Fishing Forum

When does it ice over or has it already?
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Pelican usually freezes over about mid-December.

I fished it last year on Dec. 19 on about 4" of good ice.

It won't be long.

Try calling the Vernal UDWR office: (435) 781-9453.
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[cool]I can't wait to hit Pelican!! Those monster 'gils are calling my name!! It's usually good by Christmas at the latest most years... Last year it froze a week or two before that...
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Drove by yesterday and the lake is capped. Didn't stop to check for safe ice, but no sign of anyone out on it yet. Wont be long though.
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Thanks for the report. I plan to hit it next week sometime.
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I bet its safe with the night temps in Roosavelt. I heard it was around 25-30 below the other night. Although pelican is on my list I really hope Starvation freezes soon and stays solid through the winter unlike last year.
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I'll make a drive-by in the morning and see if there are any risk-takers. When Pelican is on-it's on. When it's off-it's off. There isn't much middle ground when it comes to catch rates on that pond.

The first few weeks of ice on Pelican are usually really good.
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are you guys catching bass through the ice or just gills?
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Both.

It is much more common to get a bunch of big 'gills through the ice, but most people will land a bass or two every trip.
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Only been there once on the ice, but as far as bass go..

The "tap, tap" of a bluegill biting was suddenly replaced by a pole bender that tried to drag one of my rods through the ice. Dunno how I missed him.
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i usually catch 3 or 4 large mouth when I go ice fishing out there, but they seem to be mostly early in the morning,
Jed
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[cool][#0000ff]There are lots of bass taken through the ice at Pelican. Surprisingly, some pretty big ones (over 3 pounds) will hit some pretty small jigs. But, there are a few guys who deliberately target largies with larger tube jigs, twisters and spoons. Slower action but the fish are bigger when they hit.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One thing some of us have observed is that fishing any lure near the bottom with a piece of crawler will get more bass than fishing a bitsy jig at middepth with only a waxie on it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have had good days on largies by jigging a small silver Kastmaster rather actively right on the bottom. You need to watch your line on the drop because a lot of the hits are on the fall rather than when you are jigging up. Also good to replace the tiny trebles on small Kastmasters with a larger single hook. Better hooking and holding and they don't injure the fish as much.[/#0000ff]
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Currently sitting on Pelican now.

Ice is about four inches. The lake is being filled, so there are a few soft spots, but ultimately easy to get on. Fishing is typical, big gills and some smaller bass. The weather is perfect... -2 below with no wind.

Sorry to my brother in law, he begged me to hit Utah lake with him.

Wish you were here.
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[cool]Thanks for the update. I don't have the kids for Christmas this year, so I'm thinking about hitting it on Christmas day... Awe....no crowds and tons of willing fish...gotta love it!! Either that, or I know a great girl that doesn't have her kid that wants me to come over... decisions decisions...[crazy] Still think I'm going fishing...[:p]
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So I spoke too soon about small bass....

We ended up catching a bunch of bass, in fact more bass than bluegill.

Iced a few 3-4 pounders and a bunch of 1-2 pounders. We took a few home for lunch.

I will post a pic when I upload them.
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Were there any other anglers on the lake or were you the first to hit it?
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We were the only ones on the lake. I was surprised because it was such a nice day.
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Like to see some pics of the 3 to 4 lb. bass, those are nice fish.
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