Fishing Forum

For thoseof you that have been recently to Echo, particularly today, was there much slush on the ice if any? How thick was the ice? Thanks for any info.
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I went today and there are patches of slush but there is some good solid stuff too. The ice was about 5 inches where I was at. Good day out there.
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Did you need to jump a canyon to step from the bank on to the edge of the ice? or was it pretty easy to get on with out getting wet?
Thanks.
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Four of us fished today on the north end on the east side - ice was 4" about 50 yards out (12' depth), but was down to 2" or less about 100 yards out (25' depth) with lots of crackin goin on. [shocked] Only a small step over shallow slush/water to get on the ice. While the slush was minimal near the shore, it was a mess further out after water seeped out of the holes. Got 11 trout all together (12" - 18" on Ratsos and Kastmasters) but only caught 1 small perch; much different from last year.
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Thanks. Sounds like it might be a cold night. maybe the slush will freeze and be solid for tomorrow morning. I wish the ice would hurry this year.
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I was there today also. I found a li9ttle slush but only 1 inch. The wind had blown most of the snow of where I was. Ice was between 3 and 6 inches depending on where you were at. I fished in 30 to 40 feet of water. I did not put very much on the ice, but the two I did were very nice. I could not get the perch to take any of my offerings today.
You could see where the edge had been broken off but it was only about a foot. I weigh 260 and had not problems.
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I stopped by there today and talked to some guys there and said that it was 5 to 6" of ice So I think I will hit it tomorrow and see how I do.[]
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I will be up in the morning. Come by and say hi. I will be in a red coat and black hat that says Got Fish? I have a Eskimo Quick flipII.
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Whereabouts on the reservoir were they? We fished by the resort Sunday and it had about 4".
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We will be up there also tomorrow. What part of the lake will you be at?
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I went there today (Tues) at 9AM and I was surprised by the number of folk there that may have been as anxious as I to get the ice season started. I wouldn't call it an "ant hill" but there were groups in most areas. We entered from the center, and I thought it was curious that I didn't see anyone near the dam all day.

The roads were dry, and the snow was very reasonable, even melted in many areas in fact. The water was a soft a bit at the edges, but firm after that.

There were some areas with surface water and slush for a couple inches, but everywhere I drilled a hole was at least 5" underneath. WHEW! [] But the ice wasn't clear except for the lowest 2". It was so warm that I didn't even wear a coat, and some slush developed mid day, but it got colder with the wind and firmed up by the time we left at about 4 pm.

At first, I went to a spot that was good for me EVERY trip last year and met up with a buddy that had done likewise. He'd arrived early and wasn't doing a lot of catching... After only a few hours of me being there, most of the groups had left.

I threw everything I had at them. (Even some home made favorites.) We caught 3 nice trout, and perch were interspersed, but they were really small. (Fortunately, I was just glad to be outside on a nice day.) I moved around for a good half mile area or more, and I'd catch one 4" perch at first, then nothing... Then at 3pm we found a spot that produced about 15 in half hour, but we took morbid pleasure in the fact that all but a couple were so small that the could barely bend our wire bite detectors! [] If it wasn't for the trout, we'd have had pizza for dinner! []

Hope that helps.

Anyway... I was glad I went, but I'll be looking forward if anyone catches any keeper perch there. Maybe it's just me, but there are many places I can reliably catch trout, and I'm counting on you guys to let me know where the panfish can be had this year! [cool]
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What baits did they want to take the most?
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Last year I had tons of luck cathing good sized perch on a salmon egg just off the bottom. I usually went south of the resort area where you can park easily and walk down to the water with a sled real easy. I will be there tomorrow in my big ol' six man Eskimo tent for most of the day [cool] Gotta stay warm lol
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The guys I talked to were on the North side where a lot of people park close to the damn and walk down that rocky area.
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Baits: I didn't catch a single one on crawlers, (the finder proved that they looked at 'em) but they did go for waxies. But they often bit them off my larger hooks. I put on a small slap of perch meat and got some bites, but never landed one - I think they were just too small to get it in their mouth! []

I got tired of not catching anything, so I switched to a perch eye, and that was the most successful.

I haven't tried any eggs, thanks for the suggestion HOODY3.

I'm trying to decide what to learn from this one, cuz I found fish at depths from 17-30ish feet, just not many, and not large. I'm just thankful for the occasional slimer that wanted to play. []
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