Utah Lake Ice Check Report 12-11-11

Utah Fishing Reports & Discussion Utah Fishing General
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:sunglasses:I needed some pics for the new writeup on Ice Fishing Utah Lake. Wanted to also check ice conditions around the lake and to see if it has totally capped. It has.

Started at the Saratoga Springs Marina at Pelican Bay. Several folks out ice skating on the clear, slick new ice. Several more folks drillin’ and chillin’ in the popular spot off the end of the launch ramp. Didn’t see any fish on the ice nor did I see evidence of much excitement. I wouldn’t be excited about going out on that ice. All broken and refrozen next to shore and one of the folks in the group volunteered that the thickness was less than 3".

Stopped next at the inlet channel on the upstream side of the control gates…at the mouth of the Jordan River. Several souls Swiss cheesin’ the ice there but I did not see any fish on the ice…nor did I see anything that resembled a hookset in a half hour of observation.

Next stop at the pumphouse. A small group of hardy har hars working the area a ways out from the wall. Again, nothing on the ice and no action to witness while I hung around…expectantly. Didn’t get to see anybody go swimming either.

Moved on to American Fork Boat Harbor…and used truck lot. Lots of vehicles (mostly pickups) in the parking lot and lining the road out to the point. People all over the ice. Nobody fishing off the docks. Should tell ya somethin’. I did see several fish caught in the short time I watched. Most were dink white bass but there was one group of anglers that had some respectable whities on the ice.

Next stop Lindon. Only one person dock dunkin’ there…and he picked up and headed for AFBH soon after I told him that they were catching fish there. So I’m a hot spotter. He had not had a bite in the hour plus he fished Lindon. The ice was less than 2", with thinner edges. Nobody has been able to try the main marina yet.

Almost a ditto at Provo Boat Harbor. Still thin ice but a couple of souls dock dunkin’. Said they hadn’t seen anything on sonar all morning. Couldn’t believe all the rocks that had been tossed out on the ice…IDIOT AUGERS. Same at several stops.

Final stop Lincoln Beach. One guy on the ice and catching the occasional bluegill or whitie near shore in the boat channel. Said fishing was much better there yesterday. Ice about 3".

Synopsis: First ice is settling the lake down and the water is clearing. The fish should show up in greater numbers inside the harbors soon and fishing should be much better. The only potential problem for the next few days is that nighttime temps are going to be in the low 20s with daytime temps well above the freezing mark. That does not thicken the ice much.

Anybody who hits the ice should be sure to wear cleats. Saw a couple of triple klutzes today and from the sound of one guy hitting his head I would be surprised if there was not a concussion.

Be safe. Good luck. Don’t chuck rocks on the ice.

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Thanks for taking the time to drive around, take pictures and post the report. Hopefully I’ll be able to hit some safe ice there when I head back to Utah for Christmas, as I still haven’t caught anything at Utah Lake after striking out on cats during the summer. I would love to fry some whities for the family. Thanks again.

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You stopped at the Provo harbor before I arrived. I recognize those buckets but the anglers were on a different dock. They didn’t hook into anything when I was there either.

I’m surprised you didn’t notice the open water glistening South of the harbor. Maybe you ought to hook some water landing gear onto that toon and skate out for one last go.

There was about 30’ x 100’ or so open water at the exit of the harbor too.

Ice thickness is very inconsistent at Provo. Some is walkable and some is tempting you to have a look up through the other side of the glass mass.

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It sure freezes up quickly when it gets cold enough. I was at Lincoln Beach on Tuesday, just looking, and the wind was kicking up whitecaps on the lake, and no ice in the channel. There was thin ice about 40 feet out on the south side, but nowhere else. Sure glad to hear it’s happening!

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I was at AF and in your picture, caught a nice bunch of bluegills. One good size perch.
The ice is just thick enough, still cracking as you walk.

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:sunglasses:Glad you got a few. Looked like a much better day there than anyplace else I checked.

Sorry I didn’t come out and give the BFT rallying cheer. And I knew if I tried to drill a big enough hole to launch my tube I would be hooted out of there.

Funny though. When I was at Lindon there were two guys down there with their boys…one was the dock dunker and the other was just walking the shoreline. Each one of them came up to me and introduced themselves…recognizing me from the board. One is a seldom poster and the other just “drops in” sometimes.

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:sunglasses:I noticed the unfrozen water. But alas, my tube was not with me. I still have at least one more soft water trip ahead before drillin’ and chillin’ time. I am not fond of walking on (thinly frozen) water and I hate dragging my sled on rocks and asphalt.

There were a couple of unfrozen patches near Lindon too. But there were folks out skating and fishing in the Bubbleup area.

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:sunglasses:It was cool (literally) to see the mirror surface all the way across from Lincoln to Provo. But it is still thin enough that any serious breezes will get a ripple going in the ice and rip it back off. Unless it stays calm and gets cold the cap remains at risk…except inside the harbors.

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Really Great Pictures TD. I was in the AF Harbor picture. I only got 7 whites from 6:30 to 11:30. My Buddy got 18, and I guy next to us for about an hour Caught white Bass every time his jig hit the water. Would have love to know what he was using.

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It may have just been where he was fishing. I have often fished two poles at Utah Lake through the ice and caught one fish after another out of one hole and caught an occasional fish out of the other hole, less that four feet away from the productive hole.

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:sunglasses:Ditto what Kent said. Sometimes the fish are slow or picky…and lure size or color can make a difference…or what bait you are using to tip your jigs. But often it is more a matter of hitting EXACTLY the right spot. I have had more than a few trips when I caught almost all my fish from one hole…and my second rod got lonely…even using essentially the same lures and/or baits…even though it was right next to the first.

It is great when you are the guy with the “hot hole” but it can be very frustrating when someone else is catching all the fish…especially if it is a spouse, a kid or someone you don’t like. And it is easy to not like someone if they are catching more fish than you.

That harbor is mostly a flat-bottomed bowl, with little structure or variation in the contour. But sometimes even a single rock resting on the bottom can attract and hold fish. If you luck out and drill over that rock you will have constant action. A hole less than 2 feet away may produce little or nothing.

Anybody who has an AquaVu camera can verify that it does not take much sometimes to make a fish feel cozy enough to hang around. And they have been known to do whatever they want, for their own silly reasons.

I gave up trying to figure out fish (and women) a long time ago. I just enjoy the better moments and tough out the others.

13

:sunglasses:I needed some pics for the new writeup on Ice Fishing Utah Lake. . . .
Anybody who hits the ice should be sure to wear cleats. Saw a couple of triple klutzes today and from the sound of one guy hitting his head I would be surprised if there was not a concussion.

Ah - enough beer and he’ll never know what hit him, or what he hit. I thinks it’s actually LUTZ - but perhaps performed by a klutz! [:p]
Wow - lotsa rocks. Bigger than the ones the little hispanic kid on the dock thought it would be fun to throw at my boat! Haven’t had much experience with UL - but there shore do seem to be some characters around.

Thanks for the reporting. So - another chapter for the book, or another book in the making!
Got on the hard-deck yesterday, and what a happy sigh (ok, so the ice made a lot of sighs that didn’t make US too happy, but . . . ). Got out with your HGS. He’s a monster when it comes to ice!

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Thanks for saving all us the fuel costs of driving around. Much appreciated

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" So - another chapter for the book, or another book in the making! "

:sunglasses:All of the above. Will be doing it piecemeal, like my other efforts. Starting with a piece on Ice Fishing Utah Lake. Then continuing with similar writeups on most of the other popular drillin’ destinations. Finally finishing up with a pretty substantial work on ice fishing in general…including all the basics like safety, clothing and accessories, tackle and lures, augers and tents, tactics and techniques, etc. Something to keep me off the streets and out of trouble.

Those rocks on the ice are more than just an unattractive nuisance. As many of us have discovered, they remain there as successive snow falls cover them and hide them. Then one day we try to drill a hole with our new augers and totally trash the blades. Not likely to be too much of a problem in some spots but in others they are sitting right over good fishing areas and are likely to cause some damage.

I would have gone out on the ice and removed some of them yesterday but I had neither the ice cleats on my boots or the helium balloons to make me light enough to walk out on that thin slick ice.

Also starting to see an early accumulation of trash in and around the ice fishing spots. In the attached picture someone had left a huge ball of heavy mono just laying on the dock. The unanswered question is WHY couldn’t they have just walked it back to one of the garbage cans provided within about 50 feet of where they left it? But, an ORIGINAL philosophy is “ANY TIME YOU ASK A QUESTION THAT BEGINS WITH THE WORD WHY…AND IT HAS TO DO WITH PEOPLE…THERE AIN’T LIKELY TO BE A GOOD ANSWER.”

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A couple years back, I got the blades sharpened on my power auger. The first trip with my sharpened blades was to Holmes Creek Reservoir. On the very first hole I drilled, I hit about a 8"-thick tree branch, that was totally buried beneath the snow and ice. Take my word for it, that drilling through wood does not help keep the blades sharp on an ice auger. It was immediately as dull or worse than before I sharpened it![frown] I can only imagine what hitting a rock does to a blade.

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Thanks for the report. I was hoping to head down there to find some open water and ducks but now I know that its time to put the duck boat away.[:(] I look forward to some good ice fishing though.

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:sunglasses:There are probably still some small openings in the ice around the edges…especially where rivers or springs enter the lake.

But if you hunt from your boat I think you are about done…unless you have an airboat that will go across the ice to find the open spots.

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TD, I really wasnt trying to avoid your picture taking adventure[sly]. As was said the ice is glass smooth and as it warms on the surface it is very slick. Also the ice around structures (docks, building) is usually thinner. The structures absorbs heat from the sun. A guy went trough the ice at the pumphouse on Friday ( He was back Sunday). He was right next to the wall. Have fun but be safe. An unexpected fall on the head can be dangerous.

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:sunglasses:No problem. I would have probably caught you bending over anyway…your best side.

When it comes to pictures…some of us want justice. Others want mercy.