Pineview Party on the Ice

Fishing Time: 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm

Weather: Cold, clear, T-20s

Moon Phase: 4% Moon

Best Bait: ice fly tipped with shrimp, slip bobber to detect light bites

Who Went: Barclay Emery, Rick Everson, Mark, Dunc

We decided on round two for crappie action at Pineview Reservoir.  We rounded up a few buddies and hit the ice in the same spot as two weeks ago.  

As soon as it got dark the fish started showing up, but not as thick as the last trip.  The bite was slow, but we were at least able to get enough for a decent fish dinner.

The winter has been a long one this year with record snow.  It couldn’t come at a better time as the reservoirs are the lowest, I have ever seen in my lifetime.  It’s been a long one with snow every week.  Looking forward to some sunshine and warm weather fishing.

Beautiful Bear Lake Ice Fishing

Fishing Time: 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

Weather: Clear, calm, Cold, Temp was -2 on arrival and 6 when we left

Moon Phase: 4% Moon

Best Bait:  bites came on large rainbow tube jig tipped with minnow

Who Went: Casey Davies, Chad Fuller, Dunc

Bear Lake hasn’t been safely frozen for many years, so when I found out it had 10-inches of ice, I wanted to go check it out.  We arrived at the parking lot just outside of Garden City and walked the mile or so out to the rock pile.  To our surprise there were many fishermen who had already beat us to the spot, but we settled in on the outskirts of tent city and set up shop. 

The hue of blue illuminating the snow and ice inside the tent was cool and the reason Bear Lake is so different and fun to fish.  The clear blue water was visible down to 20 ft or so, but the fishing was as expected, slow.  We did manage 5-6 bites, but for whatever reason we couldn’t seem to get them through the ice.  We had three that made it halfway up to the hole, but then popped off.  After talking to other fisherman catching whitefish around us, it makes me think our large tube jigs were too big for the tiny whitefish’ mouth.

Frustrating to get skunked, but it was a beautiful day with good company.  Highlight was the pressure ridge that shifted and caused an earthquake on the ice.  It shook us pretty good!  I think Chad may have had a tear in his eye, but he toughed it out!

Piles of Crappie at Pineview

Fishing Time: 5:30 pm to 10:00 pm

Weather: Cold, clear, T-20s

Moon Phase: 78% Moon

Best Bait: ice fly tipped with shrimp, slip bobber to detect light bites

Who Went: Roger Parks, Rick Everson, Casey Davies, Chad Fuller, Trace Fuller, Dunc

I heard the crappie were biting at Pineview, so I invited some of the guys from work to head out early on a Friday afternoon to fish the evening crappie bite.  Rick just happened to call me, so he got the invite as well, although he had to leave early and missed the good bite.  Casey had to leave early as well. They still landed a few before they left.

We setup our tents and gear on the ice an hour before dark and were seeing a few fish on the fish finder, but by dark the finder was blowing up with constant suspended fish coming through.  We were still struggling to land them until I put a slip bobber on which detected the light bites with ease and it was game on.

Roger and I must have landed 40-50 crappie while Chad got skunked.  Luckily, I was letting Chad’s son Trace reel in a few fish since his dad was struggling.  It was a successful night on the ice and Chad had a pile of crappie to take home and filet for a nice fish dinner.

Strawberry Ladders - Ice Fishing with the Boys

Fishing Time: 7:30 am to 1:00 pm

Weather: Snowed the entire day, T-30s

Moon Phase: Full Moon

Best Bait: white tube jig on ¼ oz jig head tipped with worm

Who Went: Casey Davies, Devin Duncan, Dayton Duncan, Dunc

You gotta love when your boys come to you and want to go ice fishing, and they didn’t have to talk me into it.  Casey from work was headed to Strawberry so we met up with him in the parking lot at the ladders at 7:00 am.  The drive up was a bit dicey with snow covered roads and white out conditions coming up over Daniels Summit. 

The morning started slow, but Devin and Casey got us on the board with a couple quick cutthroat.  We were seeing fish here and there but getting them to bite was difficult.  After showing Dayton what a bite felt like and how the fish finder worked, I left him alone to work his magic.  He landed five fish in a matter of 20 minutes. 

We caught a few more, but it wasn’t the fastest Strawberry fishing I’ve experienced.  I did get my first look at the new Snow Dogs that everyone is using now.  Basically a souped up lawn mower with snowmobile tracks that drag you and your sled behind it.  Pretty cool concept and it felt like everyone has one.  Not us, we trudged our way through the 2 feet of snow out onto the ice the old fashion way.  It was a great day to be with the boys and I’m glad we had a little luck to keep them interested.