any info some clients were just asking if i knew. so i went to the peeps. any reports guys?[;)]
I was at Fish Lake on Monday. The south end had about 9" of clear ice. Cleats are required or you will bounce the back of your head on the ice. The fishing was fast all day long in about 20’ of water just off the weed line. The best results for catching rainbows and splake was at a depth of 10’ with a white or green tube jig tipped with about anything. There was open water from the Lodge north.
thank u.[;)]
Thanks for the update. I’m heading down within a week. Anyone know if it’s capped since Monday? I’d think it’s got to be close.
The areas we usually fish have been capped for a couple of weeks and currently has 8-9 inches of clear ice. We should be fine in fishing our usual spots. The open water is farther uplake.
The areas we usually fish have been capped for a couple of weeks and currently has 8-9 inches of clear ice. We should be fine in fishing our usual spots. The open water is farther uplake.
Yeah, I know the south end has good ice. Just curious as to the whole lake. Someone recently reported wind from the north causing a current under the ice. They said it would swing/drift their bait. Might not be a big deal and shouldn’t affect the fishing at all…but who knows. Mostly just curious.
The current wasn’t a big deal…more of a curiosity as I’ve never encountered that while ice fishing. We slammed 'em pretty good. If you used really light jigs, it could goof you up.
It has been cooler at night the past couple days. I still wouldn’t call it cold.
How about getting a quad on the ice? headed there the end of feb early march, just wondering and want to keep up on if I we can get access on the shore to get a quad on the ice. We went last year late march and could.. It was one of the best ice fishing trips ive had as far as weather and thickness, plus the catching is always good there.
Thanks for the info.
two major problems with an ATV on that ice:
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Stopping. Sure, you could probably drive out on that ice, but I don’t know how you’d get an ATV to stop on that stuff. The ice is smoother than a zambonied ice rink.
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If you ever did stop, you’d have a hell of a time getting the ATV to move again! I think that your wheels would simply spin round and round and round while your bike stayed in one spot. Kind of like a stationary bike.
good luck with ATV. I think it would be very entertaining for the rest of us to watch. Please take it and use it.
Doh! I thought of another problem:
- Wind. If the wind starts to blow, your ATV may just take off and slide across the ice. That would be fun to watch!!
Seriously people – the ice up there is slick. I don’t care for cleats on my boots – but if you go up there please keep in mind that any equipment that is not somehow secure WILL BLOW AWAY. That includes shelters, or sleds. And if you are taking kids out and they like to sit in a sled – secure the sled! i’d hate to hear about a lost kid that got blown to open water in a sled…
Chained up for years… Problems solved
Thanks for the info coldfooter 
I guess ol’ PBH has never navigated the ice on a quad? Just wondering the acess was all. From shore to lake. Kind of wanted to laugh at his post considering I have a month to get more ice and or snow on the lake. He assumes everyone except him doesn’t know anything about the hazards of ice fishing…
I appreciate all the info giving. Thanks.
The south end of the lake across from the lakeside marina usually has good access. The ice is slick but I’ve never had chains and use four wheel drive and do just fine. Also been up there many times with no wind not to say it can’t get nasty but Ita just like any other high MTn lake. Good luck to you, I’ll be down there mid feb as
Well. Can’t wait
Fished the south end today. Lots of ATV’s on the lake and none that I could see with any chains and they got around just fine. There is 10-11 inches of ice with nearly all of the lake capped at this point. (small area near twin creeks still open)
Fished the south end today. Lots of ATV’s on the lake and none that I could see with any chains and they got around just fine. There is 10-11 inches of ice with nearly all of the lake capped at this point. (small area near twin creeks still open)
Who cares about ice and wheelers lets hear how the fishing was?
I didnt do very well might have been that I lost my iphone down the hole first thing and set the bad mood for the rest of the mornig. Did catch couple splake and there were some people around gettting a few fish but it didnt seem to be that hot today.
Fished Fish Lake to day and caught about 75 perch and 20 small trout. The perch were the standard variety for Fish Lake, about 8 inches. Ice was very slick and about 12 inches thick. They were hitting any small ice jigs and the bait of your choice. Fun Day!
We too fished Fishlake today. We started out from the south marina. Caught several rainbows, then the bite stoped. We made the long hike to the east side. The bite continued with splake on the bottom and rainbow just under the ice. Brought a few home for the smoker. Returned most.
Sorry about the I phone that sucks. But thanks for the reports guys. Only iced fished it once down there but always spend a week there every summer.
My son in law and I also fished Fish Lake yesterday.
It was the loudest ice by far that I have ever been on and I have spent many winters standing on frozen water. A couple of times I looked down the lake to see if I could see ridges forming. At times it was so loud down there it sounded as though there were jets taking off and landing. I have been wondering if the reason it was so noisy was because there is no snow to muffle it.
When we got there we saw some open water out from Bowery but when we left there were areas of open water almost from Joe Bush to Macinaw pull out.
There is a kind of nasty looking pressure ridge with a lot of water on the ice at the pull out north of Joe Bush. The water was not there in the AM but with all the ice movement it showed up by about 1 PM. This ridge had ice rattling in it all morning.
Now as to the fish. We fished just out from this ridge in 35’ of water. We caught well in excess of 40 fish most were rainbows with 6 to 8 splake mixed in. (funny thing fishing with the same things my son in law did not catch one splake)
Largest fish was 18" long so nothing great. A lot of the fish were 10" to 12".
Tipping with perch seemed to be the best but tipping with meal worms or night crawlers also worked. For me the most consistent lure was a kastmaster being constantly jigged with about 1" to 2" jigs. Red and white tubes were the next best lure.
In the AM there were always fish on the screen from top to bottom. The best depth for catching however was 18’. You could fish deeper or shallower but I would catch 3 or 4 at 18’ for each fish caught elsewhere.