Scofield 01/30

[TheOtherSide]

Drove up to Scofield early yesterday and the roads were definitely sketchy past the rest stop on Hwy 6. Parked at Madsen where there was 6-8" new snow. Still snowing when we left the parking area and there were only a few vehicles there. Probably 10-12" of powder on the ice.

Ended up north of the island on the west side of the lake. We fished in 16-25 fow. Ice is 15" thick and there were plenty of side by sides and other vehicles on the ice when we left. Fishing was steady for 13-16" cutthroat just under the ice to about 10' in the water column. Our most productive lure was an orange ratso, but green plastics were also good, and did well dead sticking when things slowed down around noon.

All fish caught were cutthroat except for a skinny tiger I landed and a decent rainbow with 20' of hefty mono hanging out of its mouth and a barely visible jig with a white cutt'r bug in its belly. I initially thought the fish had tangled up with someone else's line. I kept the rainbow.

When we left, I hit a couple spots of slush where the snowmobile momentarily bogged down, but not even close to being an issue/concern. The road to Madsen was kinda plowed, but still packed snow/ice. Highway 6 was finally plowed and not an issue.

[gofish435]

Thanks for the report.  

It sounds like a good day on the ice without any chubs.

[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like a really good day. It's pretty amazing how few chubs are being caught there now but it's s a d to hear that tiger you caught was so skinny. I hope there are some tigers in there that are doing better.

[TheOtherSide]

Sounds like a really good day. It's pretty amazing how few chubs are being caught there now but it's s a d to hear that tiger you caught was so skinny. I hope there are some tigers in there that are doing better.

Yeah, surprisingly no chubs yet this year. Last year it seemed like we were good for at least a couple each outing.

[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like a really good day. It's pretty amazing how few chubs are being caught there now but it's s a d to hear that tiger you caught was so skinny. I hope there are some tigers in there that are doing better.

Yeah, surprisingly no chubs yet this year. Last year it seemed like we were good for at least a couple each outing.

Not saying this is 100% true but it could be with all those predators in that lake now, they have cut down the chub population so much that there just isn't enough left to feed them all and that is why that tiger was so skinny .

[TheOtherSide]

Sounds like a really good day. It's pretty amazing how few chubs are being caught there now but it's s a d to hear that tiger you caught was so skinny. I hope there are some tigers in there that are doing better.

Yeah, surprisingly no chubs yet this year. Last year it seemed like we were good for at least a couple each outing.

Not saying this is 100% true but it could be with all those predators in that lake now, they have cut down the chub population so much that there just isn't enough left to feed them all and that is why that tiger was so skinny .

Was on my mind, but I hope not. Last year our first couple outings the cutt's seemed to be in really poor shape, but they were fatter and fatter as the season progressed. Course, we were catching chubs, too.

So far this year, the cutt's seem to be in decent/OK shape. The rainbow with the 20' of line out of its mouth was a fat little football.

It's definitely unusual for me not to catch any chubs, but maybe I've just been the lone man out and everyone else is catching some.

[JeepNut]

Last summer we camped at Scofield for several days and we caught LOTS of chubs. There are still plenty of them maybe they aren't as active in the winter.

[catchinon]

This winter I have been hoping to catch some chubs for bait but haven't had any luck. Brett caught some in open water next to the docks at Madsen Bay while trying for trout last summer. We couldn't find any in the tailwaters where they have been numerous in years past. Anybody know if they have been fished out? Or what? Maybe we shouldn't have mentioned on here that they were numerous and easy to catch. Does anyone know of another place where I could catch some? Jig-fisher told me of a place but I don't remember now. JeepNut, where/how did you catch yours at Scofield last summer?

[Jig-fisher]

We caught ours at Lost Creek over the summer in the boat.  Just found the schools and parked on top of them.  I've not heard of them being caught through the ice up there though and I've never caught any through the ice either.