01-26-2009, 09:30 AM
We went to Pauite Sat. morning. Fished near the boat ramp and towards the dam. Found fish this time on the flasher. Fish wouldn't bite (well, I caught a small planter). Tried almost everything and gave up. Most other groups had terrible results as well. One group very close to shore did better than most, catching 1 - 2 a piece. They used chartreuse and night crawlers (we tried chartreuse, but didn't bring night crawlers). Their fish looked smaller than average. Ice is 8 - 12 inches thick, but almost couldn't get on the ice as there is water all around the edges. We were able to hop onto some rocks and get on solid ice, but it was difficult. When we got off the ice, that "solid" section next to the rocks was no longer solid. I almost fell in (only 2 feet of water there) getting back to shore. 4 wheelers, etc. could not get on the ice. Bring long planks if you want to fish it.
Sat. afternoon we decided to go to Otter Creek, west shore. The ice was more difficult to access. Water and broken ice about 6 feet out prevented access. We finally found 1 spot that was close enough that our 8 ft. plank we brought along could be used to cross. I think waders would help getting on. The main body of ice was 8 - 12 inches thick. We could not locate many big fish, but when they did, they would bite. Fishing was really slow here as well. We caught only a couple 18 inchers on white tube jigs tipped with Gulp maggots. The fish didn't like the waxworms at this lake either.
This has been a terrible ice fishing season for us. Last year we caught many big fish out of Paiute and Otter Creek, every time we went. We even had one time at Otter Creek last year when we caught a fish every 30 seconds for about an hour (no lie). This year, we can't find the fish, and when they do, they don't bite. (At least we had a great trip at Fish Lake last week.).
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Sat. afternoon we decided to go to Otter Creek, west shore. The ice was more difficult to access. Water and broken ice about 6 feet out prevented access. We finally found 1 spot that was close enough that our 8 ft. plank we brought along could be used to cross. I think waders would help getting on. The main body of ice was 8 - 12 inches thick. We could not locate many big fish, but when they did, they would bite. Fishing was really slow here as well. We caught only a couple 18 inchers on white tube jigs tipped with Gulp maggots. The fish didn't like the waxworms at this lake either.
This has been a terrible ice fishing season for us. Last year we caught many big fish out of Paiute and Otter Creek, every time we went. We even had one time at Otter Creek last year when we caught a fish every 30 seconds for about an hour (no lie). This year, we can't find the fish, and when they do, they don't bite. (At least we had a great trip at Fish Lake last week.).
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