Smith Morehouse 1st

[BURLEY]

First time to fish SM. First Grayling x 3. First real test for Snowdogs for Dubob and me. Arrived 7AM  temp +1*. Fishing was consistent for all anglers. Caught Grayling, rainbows,cuts, and some caught kokes. Ice was about 16 inches with 5-6" snow on some slush. When leaving the lake I ran into 6-8" of slush under the snow that brought my snowdog to a halt. A little stomping of snow and slush in front of it and walking to the side and the dog  climbed up and out no problem. I'm going to like this new machine.

[Muskyon46]

What a fun trip. Great weather, catching was steady. I ended up with 4 grayling, 2 kokes, 1 cut and 6 bows. Nothing over 10-11in for me. Skyler had 35 fish with just under half of them being grayling, 1 koke and the rest bows. Biggest around 12-13in. That slush did pop up on you quick, but the sled did ok. Good to hear those dogs crawl out of it ok. It was a great time meeting everyone.

[Kent]

I got off to a rough start for my first ice outing of the season:
Fish finder wouldn't work (biggest frustration).
Heater was in pieces (Shawn and I were able to get it put back together)
I couldn't get any of my six propane lighters to work (Shawn eventually saved the day)
One of my new rod holders got broken in the sled before even using it once.
My gizmo, that charges glow jigs, had a dead battery.

I couldn't catch anything but rainbows and got about 15 of them.
Despite all of the opportunities it was a fun day and good to get back on the ice.  Nice to meet a couple new folks and renew an old friendship.  Got to test drive Burley's Snowdog and I was impressed.

[EyLayo]

Good trip. I enjoyed it. Grateful to Burley for taking the time to give me the Snowdog demo. Nice meeting you Matt and Skyler, thanks for showing me all your cool gadgets. Jealous of your grayling Bob. Thanks for the invite and company Kent. This was also my first time fishing here and my first grayling. Managed to trick a red koke too. My catch- 4 cutt, 26 rainbow, 2 grayling, 6 kokes. Nothing of size unfortunately

[fish_fear_me2]

First time to fish SM. First Grayling x 3. First real test for Snowdogs for Dubob and me. Arrived 7AM  temp +1*. Fishing was consistent for all anglers. Caught Grayling, rainbows,cuts, and some caught kokes. Ice was about 16 inches with 5-6" snow on some slush. When leaving the lake I ran into 6-8" of slush under the snow that brought my snowdog to a halt. A little stomping of snow and slush in front of it and walking to the side and the dog  climbed up and out no problem. I'm going to like this new machine.

Sounds like a great trip.

[Muskyon46]

Jealous of your grayling Bob.

I'm surprised Bob hasn't chimed in yet but just had to show off his grayling. Biggest I've  seen in this state but then again I'm not targeting this fish often. Nice one Bob

[JBSPARKIE]

Jealous of your grayling Bob.

I'm surprised Bob hasn't chimed in yet but just had to show off his grayling. Biggest I've  seen in this state but then again I'm not targeting this fish often. Nice one Bob

We are planning a trip up on Saturday. Any input on what you guys were using or depth you were fishing?
Thanks,

[dubob]

Other than being a bit chilly when I got to the parking lot at 7:45 (-3* on my truck temp gauge), it was a great day to be out on the ice.  Severe clear and no wind.  All the other players were already out on the ice due to my miscalculation on how long a drive it was to get there - 98 miles from my house.  Anyway, got the Dog unloaded along with the 3 sleds and hooked everything together.  It all pulled just fine on the packed down road from the first lot (next to the dam) to the boat ramp lot.  When I hit the snow on the ice, things slowed down a tad in the 5/6 inches of fluff.  Quickly learned that it would run faster and with less effort in somebody else's track. 

Ran through some exposed slush pockets and slowed down a little, but never booged down to a dead stop - thankfully. 

Swung by Kent and Shawn (EyLayo) to say my 'Howdy.'  Then over to Matt & Skyler.  They were already tearing them up in 12/13 FOW.  Talked it over and I decided to go closer to the dam to try some deeper water for a bit.  Stopped by Burley's setup just in time to see him catch the monster of the day.  The line broke as it was about half out of the whole and his immediate scramble to save the day - worked.  Well done. 



Finally got setup about 9:15 and discovered I was in 30 FOW.  Stayed there until 11:00 and had 1 smallish rainbow iced for my efforts.  Not good.  I could see that the other folks were still where they started, so I packed up and headed back to Matt & Skyler's location.  They were already up over 20 fish total to my 1.  Ouch!

Set up in 13 FOW and immediately started marking fish.  BANG - fish on!  Half way to the hole, BANG - fish on the other rod.  Nice double to start things off.



I did manage to add a couple more of the smallish rainbows to my total for a total of 5.  One came on one of Skyler's rods as he was off helping Matt with something and I was sitting there watching his Garman Livescope.  It was almost a lost fish.  Why, you ask.  I'll tell you why - he has his spinning reels setup for a RIGHT HANDED crank.  Who ever heard of such a thing?    My left hand was just cranking air.  Matt & Skyler got a huge laugh out of that fiasco.

I saved the best for last - a grayling.  My first ever in Utah.  According to Matt & Skyler, it was the biggest of the day for our group.  It also put up the best fight of all my fish.






That's it for the fish porn on this trip.

Post log on the Dog.  It does what it is advertised to do; pull me and a ton of gear around on the ice.  The steering is going to be a learning curve.  There are no skies up front to keep it tracking true like there is on snowmobiles.  It takes a little more effort and body english to keep it going straight.  Not an extreme amount, but a little more than with a snowmobile.  Also, the sled that I stand in to drive is extremely slick when cold and covered with a little snow dust.  I will be placing a rubber/foam pad of some sort in the bottom of that sled to stand on to prevent sliding around while moving.  I also need to do some reorganizing of the amount of gear I take along with me - DOWNSIZE.  I'm thinking a couple of Rubbermade packers in the back sled should be all I need.  And take out one of the seats in my Clam Nanook.  I can always put it back in for the rare occasions I take a novice with me. 

[Muskyon46]

We are planning a trip up on Saturday. Any input on what you guys were using or depth you were fishing?
Thanks,


My most productive color for me was a firetiger tungsten tipped with wax worm. I would use something in the 1/16oz range as the mouths on those fish there are small. Fish close to the bottom in 10-15fow on the lake opposite from the road. Good luck

[BURLEY]

Sparkie I was also in the 15ft range on the far side maybe 100 ft. From shore at a 45* angle from the boat ramp toward influence. Matt was only a dozen yards away. Jigs with nightcrawlers and mealworms was my bait. I didn't have waxes or gitzit baits.

Thanks Bob for the photo of my cutt.

Thanks Kent for the invite. It was reassuring to have friends near when testing the Snowdog. Sorry that things went wrong with your equipment.

[JBSPARKIE]

Sparkie I was also in the 15ft range on the far side maybe 100 ft. From shore at a 45* angle from the boat ramp toward influence. Matt was only a dozen yards away. Jigs with nightcrawlers and mealworms was my bait. I didn't have waxes or gitzit baits.

Thanks Bob for the photo of my cutt.

Thanks Kent for the invite. It was reassuring to have friends near when testing the Snowdog. Sorry that things went wrong with your equipment.

Burley, Thanks for the reply. I will also be taking my new Snowdog on the trip so it was good to hear how things went. Thank you.

[BURLEY]

The heavy slush was straight out from the ramp, so stay to the right side as you head out.

[JBSPARKIE]

The heavy slush was straight out from the ramp, so stay to the right side as you head out.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Kent]

Thanks Kent for the invite. It was reassuring to have friends near when testing the Snowdog. Sorry that things went wrong with your equipment.

You are always welcome.  Having the fish finder die was a mixed blessing.  I checked my receipt and my two-year warranty would expire on 1/31/21, so glad it broke now instead of a month or two later.

[TheOtherSide]

Glad you guys had fun and caught fish. I was really hoping to make it, but my machine wasn't fixed in time and my truck apparently needs new injectors...... Hopefully I can make the next one if I don't end up selling everything to pay for it. lol