12-10-2023, 11:46 PM
Catchinon and I hit Scofield yesterday for some early season ice fishing. The dam arm was completely capped out to the main lake, but the portion from the ramp west was open water a week ago and we did not see anyone on that new section. There were maybe 15-20 groups out on the dam arm while we were there.
Ice was thin in spots. We followed a couple of guys out who were spudding frequently. They stopped and we continued on, spudding as we went. However, a couple of spots I spudded went through in two hits, so we backtracked to where it was about 4 inches. I would venture ice ranged from 2-5 inches, but still early season and need to be careful. There were a couple of inches of snow on the ice and a little slush developed around some holes if water was sloshed out during drilling and ice scooping. We fished in water from 7 to 32 feet deep, with most fish in the 12-24 feet range. Most fish were caught within a couple of feet of the bottom.
We caught rainbows and cutthroats, but nothing too big. Longest was a 17-inch cutthroat. We didn't catch any tiger trout.
We used various jigs and lures in white, chartreuse, yellow, pink, and green. I caught a few on a silver kastmaster with a chartreuse atomic teaser about 8 inches below it. I caught one on the dropper and 3-4 on the silver spoon. As for bait, we used meal worms, butter worms, night crawlers, and chub meat. The meal worms, butter worms, and chub meat produced the best. Bites were light and you had to really pay attention.
As we left the lake, we noticed several tents on the ice close to shore to the west of the Madsen Bay ramp. A good portion of Madsen Bay appeared to be capped, but was all open water the week before.
If you go, use caution - go with a buddy, use spud bars, have a throw rope, wear flotation devices, etc. Good to get out early but also good to go home alive and well.
Ice was thin in spots. We followed a couple of guys out who were spudding frequently. They stopped and we continued on, spudding as we went. However, a couple of spots I spudded went through in two hits, so we backtracked to where it was about 4 inches. I would venture ice ranged from 2-5 inches, but still early season and need to be careful. There were a couple of inches of snow on the ice and a little slush developed around some holes if water was sloshed out during drilling and ice scooping. We fished in water from 7 to 32 feet deep, with most fish in the 12-24 feet range. Most fish were caught within a couple of feet of the bottom.
We caught rainbows and cutthroats, but nothing too big. Longest was a 17-inch cutthroat. We didn't catch any tiger trout.
We used various jigs and lures in white, chartreuse, yellow, pink, and green. I caught a few on a silver kastmaster with a chartreuse atomic teaser about 8 inches below it. I caught one on the dropper and 3-4 on the silver spoon. As for bait, we used meal worms, butter worms, night crawlers, and chub meat. The meal worms, butter worms, and chub meat produced the best. Bites were light and you had to really pay attention.
As we left the lake, we noticed several tents on the ice close to shore to the west of the Madsen Bay ramp. A good portion of Madsen Bay appeared to be capped, but was all open water the week before.
If you go, use caution - go with a buddy, use spud bars, have a throw rope, wear flotation devices, etc. Good to get out early but also good to go home alive and well.
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j.o.a.t.m.o.n.
jack of all tackle, master of none
j.o.a.t.m.o.n.
jack of all tackle, master of none