Flaming Gorge "Pup-cicles" Report- 1/1/15

[Ryno]

Happy New Year and here's a report from our first trip of 2015.

I checked the ice conditions yesterday, and the Confluence was capped with 4-inches and the ice ended just above Currant Creek. I went back with friends and family today, and the ice extended through Big Bend and the Confluence thickened by 2-inches. Thank-you Mother Nature.

We made it an afternoon trip today so it could at least warm into the single digits (4F at 2PM). We started shallow (15-20ft) for rainbows and some were more fortunate, catching a few great bows up to 3-4lbs on Berkley Atomic tubes and curly tails tipped with meal worm. Prior to sunset, we set-up for burbot along rocky shoreline in 10-35 ft of water. The pup lakers moved in first and we quickly put ten on the ice, most of which hit a "Firetiger" Buckshot spoon tipped with sucker meat. Consistent with other reports, burbot fishing was slow and only two were iced. By 7PM the current "catch" was frozen solid and some of the kid's toes were closely trailing, so we called it a day.

We fished the Confluence where ice was about 6-inches.

Good luck and hope it helps, Ryno
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[albinotrout]

Thanks for the report.
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[TyeDyeTwins]

Pup-cicles.....I love it!
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[remo_5_0]

Ryan,

So is it your feeling that the slow Burbot fishing is due to the fact that the anglers have really put an arse whooping' on them? Maybe getting them cleared out?
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[Ryno]

Tough question....

I personally feel anglers are having an impact although I don't have evidence of exactly how much. I think of how many burbot are harvested in a 2-night derby (up to 4,000), how many people like Ashley Bonser have removed while guiding/fishing (thousands per season) and expand that across other time periods, derbies, and the general angling public and think there are tons of burbot being removed on an annual basis.

UDWR and WGFD have recorded two year's of burbot population declines during annual monitoring. Most of the angling reports have been very slow this fall-winter. In my own experience with fishing different parts of the lake and comparing it to previous years, I have also seen declining catch rates. The spot I was in last night for example, I've fished there several times before and had total catches in the 20-40s per night. I personally feel it's always good to see angler success rates and observations follow what is being documented in the monitoring data.

We had a lot of burbot in the reservoir for a few years after they were first documented. Knowing how burbot are struggling in their native range, you would guess they would eventually reach a population peak and start to taper off. I think anglers responded to the call, targeting and removing burbot, all the while knowing they were benefiting the fishery. Will the lake every be rid of burbot? No. Could the population increase again? You bet. That's why anglers can't afford to give them a break.

I suspect some will disagree with my confidence in angler harvest and it's impact on the population but in the end, the data in front of us right now shows burbot abundance and catch rates are down and that's what's most important. Somebody last night said, "Wow, lots of lake trout but only two burbot!" and my son put it best by responding, "Yeah, quit complaining, that's a good thing!"

Hope that helps some, Ryno
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[isda]

Thanks for the ice/fish report ryno. It's a bitter sweet thing the burbot populations are getting low. Just last night my wife was complaining we do not have any more burbot in the freezer. Hopefully this bash will put enough in the freezer for the winter. Glad to see the pups were willing and plentiful!
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