Saw a report of 4-6" of ice at Soldier Creek on Wed the 26th and another report of some fishing at Chicken Creek East, but no comment on thickness of the ice. Any more reports and also what are the road/snow conditions?
Thanks!
I heard about 6 inches. I will be going up Monday to test it out at chicken creek.
as of the 24th soldier creek had a good 6" on the bay closest to the highway. chicken creek had 3-4" didn’t venture to far out there though.
Went up yesterday and the roads had been plowed and salted so were just slushy. The ice at Chicken Creek seemed to be about 4". There were a few sleds out on it so it must be strong enough for them, but there was a layer of slush on th ice in spots.
We saw several groups on the ice today as we drove past. At Soldier Creek, the bay south of the highway has open water in it starting just to the north of the point where the bathrooms are. We talked to a group that drove up to Currant Creek that had been at Strawberry earlier in the day. They left Strawberry 'cause there was only 2 1/2 " of ice where they went at the ladders, and they didn’t feel safe.
UDOT has pushed the shoulders with the grader today. Also saw snow removal happening at the parking area off HWY 40 that I believe is called Windy Ridge, just east of the old location of Charlie’s Boat Camp.
I was at Soldier Creek on Friday. The only thing harder to find than 6 inches of ice were the fish! [;)]
It was indeed 6" near highway 40. So I walked confidently away from other folk and then I drilled a hole and it was BARELY 2" of ice. Start at the edge and take an inch off for about every 100 yards farther south. That’s just not enough for me.
Others we talked to said they got some dink trout very early, but nobody could buy a bite after than and most left.
So we went to Chicken Creek. Loads of folks still there. Reports of those coming off were all over the ballpark. Most caught a few, one said it was the best day he’d ever had there - but others were skunked. I guess it was what they say about “location.” [;)]
Fortunately, it was truly 6" in most of that bay. We moved around a lot to find just a few fish.
In both spots, the catching was better early.
We fished Chicken Creek East this morning. A little action til about 10am, then dead. We iced one nice cutt. Talked to a few others, same thing.. early action, but it was limited to 1-3 fish per group…then died after about 10am
was a nice -13 degrees… that was at 9am when we showed up.
Here’s to hoping it picks up by New Years…
Your experience was typical for most we talked to MB72. One guy said when we got there, “You better hurry, the fish stop biting at 1 o’clock.” And I’m thinkin’ “fish have watches??” I’m slow to buy it to some theories… because I wonder if it’s just a matter of fish moving in and out. BUT, experience suggests to me that at the Berry on the ice, it does seem like the better catching is early.
We wouldn’t have caught what we did in the afternoon without a finder to let us know they were lookin’, and it took some real finessing! [;)]
I’m hopin’ for a good trip after the first of the year also!