Ice Fishing Echo Reservoir

Saturday our adventure took us to Echo Reservoir in Coalville UT. It was an adventure getting to the lake that morning. We hit the road by 6 thinking plenty of time to stop get a treat and make to the lake by sunrise. That was not the case, after a scare of losing a wallet we finally made it on the water by 10 am a far cry from sunrise. After we got on the lake however we had a blast. The crazy thing is we had never been to this lake on the ice and the only time prior was a good 20 years ago for a family reunion. We were in 50 ft of water and thought to ourselves we are too deep. We started moving in and Jimmy stayed in the tent and watched his pole. Sure enough about 3 minutes later he was yelping and excited for his catch. Jimmy started us off with a nice fat rainbow trout. First fish of the day and biggest of the day.

After that I stayed with my holes in the tent, Parker took a little more coaxing to return. The day was cold at -9 degrees but by the time we left it warmed up to zero. Jim was getting nervous even though the 3-4 inches of ice we were sitting on actually started bow a little and water was above the holes! We told him it was fine, but when we got off the spot the water quickly went away….. Anyhow it was a good morning of fishing and yours truly finally broke the skunk and got a few fish! Parker ended up with a few as well. All in all, we landed over 20 fish for the short time we were on the ice. On the way home, we stopped in Coalville at the Polar King and had lunch. Great food and friendly people! Recommended if you are in town. Next adventure will take us south to a lake that we have frequented in the summer but not on the ice, hope we catch some monster tiger trout!

Ice Fishing Strawberry New Years Eve!

Parker and Jimmy wanted to get out on New Years Eve so we ventured up to Strawberry to catch hundreds of fish. At least that is what the reports had been saying. We did get one picture of a very nice 25 inch Cutthroat Trout from a friend. We decided to go into the spot he described for us and give it a shot.

When we arrived it was -17 on the temp gauge. Cold enough the sensors on the truck were malfunctioning. We got dressed and set up and on the water quickly excited for a non-stop fish fest. Didn't quite work out that way. We seen fish most of the day, we were in 21 feet of water and could see the bottom. We watched the fish swim through and most of the time not even look at what we were offering them. Parker and Jimmy did manage one a piece, I on the other hand didn't get so much as a hit. We changed colors, size, depth, bait, and Parker even resorted to powerbait trying to lure them in. To no avail those were the only fish of the morning. The boys had to be back home by early afternoon. We fished until noon making it 5 hours on the ice. We didn't notice anyone or hear anyone else really pulling out fish either. Could be due to the fact it was a city on the shore line and the pressure had shut down the bite or we just didn't have what they wanted. No matter still better than sitting at home wishing we were fishing.

I don't know if I should even put a pole in the water and just be the guide with as many fish I have been into lately....lol. Just kidding I will trick them into biting soon enough. A new lake for us will be our next adventure, wish us luck! We did a very good burger at the marina restaurant The Strawberry Wobbler's Cafe!

Rockport on Ice!

This morning we went to Rockport Reservoir to see how the ice was. The ice is a solid 3 inches with the cap happening in the last couple days we thought it would be great fishing. We went down toward the dam and found a nice rock outcropping coming down the bank and started cutting holes. We cut 6 holes the first one was in 15 feet of water and the outer one only about 20 feet further out from the back wen to 50 feet. Cutting holes we found the inner depth at 5 feet with 6 feet of distance away from that hole it dropped to 12 feet and then out to 15 ft and then it dropped fast to 30 ft. Thinking we had a great transition point we started fishing. Giving the 15 and 30 ft holes first shot and the 12 ft. holes at the same time. Parker had a fish in the 12 ft hole in about 15 minutes and we were thinking sweet we found a good spot. Another 20 minutes and he catches another fish neither really big but still getting fish quickly was good. We set the tent over the 12 ft holes and cut a couple more holes. We stayed there for a couple hours and Parker pulled in two very nice mature Rainbow trouts. He also caught a couple more dinks. I realized I was there for support and to take pictures for him. I was good with that, we were having fun and watched the Memphis vs. Auburn game while waiting to get more fish. The day was nice, no wind but very little sun and it was a chilly 18 degrees. I kept trying the other holes to see if I could muster up anything. After not getting anything for about 30 minutes and close to noon we closed shop and headed to town for a burger at Hi-Mountain Drug in Kamas. A fun morning and a couple very nice Rainbow for the smoker, well maybe a couple will make their way to the grill on some Wasatch Mountain Planks!

Ice Fishing ECC

Parker did another solo on Christmas Eve and went into East Chicken Creek Bay on Strawberry Reservoir. He said the hike down to the lake wasn’t bad. The trail packed out by the other fishers that were in the bay. He got a slow start on the ice, due to the fact he went searching for ice. He started out at Rockport but it was still ice free and then came back to Jordanelle again still ice free or unsafe ice. He then went up Daniels Canyon to Strawberry and still looking for ice he went to the marina and it was sill open water. What day did I say he was out? That’s right Christmas Eve and still mostly open water on the reservoirs. He tried to get into Mud Creek but it was full of fishers so he made his way around and seen some ice in ECC and went out. He only got to fish for about an hour before he had to leave but in that time he managed a few very nice rainbow trout. ECC is good for rainbow trout on Strawberry don’t really know why but you can always catch a few of them there. Here are some pics he took. Hopefully I will be over this cold and get out with him soon!

 

Cleveland Reservoir Ice Fishing

This weekend Parker did a solo to a lake he has never been to. He slayed them. He fished for a little over two hours and caught over 20 fish. Mostly Rainbow trout and all good sized. He had a couple try to take a pole into the hole but he was quick on the catch and saved them. A bluebird day on the ice and the Jiffy Pro 4 is still working great. the ice was 7 inches thick and very safe. He did report that it was a little bit of a hike to get the lake. Not a bad outing Parker!!