Fishing Forum

I got back up there this morning. Still mostly open water. I first went to Stalleys, only 1" of ice. I stepped through the Ice with one foot. Wet half way to my knee. So I went back to the State marina. 3 inches of ice there. Lot's of people. I was only about 100 yards out in 5 and 6 feet of water. It was fairly slow for first ice. But the marina has been hit hard this week, as it is the only safe ice. I didn't mark many fish on the sonar unit. All my bites came on dead sticks and jaw jackers. White tube jigs tipped with piece of worm. Or sucker. And a new glow shrimp I tried was the best. Tipped with meal worm or sucker got three and my biggest at 4 1/2 pounds 20" . 

(11-25-2021, 09:20 PM)fast_randy Wrote: [ -> ]I got back up there this morning. Still mostly open water. I first went to Stalleys, only 1" of ice. I stepped through the Ice with one foot. Wet half way to my knee. So I went back to the State marina. 3 inches of ice there. Lot's of people. I was only about 100 yards out in 5 and 6 feet of water. It was fairly slow for first ice. But the marina has been hit hard this week, as it is the only safe ice. I didn't mark many fish on the sonar unit. All my bites came on dead sticks and jaw jackers. White tube jigs tipped with piece of worm. Or sucker. And a new glow shrimp I tried was the best. Tipped with meal worm or sucker got three and my biggest at 4 1/2 pounds 20" . 

Was the ice bad all around Staley’s or just up by the spring itself? I fished an area towards the dam today. Ice was 4-5 inches all across the outlet. Biggest was 21 or 22 inches. Like always the bite died at 10:30 and I headed home to enjoy Thanksgiving. 

Nice going your two, sounds like you both had a good morning on the ice.

Thanks guys great report. I don’t have much gear with me but I think we’ll try it today. Maybe see ya there. Later Jeff

I go on the BLM land just past Staleys, where you can drive down the dirt road to the lake. That's my favorite spot. And where I stepped through the ice. Peacefisher, I have never fished by the dam because I have drove my boat down there several times and can never find any fish on the fishfinder. I mean zero. I always wondered why but because of that I never even think about ice fishing there. You have got me thinking.

(11-26-2021, 02:38 PM)fast_randy Wrote: [ -> ] I have never fished by the dam because I have drove my boat down there several times and can never find any fish on the fishfinder.

That could be because the fish are so shallow, when fish are really close to the surface, they just move off to the side of the boat when it comes through, so you never see them. This usually occurs the most in the Spring and Fall but it can occur in the early morning and evening hours too. That happened to me last year at Lucky Peak, we saw zero fish early, when fishing there in the Fall.

That might be the reason Curt. And when I have gone down to the dam in my boat I usually go fairly fast. I always see those nice houses and all those private docks have pole holders. But I have never seen anyone down there fishing. I seen that happen at Chesterfield a couple years ago. Me and my brother trolled it and there was fish every where on the finder. We killed them with a orange and white needle fish. Then I went back two weeks latter and couldn't find a fish. I was wishing I had a Renegade fly to drag way behind the boat that day.

(11-26-2021, 08:00 PM)fast_randy Wrote: [ -> ]That might be the reason Curt. And when I have gone down to the dam in my boat I usually go fairly fast. I always see those nice houses and all those private docks have pole holders. But I have never seen anyone down there fishing. I seen that happen at Chesterfield a couple years ago. Me and my brother trolled it and there was fish every where on the finder. We killed them with a orange and white needle fish. Then I went back two weeks latter and couldn't find a fish. I was wishing I had a Renegade fly to drag way behind the boat that day.

Hard to beat a slow trolled fly, when I do it that way I usually put one of those casting bubbles in front of the fly.

Exactly. I used to do it a lot. The teardrop shape ones that don't hold water. Kinda got away from that, but I did just this summer buy some that were orange and easyer to see.

When I was growing up in Colorado, I use to use a casting bubble and fly below a big dam I fished, always worked great, then years later in Washington state we would slow troll a casting bubble behind a boat and it seemed to always work. A few years ago I tried it a lake in the Uintah's called Smith and Moorhouse, but had no luck, not sure if it was the flies we were using or what but I guess that could make a difference

Flies make a big difference, gotta match the hatch as best as you can.

(11-26-2021, 02:38 PM)fast_randy Wrote: [ -> ]I go on the BLM land just past Staleys, where you can drive down the dirt road to the lake. That's my favorite spot. And where I stepped through the ice. Peacefisher, I have never fished by the dam because I have drove my boat down there several times and can never find any fish on the fishfinder. I mean zero. I always wondered why but because of that I never even think about ice fishing there. You have got me thinking.

I have never seriously fished the outlet portion of the lake in the summer time. My in-laws own a cabin about a quarter mile above the dam, otherwise access is very limited in the winter. With the ice unsafe on the main lake, we decided to try out in front of their cabin. I wasn’t expecting the fishing to be any good, but have been pleasantly surprised over the last few trips. There’s lots of giant weed beds in this section of the lake. I have found some channels between the weeds in 7-9 feet of water and have caught quite a few fish on little ice jigs and white paddle tails tipped with mealworm. 

Thanks for the pictures and report. I used Google earth today to see if there was any access to the dam. I thought maybe a access on a small road to each side of the dam, right at the dam. Do you know if there is access to the public there?

(11-27-2021, 03:45 AM)fast_randy Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for the pictures and report. I used Google earth today to see if there was any access to the dam. I thought maybe a access on a small road to each side of the dam, right at the dam. Do you know if there is access to the public there?

The easement on the west side of the dam is posted “access for cutthroat cabin residents only”. (Or something to that effect). Not sure about the east side.

I got back up today. Still not safe ice at Stayley. There is two inches, but just in shallow water, 3 feet deep. Down at the county dock there was 2 or 3 inches of ice, and you could fish in 6 feet of water. I talked to some guys fishing there, but they were not getting any action. So I went back to the State marina. It was slow there. Not near the people of Thanksgiving and fishing was slow. Besides me I only saw one other lady that caught a few. She was using white paddle bugs tipped with worm. I got a couple brookies. 

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(12-01-2021, 10:46 PM)fast_randy Wrote: [ -> ]I got back up today. Still not safe ice at Stayley. There is two inches, but just in shallow water, 3 feet deep. Down at the county dock there was 2 or 3 inches of ice, and you could fish in 6 feet of water. I talked to some guys fishing there, but they were not getting any action. So I went back to the State marina. It was slow there. Not near the people of Thanksgiving and fishing was slow. Besides me I only saw one other lady that caught a few. She was using white paddle bugs tipped with worm. I got a couple brookies. 

My biggest brook at 3 pounds in a couple years. I keep searching for that 5 pounder.

Thanks for the ice report!

(12-02-2021, 06:09 AM)MMDon Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for the ice report!

Hey guys, I saw on the news last night that some fishermen, I believe 2 and their young daughter, had to be rescued off a sheet of ice that broke off at Henry's and had to be rescued by Fremont Co. search and rescue by boat. No one injured but, wow, guys, be careful, all we need to do is lose one of you. Please make sure of solid ice. This weeks temps may help, but, going out on a lot of the ice Ive heard about, well I wont say, but just be careful.