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Went ice fishing on Rigby Lake this morning for about four hours. Action was red hot for planter bows from 7:30-10:30; in all I iced 33 planters. Best method was small green jigs tipped with mealy with the head removed. A lot of fish showed up on the Vexilar. Remember you might as well keep a limit; Rigby Lake never holds it water through the winter. Also ice was four inches, but some areas were near two inches, and in these places the ice was not too solid. I personally love having another option close to home.
OvidCreek
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Thanks for the Rexburg Ponds update; I always try to make it up there for some fishing. I will also say it got really slow at 10:30 am and the arctic conditions made it not worth it to stay on.
OvidCreek
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Update:
Fished Rigby Lake again this morning and what a difference a day makes. Only iced nine, and could only find fish in a couple of areas. The Vexilar picked them up, but not a whole lot of interest. I know I am talking a lot about this lake, but I am hoping a lot of people ice fish it! If fish and game see use they will likely keep putting fish into it every year even though the water goes away. If you need a family get away, and not everyone likes fishing there is a one mile walking/cross country ski path, and a nice little sled hill to keep non-interested family members occupied.
Just my two cents.
OvidCreek
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Thanks for the update. I just have not had any time as of late to get over there.
Christmas break is coming soon so I will be getting out.
Windriver
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thanks for the report.
did you happen to catch any bananas? I tried and failed there a couple of months ago. If they are biting I'll give it another shot.
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No Bananas[frown] I will let you know if I get one though, as I plan on fishing it a lot being so close to home.
OvidCreek
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There will be an article on fishing Rigby Lake in the Post Register on Thursday.
Bill Schiess wrote the article and he said that the Fish & Game are planning on planting Rigby next year as well as figuring out a way for water to flow through there in the winter to keep some fish alive.
Windriver
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Thanks for the update Windriver! I read the outdoor section religiously and I enjoy Bill's articles. I hope it gets people out to this new fishery.
OvidCreek
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The article is being written to get people out to harvest the fish. I talked to Bill when he was out there and he said all of the fish will die this winter. So get your fishing in now and don't be afraid to keep some fish. Hopefully next year they will have water flowing into it to keep fish alive.
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Hopefully if they can keep water flowing so the fish can winter over there will eventually be a few a little bigger than little planters. Either way, it's nice to have a simple little spot to hit this close to home.
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Fished Rigby Lake with the family for one hour tonight. My kids even got into some sledding. We iced six fish, but the highlight of the evening was a 15.5 inch Banana Trout I caught. I was suprised, but happy to see it come out of the hole. Mealies (head off) on small green jigs are still the best producers.
OvidCreek
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Good Job. Hopefully I can get over there early next week.
Windriver
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Ok, if they are still in there I might try it again. Thanks for the report!
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