Newton fishing report 12/23/21

[catchinon]

Fritzfishin and I went to Newton on Thursday. Due to several factors that I won't go into we didn't get to the lake as early as we would have liked, but at 9:00 the ice looked pretty solid. As we moved around the lake we encountered ice in the 4" range everywhere except the very edges. That soft slushy area was easily stepped over in the morning but not so much at 1:00 when we left. At that point there was some water on the ice from where it had melted. It was overcast so you couldn't blame it on the sun shining on it--it just warmed up that much. I hesitated to make a report because whereas it was kinda marginal when we were there it might be totally unsafe now. 

We started out by the dam because that was where I had success last year. We couldn't raise anything though we drilled a lot of holes from 7 feet deep out to over 15. We heard some people had had a little success there a few days earlier but it sure was dead for us. Finally Fritz gave up and headed up-lake to where they did so well last year on crappie. I stayed and drilled a bunch more holes just sure that I just needed to find the exact spot where the fish were hanging out. I finally was able to jig up something off the bottom in a couple of holes around the 14' depth mark. No takers though. I got over my stubborness and headed out toward where Fritz had found some hungry perch. Along the way I went past a young man who had a bunch of fish scattered around on the ice. They were mostly perch but there was a very nice bluegill in there, too. I asked him if he had caught any bass and he replied that that was what he had caught the most of. He threw them all back, he said but he extended his hands to show me how big they were--looked like about 12-14 inches. Lmb was mainly what I was after. I asked him if he had any worms I could beg, borrow or buy (he had been catching all his fish on mealworms). See, the thing is that somebody forgot to bring the wax- and mealworms that he had all ready to go. I won't name who it was to protect the guilty. Anyway, the only bait we had was some nice red wigglers and some pick crappie nibbles. He said I was welcome to have some of his mealworms so I grabbed 5. What a nice guy.

When I reached Fritz further to the north he had several small perch in his sled. I had heard that perch meat was the way to go but I tried the mealworms and bits of earthworm first. I was using a couple of tungsten jigs. The white-with-a-blush-of-green did better than the orange one. I sat and watched as Fritz iced several more little fish before I finally caught one to banish the skunk. Then I tried a sliver of perch belly but got no takers. Things finally picked up a bit for me when I put perch eyes on. I only ended up with a half dozen of the little guys which I took home to save for bait. Around 12:30 (we had to leave at 1:00) Fritz said he was going to move one more time. He was sure a big bass was waiting for him in the bay just across the lake. While I was busy catching those last couple of perch, Fritz yelled out that he had something big on. He was whoopin' and a-hollerin' and came running over to show me what he got. It was a beautiful big largemouth. We got a picture of him and the fish and he went back across to measure it and take a picture for the contest. When I got over there he told me it was a bit over 18". In the past the #1 bass have been just that size so we conjectured that he would probably maintain that spot throughout the contest. I know a few guys, including me, who want to give him a run for his money, though. But I sure was happy for him. If he wants to share what he caught it on or anything else I'm sure he'll jump on here.

I'll be back and I'm pretty sure with what I learned that I can ice at least one bass.

[Fritzfishin]

Thanks for a good trip Craig and im definitely going again... maybe earlier and more so for a muskie! Here's a picture of the bass. I got it in about 16' of water on the bottom with a chrome spoon tipped with a sliver of perch. All my perch came from a white gizzy bug and a couple on a blue ice fly with perch meat.

[SkunkedAgain]

Congrats you guys and great LMB. That will keep us all busy to catch up. Waytogo. J

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Anyone go fishing at Newton today? Just curious if the ice is still solid enough to fish it tomorrow? I know it's been a rough few days on the ice layers and I'm not really wanting to go for the polar plunge tomorrow... Appreciate the info if you don't mind... Thanks Jeff

[DjHill16]

Hey Anyone go fishing at Newton today?  Just curious if the ice is still solid enough to fish it tomorrow?  I know it's been a rough few days on the ice layers and I'm not really wanting to go for the polar plunge tomorrow... Appreciate the info if you don't mind... Thanks Jeff

Same here

[wiperhunter2]

Great report, how long was that LM bass?

[Fritzfishin]

18.25"

[wiperhunter2]

18.25"

Wow, nice one, glad to see there are some good ones in that lake.

[SkunkedAgain]

Anyone ventured out on Newton today? Nice and cold tonight, so maybe things will improve out that way... Thanks Jeff

[Freakyfisherman]

Anyone ventured out on Newton today?  Nice and cold tonight, so maybe things will improve out that way... Thanks Jeff

I made it out there this morning. Ice was only a bit sketchy on the edge. I did not see one fish brought up through the ice from our group or by anyone else. My group fished for almost 3 hours from 10am to 1pm. Saw some activity on the vexilar and helix 7. We tried numerous offerings. Only 2 bites. One on a plain gold tungsten jig tipped with a mealworm. The other hit came on a glow in the dark tungsten jig with a small glowing plastic. Fishing was fantastic, catching not so much. I think the storm yesterday put the fish into a funk. 
Gabe

[SkunkedAgain]

Gabe, sure appreciate that great update... I was hoping the ice would get back to safe.... Must admit my catching sure hasn't been what I'd hoped for, out there, but I'm crazy enough to think the next time will be different... Mostly just want to get back on the ice i guess... I think the low water is going to make all of my ice fishing very different this year, I'm not sure where to find fish yet, hope they find me soon... Later Jeff

[Fritzfishin]

Jeff we got into some hungry perch in about the 2nd it third cove on the east side where that little island is sticking up

[lavaman]

I think the fish are ready to play now!  Be careful out there. Thin ice in spots. 

[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks Fritz I need to try somewhere besides the same old place, will have to try to find that spot. Thanks ...
Derek, looks like you had some fun.... Nice job, I'll bet we were there the same day, what does your tent look like on the outside? I'm in the Clam X-200 flip behind the Skidoo Summit (old blue one) We were fishing around the point below the restroom. All three trips out...

[Springbuck1]

ANOTHER hybrid bluegill! In Newton this time. Sure is a nice one.

I'm seeing these pop up all over, and I never saw one in Utah before 5-6 years ago. The spawning times must be all messed up or something, mixing up the greenis and bluegills, or something.