No Ice at Flaming Gorge... Wheres My Boat?

Fishing Time:  January 16 to 18

Weather:  Partly cloudy, breezy cold mornings, calm warm afternoons, T-40s

Moon Phase: 11% Moon

Location:  Flaming Gorge Reservoir

Best Baits:  Rainbow pattern tube jigs

Who Went:  Bobber John, Rick, Dunc

Typically this time of year we are planning an ice fishing trip to Flaming Gorge, but this year there was no ice to be found, so the plans had to change.  We thought about going somewhere else and ice fishing some different lakes, but the allure of the almighty lake trout was too strong to resist.  Not a big deal, I loaded up my boat and away we went.  Bobber John and I arrived Thursday night to the luxurious (kidding) Flaming Gorge Inn Motel and set up home base for the next three days.  It’s not the Ritz Carlton, but it worked out fine for a couple hardcore mack fishermen. 

FRIDAY:  The alarm went off early and we were on the lake before the sun came up.  The temperature was 25 degrees, which is actually warm for this time of year, but driving the boat across the big lake was a bit cold to say the least.  

We ran through a few of our best areas before making a decision on where to fish.  We found a good area showing quite a few fish on the bottom and went to work. 

It was Bobber John's day to shine, which seems to happen a lot for the “lake trout whisperer” as he put on a clinic landing four nice lake trout with one going over 20 pounds.  I struggled, which also seems to happen a lot, as I couldn’t seem to stick a hook set to save my life.  We both had many bites that ended with a swing and a miss and a few that made it half way to the boat.  Despite my hook up struggles I was encouraged at how active the fish were and it fueled my excitement for the next day.

SATURDAY:  Same story different day, only this time I got in on a little of the action.  The fish were extremely active and interested in our jigs (not usually the case).  John hooked up on the first drop of the day, but was so cold that he could barely reel the fish in.  After handling the fish to get it out of the net my hands were frozen solid as well.  I snapped a few quick photos then threw my phone on the floor and winced in pain.  This is what a frozen Bobber John looks like holding a 20 pound lake trout...  I think his mouth stayed that way for another 20 minutes.  

We enjoyed the early success, but tried not to take it for granted.  We both know how difficult these fish are to catch and when you find a day that they actually bite, you bow to the fishing gods and give thanks immediately!  We tried a few different areas and it felt like if you found fish you could usually coax a few bites.  

It was a good day to be lake trout fishing.  We ended the day with two fish over 20 pounds and some smaller fish between 5 to 10 pounds to fill the gaps.  Again we missed quite a few hook sets, but overall it was a very successful day.

SUNDAY:  After seeing all the photos of our success, Rick decided to make the long journey up from SLC and met us at our motel Sunday morning.  Rick has struggled to land big lake trout (join the club) and was anxious to get in on the recent success.  We hit the water in the dark ensuring we made it to our best spot before the sun was up.  After the first few drops with our jigs, Bobber John and I both looked at each other with the “ah oh” look.  The fish were not being active like the previous two days of fishing.  We tried to keep it together for Rick, but we both knew it wasn’t looking good. 

Rick managed a couple bites, but no big fish were landed.  It seemed it was the fishing god’s way of letting us all know that as soon as you think you have lake trout figured out, he lowers the hammer and puts you back in your place!  The last day ended with the two smallest lake trout of the trip in the boat, and I felt really bad Rick went to all the trouble of driving up, but hey, that’s lake trout fishing.  

To make matters worse, we went to the local bar in town after fishing to watch the Green Bay Packers play the Seattle Seahawks for the NFC championship and a shot to play in the Super Bowl.  Rick is a diehard Packers fan.  The Packers blew a 16 to 0 half time lead in one of the most crazy comeback games I have ever seen.  Needless to say… between the snub from lake trout, and the turnout of the game, it must have been a long 3 hour drive home alone for Rick.  

You can check out all the action from the trip on my YouTube channel...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y34BS2V9GY 

First Ice at Pineview and Walking on Water at Willard

Fishing Time:  Pineview- 8:00 to 11:30 pm, Willard Bay- 12:30 to 3:30 pm

Weather:  clear, no wind, T-40s

Moon Phase:  98%  Moon

Location:  Pineview/Willard Bay

Best Baits:  Small spoons tipped with meal worm

Who Went:  Bobber John, Me

The recent urge to ice fish has been strong, but the warm weather has made it tough to find a lake that’s capped with any ice.  Bobber John and I had this epic plan to catch a Tiger Musky through the ice at Pineview Reservoir this winter.  This isn’t a new idea, but one that has been revisited many times by me and my buddies, but has yet to produce a musky.  I’ve seen photos and heard the stories of it actually happening, but it’s usually a fisherman that lucks into one while ice fishing for perch.  Either way, Bobber John and I decided that we would take a chance knowing the odds were against us.

We were pleasantly surprised on arrival as the entire lake was capped with what looked to be safe ice.  After a quick check with the ice bar we began our hike on 4 to 5 inches of ice around the point towards the narrows.  We set up shop in 15 feet of water where we dropped a couple tip ups down with an anchovy attached.  Then we proceeded to deeper water to try our luck for perch and crappie.

The tip ups never budged the entire morning (surprise) and the perch were even hard to find.  Usually you can’t keep the little perch and crappie off at Pineview, but not today.  We didn’t last long before our impatient fishing minds began wandering and thinking about somewhere else to go.

We finally made a decision and packed up our gear and headed down the canyon.  We ended up going to Willard Bay to see if we could drag a wiper onto the ice (why do we punish ourselves). Once we were at the lake we quickly realized it had not been frozen very long.  There were only a couple holes drilled in the marina and the ice outside of the marina was 3-inches of crystal clear ice.  It felt like we were walking on water as we made our way out onto the main body of water.  We followed the GPS on my fish finder until we were sitting over a hump that treated us well the previous year fishing from my boat.

The fish finder immediately started showing fish on the bottom, but getting them to bite was a different story.  I finally hooked into the mystery fish only to find out it was a big fat 11-inch perch. The bite never did turn on much, but they were nice perch to say the least.  It was pretty cool being one of the first ones on the ice at Willard Bay, and the chunky perch made the day a success. 

The Kids First Ice Fishing Trip

Fishing Time:  3:30 to 5:30 pm

Weather:  Cold, clear, T-30s

Moon Phase:  94% Moon

Location:  Utah Lake (Pelican Bay Harbor)

Bait:  Ice flies tipped with meal worm

Who Went:  Devin, Addison, Dayton, Cari, Me

I had some time off work over the holidays and I promised the kids I would take them ice fishing.  I could see the wheels turning in there heads as I talked to them about how we would use a hand auger to drill through the ice covered lake so that we could drop our fishing lines down to the bottom. Their imaginations ran wild with the whole idea and they had to see it to believe it.   

The weather has been unbelievably warm this winter and I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep my promise to the kids.  Finally a cold snap settled in the week after Christmas and some of the nearby lakes gave in and iced over.

  

I figured Utah Lake would be the best place to take the kids if for any other reason its close to home and if they got cold we could leave without much hassle.  Cari and I bundled them up and headed to Pelican Bay Harbor on the west side of Utah Lake.  

We first tried drilling a few holes in an area with no snow, but the kids kept slipping and couldn't seem to stay upright, so we moved to an area covered with snow.  I popped three holes as the kids watched with amazement.  

Devin and Addi picked their holes and started fishing, but Dayton still wasn't sure about the whole idea.  He was pretty happy cozying up with mom and staying warm.

The two oldest dedicated themselves to fishing for a whopping 15-20 minutes before I started to lose them.  Not catching fish wasn't helping.  The sled I brought from home soon became a bigger hit than the fishing.  As I pulled Dev and Addi around on the slick ice, Cari and Dayton tried their hands at fishing for a bit. 

They didn't have any luck either and with the sun going down and an early moon popping over Mount Timpanogos the temperatures dropped dramatically and it was time to find some hot chocolate and get warm.