Fishing Forum

Went to Flaming Gorge this weekend to participate in the Burbot Bash.  Was able to squeeze in about an hour of mac fishing in the boat before switching to burbot, and one dude on our boat hooked a dandy!  Didn't tape or weigh, but I would venture a guess at 40" and at least 25lbs.  
We jigged around the pipeline area against rock walls with the typical glow stuff tipped with sucker meat.  We only boated maybe a dozen fish the first night before calling it at about 9pm.  
Snowed Friday night and Saturday morning, so we switched gears to avoid and icy ramp disaster.  We ice fished a cove in the same area, from 20-60' depth.  One dude caught two nice bows about thirty seconds apart from each other in the afternoon. Started catching burbot around 5pm, but there was no consistent bite.  Between the 3 of us we iced less than 10.
There was no size to any of these fish.  The biggest caught was from the boat, and it was what I would have called the average size two or three years ago.  You know, 30" long and 2lbs kind of thing.  Most of the fish were small.
I talked to a DWR person when we were checking in the fish, and they confirmed that the average size is way down, which they say shows that the efforts in the reduction are working.  
All I know is I can't handle the cold like I used to could.  These folks that can pull an all nighter bouncing holes and not having to shack up (which you really need to do to effectively burbot fish through the ice) can have it!

Thanks Josh for the update, I was thinking the bash was this coming weekend... Are the crowds still massive for the gorge that weekend? I can't believe it's this late in the ice season already... Man we're about done with ice and it just started... Thanks for the update... Jeff

Joshomaru,
Was the turnout for the bash good? Did they put a dent in the burbot at all?
Hope all is good for you!

Later
Mildog
PS I’m with ya that all night fishing in the cold is not for me anymore!!

I have been saying I was going to buy one of the battery heated jackets for some time now as I seem to be much colder these days than in my youth. Anyone have an opinion these jackets.

You know, I am not really sure what the crowds were like, as we didn't go to Buckboard or the Confluence. We checked our fish in at the rodeo grounds in Manila. Check in was from 8-10am, and Sunday morning we were there just after 9am. They told us that only five other teams had checked in that morning. Whether it was five teams at the rodeo grounds or over all, I can't say.
The UDWR told me that they lowered their size limits for big fish and small fish because the average size overall is trending smaller.
I am on of those guys that wishes they weren't villainizing the lake trout. I understand increasing the limit on pups, but I expressed my opinion to the gal taking the survey at check in that my belief is that when they have a no-limit on pup macs, and state that they can be disposed of like non-game fish, I feel that people are going to treat the resource with less respect, and that more of the trophy class fish that take time and resources to get that big are going to take a hit as well.
Anyway....

(01-27-2025, 10:39 PM)Cowboypirate Wrote: [ -> ]I have been saying I was going to buy one of the battery heated jackets for some time now as I seem to be much colder these days than in my youth. Anyone have an opinion these jackets.

I have had one for a couple years and it works great.  The rechargeable battery lasts all day long, on the first setting, which is plenty warm.

Josh,
Thanks for posting the results, looks like a pretty good amount pulled out but hard to make a dent in them! Hopefully people are continuing to pull them out after the event as well.
Thanks again,
Mildog out