06-27-2019, 10:49 PM
UDOT announced a couple of days ago that the Mirror Lake Highway is open. I decided to do a quick overnight trip and see which waters were fishable. In short, here is what I found:
Trial Lake - Ice free. Large snow drift blocking fisherman access road that will take at least another week to melt. The fish survived the extreme draw down from last fall. I caught a few this morning on the fly rod.
Washington Lake - North end is still iced over. Icebergs were up to 2 feet thick. I launched my pontoon from the campground and had to drag it over several ice sheets to get to open water. I did well tossing and dragging gulp minnows. Water temp was 39 degrees. I stayed warm until the sun went behind the ridge. In short order I couldn't feel me fingers. I motored back to the North end and the wind had pushed the ice in tighter making getting off more challenging than launching...
Lost, Teapot, and Lily Lake are ice free.
Moosehorn Lake is still frozen solid.
The Crystal Lake Trailhead road above Washington Lake still had large drifts. High clearance vehicles were pushing through.
It is still winter above 10,000 feet, but melting fast. Anything above 11,000 feet probably won't be accessible for at least another 2-3 weeks.
Mosquitoes haven't hatched yet. It is very wet and muddy. Best to stay on the asphalt till things dry out.
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Trial Lake - Ice free. Large snow drift blocking fisherman access road that will take at least another week to melt. The fish survived the extreme draw down from last fall. I caught a few this morning on the fly rod.
Washington Lake - North end is still iced over. Icebergs were up to 2 feet thick. I launched my pontoon from the campground and had to drag it over several ice sheets to get to open water. I did well tossing and dragging gulp minnows. Water temp was 39 degrees. I stayed warm until the sun went behind the ridge. In short order I couldn't feel me fingers. I motored back to the North end and the wind had pushed the ice in tighter making getting off more challenging than launching...
Lost, Teapot, and Lily Lake are ice free.
Moosehorn Lake is still frozen solid.
The Crystal Lake Trailhead road above Washington Lake still had large drifts. High clearance vehicles were pushing through.
It is still winter above 10,000 feet, but melting fast. Anything above 11,000 feet probably won't be accessible for at least another 2-3 weeks.
Mosquitoes haven't hatched yet. It is very wet and muddy. Best to stay on the asphalt till things dry out.
[inline IMG_20190626_205824073_HDR.jpg]
[signature]
