Had one hour to kill on the ice this morning with my nine year old boy. Arrived at Charleston at about 10:30. Talked with those coming off ice who reported hazards around large holes that someone had evidently cut in the ice, reportedly with chain saw. Light snow and thin ice over the hole made a neat trap for some fishermen. At least one I talked to had gone in.
There was four inches of slush and ice over 6 inches of clear ice. Broke through the upper crust with every step, and there was a layer of water underneath.
We set up in 15 feet of water straight out from the parking area. First pole was dipping before I had the second hole cut, with our biggest of the day - the 18 inch brown. Over the next hour we iced four more, lost one to a broken line and another to a pole that went down the hole when I was distracted with another fish. They were interested in almost everything - green red orange white as well as wax worms, floating bait and krill.
Fishing was very nice, but be careful! Rainbows went from 13 to 16 inches.
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When I was ice fishing there last year I witnessed a group cut a very large hole in the ice with a chain saw. They used it to scuba dive. I wasn't around when they packed up and left, but wondered if they just walked away or if they somehow marked the area. I don't know if there are any rules or regs on doing this, but there definitely should be.
Great work on the fish!
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nice looks like a good hour onthe ice, seems like people are getting a few browns out of there this season. but on the ice holes being cut out of there i do think it is illegal to cut a hole that big if you look in the proc i think the max size is 18. and it also states that you cant spearfish a certain amount of months in the winter which is ice on most lakes, so i dont knnow if that applies to scuba divers in the winter too if they are not fishing. also that is a very unsafe thing to do, you cut a hole the size of the car in the ice and then at night it frezzes over a half an ich and then snows on top that is a booby trap waiting to happen. not cool
tightlines
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Sweet! Great report. Going through sure would suck! Nice to hear DC has turned on. Luckily I have not lost a pole on the ice yet. Knock on wood!
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I thought 10 inches was the max in Utah. Might have to look it up. But yeah - not cool. I was going to joking guess spear-fishing divers, but maybe it's 'what it is'.
I have seen when they do polar bear plunges and such - the ice the cut is at an angle, so the chunk taken out can be placed back in, then fuses back into place - MUCH safer!
I guess out in the great midwest - they actually slice out big windows in the ice, then drop decoys and spear fish or pike - with pitchforks. Don't think that'd work well for our C&R muskies!
Gotta wonder - if folks dive under the ice (1: must be craxy, 2: must have some good wet/dry suits of THICK skin) how do they find their entry hole again? And what if some (sensible) angler cover up that hole....
Might be worth reporting to the DNR for safety sake!
Don't know Charleston. Where's that at? Heard of the dance, just not the lake. Flappers!
ya your right it is ten i was
cause you can have an 18 inch hole at the gorge. but that is some crazy stuff. very cold[crazy]. thats definatly got to be a safety issue for sure.
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Charleston is at Deer Creek. Saw the same thing with Wolpack last year. To find their hole they used a snow shovel and made a big X (100 yards or so) with their hole at the center of the X. My assumption is that the sunlight penetrates the shoveled area leading them to the hole. It was dangerous as hell for them to leave it and it was straight away from the ramp maybe 200-300 yds.
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I'm planning a trip there tomorrow morning. Do you (or anyone) happen to know where this hole is, or atleast what general direction it is from the parking lot so I can try to avoid being the next victim.
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[cool][#0000ff]The Charleston arm is the far northern arm of Deer Creek...where the Provo River emties in.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]See maps.[/#0000ff]
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It's 12. Except at Fish Lake, Flaming Gorge, and Bear Lake, where it's 18 inches if you're fishing. If you are using a dip net for cisco at Bear Lake, there is no restrictions on the size of the hole. And those regulations only apply to fishermen.
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the charlston area is a mine field of holes like it was said there is a 1/2 inch crust you will break through and hundreds of drilled hole you must be careful or you will be getting a leg wet
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Also, with the ice melting, the holes are not refreezing. they are getting bigger, and if they are close together, they are turning into one giant hole. Be careful. The one that I stepped in today probably could have taken my whole body. I suspect that they were originally 10 inch holes drilled right next to each other. The ice is melting extremely fast. much less ice today than on Saturday. Still great fishing though.
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