited about this fish as it would have put me in the top 3 the previous year. The day was beautiful and warm and very pleasant excluding the fact that fish were somewhat hard to come by.

Just before noon they called the event because of unsafe ice conditions. As I turned in my fish I realized that several others caught fish just as big as mine. I considered myself fortunate because most of the contestants had not caught a fish, which would put me in a favorable starting point for the the rest of the event. All in all it was a very good day on the ice.

A short time later I saw an email survey asking if contestants wanted to participate in an open water tournament and a follow up email canceling the event altogether. The news caused a sinking feeling in my stomach. To make matters worse I wasn't able to find safe ice anywhere else in order to pursue my own ice fishing endeavors. Ice fishing season was over!