I don,t know about you guys but I am counting down the minutes to Ice on.
Just recieved some new jigs today called curly ticklers can’t wait to try them.
For the last couple of weeks I have been working with a company in China to produce a new line of soft plastic lures for Ice fishing with legs and eyeballs. Hope it all happens before Ice on.
When we were at Huntington last week and were marking so many fish on the bottom we were thinking about trying a little jigging but had not brought along the right stuff. We look forward to seeing your new line of jigs. WH2
Amen to Ice On!!! I too can hardly wait. What are your favorite frozen ponds? Personally, I am rather partial to Scofield due to my family’s cabin by the Lake. Nothing like a red-hot wood burning stove to huddle around after a long cold day of fishin. I also enjoy rockport, echo, berry and pineview… Can’t wait to meet more of you during the winter months.
Been in the ice fishing preparation zone for about a week now.
Watched home movies of last years ice fishing trips last week, started making lists of restock items to purchase pretty much non stop for four days.
Went out and bought new waterproof ice fishing suit last week. Nothing worse than kneeling on the ice and getting wet knees while landing fish.
You know you are sick when you wake up and think “I lost all my favorite lures last year” and cant get back to sleep because you are not sure if anyone has them in stock yet.
Put the reels on the rods this morning, and made sure all nessescary items were in the shantee where I left them at the end of last year.
Just need some waxies and the ice baby!
Cant agree with you more!!! On average I drill anywhere from 20-25 holes with my hand auger a day, so I am ready to get my drill on!!![;)]
My Co-workers are afraid to go with me, after a few holes of their own, they quit[sly]
Welcome to the board Bigben32
it doesn’t take alot to get into Ice fishing unless you let it,and it is one of the funnest ways to catch fish,if not the funnest.
Little secret for my BFT friends (Strawberry 1st Ice before any body else thinks there is Ice on it) when you here rumors of ice on scofield some of the bays at the berry will be froze,AWSOME,if you can handle the butt pucker.
we had a riot with tiger trout last year at Huntington.
I know BLM does not want it to Ice up but I sure enjoy bear lake ice fishing.
closer to home my favorite is utah lake white bass or east canyon rainbows and browns.
[sly]ICE ICE ICE did I hear some one say ICE FISHING. I can’t wait for it to come. I haven’t been able to keep up with the post on the board in the summer like I can in the winter. With the cooler weather back I have time to be more evolved with the board. I don’t find much time to fish in the summer and have limited success with out a boat. I just hope to have all of my work competed before the ice come on so I have time to go fishing. I’ve been trying to make it out the last few weeks but have been stuck taking care of last few things with customers and taking care of things I’ve been putting off all summer. I’ll be waiting to hear about the ice forming on the lakes.
I can’t wait for the hard water. Last year I was ice fishing the first or second weekend of November. This year we’ll be lucky to have ice before thanksgiving.
The best places to fish are the ones hardly anybody goes to. Being first on the ice is always a joy in its own. Most people are scared to be on less then 3 inches of ice even if they are in less then 5 feet of water.
Yee haw, hard water!! I am going to take more digital pix of my success this year! On my honor, I will do my duty, to drill more holes, move around more and change lures/set ups than in the past.[angelic] HFT will help me get the items and info I need, as always. I can’t wait to try the new stuff he mentioned. Also, more night fishing with glow-in-the-dark stuff and Tasers, or whatever that bright light thingy is. Why don’t we try another ice fishing get together. (I suggested it so I am now immune to putting it together.)[;)]
The next BFT gathering is at Fish Lake. This is one of the last lakes in the state to cap over so it should give us all time to brush up on our ice fishing techniques. I know I’m looking forward to meeting everybody and seeing the 30 pound laker somebody will pull out.
I’m starting to get excited about some hard water too! Just finishing painting up some large ice flies and some more slab flutter spoons.
This is the time of the year all of us brothers, dad, and the newphews get out for some quality fishing time. We will have one new recruite this year the youngest newphew 4 years old, he loves to be outdoors. I can’t wait to see him reel in his first fish through the ice.
Hopefully it gets cold soon or we will be waiting awhile for first ice. Just a reminder to all the first ice fishers, be careful and be prepared with your rescue equipment. Every year more people are falling through at first and last ice! Slabs on Ice![:P]
Hey big ben 32, all you need is an ice auger and some warm clothes.
All your regular gear can be used, long poles, same reels, ect for summer fishing. All you need is a cheap $35.00 auger to drill a hole in the ice, and some warm clothes to keep you out doors longer, and you are icefishing!
Now, Like HFT said, you can get a lot of ice fishing specific stuff, if you desire. Short rods designed specifically for ice fishing, ice fishing shantees, power augers, and all the toys.
But to get out and give it a try, its doesnt cost much.
Plus, since the water is froze, you have the entire lake to fish. If you are a shore bound angler in the summer, the ice is your chance to even out the playing field. You have the ability to get as far off shore as everyone else, you have the ability to fish the holes, and structure that you have not been able to reach before. Not only is ice fishing very fun, but its very effective.
I would be willing to betg that if you got out and gave it a try, you would be hooked.
Any of the stores that sell fishing stuff will have the ice fishing stuff, but if you want hands on help getting started, and some good lures and advice, go into Hooked fishing tackle in kaysville and talk to James.
Tell him who you are here on the BFT site, and let him know you want to get into the sport. He wont sell you crap that doesnt work, and will make sure you are ready to go have a good time on the ice.
Welcome bigben32! Nice to have you here. As others have said, ice fishing isn’t too expensive to try. A cheap hand auger, some warm clothes, and a few small jigs will do the trick. I would however recommend purchasing a small pole, they are cheap, and a little easier to ice fish with. Regardless of the pole you use, buy a couple of strike indicators, these are a must! One last recommendation, buy some of those disposable hand/toe warmers. They can make or break a day for you. Ask Petty4Life, I never go anywhere cold without them! Good luck, I’m sure if you keep your eye on the boards, many of us would be happy to have you along on an ice fishing trip or two. Me and Petty4Life will probably be out every thursday.
I fished the high Uintahs yesterday and the ice is coming on the lakes up there. There was ice on the edges of Mirror.
does anyone here ever ice fish Mirror or trail lake or any of the lakes up there?
Hey guest it’ll be around new years, give or take a week. Most people have some time off from work and lots of new toys to play with. It should be a great trip and it looks like almost everybody is interested in it.
For those guys that never ice fished Fish Lake. The wind is horrible, its always colder then you expect, the fish are every where, you never know what you’ll catch, always lots of people.
I don’t know but why not except it gets miserably cold up there at 10,000ft and you have to snowmobile into the area. They close the road at Soapstone when the snow begins to fly.
I went hunting in late October up in the Uintahs a few years ago the high that day was -9 at the 8000ft level
ok.All this talk of ice fishing has me excited allso.I’m going home tonight and get all my stuff out and get it ready for when the ice comes. I know last year and the year before we were doing the fishgiving thing on the ice at Scofield,on Thanks Giving week end.
I started out with my long poles, hand auger and line that was way to big for the situation. Now I am an ice fishing fanatic. I have a power auger, cheap ice house (hoping to upgrade), and around 7 ice poles of different sizes and stiffnesses. I have been saving my money for an aqu-view. If any of you have not used an aqu view while ice fishing you need to try it. Like many of you, I have found that the best ice fishing is as soon as the ice is safe. This is difficult to judge because if the ice is perfect, clear, and hard then you can walk on it at 3 inches. If it is punk ice then 6 inches is unsafe. I always just start at the edge and test it drilling holes every few feet during the early season.
For those of you who are new to ice fishing the best advice that I can think of is down size your line. The trick to ice fishing is being able to detect the subtle bites that the fish seem to go with during the winter. I use 4# test even on Strawberry. Occasionally a strong fish will break me off but the number of bites that I get seems to be worth it . Just set your drag lighter so you can play the fish and keep the line off the edge of the ice as you fight the fish. Another advantage of the smaller line is it does not retain large loops so when the fish strikes you can feel or see the strike faster without have the fish unwind all the loops first.
The piano wire strike indicators are the best ice fishing tool ever invented. If you get the light wire indicators they wear out faster but even the lightest strike will be noticed.
The last thing that has helped my success tremendously is simply pulling the heads off my meal worms. When the lure goes in the water you will notice a cloud of oil come out of the worm. It is this sent and not the visual of the worm that the fish are going for. So the more sent in the water the more likely you are to strike a biting nerve in the fish. The small hole the hook puts in the worm simply is not enough if an oil release most of the time. If you do not get a bite within 10 minutes change mealworms and or lures. You can get meal worms cheaper at the pet stores or online.
I want to learn as much as possible about ice fishing. If any of you have tips I would love to hear them.
Fish Lake is hands down the best ice fishing lake I have ever been to. Perch on the edge of the weed line. Splake on the bottom just a little deeper then the perch. Suspended rainbows, and lake trout out deep. I found that if you close the doors to your ice house you can see down the holes about 23 feet. This allows you to fish the bottom for splake and also watch for the schools of rainbows to come through.
Good Luck to all. What Lakes will freeze first?