Pelican 5/20-5/21

[leaky]

Hii folks,

Let's see, where do I start. Temp.s were 76-78/49-51 (Vernal), windy/brezzy, dry, water temp.s about 60deg.( best guess since I don't have a thermometer). Fished from our tubes about 1/2 day each. Took turns with my buddy so we could take care of each others goldens. The dogs had a great time!!! Fishing was tough for us!!!! I manged to catch my limit plus a few more (releaed) of bass each time and about 1/2 doz blues on a black 3" pulse worm and 1/64 oz. jig head. Most of the bass ranged from 10 1/2 - 12 1/2 with a few at a little more than 13. Ate the first limt for dinner, YUM,YUM! As usual the blues were gigantic. On a fly rod it's great. My buddy didn't do quite as well but as he said, he had a great time. All fish were close in next to the cattails. Tried a little in deeper water but no success. From our observations, nobody was doing any better in their bass boats. Can't speak for the boats out in the middle. Fishing was tough, not nearly as active as I expected, but it just made it more worthwhile. Water level was about normal and higher than I expected considering the drought conditions.

Puzzeles/questiones:

1. Why was it so tough? Expected hotter action! Blues still deep, why? The temp.s seem to ber similar to last year and we killed em. Didn't see any visually like I normally do?? Is it possible, I've lost my touch?? Anyone with more accurate water temps.?

2. Practically no mosquitoes!!!! Normally we are eaten alive this time of year/temp. Did they do some spraying? Of course it's graduation weekend and all sorts of partying Fri. night with al lot of boats the 22nd.

3. Fished the west side. Wrong place for some reason.?

I realize that most of you don't have local knowlege but any comments are appreciated. I expect "the Dude" will have some.

[crazy]Leaky

[TubeDude]

[cool][blue][size 1]Hey Leaky, it sounds like you had a good time, but it could have been better. Good idea trading off on the dog-sitting. By this time next year, Sparky should be better able to be left by himself and you can get out farther, for longer.[/size][/blue]

[#0000ff][size 1]If I had all the answers, I would be able to retire rich in short order. I do have some thoughts. Most of my experience on Pelican was from late May through hot summer. In fact, two years in a row, I timed my first trip to Pelican to miss the opening day of trout season, back when they still had trout season. I think that was on June 1. [/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]At that time the bluegills were bedding and you could see the little white spots all over the bottom in six or eight feet of water. There were also lots of them around the inshore reeds and flies fished on a floating line got plenty of action.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Before the weather stabilized and the water warmed past 60 to 65, the bluegills seemed to stay deeper and hit slower. I did my best work with 1 1/2" plastics...twisters or tubes...on 1/32 oz heads. Purples or blacks were usually best. [/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]I also did well on my blackish "silver hilton" flies, and on gold or silver bodied "fry flies". There are also times that a big dark green damsel nymph works well. Anytime I was not fishing shallow, I put on a sink tip line and slow dredged deeper pockets. I did not have sonar or temp guages then either, and had to guess what was below me. If I caught fish in an area, I worked it longer.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]I am suspecting that the string of weather fronts moving through just has not allowed the fish to stabilize and get into their "normal" activity patterns. Fishing for most species is best after several days of nice weather and warming temps.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]As far as which side of the lake to fish, I think I would have stayed away from the launch area when there was a lot of boat traffic. Probably chased away some of the fish. I used to prefer launching either from the east side, off the road, or on the north side. It stays shallow for a ways, but there are lots of good holding areas and they are the farthest away from the boating traffic.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]I just happened to think of another trick I used to use for prospecting for the deep holes...dropshotting flies on spinning gear. Put a split shot on the bottom and the first fly about a foot up. Make another six inch dropper about another foot to 18" up from the bottom one. You can either drag that around behind your tube, or cast and jig it back along the bottom.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]With the "high low" rig you can get through the fishless water without wasting a lot of time. When you get into a concentration of bluegills you will sometimes get a double. That is exciting. And, if you make one of the flies a larger pattern, you can get some nice little bass on them too.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]It is too early to start blaming yourself. You know enough about fishing, and about Pelican, to be able to get fish if they are there and biting anything at all. You only need to start worrying if everybody else is loading up and you can't get bit. And, in the unlikely event that happened, I know you would be watching and asking to find out what you needed to do differently. Sometimes us fishermen got no pride at all. I don't.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]The truth is that it is still called fishing and not harvesting. If you were able to catch a lot of fish on every trip, the challenge would not be as great, and you would not appreciate the good trips when they happen.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Can't even guess what's up with the skeeters. Like a lot of critters, they go in cycles, and you might have got there after the bring spring surge. Of course, the local farmers might have been doing some spraying too.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]I could never do well after the water got too warm in the summer. Once you could see blobs of dark green algae floating on the water, the fishing dropped off. I have learned since that it is probably due to a water quality problem. When the algae starts to die off, it takes oxygen out of the water as it decays. The fish I caught in late summer hit lightly and hardly fought at all compared to those taken earlier in the summer.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]The oxygen levels in Pelican are a big factor in winter fishing too. Ice fishing there is usually best just after ice up, and drops off to almost nothing after a long cover of ice. In years like the last few, where the water level drops so much, that creates even more of a stress on the fish and it is probably a miracle there was as much winter survival as there was last year.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Hope Pelican can stay healthy and that the fish get a good spawn this year. Hard to find a lake with bigger bluegills and bass more willing to pop a lure. Keep hitting it and be patient.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Hope that helps. Maybe I have to send you some of my silver hiltons. See the attached Pic. They are the best fly I have ever used on Pelican, and on some of the other waters up there for trout too.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1][/size][/#0000ff]
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[leaky]

Dude,

Wow, what a dissertation! Before I forget, thanks for the sonar input and am looking forward to a peaceful rest for your mom and you guys. I'll respond to your post thus.

First- What puzzles me the most is the lack of response locally? What can you say, Oh well. Hopefully I'm being impatient!!!

Second- Read in the news that they had a Junior bass tournament there the day I left which explains the "activity" the night before! Watched and heard some "coaching" The day before. Got a kick out of it. The article said "fishing was tough and some of the youth returned empty handed after 6 hrs. of throwing buzzbaits, plastic worms and tube jigs. They all had a distinct advantage over us tubers with those base boats.

Third- For the past 4-5 yrs. I have been there in this time frame and it was really hot fishing????? I could usually see both bass and blues swimming around the cattails edges, etc. Yes the north end is good but more difficult for accessibility. I fish the West side, away from the dock now. Last year at this time I was able to wade the edges and get one most every cast using sight fishing.

Fourth- Latter in the summer, I was always able to find bass in the shallows and blues in the deeper part of the bays. When Sparky is able to let me leave him alone/tied up for awhile I can use my new fish finder find em and fish a little further out. I've also had good success drop shooting especially with moss build up. I've got some Silver Hiltons stached and am planning on using em along with some other stuff when fishing picks up.

Fith- Weather fronts seem to be the most logical answer. Are blues that affected by pressure drops/weather fronts? I know bass are.

Thanks again - [crazy]Leaky

[TubeDude]

[cool][blue][size 1]Hey Leaky, I can't answer for anybody else. But, I do know that there aren't many anglers who can truthfully claim to have a good handle on some waters...like Pelican. Most of us have spots where we fish only once in awhile, because it is such a long drive. Pelican fits that description. [/size][/blue]

[#0000ff][size 1]Unless somebody has had the opportunity to fish a lake through different seasons and different years, they can only guess as to what a problem might be. On Pelican, it usually boils down to water temperature, clarity, level and oxygen. When things get out of whack the fish shut down until conditions return to their comfort level.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]You have fished bluegills enough to know that they are not always the pushovers that some people would have you believe. True, wherever there are large populations of stunted 'gills they will eagerly hit almost anything you throw at them. However, in Pelican, the big boys have often been caught more than once before (with the low limits and catch and release). And, there is a lot of natural food in the lake, which makes them bigger faster. Add those together and you have to be better at fooling the fish to score big.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Big bluegills can be some of the most difficult fish to catch when they are stressed or wary. They DO respond to barometric changes as much as bass, if not more. And, during bright mooblit periods, during the warmer months of summer, they can also turn into night feeders.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]When I find timid big bluegills, that is usually my cue to cut down on the size of the line I am using, and often on the size of the jig too. You cannot effectively fish a mosquito larva fly on heavy tippet, and if they are gorging on midge larva or mosquito larvae they can be worse than selective trout.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]Just some more of my two bits.[/size][/#0000ff]
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[Shrimpboy]

Hey Leaky, don't feel too bad. I had a buddy that went out there with his brother on Friday afternoon through Saturday evening. This guy is the person that taught me how to fish for bass and I know that he is no novice basser. They fished HARD and only caught TWO bass! He wanted me to go with them, but I had to back out at the last minute (I read the weather report []) and now I am so glad that I did.

In the past, I have also already fished Pelican at least once by this time of year, but I think I'm going to hold off another two weeks. With the price of gas, I need to know that the loan I'm taking out to fill the tank will be worth it.

If you're itching for some fast action and don't mind trout, then I'd try Current Creek Res. I took my wife out there for three hours on Saturday in the middle of that dang storm and we still managed a mess of fish and VERY fast action. We caught several in the 18" range and saw more big fish up there than I've ever seen in the past.
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[leaky]

Hey guys,

Receive some input from Tom Pettengill (DWR) as follows. Looks like he has the answer.

Water is still too cold for the bluegills to really be spawning. About
two weeks ago when we had a brief spell of warmer weather the bluegills
started to move into the shallows on the North side (across the lake
from the boat ramp) but cold, windy weather shut off the spawn and
pushed them back out. I have been in the Uinta Basin the last two weeks
and it has been colder than normal with lots of windy weather. I think
that's also the reason the bugs aren't bad yet.

Leaky