First time out on the ice this winter...

[bowdude]

Got up this morning at 4 a.m. for my first ice fishing outing this winter. We need to leave by 5:30 so we can arrive before sunup and find a place to park before the crowds get to the fishing hole. What ever happened to the old days when you grabbed a bucket, ax, 6 ft fishing pole, worms and left? Hardly anyone ice fished back in the early to mid 60's when I first started, so competition for a spot was non existent. Yesterday, I spent 4 hours gathering up the equipment, licensing the snowmobile, checking the trailer tires for pressure, going to the store to buy bait, making sure the auger was ready, all the electronics were charged, ice gear to stay warm was gathered up and ready, fill the propane bottle for the tent heater and help the grand kids and wife get ready. Things are much different now days.

Back then, about 50+ years ago, there were very few places you could ice fish in the winter, most water in the state was closed for the year. Fishing was only legal during daylight hours. Getting skunked was the norm. I remember someone taking my older brother and I to Mantua Res and dropping us off during the day. We fished until dark and then headed home. Both of us were too young to drive, so we were on our own to get back. We had an ax to chop a hole in the ice and if lucky, we hoped to find a hole someone else had abandoned. I remember waking off the ice at dark and stepping into a hole that was left open and sinking up to my knee before pulling my foot out. My boot filled with water and it was cold. We had to walk back down the canyon to Brigham City (5 or 6 miles to home) and the long brisk walk kept me warm. I think this was my first ice fishing trip. I think an experience such as this would sour most youth today.
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[brookie]

I remember my first ice fishing trip as well. We didn't grow up ice fishing because in those days safe ice rarely formed before the season end on Nov 30th.

One year in the early 70's my dad and brother decided to take a late (just before Thanksgiving) fishing trip to Schofield (used to be a pretty good fishery in those days). They found ice to their surprise. They didn't have an auger or ax but a friendly guy was there on the ice with an ax. fishing was great. They came home and I went back with them the next week and every chance that year until the season ended.

That was my first ice, but from then on we watched for early ice until 1985 when the state went to year round fishing. That's when ice fishing really became a thing in Utah and I bought my first hand auger.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000ff]Ahhhh. Rememberies. Here is the intro I just finished putting together for my writeup on ice trinkets.[/#0000ff]

"I have been ice fishing in Utah since the early 1960’s. In those days Utah Lake was about the only place open to ice fishing. Willard Bay was still not in existence and all other lakes were trout waters…subject to closure during the winter months.
By the 1970s there was Willard Bay Reservoir near Ogden and Yuba Reservoir south of Nephi that both allowed ice fishing and produced good catches. With more and more ice fishermen moving to Utah from other (ice fishing) states there was an increase in the number of anglers who ventured out upon the ice each winter.
In the early 1980s the Utah DWR opened Deer Creek Reservoir to ice fishing…but only for the abundant perch. Winter closures on the taking of trout were still in place so any trout caught during that time had to be released. Fortunately for Utah anglers it was not much longer before the implementation of a year round fishing season…for all species. Ice fishing has really become a big time winter sport in Utah since then.
In the early days of Utah ice fishing we muddled through with a single rod, a bucket and an ax or spud bar to chop holes in the ice. Then came augers, tents, heaters, sleds, specialized ice rods, ice sonar…and a host of fancy new lures. Most of this stuff had been developed in other areas of the country but seemed to work just fine in Utah too.
Today we see the tackle purveyors catering to our increasing passion for “drilling and chilling”. Even before the first snow falls we see displays of augers, tents, ice rods, ice lures and other ice fishing accessories. It is big business in Utah these days."
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[Saltslam]

I too remember chopping holes with an ax. After initially breaking through each chop would send a spray of water all over you. There wasn't much changing spots either. I remember my dad ordering an auger from back east. It was the best day ever when we got it and could just drill a hole.
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[r2u2]

You guys are making me feel old. I thought I was getting there but now. I too remember there was just a couple of ponds you could legally fish and one of them was Mantua.. I would go every chance I could. OH! for the good times.
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[gone_fishin58]

Panguitch Lake was open to ice fishing in the early 80's, and for holes we used an axe, also made some great live wells with the axe. We mixed hamburger with velveta cheese, worked great.
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