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.

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.

RMA Tournamnet at Willard Bay

Thursday I participated in the Rocky Mountain Angler tournament at Willard Bay. We met in the parking lot at 6:30 am and stared in awe at the 4 foot swells being produced by the descending cold front. Having the smallest boat in the group I was extra intimidated by the wind and whitecaps. As the wind started to subside I was feeling extra confident, as the week before I was able to fill the boat with walleye by trolling crank baits. The weather conditions were not friendly to casting or bottom bouncing so trolling crank baits seemed to be on the menu once more. Along with about four other captains I slowly made my way out past the safety of the marina. We spent the next 30 minutes nose into the waves and hoping the worst had passed. This was not the case. The wind made another rally and chased us back to the marina riding with the waves the whole way. After another half hour of waiting the weather pulled a 180. Like someone had flipped a light switch, the sky turned blue and the wind stopped. Finally, it was time. I tried trolling the same locations that I had previously had success, trolling the same lures at the same speeds. Something was different. We were not catching fish. We changed lures, speeds and colors. No fish. A few hours later I finally connected with a fish. I was relieved to have removed the skunk from the boat but a little let down to see it was a catfish. I had never trolled a catfish at 3 MPH. Soon after I caught a nice sized wiper. Dan, my tournament partner caught a 20+ inch walleye which ended up being the final fish of the day.

I believe any day of fishing is a good day even though my expectations were corrected and brought down to earth in comparison to the previous weeks success. All in all I learned a few things:

1.   Be very careful when judging wind conditions prior to launching your boat. The waves and wind are often much worse than they look.
2   Fish are not always where you left them. Always consider environmental factors when targeting fish.
3   Especially when targeting predator fish, the wind blown side of the lake will often yield better results. Even if it is where the water is the most turbulent.

Final Tally:

1 Walleye

1 Wiper

1 Catfish

Success at Willard Bay

For 4 years now my brother-in-law and I have been jabbering about taking the boat up to Willard Bay to hunt Walleye and Wiper. Neither of us had ever caught a Wiper and Saturday we decided to realize this ever discussed ambition. We started out fishing just south of the submerged island with bottom bouncers and worm harnesses. We immediately marked a sizable stack of fish, dropped a marker buoy, and proceeded to catch 3 Walleye and 2 Crappie.

It was not long before reinforcements started arriving, but it did not seem like they were showing up to help. Within 20 minutes there were a dozen other boats closing in on my marker. The nerve of some people, trying to crowd me out of my own spot. After all I did have my name on it, yeah... um... technically it was written on the back of my marker which was floating on the spot. After 35 minutes without another bite we decided it was best to relocate. I started on a N.W. bearing trolling toward the West dike. Soon we began hooking into Walleye. The catch rate tapered off from earlier excitement  but the fish were definitely of greater size.

After reeling in 4 sizable Walleye and 2 Crappie the boy looked like he needed a break. In fact, he did not complain too much when I lovingly recommended that I should take the next one.  

As the afternoon started to settle in we had put 2 limits of Walleye in the boat but no Wiper. We decided unless we got serious now we were likely going home without checking Wiper off our species list. We trolled over to the S.E. side of the island. Then it happened, like I hooked a truck in oncoming traffic, my line started flying of my spool. I thought for sure this was it. After about a 15 minute fight I saw what appeared be a 40 lb fire breathing beast from the depths. Before the fish was netted, my brother-in-law leaned over and congratulated me on catching my first Wiper. I immediately knew I was in trouble. Before I could mutter the words "take it back" the fish came off the line and disappeared into the stained water. Don't get me wrong, I don't normally consider myself a superstitious man. But then again I don't exactly act normal when I am fishing.

To add insult to injury my brother-in-law landed the next fish and it was a Wiper. Time was running out and I was getting nervous. After releasing another Walleye we landed 2 more Wiper, one for me and one for the boy. I can now vouch for the athleticism of this hybrid. When they hit, there is no question as to what it is on the end of the line. To sum it up in one word, "Exciting!"

There was never a prouder moment than watching my son show up all the other guys around the fish cleaning station. I usually remind my boy that it's not polite to brag... But not today.

Final Tally:

13 Walleye

3 Wiper

2 Crappie

Lake Powell with RMA

Shortly after attending my first RMA meeting I was invited by some of the guys to participate in their Lake Powell Tournament. Come to find out, to these fearless fisherman the word Tournament is synonymous with "lets go fishing".

 We arrived in Bullfrog on Thursday night, had a dutch oven dinner and set up camp for the night. The next morning we hit the lake. The scenery was fantastic. It was a like a trip to a half flooded alien planet.

We made our way up to Good Hope Bay and started fishing. I really did not have many pre-designs about the trip. In fact, I really did not know what to expect. I had been to Lake Powell about 16 years ago and only ever caught a Smallmouth Bass. I had never caught a Walleye or a Striped Bass and I was hoping to knock a few firsts off of my species list. I soon landed a Smallmouth and my boat buddy quickly caught a Walleye. I was excited to see a Walleye in the boat and was waiting patiently for my turn.  We fished and fished and fished, had several bites that were followed by jumping Largemouth but the day was interrupted by a surprise wind storm. Other than a bonus Smally from the dock that would be it for the day.

We spent that night in a tent braving winds that caused me to fear waking up in the land of OZ. The morning came with much anticipation but the sky showed no sign of letting up. It would be too risky to hit the canyons in those conditions, so we decided to wait it out.

Saturday night we accepted an invitation to stay with some of the guys at a rented trailer. We hunkered down watched the NBA playoffs and ate BBQ and fish fry. Even though I was disappointed by the weather I had a fantastic day and learned a ton from these seasoned Walleye veterans.

Sunday morning came and we headed back up to Sevenmile Creek. Right away we felt bite after bite after bite, but there were no hook ups. In the shallow bay we could see several bluegill swimming around and chasing our lures under the boat. From around the bend I was hearing a faint yell WALLEYE!! Then a few minutes later another Walleye!! It echoed off of the narrow canyon walls, Walleye!!. It was one of our other groups. Every time I heard the yell I felt more and more discouraged. I felt that I was destined to be let down. Just then I felt a furious and powerful hit. After a fantastic fight filled with darts and runs ending with the splash of the net, I held up my first Striped Bass for a photo op.

After getting back to it with no more interest in my lure I re-rigged a full crawler on a drop shot. A few minutes later I felt a slight tug and set the hook. Out of the water came my first Walleye. These two fish took the edge off. If I didn't catch another fish the entire trip I would have felt just happy with what I had.

In the next two hours I landed two more Walleye, another Striper, a Smallmouth and several Bluegill. This was the fishing that I had traveled to Lake Powell to experience. Even though we had to head back early I was hooked. Lake Powell was slow to make an appearance but when it did there was no holding back.

After saying our goodbyes on the water and filleting a whole lot of fish we hit the road for the long drive home. 

The Final Tally:

3 Walleye (First Ever)

2 Striped Bass (First Ever)

5 Bluegill

3 Smallmouth Bass

The Best Walleye Education Ever