06-05-2022, 06:09 PM
I'll toss in a few comments here. I have not been a serious bass chaser in Utah for the past 15 years or so, but in times past I put in some serious effort on both largies and smallies. I have had the good fortune to have fished all over the US during my 60 years plus fishing career. That includes some prime bassin' waters in California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana and Florida.
My most active bass fishing in Utah was during the years of '77 through '84...after living in California and before living in Arizona. That was BS...before smallies. Got lots of really nice largies from Utah Lake, Deer Creek, Pineview, Mantua and Pelican. Jordanelle did not exist then. And it was not uncommon to have 20 - 30 fish days on most of the reservoirs that held largemouths.
I moved back to Utah and retired in 2004. Found smallmouths in my former fave largie ponds...like Pineview and Deer Creek. Also found smallies in new-to-me lake Jordanelle. And they were honkers...until after the perch crash in about 2007 and the following demise of the chub population. Smallies are their own worst enemies. They eat up all their available food and then stunt. And what's worse is that they outcompete the largies for both habitat and food wherever they coexist.
One of the worst abuses of smallies...upon the other species...is that their young wipe out a lot of the young of other species before they have a chance to grow. As a float tuber, I have observed small "wolf packs" of smallies at Deer Creek herding schools of inch-long baby perch into small pockets along the bank and then taking turns rushing in to glut until the entire school of new hatchlings was decimated. Deer Creek used to be full of perch. Now it is rare to catch more than a few even on the most successful perch searches. Walleyes get a lot of the blame, but smallies wipe out exponentially more in the small fry stage than walleyes ever eat after they get bigger.
There are still largies in Deer Creek and Pineview...and they reach some respectable sizes. But you can no longer count on catching double digits in an evening of throwing spinnerbaits and buzzbaits post spawn. And bass of any species larger than 12 inches are not very common any more. A large part of that is attributable to the great increase of the angling population in general...and the growing contingent of "subsistence" fishermen (happy harvesters) who fish with bait and keep everything that bites. There are simply not enough fish to keep everybody happy...and when all the fish being caught go home with the anglers it further depletes the population.
Utah is a desert state and most of our bass ponds are reservoirs built to provide water for downstream water users...residential or agricultural. Most of them have "conservation pool" levels beyond which the water users cannot further drain the lakes. But the drastic changes in water levels eliminate the ability of these lakes to establish aquatic vegetation and to provide more food and cover for young fish of all species. Combine that with an almost complete lack of natural food resources...with the exception of a dwindling population of crawdads in most lakes...and we are lucky to have what we have.
Most of the most noteworthy bass waters around the country are either natural lakes or at least maintain fairly constant water levels. They establish large areas of aquatic vegetation and usually have multiple forage species...like shiners, suckers, threadfin shad, dace, sculpins, etc. When water levels are stable there is a much better spawning situation each year. And when there is abundant underwater cover, the young survive better. And , of course the fish survive and grow much better if there are lots of groceries for them.
In my early years in California I actually fished bass tournaments. Never won a lot of money but there wasn't the big money in tournaments then that there are today. But I learned a lot about bassin' and fondly miss some of my more memorable bass ponds. Most of the bass I catch these days are caught "on accident"...while pursuing other species. Still love 'em though.
My most active bass fishing in Utah was during the years of '77 through '84...after living in California and before living in Arizona. That was BS...before smallies. Got lots of really nice largies from Utah Lake, Deer Creek, Pineview, Mantua and Pelican. Jordanelle did not exist then. And it was not uncommon to have 20 - 30 fish days on most of the reservoirs that held largemouths.
I moved back to Utah and retired in 2004. Found smallmouths in my former fave largie ponds...like Pineview and Deer Creek. Also found smallies in new-to-me lake Jordanelle. And they were honkers...until after the perch crash in about 2007 and the following demise of the chub population. Smallies are their own worst enemies. They eat up all their available food and then stunt. And what's worse is that they outcompete the largies for both habitat and food wherever they coexist.
One of the worst abuses of smallies...upon the other species...is that their young wipe out a lot of the young of other species before they have a chance to grow. As a float tuber, I have observed small "wolf packs" of smallies at Deer Creek herding schools of inch-long baby perch into small pockets along the bank and then taking turns rushing in to glut until the entire school of new hatchlings was decimated. Deer Creek used to be full of perch. Now it is rare to catch more than a few even on the most successful perch searches. Walleyes get a lot of the blame, but smallies wipe out exponentially more in the small fry stage than walleyes ever eat after they get bigger.
There are still largies in Deer Creek and Pineview...and they reach some respectable sizes. But you can no longer count on catching double digits in an evening of throwing spinnerbaits and buzzbaits post spawn. And bass of any species larger than 12 inches are not very common any more. A large part of that is attributable to the great increase of the angling population in general...and the growing contingent of "subsistence" fishermen (happy harvesters) who fish with bait and keep everything that bites. There are simply not enough fish to keep everybody happy...and when all the fish being caught go home with the anglers it further depletes the population.
Utah is a desert state and most of our bass ponds are reservoirs built to provide water for downstream water users...residential or agricultural. Most of them have "conservation pool" levels beyond which the water users cannot further drain the lakes. But the drastic changes in water levels eliminate the ability of these lakes to establish aquatic vegetation and to provide more food and cover for young fish of all species. Combine that with an almost complete lack of natural food resources...with the exception of a dwindling population of crawdads in most lakes...and we are lucky to have what we have.
Most of the most noteworthy bass waters around the country are either natural lakes or at least maintain fairly constant water levels. They establish large areas of aquatic vegetation and usually have multiple forage species...like shiners, suckers, threadfin shad, dace, sculpins, etc. When water levels are stable there is a much better spawning situation each year. And when there is abundant underwater cover, the young survive better. And , of course the fish survive and grow much better if there are lots of groceries for them.
In my early years in California I actually fished bass tournaments. Never won a lot of money but there wasn't the big money in tournaments then that there are today. But I learned a lot about bassin' and fondly miss some of my more memorable bass ponds. Most of the bass I catch these days are caught "on accident"...while pursuing other species. Still love 'em though.