01-13-2008, 07:54 AM
We started our day Saturday at Panguitch Lake at about 8:30am. Fished the N.E. boat ramp area (along with about 7 other groups). Fish were at the same location and depth as 2 weeks ago: 33 feet of total water depth, suspended between the 17 and 25 ft depth. Saw many, many fish on the fish finder, but the bite was slow. Only iced 2 by Noon. Of the 4 groups within earshot/vision, we saw only 3 other fish landed in the same amount of time. We decided to pack up and we left for Paragonah/Red Creek Reservoir around 12:30. We went up from Parowan. Road was snow-packed and easy-going early on. Closer to the lake the snow was very deep and unpacked. We were only 1 mile away from the lake and got stuck. We forgot to bring the chains. We ended up taking the next 2 hours digging out and turning around. Thank goodness we had brought shovels!! The road was better last week before the 9+ inches of snow that hit last Sunday. I saw many tracks of trucks sliding off the road into the ravines and also of people trying to turn around. I would only attempt the trip if you have chains as well as 4wd. However, you still may high-center on the snow in some locations if you happen to slide off the road a little. After that, we headed for Minersville. Edges have a little bit of slush/water on them, but were safe. Ice was between 6 and 8 inches thick. There is about 2 inches of snow on top of that, but is easy walking. We fished near the boat ramp. I drilled quite a few holes and found the most fish in about 18 ft. of water, suspended usually at either 9 ft. down or only 3 feet off the bottom. The bigger fish were on the bottom. The bite was slow until 7pm when we caught and released 5 in about 40 minutes and then they stopped biting (even though they were on the fishfinder). We caught all of them on glow-in-the-dark ice-flies and jigs (white and chartreuse). Most fish caught were in the group closer to the surface. Fish averaged 16 - 18 inches. Another group near us also caught and released about 6 in one hour and then left. Another night angler caught 3 with glow-in-the-dark jigs near the dam in about an hour as well (who also left early). Even though the fishing was so-so, it was a beautiful day.
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