03-12-2017, 03:02 PM
I took a little drive up to Porcupine yesterday in hopes to find enough open water to cast in. The paved roads were clear all the way to the bottom of the dam. The dirt road was a little muddy at the bottom, but it was fine all the way up to the dam. Porky is still capped but it doesn't look like it will be that way for long.
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I decided to take a few casts in the river below Porky. It's running pretty high and swift with all of the water letting out.
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I had a few follows and taps on Panther Martin, but no takers. I switched to a Blue Fox vibrax minnow and had one pound it as it hit the surface. He fought pretty hard for his size and seemed quite healthy although a tad on the skinny side. I put him back to put on more weight.
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I drove past Hyrum hoping for some water to cast. The ice is pulling away, but most places it was only a couple of feetbetween shore and ice. It was considerably more open by the spillway, but since there were already 3-4 cars parked there I didn't want to overcrowd. I'll hit it in near future.
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My question to y'all is what lures and techniques do you prefer for targeting ice-off lunkers? I have had OK success with spinners, spoons and cranks running parallel to shore. No monsters, but decent fish. I've heard of people using soft plastics for big browns but I've never done that much. Any tricks to the trade I should be trying?
[signature]
[inline 20170311_122316.jpg]
I decided to take a few casts in the river below Porky. It's running pretty high and swift with all of the water letting out.
[inline 20170311_122434.jpg]
I had a few follows and taps on Panther Martin, but no takers. I switched to a Blue Fox vibrax minnow and had one pound it as it hit the surface. He fought pretty hard for his size and seemed quite healthy although a tad on the skinny side. I put him back to put on more weight.
[inline 20170311_132244.jpg]
I drove past Hyrum hoping for some water to cast. The ice is pulling away, but most places it was only a couple of feetbetween shore and ice. It was considerably more open by the spillway, but since there were already 3-4 cars parked there I didn't want to overcrowd. I'll hit it in near future.
[inline 20170311_142138.jpg]
[inline 20170311_142149.jpg]
My question to y'all is what lures and techniques do you prefer for targeting ice-off lunkers? I have had OK success with spinners, spoons and cranks running parallel to shore. No monsters, but decent fish. I've heard of people using soft plastics for big browns but I've never done that much. Any tricks to the trade I should be trying?
[signature]