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[#0000ff]Well...almost a perfect 10. Weather was great...cooler and a bit cloudy compared to Salt Lake. Wind was light to nonexistent. Lots of 10 inch smallies...some larger and some smaller. Ditto for perch. And a 10 inch crappie to cap it off.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Rode up with Pa and met fellow tuber Dan Judd at the ramp. We were all on the water by 7. Powered out to deeper water to try to find the perch reported last week by Pikeman. Found some big clusters of fish that looked like Willard shad balls. But nothing that wanted to play.
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[#0000ff]Dan had reported some light hits in shallower water so I cruised into 10-12 feet. Found lots of fish the rest of the morning. Went through a box of crawlers feeding the dinks...and catching a few larger fish. I long ago established a benchmark of about 9" on perch for filletability. These were all healthy so I kept some 9s and 10s...and a precious couple of larger ones. Smallies were active in the same area and accepted the same jigs and fligs. A few pushed the footlong mark. And just before getting off the water about noon I scored a 10 inch crappie. Dan caught one about the same size earlier in the day.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Pa headed up toward the dam and fished the shoreline out to deeper water up there. He too caught grundles of perchlets and smallettes...with a few keeping size.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Dan worked pretty much the same general area I did and caught all the usual suspects...in numbers. But about 10 am he tied on a diving crankbait and began working along a rocky rubble shoreline. It was nonstop smallie action with a few larger perch a well. I think he likes his new tube and I also think he likes Echo.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I think the last time I fished Echo was ice fishing, before I moved to Arizona in the early 1980s. Only caught a couple of hatchery pet bows and have never returned for all the new denizens in the ecology of Echo. Glad I finally got around to minding my ABCs...anything but catfish.
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thanks for a great day Pat. great all around. fun place today for sure.
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Glad to see you scored a crappie. I did well for crappie at Echo Wednesday morning. All were 11 to 12 inchers.
Gabe
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Freaky fisherman, looks like you have your catch layer out at a cleaning station. Does Echo have a cleaning station?
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No, I took them to rockport for cleaning. Not sure if Echo will get a cleaning station or not.
Gabe
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Nice fish, and thanks for the report. That one crappie you caught makes me want to go up there and see if I can land a few. I'm heading up in a couple days to find some of them catfish.
Can't believe you didn't have the power squad out there with ya, that place is usually pretty busy.
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I concur it was a great morning.
The power squadron showed up after you guys left. I managed another dozen including a nice large mouth before it got too crazy. I didn't know there were large mouth in Echo.
I can always tell when I have been catching lots of small mouth, sore arm and shoulder afterwards.
Nice to meet you Pa.
Launching with the Dude
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Largest Smallie of the Day
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I forgot to mention that with the carp I snagged, it was a 5 species day.
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So how deep were you getting the crappie ?? Suspended or on the bottom? Nice catch !!
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Both, most suspended though. I would mark them on the finder and drop my jig down to them. I wasnt tipping my jigs with anything.
Gabe
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TD, looks like we should have joined you instead of going to WB's North Marina. Windy morning with several jet skiers around Eagle Beach. However, fishing was pretty good. Between the two of us, we caught four or five kitties and Amy picked up a pretty good perch when we returned to the marina. It would have been better with a few less skiers and a lot less wind. At least the company was good.
Larry
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[quote Freakyfisherman]Glad to see you scored a crappie. I did well for crappie at Echo Wednesday morning. All were 11 to 12 inchers.
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[#0000FF]No wonder I couldn't find them in the spot you told me about. You caught all the dumb ones.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Nice work.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]The power squadron was just arriving as we were leaving. I like it like that. I usually launch my tube early and leave by midday just to avoid the wackos.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I have had private reports and have seen pictures of the cats in Echo. There is not a big population but there are some big cats. Good luck and be sure to post a report. I know you will when you bring in a couple of "yardlongs".
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[#0000FF]Glad you hear you at least caught a few. You are corrupting Amy...but some addictions are better than others.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I have caught a couple of perch during the summer this year too. Maybe we can hope for a productive fall for those jumbos again this year. Didn't do too well last year.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Once school starts the PS herd will thin out a bit. At least it usually does. I usually hit the north marina a lot more starting in late August. Stay in touch.
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[#0000FF]You done good. Glad Echo treated you well. I know I won't wait so long to fish it again.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I really like your new ride...and how you have it set up. I'd be happy to help with those PVC additions we discussed. I'm sure a couple of strategically placed vertical rod holders will make your new tubing life easier.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Here's one of the pics I shot.[/#0000FF]
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Great report Pat, sounds like Echo treated you and the other guys good, makes me wonder what we did wrong when we fished it last month, oh well, live and learn I guess.
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[#0000FF] You weren't in a float tube. LOL[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF] As we were all 3 set up and ready to launch a couple of other old fudds were just getting ready to launch their tin boat. I told one of them that he must not have gotten the memo...that Echo was reserved for float tubes only today. He didn't miss a lick. Said the memo got there late and they were already headed for the lake. Firing right back I said "That's okay. We'll let it go this time, and we will share the lake with you."
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[#0000FF] Just goes to show ya that us tuber types are sometimes a lot more tolerant than boaters...at least some of them. Can't begin to remember all the times I have had boaters violate the proximity law (150 feet under power)...and when I protested they came back with "You don't own the whole lake". As if they did.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF] Seriously, we both know that all lakes are similar in that every trip is a new trip. What worked last week...or even yesterday...may not work today. And even minor changes in water levels or temperatures can change what the fish are doing...or not doing.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF] But there is one thing we tubers usually do to help insure a measure of success. We all bring walkie talkies and go different directions and try different techniques. When one of us finds a pattern we share it so that all may get in on the action. An individual in a boat, tube, toon or yak is sometimes at a di vantage if they can't cover lots of water and try multiple tactics. If you get lucky early, you have a good day. Otherwise you have to dust off all your customary excuses...moon phase, weather, DWR screwups, etc. It is never the fault of the angler who can't find active fish.
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You are of course correct, every day is different but I think the biggest issue was the time of day we started fishing for them. We cruised around looking for likely spots with fish on the finder early but then we went after trout, thinking we could come back later and catch them but by the time we went back those bigger clusters of fish were gone and so was our best chance. We still gave it a try and got a few half hearted bites but gave up after an hour. After reading your post, I think we would have done better, if we had gone after those big groups of fish we saw early, instead of the trout but now we know and we will give it another try.
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I grew up 35 miles from Echo and fished it a lot growing up. I noticed TD mentioned finding the perch in shallower water. I don't know if this pattern holds up at other Utah waters, but we always found the perch at echo in 8-12 fow +/- in late summer.
Also, for what it is worth. We never did as good for perch near the dam. Mid-lake was always much better. I think they move into the deeper basin near the dam in winter but we never did very good for them in the summer near the dam (Not sure if that is the area you fished or not)
I'm happy to see Echo producing again, the dam repair a few years ago kind of put the lake in a funk.
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[#0000FF]As GCS has observed, feeding fish move into shallower water in late summer. A big part of that is the food chain thing...the groceries. That's where the young of the year perchlets go to find the bitty bites (zooplankton and other small aquatic stuff) upon which they feed...and the predators follow. [/#0000FF][#0000FF][#0000FF][b]Just about all t[/#0000FF]he fish I kept and filleted yesterday had one or two baby perch (1.5 inches or so) in their stomachs. If you can find an area the food is concentrating you should be able to find larger feeding fish.[/b][/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I haven't had a chance to fish Echo through the changing seasons, but based upon what I have experienced at Pineview, Deer Creek and Jordanelle the zooplankton (perchlet food) move to deeper water as it cools in late fall. The small perch follow and the larger fish follow the smaller fish. I have had several successive trips in the fall where every trip found the fish a few feet deeper. By ice-up time they will be anywhere from 30 to 50 feet deep in most lakes with perch as a forage base.
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