Echo Ice Slush?

[brifish]

For thoseof you that have been recently to Echo, particularly today, was there much slush on the ice if any? How thick was the ice? Thanks for any info.
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[Bone14]

I went today and there are patches of slush but there is some good solid stuff too. The ice was about 5 inches where I was at. Good day out there.
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[brifish]

Did you need to jump a canyon to step from the bank on to the edge of the ice? or was it pretty easy to get on with out getting wet?
Thanks.
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[Steelheadr]

Four of us fished today on the north end on the east side - ice was 4" about 50 yards out (12' depth), but was down to 2" or less about 100 yards out (25' depth) with lots of crackin goin on. [shocked] Only a small step over shallow slush/water to get on the ice. While the slush was minimal near the shore, it was a mess further out after water seeped out of the holes. Got 11 trout all together (12" - 18" on Ratsos and Kastmasters) but only caught 1 small perch; much different from last year.
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[brifish]

Thanks. Sounds like it might be a cold night. maybe the slush will freeze and be solid for tomorrow morning. I wish the ice would hurry this year.
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[biggfish12]

I was there today also. I found a li9ttle slush but only 1 inch. The wind had blown most of the snow of where I was. Ice was between 3 and 6 inches depending on where you were at. I fished in 30 to 40 feet of water. I did not put very much on the ice, but the two I did were very nice. I could not get the perch to take any of my offerings today.
You could see where the edge had been broken off but it was only about a foot. I weigh 260 and had not problems.
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[HOODY3]

I stopped by there today and talked to some guys there and said that it was 5 to 6" of ice So I think I will hit it tomorrow and see how I do.[]
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[macscabin]

I will be up in the morning. Come by and say hi. I will be in a red coat and black hat that says Got Fish? I have a Eskimo Quick flipII.
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[bubba_burt]

Whereabouts on the reservoir were they? We fished by the resort Sunday and it had about 4".
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[doggonefishin]

We will be up there also tomorrow. What part of the lake will you be at?
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[Roghet]

I went there today (Tues) at 9AM and I was surprised by the number of folk there that may have been as anxious as I to get the ice season started. I wouldn't call it an "ant hill" but there were groups in most areas. We entered from the center, and I thought it was curious that I didn't see anyone near the dam all day.

The roads were dry, and the snow was very reasonable, even melted in many areas in fact. The water was a soft a bit at the edges, but firm after that.

There were some areas with surface water and slush for a couple inches, but everywhere I drilled a hole was at least 5" underneath. WHEW! [] But the ice wasn't clear except for the lowest 2". It was so warm that I didn't even wear a coat, and some slush developed mid day, but it got colder with the wind and firmed up by the time we left at about 4 pm.

At first, I went to a spot that was good for me EVERY trip last year and met up with a buddy that had done likewise. He'd arrived early and wasn't doing a lot of catching... After only a few hours of me being there, most of the groups had left.

I threw everything I had at them. (Even some home made favorites.) We caught 3 nice trout, and perch were interspersed, but they were really small. (Fortunately, I was just glad to be outside on a nice day.) I moved around for a good half mile area or more, and I'd catch one 4" perch at first, then nothing... Then at 3pm we found a spot that produced about 15 in half hour, but we took morbid pleasure in the fact that all but a couple were so small that the could barely bend our wire bite detectors! [] If it wasn't for the trout, we'd have had pizza for dinner! []

Hope that helps.

Anyway... I was glad I went, but I'll be looking forward if anyone catches any keeper perch there. Maybe it's just me, but there are many places I can reliably catch trout, and I'm counting on you guys to let me know where the panfish can be had this year! [cool]
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[brifish]

What baits did they want to take the most?
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[HOODY3]

Last year I had tons of luck cathing good sized perch on a salmon egg just off the bottom. I usually went south of the resort area where you can park easily and walk down to the water with a sled real easy. I will be there tomorrow in my big ol' six man Eskimo tent for most of the day [cool] Gotta stay warm lol
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[HOODY3]

The guys I talked to were on the North side where a lot of people park close to the damn and walk down that rocky area.
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[Roghet]

Baits: I didn't catch a single one on crawlers, (the finder proved that they looked at 'em) but they did go for waxies. But they often bit them off my larger hooks. I put on a small slap of perch meat and got some bites, but never landed one - I think they were just too small to get it in their mouth! []

I got tired of not catching anything, so I switched to a perch eye, and that was the most successful.

I haven't tried any eggs, thanks for the suggestion HOODY3.

I'm trying to decide what to learn from this one, cuz I found fish at depths from 17-30ish feet, just not many, and not large. I'm just thankful for the occasional slimer that wanted to play. []
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