01-04-2020, 12:43 AM
I got to the back of Porcupine around 7am this morning hoping the upper end would have fishable ice. The upper end is capped, but the lower end still has a lot of open water. I parked on the road and walked down at the second launch to check the ice which looked pretty sketchy around the edges, so I decided to go with plan B, go to Hyrum and catch perch. Only problem I had was that I got stuck turning my truck around and in my haste to get out this morning I left my shovel at home and had to use my ice scoop to dig out. An hour and a half later I made it to the swim beach at Hyrum and realized that I left my park pass in my other vehicle, dang it I had to pay the day fee. I got on the ice around 9am and walked out About a 100 yds and went south past the floating dock where I opened up some one else’s holes in 30 ft. water there was 4 inches of solid clear ice under several inches of crusty partially frozen slush. Initially I didn’t mark any fish but within a few minutes of jigging the perch moved in from the bottom to 15 ft. They where willing biters, I got them on a Maniac Gizzy bug with a chartreuse jig head 8 inches under a gold Cast Master tipped with a meal worm or perch eye. I pulled 37 keepers out of the first hole, before the bite slowed there, I took the picture below and packed up moving 50 yd. farther out, hoping to find deeper water, but when I checked it was the same depth, I decided to give it a go anyways and it was fish on again. I filled out my 50 Perch limit there. I threw back around 30 at the two spots and kept the 8-10 inchers. I got a football of a rainbow on my Jaw Jacker 10 ft. Under the ice at my first spot and a smaller one on a stop on the way in, in 10 ft. of water. Filleting 50 small perch was no small task, it will be worth It when I fry them up and make chowder Sunday.
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