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Chesterfield
#1
Was lucky enough to get out on the ice on Saturday with perfect sunny weather. As an added bonus, the fishing was fairly good. Between three anglers we caught around 20 fish in the 15-20 inch range. Didn't ice any biggest fish Chesterfield has to offer, but it was still fun. Did well with a variety of jigs and baits, and mostly on the bottom in about 6-8 feet of water. Interestingly, later in the day we started getting hits only a few feet below the bottom of the ice. The ice is around 20 inches thick, so still very safe. The first 15-20 feet around the edges was quite thin and fragile, watched several 4-wheelers go through the ice in 2-3 feet of water. In the morning it was easy to get on, but in the afternoon a long plank was a good thing to have on hand. Hope everyone else enjoyed the nice weather as the hardwater season is winding down.
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#2
Thanks for the report. Sounds like you have done much better than most at Chesterfield.[Smile] When I fished it about 2 months ago I also had my best luck in about 8 feet of water. Somewhere I read a recent quote from Dick Scully that said the chubs will likely affect the growth of the fingerlings planted in 2006. [unsure]
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#3
BrianID..
I don't know about the fingerlings from '06, but the catchable sized fish planted in '06 aren't nearly as healthy as the catchable fish planted in '05 were at this time last winter. I don't know what the cause of that is, all I know is the fish in the 12-15 inch range aren't nearly as robust as they were last winter/spring. I'm a little worried about Chesterfield this summer. As you mentioned in another post the snow pack isn't exactly stellar this year and obviously that isn't going to help keep the reservoir full through the end of the summer. Pray for rain this spring.
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#4
I've notice the fish around 14" aren't nearly as fat as they were a year ago. A reservoir is almost always more productive the first year it comes back after being drained. When I fished Chesterfield this summer I saw a large population of minnows in the shallows. Few, if any, of these minnows were trout because the F&G didn't plant the fingerlings until September. Hopefully most of these minnows were shiners and dace instead of chubs and suckers. I never had a good look at these minnows though so I don't really know what species they were. As long as we get at least average precipitation this spring and summer, I don't think there will be any major die offs at Chesterfield this year.
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#5
Qdog,
After this week's temperatures, I would guess there is an opportunity to fish in open water around the edges. I have the day off tomorrow and was planning on taking a drive out there to check it out, so I'll give you an update.
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#6
Welcome to the board Qdog!
If you need any help registering your username let me know.
I think ice of at Chesterfield is at least a couple weeks away I could be wrong though.

Flyguy66,
Thanks and look forward to the update.
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#7
Sorry it took me so long to get back on with a report. I didn't make it out this weekend due to vehicle problems. Got some information from a friend on Monday that people were still ice fishing chesterfield as of Monday afternoon. Decided that today would be a nice day to get out for the last day of ice fishing this season. Went with a buddy and overall was a great day on the ice. Had consistent action from 9:00 until 2:00. Unfortunately, we were forced to leave early because the last 25-30 feet of ice around the edges was getting VERY soft. We had a ladder and made it off OK but if we would have waited much longer it may have been a challenge. I would say that today or tomorrow may be THE last day of safe ice fishing at Chesterfield, unless we get a cold snap. Once you get past the first 30 feet the ice is plenty thick at around 12-15 inches. I would say if the temps stay consistent there could be open water to fish on around the edges in a week or so. And I imagine the fishing would be quite good because we were catching the majority of our fish in 5-7 feet of water.
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