12-11-2011, 03:15 AM
Was hoping to get one last day of boat fishing in at the Berry before the ice came so after I talked with the boy at the marina yesterday and he told me people were still launching boats...I was all in.
Arron and I left my house this morning a little after 6:00 and drove up to the Berry after stopping for snacks in Heber. Was -2 on the road in and we got to the main marina turnoff and couldn't decide whether to launch at the main marina, or try driving to Renegade. We didn't think the road to Renegade was passable so we drove into the main marina. Upon arrival, we found two other boats at the ramp...not launching. Iced over! Yes a thin sheet of ice from the ramp out about as far as you could see. Since we wanted to fish Renegade...and we didn't feel like cutting ice all the way there...we decided to try our luck at driving down there. Glad we did! The road was better than it was the last two times out, and upon arrival found 100% open water and no ice at all. A funny thing happened as we turned into the Renegade boat ramp...I really needed to stop and take a whiz. So I just stopped the vehicle (I was driving), got out and turned to face the rear of the vehicle and reached down and started undoing my fly...it was at that moment I noticed the truck stopped directly behind us with a man and his shocked wife in the passenger seat. Embarrassed, I quickly zipped my fly back up (luckily, I never got further than just unzipping my fly a bit...never got it out), waved and got back in the Jeep and hurried into the marina. Of course they followed us in and once parked we had quite the little laugh together. Anyway, we launched and went to our secret spot which is not too far from the boat ramp itself. We starting fishing about 8:30 or so and was pretty slow the first hour catching about 1/2 dozen fish or so. At that point we did a stupid thing and went out looking for fish. Long story short, we came back about an hour later and locked into the same spot we started in...and started catching fish. We basically lost more than an hour of fishing time and the fish were right where we started the whole time...they just hadn't turned on yet. Ice was forming around us (thin sheets would just suddenly be around our lines jigging...weird...of course, it was ZERO outside for a while!) and the wind started coming up so we headed back to the ramp about noon after really only fishing for 2 to 2.5 hours total. We ended up with 24 fish, 4 of which were over the slot (24" was the biggest) and one Rainbow. Had we stayed put instead of looking for fish we easily could have doubled that as when we returned the bite was really on. Couldn't fish in Horse Creek as it was iced over. We broke ice getting in there, but couldn't fish due to the ice (we like to cast). At the ramp, ice was forming and/or blowing in and we had a heck of a time getting the Jeep to get back up the ramp. I've got a cool video of Arron spinning his tires smoking up the ice...but didn't know how to post it. I believe boating is OVER for the season at the Berry as I think if it stays calm and cold for a couple more days, it's gonna cap over more solidly. Also, Mudcreek is partially capped...won't be long now.
We brought home 2 of the over the slot Cutt's and the Rainbow.
Was a georgous day and was happy to be outside!
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Arron and I left my house this morning a little after 6:00 and drove up to the Berry after stopping for snacks in Heber. Was -2 on the road in and we got to the main marina turnoff and couldn't decide whether to launch at the main marina, or try driving to Renegade. We didn't think the road to Renegade was passable so we drove into the main marina. Upon arrival, we found two other boats at the ramp...not launching. Iced over! Yes a thin sheet of ice from the ramp out about as far as you could see. Since we wanted to fish Renegade...and we didn't feel like cutting ice all the way there...we decided to try our luck at driving down there. Glad we did! The road was better than it was the last two times out, and upon arrival found 100% open water and no ice at all. A funny thing happened as we turned into the Renegade boat ramp...I really needed to stop and take a whiz. So I just stopped the vehicle (I was driving), got out and turned to face the rear of the vehicle and reached down and started undoing my fly...it was at that moment I noticed the truck stopped directly behind us with a man and his shocked wife in the passenger seat. Embarrassed, I quickly zipped my fly back up (luckily, I never got further than just unzipping my fly a bit...never got it out), waved and got back in the Jeep and hurried into the marina. Of course they followed us in and once parked we had quite the little laugh together. Anyway, we launched and went to our secret spot which is not too far from the boat ramp itself. We starting fishing about 8:30 or so and was pretty slow the first hour catching about 1/2 dozen fish or so. At that point we did a stupid thing and went out looking for fish. Long story short, we came back about an hour later and locked into the same spot we started in...and started catching fish. We basically lost more than an hour of fishing time and the fish were right where we started the whole time...they just hadn't turned on yet. Ice was forming around us (thin sheets would just suddenly be around our lines jigging...weird...of course, it was ZERO outside for a while!) and the wind started coming up so we headed back to the ramp about noon after really only fishing for 2 to 2.5 hours total. We ended up with 24 fish, 4 of which were over the slot (24" was the biggest) and one Rainbow. Had we stayed put instead of looking for fish we easily could have doubled that as when we returned the bite was really on. Couldn't fish in Horse Creek as it was iced over. We broke ice getting in there, but couldn't fish due to the ice (we like to cast). At the ramp, ice was forming and/or blowing in and we had a heck of a time getting the Jeep to get back up the ramp. I've got a cool video of Arron spinning his tires smoking up the ice...but didn't know how to post it. I believe boating is OVER for the season at the Berry as I think if it stays calm and cold for a couple more days, it's gonna cap over more solidly. Also, Mudcreek is partially capped...won't be long now.
We brought home 2 of the over the slot Cutt's and the Rainbow.
Was a georgous day and was happy to be outside!
[signature]
I used to N.ot have E.nough T.ime O.ff to go fishing. Then I retired. Now I have less time than I had before. Sheesh.
] Glad you guys had fun and hope you forgot about leaves for awhile. Randy, I didn't know you were an exhibitionist. Learn something new everyday....