Anybody heard about ice conditions at these two lakes? I see where Randolph has been at 24 below the last few nights.Wouldn't mind chasin tigers at Birch Creek or Cutts at Woodruff.Not a bad drive from Davis county if it's ready!!
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[cool]I'm pretty sure that those two places are good to go right now, but Icefishinggod keeps close tabs on that lake. So does HFT. I'd pm one of those two guys.
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They usually ice up around the same time as Huntington, so I'm sure they are safe.
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Standard Examiner said yesterday that Birch Creek had a thin covering but was not safe (if I remember correctly). No report on Woodruff.
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Both are safe, I was up there today. Bring your best 4WD into Woodruff, the road is really bad. I beat the hell out of my wifes truck getting in. I didn't fish Woodruff and BC sucked. I got a lot of fish but they were all small (under 12"), I was looking for the big Bows that used to be there. All I got today was Tiger Trout. Don't try the back way in to BC, the road on the way up is really rutted out. I turned around, parked at the bathrooms and climbed the dam. Not enough snow for the machines.
[cool]Yep, and that's EXACTLY what the dwr report said, (hmmm...wonder where the Standard might have gotten their word for word info from) and you know how they report early season ice, right? Oh, woops...you used to work for them, right?
Not trying to offend here, but a lot of us BFT'rs have noticed over the years how the DWR is VERY cautious and takes the "safe route" when informing anglers about the latest ice conditions (most likely for liability issues). For example, even though some of the bays at Strawberry will have 4-6 inches of ice within a week, you won't hear any mention of safe ice at Strawberry till around New Years. I'm pretty sure that they take the same route with woodroof and all of the other lakes as they do with Strawberry, Scofield, Hunington and the others. Because of the DWR usually being 2-3 weeks behind on their reports, most anglers on this site don't put a lot of stock in how accurate or timely their reports are. Good luck out on the ice, Drew!
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Dude - that was kind of harsh. I was just reporting what I read. I don't ever read the DWR's reports so I didn't see that they were the same. It was fairly obvious that what I read and posted was wrong by IFG's post. When I was up there the Friday after Thanksgiving, there was only a skim of ice in that tiny bay by the dam. Based on that experience, safe ice isn't a guaranteed (it can get pretty windy up there). I guess it is a bad thing to have been under the employ of the Division of Wildlife Resources.
IFG - how thick was the ice and how was the road into BC?
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The ice on BC was about 3" overall. I didn't go out into the center of the main lake because I was by myself. I fished the bay to the north side of the dam off the big shelf. There was small spot of open water on the south side of the dam. The road in is not bad but you do need a truck.
I didn't cut any holes on Woodruff, but it is frozen. Someone had already been there and fished it.
IFG
[cool]Drew, you know that I wasn't trying to offend. Go back and reread the post. All I was saying was that I'd guess that the ice is safe up there right now, and that the dwr reports usually aren't accurate and we as a board in general don't usually put much stock in what they say regarding their "weekly reports" because often times, they are not "weekly" at all. They'll often have the exact word for word that they had the week before, and the week before that. Nothing against you, and NO-working for the dwr is a GOOD thing IMHO. They do a great job with the limited resources they have to work with. Good Day, and Good Fishing!
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Thanks for the info. That place was getting hit pretty hard this past fall so I wonder how it will do through the ice. I think the bows are mostly fished out of there now since they have switched to stocking the tigers. Last fall we caught quite a few nice bows but nothing this year at all.
O4T - Not offended. Just came across like a slam.
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