Too Early to Be Thinking About Ice?

[joatmon]

I have found myself inexplicably drawn to ice fishing over the past 10 years or so.  And I'm already thinking about it this year!  I just sent my Nils auger blade off for sharpening ($20 plus shipping).  After last year's run on everything ice fishing related, and resulting shortages, I have been watching my online sources for a couple of items. One item I bought was a new jet sled.  My old one developed a hole late last winter, which I patched, but I am not confident the patch will hold well.  I also picked up a second flasher, an Ice 55.  I love my Ice 35, but look forward to being able to read the depths, etc. without needing a flashlight when fishing after dark/before sun up.  I also bought a couple of new reels (not sure why I need so many rod/reel combos, but I am jack of all tackle, master of none!).

I have been trying to decipher what the drought will do to some of my favorite ice fishing lakes.  Will lower water levels mean the lakes freeze earlier and have more concentrated fish?  Or will lower water levels mean more edge issues as water levels in lakes have to come up a long way this winter?  Will there be fewer fish due to higher harvest limits and greater fish kill?  I recognize a lot of other factors are in play, like combinations of temperature, wind, precipitation events, stocking, etc.  Fun to wonder about it though!

I did find a few interesting graphs online, but had a hard time correlating water levels to ice development, quality of ice fishing, etc.  For Strawberry Reservoir, I noticed about a 12 year cycle between peaks of high water, followed by declines to low water valleys also about every 12 years.  Other reservoirs have a much higher frequency of highs/lows (due to irrigation impacts?).  My guess is that is why many of those waters have edge issues as they rapidly refill (Rockport, Echo, others).  See attached charts for a few Utah ice fishing waters.  I found the graphs at https://www.usbr.gov/uc/water/index.html

Here's hoping for early and accessible ice!